Hindus have welcomed the reported launch of “Travel Well with Yoga” program in all the routes of Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon airlines, thus bringing yoga to the sky.
In partnership with Pure Yoga, this in flight well-being program; in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese; includes series of videos on in flight entertainment screens “to help passengers ease into their journeys with yoga and meditation exercises and tips”. Six easy-to-follow videos demonstrate “yoga and meditation routines that can be done before, during or after a flight”. “Exercises are designed to improve circulation, enhance joint mobility and relax the mind for a comfortable and restful journey”. “There are a series of exercises that can easily be done from an economy class seat…”, according to a release.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, termed it as a step in the positive direction to make yoga and meditation available inflight to passengers. He urged other world airlines also to follow.
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, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.
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 “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.
Founded in 1946, Hong Kong-based awards-winning Cathay Pacific Group (which includes Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, and AHK Air Hong Kong airlines) offers scheduled passenger and cargo services to over 200 destinations in Asia, North America, Australia, Europe and Africa. John Slosar and Rupert Hogg are Chairman and CEO respectively. Pure Yoga; with locations in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and New York; offers a wide variety of yoga and meditation classes and private yoga programs, including workshops with renowned teachers.
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