As the entire nation on Sunday celebrated the first International Yoga Day, the Armed Forces for long are practising asanas as part of their daily physical training routine be it in operational areas like Jammu & Kashmir, North-East or warships and submarines.
Yoga was introduced as part of physical training in the Army more than a decade back and nearly 100 personnel are trained every year at the Army Physical Training Institute, Pune in basic and advanced yoga techniques. These instructors in turn train two to three selected soldiers in every regiment and command and they impart training to the units everyday.
Spate of suicides and fratricide incidents some years back led the Army to conduct a study and stress due to work pressure in operational areas like Kashmir and family issues emerged as one of the major reason for this phenomenon.
Given the proven therapeutic value of yoga in reducing stress, the Army introduced its practise on a regular basis in all the forward units and it produced positive results in a short time, officials said here on Sunday. Moreover, commanding officers monitor the training and its effect on mental health of the troops and counsel those who are perturbed over some issues bothering their families back home.
Besides this, ace Army shooters and athletes, who represent the force and the country in international events including Olympics and Asian Games, practice Yoga as part of their training to improve concentration. This factor is crucial in achieving success at the highest level when Indian athletes compete with the world’s best and Yoga has helped our athletes in steadying their nerve at the moment when it matters the most to win, they said.
Similarly, the Navy has also introduced Yoga on all its 140 warships and submarines as part of physical fitness regimen. Explaining the reason for it, officials said naval personnel sail onboard ships and submarines at sea for extended durations in challenging conditions. This inevitably leads to physical and mental stress, which gets compounded due to the prolonged separation from their families during operational deployments.
The challenge gets accentuated as naval personnel onboard warships and submarines at sea do not have the luxury of open space and equipment to perform regular physical fitness activities. In order to maintain the high fitness standards needed for performing tough duties, the Navy some years back appointed physical training instructors at every ship and submarine to teach Yoga to sailors every day.