Yoga is the science of controlling mind : Hamid Ansari

19 February, New Delhi

Vice-President Hamid Ansari has said that Yoga was the science of controlling the fluctuations of mind, which was necessary for its proper functioning.This the Vice-President said while inaugurating the 10th anniversary celebration of Yogakshema, the first Iyengar Yoga Centre in Delhi.

He also dwelt on the immense relevance of Yoga to all individuals. “Unless these fluctuations are not controlled, our body cannot function properly,” he added.In the run-up to the foundation day, Shricharan Faeq Biria, one of the senior-most disciples of Guruji BKS Iyengar, conducted a week-long intensive workshop, which was attended by over 100 Iyengar Yoga students, half of them foreign nationals.

Faeq Biria spoke about his 65-year association with Yoga and his journey with Guruji. While describing his first meeting with Guruji in Pune, he said he felt “this was Yoga as it should be”. Faeq Biria said he considered Nivedita Joshi, a disciple of Guruji, a great miracle of Iyengar Yoga.Nivedita was virtually bedridden in her teens due to slip disc-cervical spondylitis and remained invalid for eight long and painful years.

She lost all hope in life as every effort to cure her met with failure till destiny led her to Yogacharya BKS Iyengar and his Yoga Institute in Pune in the mid-90s. She went there initially for a month in a wheelchair but stayed on for a year and walked out unaided. Yoga gave back her life and her life became Yoga.

Senior BJP leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, who spoke about science and spirituality, said Yoga is a wonderful gift to mankind by ancient Indian sages. He described BKS Iyengar’s interpretation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra as the best treatise on modern times.A short movie by Yogakshema students on Guruji BKS Iyengar and his disciple Nivedita Joshi was screened on the occasion.