NEVADA (USA) : Hindus have commended Minnesota State Fair, claimed to be “one of the largest expositions in the world”, for introducing yoga this year.
Called “The Great Yoga Get-Together at Carousel Park” and asking fair-goers to “stop by to try different styles of yoga”, it will offer experienced instructors leading a variety of classes and will also include activities, prize drawings and giveaways and sharing information about the benefits of yoga.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, welcoming yoga introduction at the Fair (first held in 1859) as a “step in the positive direction”, wondered why it took so long for the organizers to recognize the multi-benefits yoga offered. He urged all state fairs in USA to move forward and include yoga demonstrations and practice, thus providing an opportunity to fair-goers to explore this unique treasure.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization.
Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.
According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a recently released “2016 Yoga in America Study”, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.
Minnesota State Fair, in Minnesota State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights from August 25 to September five this year; showcasing Minnesota’s finest agriculture, art and industry; was attended by about 1.8 million people last year. Jerry Hammer is General Manager of the Fair, which is governed by the Minnesota State Agricultural Society.