Women outnumber men as number of Yoga practitioners rise

Women outnumbered men as the number of Yoga practitioners increased by about 20 %  in urban centres of India, according to a survey conducted by the trade body ASSOCHAM.
 
The survey was conducted in ten cities of – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai to ascertain if there had been any rise in a number of yoga practitioners and the reasons for doing Yoga.
 
“Popularity of Yoga in India has been growing by leaps and bounds…the a number of people who are practising, has been rising,” said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing the findings of the chamber’s survey.
 
“However, there is a dearth of Yoga trainers as such the government both at the Centre and state level should introduce a dedicated three year bachelor degree course in yoga to enable more and more youth in the country to become competent and professional yoga trainers even after passing the XII standard thereby spurring entrepreneurship and job generation,” said Rawat.
 
Interestingly, over half of the total respondents said they practised Yoga and had experienced its significant positive results like relieving stress, developing a positive self-image, good physique, flexibility, sound and agile bodies, positive mindset and others.
 
About 20 % of these said they had recently started practising Yoga and were likely to continue doing it considering the immense benefits of this ancient form of exercise on their physical and mental fitness.
 
While rest said they hit the gym to stay fit and they too considered that practising Yoga is better so they would try it in the due course to enhance performance in other exercises/sports.
 
Another significant and interesting outcome of the ASSOCHAM survey was that of the total female respondents, a whopping majority said they either practised yoga or hit the gym to maintain a healthy lifestyle.