<p>The district magistrate here has been turning heads. His speciality: Headstands or "sirsasnas" that seem to go on for ever.</p>.<p>DM Dinesh Chandra Singh has motivated inmates at the district jail here and encourages officials to include the age-old practice of yoga in their routine for a healthy living.</p>.<p>"Whenever the district magistrate visits the jail he inspects the barracks and encourages inmates to practice yoga," says Jailor Anand Shukla.</p>.<p>"He himself performs various yogic exercises, including the headstand, before inmates and asks them to adopt yoga for a stress-free living," the jailor adds.</p>.<p>Shukla says a majority of prisoners have made yoga a part of their routine now and they have been telling them about its benefits.</p>.<p>"For the past a couple of months, the number of inmates falling ill has gone down," says the Jailor.</p>.<p>Several officials say even during administrative interactions, they were made aware of the advantages of yoga and inspired to make it part of their life.</p>.<p>During visits to schools and colleges, he makes it a point to inspire students to adopt yoga.</p>.<p>The DM says he can perform long headstands extending up to an hour and has been invited by yoga guru Ramdev to his ashram in Haridwar.</p>.<p>"I started doing headstands for shorter duration but the duration began increasing with practice. Now, I can comfortably do a headstand for close to an hour," he says.</p>.<p>The DM says has helped him perform his duties in a better manner on various occasions.</p>.<p>Talking about an incident in 2019 when he was posted as the DM in Aligarh, Singh recalled that a crowd of around 500 people called at a yoga programme was angry with organisers and began protesting.</p>.<p>The officer says he went on the stage and performed the headstand. This calmed the crowd and they started practising yoga, says Singh.</p>.<p>Apart from public performances, several videos of the DM performing the headstand are available online.</p>.<p>In one of the videos, he is seen performing the headstand for close to an hour.</p>.<p>Singh says he a devotee of Lord Hanuman and draws strength from him. </p>
<p>The district magistrate here has been turning heads. His speciality: Headstands or "sirsasnas" that seem to go on for ever.</p>.<p>DM Dinesh Chandra Singh has motivated inmates at the district jail here and encourages officials to include the age-old practice of yoga in their routine for a healthy living.</p>.<p>"Whenever the district magistrate visits the jail he inspects the barracks and encourages inmates to practice yoga," says Jailor Anand Shukla.</p>.<p>"He himself performs various yogic exercises, including the headstand, before inmates and asks them to adopt yoga for a stress-free living," the jailor adds.</p>.<p>Shukla says a majority of prisoners have made yoga a part of their routine now and they have been telling them about its benefits.</p>.<p>"For the past a couple of months, the number of inmates falling ill has gone down," says the Jailor.</p>.<p>Several officials say even during administrative interactions, they were made aware of the advantages of yoga and inspired to make it part of their life.</p>.<p>During visits to schools and colleges, he makes it a point to inspire students to adopt yoga.</p>.<p>The DM says he can perform long headstands extending up to an hour and has been invited by yoga guru Ramdev to his ashram in Haridwar.</p>.<p>"I started doing headstands for shorter duration but the duration began increasing with practice. Now, I can comfortably do a headstand for close to an hour," he says.</p>.<p>The DM says has helped him perform his duties in a better manner on various occasions.</p>.<p>Talking about an incident in 2019 when he was posted as the DM in Aligarh, Singh recalled that a crowd of around 500 people called at a yoga programme was angry with organisers and began protesting.</p>.<p>The officer says he went on the stage and performed the headstand. This calmed the crowd and they started practising yoga, says Singh.</p>.<p>Apart from public performances, several videos of the DM performing the headstand are available online.</p>.<p>In one of the videos, he is seen performing the headstand for close to an hour.</p>.<p>Singh says he a devotee of Lord Hanuman and draws strength from him. </p>