HRADUN: In a first-of-its-kind exercise, 250 soldiers of the Western Command of the Army have been sent for a two-week Yoga Teacher’s Training Course being organised by Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar.
Officials said the soldiers after their stint will help impart this training to others in the Command. During the training, which began on January 10 and concluded on Tuesday, the jawans were given a “comprehensive knowledge of yoga and meditation” by specialists of Patanjali Yogpeeth under Ramdev’s guidance.
“The first batch has completed its training on Tuesday and now three more batches of 750 more soldiers would be trained,” a spokesman for the Command told TOI on Wednesday. He added that they have set a deadline of six months for all these 1,000 soldiers to be given the training. Yoga has been introduced in Army to address stress and lifestyle-related diseases. The overall aim is to train 1,000 army persons as “yoga instructors”.
Krishna Milan, coordinator at Patanjali Yogpeeth, told TOI, “Baba Ramdev himself took classes for the soldiers and taught them the 12 yoga asanas as well as special asanas for a number of ailments. He also guided them about the correct diet and fitness regime to follow. Thereafter, Acharya Balkrishnan took sessions on meditation.” This is a serious initiative taken by the Army to have trained yoga teachers and the group of 250 soldiers is the first batch to do so.
Krishna Milan, coordinator at Patanjali Yogpeeth, told TOI, “Baba Ramdev himself took classes for the soldiers and taught them the 12 yoga asanas as well as special asanas for a number of ailments. He also guided them about the correct diet and fitness regime to follow. Thereafter, Acharya Balkrishnan took sessions on meditation.” This is a serious initiative taken by the Army to have trained yoga teachers and the group of 250 soldiers is the first batch to do so.