In Srinagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said yoga can help Jammu and Kashmir attract more tourists, which will provide new livelihood opportunities to local residents.
Addressing a gathering on the 10th International Yoga Day on the shores of Dal Lake, the prime minister cited a competition held in Egypt in which yoga was used to promote tourism in the North African country.
"I recently watched a video from Egypt. They organized a contest and awarded the best yoga photos and videos from iconic tourist spots in the country. In the photos and videos, I saw girls from Egypt standing in front of the iconic pyramids doing yoga. It was so attractive.
"For Kashmir, yoga can become a great source of livelihood. It can become a center of attraction for tourists," Modi told yoga practitioners on the SKICC lawn on the banks of the Dal lake.
The prime minister's event was scheduled to be held outdoors, but early morning rain forced the venue to be moved indoors.
However, Modi addressed the people after the rain stopped and praised their determination to stay back even in adverse weather conditions.
"Our daughters used their yoga mats to protect themselves from the rain but they didn't leave. It's encouraging to see," he said.
The prime minister said many people consider yoga as a spiritual journey aimed at finding God, which often makes them give up meditation.
"When people talk about yoga, most of them think that it is a spiritual journey as if it is to find Allah, Ishwar or God... Leave aside the spiritual journey, for now, you can focus on personal development and yoga is part of that.
"If you approach it that way, I'm sure you will get a lot of benefits. Personal development leads to the benefit of society, which in turn leads to the benefit of humanity," he said.
The Prime Minister said that yoga, once a part of daily life, provides uninterrupted benefits for a long time.
"We have to understand the importance of yoga in life. Just as brushing your teeth or combing your hair becomes a daily routine, with the same ease yoga becomes a process to follow when you get used to it. It continues to provide benefits at every moment" , he claimed .
He cited the example of trainers who help people improve their memory capacity by using special techniques.
"Attention is linked to how much our mind is focused. You must have seen many people develop techniques to improve memory power and for those who follow the process, their memory power improves.
"Similarly, working with focus on any topic will give the best results, which leads to personal development and with the least effort you get maximum satisfaction," he said.
"If you do something while your attention is divided between the 10 things, fatigue increases," he added.
Addressing a gathering on the 10th International Yoga Day on the shores of Dal Lake, the prime minister cited a competition held in Egypt in which yoga was used to promote tourism in the North African country.
"I recently watched a video from Egypt. They organized a contest and awarded the best yoga photos and videos from iconic tourist spots in the country. In the photos and videos, I saw girls from Egypt standing in front of the iconic pyramids doing yoga. It was so attractive.
"For Kashmir, yoga can become a great source of livelihood. It can become a center of attraction for tourists," Modi told yoga practitioners on the SKICC lawn on the banks of the Dal lake.
The prime minister's event was scheduled to be held outdoors, but early morning rain forced the venue to be moved indoors.
However, Modi addressed the people after the rain stopped and praised their determination to stay back even in adverse weather conditions.
"Our daughters used their yoga mats to protect themselves from the rain but they didn't leave. It's encouraging to see," he said.
The prime minister said many people consider yoga as a spiritual journey aimed at finding God, which often makes them give up meditation.
"When people talk about yoga, most of them think that it is a spiritual journey as if it is to find Allah, Ishwar or God... Leave aside the spiritual journey, for now, you can focus on personal development and yoga is part of that.
"If you approach it that way, I'm sure you will get a lot of benefits. Personal development leads to the benefit of society, which in turn leads to the benefit of humanity," he said.
The Prime Minister said that yoga, once a part of daily life, provides uninterrupted benefits for a long time.
"We have to understand the importance of yoga in life. Just as brushing your teeth or combing your hair becomes a daily routine, with the same ease yoga becomes a process to follow when you get used to it. It continues to provide benefits at every moment" , he claimed .
He cited the example of trainers who help people improve their memory capacity by using special techniques.
"Attention is linked to how much our mind is focused. You must have seen many people develop techniques to improve memory power and for those who follow the process, their memory power improves.
"Similarly, working with focus on any topic will give the best results, which leads to personal development and with the least effort you get maximum satisfaction," he said.
"If you do something while your attention is divided between the 10 things, fatigue increases," he added.
