Make yoga a part of your life just like the mobile phones: PM

Celebrating 2nd International Yoga Day (IYD) amidst a gathering of around 10,000 people, comprising mostly school children, at the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people to embrace Yoga like smartphones and not a religious relic.

Pitching yoga, not as a religion but a science that tells one what he or she can get in this life in terms of mental peace and physical health, PM said, "All religions give emphasis on what you can get in the other life, but yoga is relevant to this life. Yoga is the science of what one can get in this world in terms of peace and physical health.”

"Make yoga a part of your life. Just like the mobile phone is now a part of your life, make yoga too a part of your life...While it makes your mind stable, it rejuvenates your body and makes it dynamic,” he further added.

PM urged people to take up one lifestyle disease every year and address it through yoga and make it a successful movement.

"With the help of yoga, diabetes can be controlled. Can we start a public campaign to suggest yoga measures to the common man suffering from diabetes? It will be an achievement if we can help in treating diabetes. Next year, we can take another disease. We should address any one disease every year," Modi said.

Heavy rain showers on Monday evening had offset the preparations for the IYD-2016 as people had to perform yoga on the soggy ground the next day. But to everyone’s respite, the rain gods did not play spoilsport on Tuesday morning again, although many stayed indoors resulting in a lower-than-expected turnout of people at the venue.