Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Ram Naik joined Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Wednesday morning in a practice session, ahead of the International Yoga Day at the forecourt of the Raj Bhawan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath are expected to participate in the International Yoga Day event to be held at Rama Bai Ambedkar ground in lucknow on June 21, along with 50,000 other practitioners.
Baba Ramdev conducted the Yoga session which continued for over an hour. He along with Governor, CM and Swami Bharat Bhushan performed Yoga at the stage while others including senior ministers, officers and bureaucrats followed.
The exercise started at 6 am and was spread over in eight steps. It started with prayers, followed by exercise, Yogasan, kapal bhaati, pranayaam, dhyan, sankalp and shanti paath. While doing different asanas, Baba Ramdev also narrated its importance.
Realising that participants got tired, he suggested Makarasan saying this gives rest to the body. Then turning towards the CM he said: “This is not the time to take rest, but to work hard.”
Many ministers failed to match the speed of Baba Ramdev and stopped midway. Seeing this Baba said: "Work hard. Do not stop. You cannot stop as the people have reposed faith on you.”
Many volunteers of Patanjali, Art of living, Brahmakumaris, Isha Foundation and NSS helped over 1500 participants and also did Yoga with the CM and the Governor.
While addressing participants, the Governor said, ''People always asked me during the past three years, what will I give them and I always assured to give them an 'Uttam UP'. Now the time has come to fulfill my wish and this BJP government would make the state Uttam."
“This we will achieve only if we are alert mind and have good physique. Yoga is now popular internationally and the credit for this should go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Naik said.
The Governor urged the people to adopt Yoga to get rid of various diseases.
The CM in his brief address said that it would be lucknow's pride to organise International Yoga Day and urged the citizens to attend the event in a big way. He even suggested media persons to do Yoga every day. “They (media personnels) make us dance but today we made the journalists dance,” Yogi said.