Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the State government has a positive attitude to introducing yoga as part of the education in schools in the State.
He said parents should encourage their children to practise yoga. “Our children have no time to play outside their house, and inside their house they sit and watch others playing,” Mr. Vijayan said.
The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering on the Kollam beach on Tuesday evening.
He inaugurated the State-level mass yoga display as part of International Yoga Day at a programme organised by the Indian Martial Arts Academy and Yoga Study Centre.
Mr. Vijayan said while yoga complemented growth of a healthy body and a healthy mind, there was a calculated attempt to spread misunderstanding about yoga.
Attaching spiritual link
Some sections were trying to hijack yoga and give it a spiritual link, which was an unhealthy trend. “If yoga gets linked to spirituality, it will be denied to large sections of society.”
He said society would benefit if yoga could be made to adopt a secular outlook, as members from other religions could also practise yoga.
Lifestyle diseases at bay
“One of the best ways to keep lifestyle diseases at bay is to engage in exercises for at least 15 minutes a day and yoga tops the list of exercises,” the Chief Minister said.
Mayor V. Rajendrababu presided over the function.
Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma, Kollam Bishop Stanley Roman, M. Nosuhad, MLA, K.N. Balagopal, MP, and former Minister P.K. Gurudasan, among others, were present.
