A compilation of Best Practices was launched as part of the ninth anniversary celebrations of the Centre for Yoga Therapy, Education & Research (CYTER) of the Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (SBV).
The compendium included the yoga module for senior citizens, the Dhivyanga yoga for children with special needs and a salutogenic approach of yoga for the third gender.
Prof. S. C. Parija, Vice Chancellor of SBV released the compilation at the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute (MGMCRI).
The theme of this year's celebration was “Yoga for the Third Gender: a Salutogenic Approach” and was organised in collaboration with the local Sahodaran Community Oriented Health Development Society (SCOHD) and the Gender Care Committee for Transgenders of the MGMCRI Hospital Services.
According to a press note, Prof. Parija also unveiled new signboards for the CYTER yoga hall and seminar room honouring both the Sanskrit and Tamil yogic traditions of Patanjali who codified the yoga darshan through his yoga sutras and the Dravidian siddha saint Tiromoolar who authored the 3,000-versed Tamil siddha yoga treatise ‘Tirumandiram’.
Speaking on the occasion Prof Parija commended the efforts of CYTER towards integrating ancient wisdom of yoga with modern medical science. He stressed the importance of respecting the choice of an individual with reference to gender and the need of the transgender community for health, wellness, respect and acceptance needs to be understood by individuals and institutions.
Prof AR Srinivasan, Registrar of SBV, and Prof V. Nirmal Coumare, Medical Superintendent MGMC&RI, CYTER's Director Prof. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, Meena Ramanathan and G Dayanidy, yoga exponents also spoke.
The event was attended by students and staff from SBV, MGMCRI, IGIDS, international yoga teachers and trainees from ICYER at Ananda Ashram, Yoganjali Natyalayam and Pondicherry Yogasana Association.
A special interactive session was held on “Salutogenic Approach of Yoga for the Third-Gender” highlighting the impact and positive role of yoga in health and well-being of the much maligned and neglected transgender community.
The approach recognises the limitations of modern medicine in managing stress-induced psychosomatic, chronic illnesses, which is the strength of these traditional healing systems. It advocates a holistic integration of both systems and enables best quality of patient care.
As part of efforts to unite the antiquity of yoga with the innovations of modern medicine, MGMCRI is offering yoga training through CYTER to all medical, dental and nursing students.
Patients from across departments are given consultation by yoga therapists apart from the individualised and group therapy sessions for various medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal and psychiatric disorders. CYTER is also the country’s first and only university-level yoga therapy centre which is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, US, the press note said.
