Chandigarh : June 21 : Under the able guidance of Director PGI, Dr. Vivek Lal celebrated the 8^th International Day of Yoga celebrated the by its ‘CCRYN-Collaborative Centre for Mind Body Intervention through Yoga’ with participation of more than 150 HCWs. It included Director, Dean, Medical Superintendent, Deputy Director, Financial Advisor, faculty, students, staff and their families who practised Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) the flagship protocol of Ministry of AYUSH. PGI, which is the first Institute in the world to carry out a Yoga trial on CYP, engaged the certified Yoga trainers from its Yoga Center to impart this training. CYP is a protocol practised each year on International Day of Yoga.

Director PGI, Dr. Vivek Lal, welcomed the guest speakers and defined Yoga as superscience. He enthusiastically said that “Yoga is a science with an additional dimension.” and “Yoga which was science of the past is going to be science of future.” He emphasized that Yoga is a cost-effective prevention technique with no side effects.

In view of 8^th International Day of Yoga whose theme was “Yoga for Humanity”, PGI also undertook the task of conducting daily early morning Yoga sessions for patient’s attendants at PGIMER, besides the general public at PGIMER Park behind Bhargava Auditorium, from 6:00 to 7:00 AM. A special Yoga session for students was also held on 16^th June 2022 from 6:00 to 7:00 AM at Zakir Hall. Yoga mats and refreshments were also provided to all the participants by the Institute.

A vibrant academic session was held by highly respected Yoga Professor from Harvard University, Dr Sara Lazar (famous for her Ted Talk) and Dr Jaideep Arya, Chairman Haryana Yoga Ayog on 21^st June 2022. Dr Akshay Anand, Professor-in-charge, CCRYN-Collaborative Centre For Mind Body Intervention through Yoga, moderated the session and spoke on the importance of Yoga and meditation as being part of ancient Indian philosophy which has contributed significantly towards several public health programs meant for lifestyle disorders.

At the end of the program, Dr G D Puri Dean (Academic) gave the concluding remarks. He thanked all the participants, offline and online. He thanked Dr Sara Lazar for presenting the scientific facts behind Yoga improving brain functioning and for letting all know that it is never too late to start Yoga and meditation. He further thanked Dr Jaideep Arya for showing clinical evidence to reduce drug requirement in diabetes. He emphasized that neurological outflow of the brain is controlled by Yoga and meditation. He wished good luck to the Yoga centre at PGI for its growth and thanked the centre for organizing the IDY 2022.

Dr Akshay Anand remarked that Yoga which encompasses the Asanas, breathing techniques and meditation need more fundamental research so that it is integrated for prevention and management for various lifestyle disorders like Obesity, Diabetes, Hypertension and Cancer. We are planning to ramp up such research efforts in this direction by funding good research proposals.

On the conclusion of the event,Dr Vivek Lal appealed to students, faculty and staff to adopt Yoga in their lives for healthier and happy living. We are also considering starting of Yoga courses for our staff and allowing MSc Yoga for PhD enrollment. This will further provide new insights about the health promoting effects of Yoga.