Students to professionals and homemakers to retired individuals, a large portion of the society in India is now bending more for yoga, courtesy increased consciousness about fitness and hunger for spiritual development, noted a recent study by trade body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (Assocham).

The study revealed that gymnasiums across metros in India have seen a spurt in the yoga practitioners to an extent of 30 per cent recently. “Most of these people have been inspired by many celebrities and media attention that it has garnered,” noted the survey - 'Yoga or Gym', by Assocham's Social Development Foundation in 10 metros - Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.

However, the run for yoga is not just limited to metros alone. In smaller cities like Vadodara unique methods are being practiced to highlight the spiritual and therapeutic benefits of yoga practice.

A Vadodara-based yoga trainer, Maripelly Praveen, 30, has launched a unique concept - 'Yoga and Modernity' that combines yoga with modern lifestyle. “Yoga can heal physical as well as psychological diseases like a common migraine or depression. We have tried to relate technology with yogasana,” said this graduate of Faculty of Fine Arts from M.S. University of Baroda, who is conducting 3-day solo exhibition of over 200 paintings, sculptures, films themed around Surya Namaskara and Navli Kriya to mark the International Yoga Day celebrations on June 21.

The Assocham survey reveals that yoga did help people fight complications like addiction and lower back pain besides diabetes and aging.

An Ahmedabad-based healthcare center, Aashu's Wellness Clinic provides special yoga therapy for treatment of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular complications, insomnia, hormonal imbalance among others.

Sagar Soni, yoga mentor at the Clinic maintained that recently, more number of people have started taking yoga as a means to treat their diseases. “We have participants in the age group of 30-50 years. But noticeable fact is that most men have stress-related issues, while women commonly have more of physical complications.”

Assocham study found more women joining yoga training than men. Gymnasiums in Ahmedabad have seen robust rise of up to 60 per cent in number of yoga practitioners, majority of them being women.

Recognising the potential of yoga as a big business opportunity, D S Rawat, secretary general of Assocham stated that there are an estimated four crore yoga practitioners across the country spending about Rs 1,000 crore on designer yoga accessories.

“One of the key reasons for increased popularity of yoga is that of late it has developed as a panacea for the ailments of modern society - tech overload, disconnection and alienation, insomnia, stress and anxiety,” he added.

“The sudden boom of interest in yoga will fuel the demand for getting more trained yoga instructors, yoga studios and gymnasiums across India in the coming future,” Rawat said.

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