Today was International Yoga Day. I am averse to these "Days" in generals after the superficial homages to women in India on March 8 Women's day.
Women still have the burden of household drudgery PLUS full time jobs and child raising. Not to speak of the very low percentage of the workforce they occupy in India- under 25% with all their degrees.
But I digress.
Today, International Yoga Day had me similarly peeved . A gimmick. Yoga has no day. Everyday is yoga day, or ought to be. These were my thoughts after all the whatsapp messages
At man ki baat time, someone brought it up and we decided to show yoga in APAAR's movie room ( made out of darkening the lobby).
In minutes , we had a yoga demonstration on the large screen. Nine clients , a mom and three staff members sat watching this lithe woman on screen do the asanas sitting or lying down.
The fun started about 15 minutes later when our clients one by one went in the front on the yoga mat and did an asana they had seen with or without arm and leg guidance with touch from staff.
Even the reticent ones wanted to be there . They were impatient for their turn "on stage"- stretching their arms, legs, and backs in locust pose, chakki , chakra and what not.
I tried the Garudasana and loved the arm stretch although I did not quite wind my legs around each other .
There was applause and cheer eleven times . An hour of self esteem building plus a nice stretch for us all. The summer solstice rocks big time I say.
The cheer on APAARites ' smiling faces was worth a thousand words
We will now work on incorporating yoga into our time table .