A fitness, stress-releasing and relaxation art, Yoga is India’s gift to the world of fitness. One of the most accessible ways to keep physical and mental health in balance, its daily practice helps to achieve flexibility, peace, and happiness in life. Being able to blend the soul and body together, this ancient art has the capacity to transform lives and change outlooks.
No wonder, many bureaucrats have made yoga a part of their daily routine. This group of officers include 2003-batch IPS officer Ratan Lal Dangi and 2008-batch IAS officer Sonal Goel, and both of them often post their yoga postures on social media.
Hence, on International Yoga Day 2023, Indian Masterminds spoke to both the civil servants to know about the role yoga plays in their lives.
YOGA HELPED IN CHANGING THE IMAGE OF THE POLICE
Mr. Ratan Lal Dangi, who is now posted as Director of, Police Academy, Raipur, started doing yoga three years ago, after the lockdown began. He has tried and achieved more than 800 poses since then, some of them improvised by himself.
He started yoga to give time to his body, but soon, started engaging the public with him by sharing his daily videos and pictures on social media. He said, “During the lockdown, everybody was stressed. We were getting lots of calls from school and college students in the control room and they were very anxious and restless. I thought, why not channelize their energy positively.”
He started sharing his daily yoga activities on social media and asking more people to join him. This was part of his ‘Guide The Youth, Grow The Nation’ initiative, too. With daily pictures and videos, he started to connect well with the public. This helped him to change his own and the police’s image in the eyes of the public.
Every day, he starts his day with jogging, for an hour, at 4:30 am and then begins his yoga practice at 6 am, which continues till 8:30 am.
YOGA HELPS TO NAVIGATE THROUGH CHALLENGES
Resident Commissioner, of Tripura Bhawan in New Delhi, Ms. Sonal Goel has been practising yoga since her school days. However, it was in 2018, during her posting in Jhajjar, that she realised the importance of physical and mental health, especially to manage the changes brought about by hormonal imbalance after childbirth. It was at this time that she started her weight loss journey. She mostly learned yoga through various programmes organised by the Ministry of Ayush. Now, she practices it regularly with her family, including her children.
Speaking to Indian Masterminds, Ms. Goel said, “I used to practice Padmasana during my UPSC preparation days which helped me to focus better. I believe yoga should be an essential part of every youth’s life since it plays a vital role in their mental well-being. In a world filled with academic pressures, digital distractions, and sedentary lifestyles, yoga provides a holistic approach to help young individuals navigate through the challenges they face.”
HOW IT BENEFITS WORKING PROFESSIONALS
Both the officers maintain that yoga helps them to remain calm and composed at work, as their job can be very stressful and hectic at times. Ms. Goel asserted that besides physical and mental fitness, yoga helps in building strength and controls ageing.
Mr. Dangi, on the other hand, said that it helps him to be energetic and enthusiastic at work. He has been giving more than two hours to yoga every day for three years now and vouches for its effectiveness in strength building.
“There are lots of Aasans and poses that will lead to strengthening muscles. Unlike other forms of exercise, the muscles become more flexible with yoga. Thus, while getting older, there is less chance of any joint pain or injury,” he said, appealing to all to make yoga an integral part of their life.
