In the weeks leading to the preparations for International Day of Yoga held in Mysuru on Tuesday, there was a spurt in training a new crop of yoga teachers who are now set to spread their wings and trigger a new yoga movement in the city of palaces.
Even before the confirmation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the yoga day event in the city, the Yoga Federation of Mysuru (YFM) – which is an umbrella organisation of various yoga associations and institutions – had started preparations.
The focus was to spread the concept of yoga as a way of life to as many people as possible and this led to training a new generation of yoga teachers, said T.N. Ganesh Kumar, General Secretary, YFM, and taluk physical education officer. ‘’But once the Prime Minister’s participation was confirmed officially, the initiative received a fresh impetus’’, he added.
Around 500 teachers were trained as part of train the teachers campaign. They in turn spread out and trained others as a result of which regular yoga practitioners were identified and trained to be yoga trainers themselves.
‘’As a result of the sustained effort, Mysuru has nearly 2,500 new generation of certified and trained yoga teachers who will take the momentum forward to keep alive a slice of heritage associated with Mysuru’’, Mr. Ganesh Kumar said.
In the last few days leading to the Yoga Day event and the publicity generated locally and nationally, there was a spurt in inquiries from parents who wanted their children to learn yoga.
‘’Today alone after the event was televised I have received nearly a dozen phone calls from parents keen to enrol their children for yoga classes’’, said B.P.Murthy of Chaitanya Yoga Kendra in Gokulam.
Another emerging trend is the demand for personal yoga teachers, according to Mr. Ganesh Kumar who said that it was being preferred by more advanced students who wish to delve deep and need personal attention which is not possible in a mass learning class. Also, the demand for personal teachers went up consequent to the pandemic and it has not ebbed, he added.
The city was known to be a yoga hub since decades and some of the stalwarts who put both yoga and Mysuru on the global map were patronised by the Wadiyars. Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, who ruled from 1799 to 1868, authored Sritattvanidhi in which there is elaborate description of various asanas.
In latter years Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar encouraged yoga and patronised Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and he spanned a new generation of teachers like B.K.S.Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois etc who left the yoga imprint all over the globe. Over the years Mysuru developed a yoga industry drawing international students and the city is reckoned to have about 400 registered and unregistered yoga schools.
The new generation of teachers is now expected to carry forward the legacy and maintain the momentum generated by the International Day of Yoga.
