National Council of Science Museums and its units observed International Day of Yoga

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an organisation under Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India observed International Day of Yoga on 21st June. Shri A. S. Manekar, Deputy Director General, NCSM started the yoga session with mantra

‘Om Saṃgacchadhvaṃ saṃvadadhvaṃ
saṃ vo manāṃsi jānatām
devā bhāgaṃ yathā pūrve
sañjānānā upāsate ||

as per protocol released by Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India and also briefed about benefits of Yoga. After that, he introduced yoga expert Smt. Jayashree Manekar to conduct yoga sessions. She started with body loosening exercises like Neck bending, Trunk movement, Knee Movement. The C̣ālana Kriyas/loosening practices/Yogic Suksma Vyāyāmas help to increase microcirculation. After micro exercises, she demonstrated and conducted various Yogasanas like TĀDĀSANA, VṚKŚĀSANA, PĀDA-HASTĀSANA, ARDHAC̣AKRĀSANA, TRIKOṆĀSANA, BHADRĀSANA, ARDHAUSṬ Ṛ ĀSANA, ŚAŚANKĀSANA, VAKRĀSANA, BHUJANGĀSANA, ŚALABHĀSANA, MAKARĀSANA, SETUBANDHĀSANA, PAVANAMUKTĀSANA, ŚAVĀSANA. Shri Manekar also briefed about benefits of each asana. Yoga session was followed by Pranayam session.
All the Officers and staff members practiced yoga asanas with full effort and felt importance of the yoga. Some of them have been practicing yoga for long time and felt good about others doing that. Shri S. Kumar, Director (Hqrs) appealed to everyone to adopt yoga in daily life to maintain fitness. Shri A. S. Manekar said-‘We are part of a historical moment as this is the first International Yoga Day’. He further added-‘Yoga is a science and very beneficial for us if done in a correct way’, we being a Science Museum professional, will continue to raise awareness about the scientific aspects of yoga’.
Other twenty five units of NCSM spread in different parts of the country also observed International Day of Yoga by organising various programs like Yoga demonstration, Lecture on Yoga, Film Show, Poster Exhibition, Extempore Speech, Open House Quiz etc. While Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bengaluru arranged an exhibition on ‘Ancient Practice of Yoga’, RSC, Bhopal organised Poster Exhibition on various Asanas.