Yoga has broken barriers of religion and region: Naqvi

Yoga has become India's "health hamper" to the entire world and has broken the barriers of religion, region and language, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Friday.

The Minority Affairs Minister performed Yoga in Patel Nagar along with a large number of people to mark the International Day of Yoga.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made India's thousands of years old health culture a "credible brand" of good health for the entire world. India's thousands of years old culture has proved to be a "resource of health" for the entire world, he said.

Yoga has broken the barriers of religion, region and language and has proved to be helpful in uniting humans with human values, the minister said.

Naqvi said he himself has been practicing yoga for the last several years and it is the "golden key to good health".

"Yoga provides energy to our body as well as our mind. It helps in maintaining a balance in our lifestyle. The aim of yoga is to calm the chaos of conflicting impulses. Yoga not only positively changes the lifestyle but it also increases the level of health," he said.

Prime Minister Modi led the country-wide celebrations in Ranchi where around 40,000 enthusiasts stretched an extra muscle in various yogic exercises at the Prabhat Tara ground.

In Delhi, the celebrations played out at several venues -- from the sprawling Rajpath and the lawns of Red Fort to municipal parks, hospitals, gardens and offices with thousands of enthusiastic Delhiites performing asanas.