Yogathon 2013: Wanna do yoga? No sweat!

My first fault was timing. To be there at 4pm on an April afternoon seemed liked an inhuman enough hour on paper, but to actually be out under the sun, limbering up was more than what some constitutions were made for.

Marina resident and Ukraine national Alisa Sokoliuk, who goes for yoga class to the Bharat Thakur centre, had to sit out of the challenge after getting a headache in the sun. “Even five to seven would have been a better time,” she said.

200 join event in Capital Over 200 fitness freaks participated in the Yogathon 2013 in the Capital, which took place on the same day as the Dubai event. Organised by Abu Dhabi-based Art of Living, Friday’s Yogathon was an annual event held across the country. The challenge was 108 rounds or 54 sets of 12-posture sequence of the sun salutation or surya namaskar. The objective of this event was to promote healthy activities in the society, as yoga improves posture, flexibility, balance and stability of the mind. “It enhances concentration, perception and intuition and burns excess calories and tones the body,” an organiser said. Art of Living had been organising free yoga training sessions from March 11 to make people adjust their speed with the sequence. Participants from all age groups enthusiastically took part in the event. haseeb@khaleejtimes.com

Yogathon 2013 was conducted by Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shanker’s organisation, and according to volunteer and trainer Harsha Varyiani, there were about 1,000 participants. Entry was free, aside from the Dh5 entrance fee at Zabeel Park.

All of the hudnreds who participated got a certificate — some only for having participated in the ‘spirit of yoga’, while those who completed the challenge of executing the 108 Surya Namaskars (sun salutation poses) got a ‘certificate of appreciation’.

According to the MC on stage, who periodically relayed motivational words, as the masses sweltered under the sun, the difference between a problem and a challenge “is how you approach it”.

A pre-recorded track to mark yogic positions 1 through 12 was played on loop. Starting with “namaste” — enunciated in a last-syllable-rising intonation and repeated a mere 108 times — the track walked the lawn full of yoga-enthusiasts through the two hours of April heat.

Some, including newspaper reporters minus yoga mats dealing with increasingly-reddening palms and wrists given the print of the grass on their venus mounds, nonetheless sailed through the 108 rounds.

Was it tough? No, the challenge seemed customised to suit the stamina of even the most physically inept.

Even though the stipulated age limit was eight years, children as young as five got the gold — all for the spirit of yoga. Hordes of youngsters stretched limbs alongside people in their 70s.

Trainers at Bharat Thakur Jovin George, Leo Gunaseelan, Nagarjuna Reddy Metta, and from the sales team Sravanthi Gaddam, found the yogathon “a cake walk”.

nivriti@khaleejtimes.com