Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Yoga Day Attracts Yound and Old'
Source: The Jakarta Post

Denpasar - Locals and foreign nationals, some as young as nine years old and some in their 60s, gathered at the Bali-India Foundation (BIF) in Renon, Denpasar, on Monday to commemorate Yoga Day, which was declared last year in Bali.

Some of them wore BIF yoga uniforms while others wore uniforms of the Bali Public School and some wore the uniforms of Kunti Bhakti, a yoga institution in Tabanan.

To celebrate Yoga Day, the BIF organized the island's first-ever yoga competition.

"We want to show that yoga can be treated as a competitive activity," director of the foundation, Somvir, told the audience.

The competition was participated by 11 groups coming from Denpasar, Tabanan and Gianyar.

Somvir said that as an Indian who had lived in Bali for years, he wanted to develop the island through yoga.

"Yoga is no longer limited to resi (Hindu sage). Whoever wishes to be healthy can do yoga," he said.

He added that the foundation was now preparing a special room for asthma and cancer patients, which would be open in a couple of months.

Wayan Saputra, whose son Krisna was one of the contestants in the competition, said his son joined a yoga class at the foundation four months ago.

"I enrolled him as a preventive effort because I'm afraid he will be sick just like his brother who died of cancer 11 months ago," he told The Jakarta Post.

Mieke, one of the students in the foundation, said that she joined a yoga class at the foundation just a month ago.

"Actually I joined the yoga class because I have lots of free time after work. Besides I read that yoga is good not only for physical health but also spiritual health," she said. S

he said that after joining yoga class she was able to control her emotions better.

"Every time I feel angry, I can just practice the yoga breathing techniques to control it," she said.

New Gianyar Regent Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati, who is also the head of the foundation, urged people to continue practicing yoga because it was one of the ways to reach spiritual harmony. "

We should defend the existence of yoga which has been practiced for thousands of years," he said.

Ratu Bagus, a spiritual leader from Muncan village in Karangasem, said that besides healing various diseases, yoga could also develop a person's character.

"I believe that disease comes from the soul; a soul that cannot see and be grateful for what it has. Yoga can help us see everything better," he said.