THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vietnam is on a high on yoga. “I see yoga as the mother of all sports,” says 39-year-old Gurdev Singh Karan, the Punjabi who was instrumental in organising the first national championship in yoga in Vietnam. Gurdev Singh has helped chart a fresh terrain for yoga in the Communist nation. In Vietnam, yoga has received a phenomenal push and is being embraced by a lot many Vietnamese nationals.
Gurdev and his wife Nguyen Thi Nga, a Vietnamese who is the vice-president of Vietnam Yoga Federation, are one of the driving forces behind the current popularity of yoga in Vietnam. “Soon yoga will be introduced in schools and sports universities,” says Gurdev. Yoga has resonated with the Vietnamese to a huge extent, the couple tells you.
“Yoga is very popular in Vietnam. If you want harmony between body and mind then yoga is the best option. Vietnamese people are very conscious about their health and they feel that yoga is apt for it,” says Gurdev. Over 95 percent of those who learn yoga in Vietnam are women, he says. “You cannot find many overweight people in Vietnam. They all want to be fit. Vietnam is a woman-dominated society and they are choosing yoga as the means to beat stress,” he adds. Even in the contingent which arrived from Vietnam to participate in the eight edition of the Asian Yoga Sports Championship, of the 16 participants, only two are male.
But it was not so popular when Gurdev Singh went to Vietnam. When he went to Vietnam, there was no law rule on yoga. Yoga was in the nascent stage. Ever since he started teaching yoga and set up his centre, the struggle to get yoga recognised began. “It took three years for me to conduct the national championship. And later, we were successful in getting it recognised as a sport,” says Gurdev. Now, they have a Vietnam Yoga Federation which is a government body.
The chanting of Om and other mantras is not an issue with the Vietnamese people. “You cannot propagate religion, but there is no problem to teach spirituality. Vietnamese people are very open. So there is no issue in the chanting of mantras,” says Gurdev.
The couple has huge dreams for yoga. “I feel that yoga helps in aligning people with their real purpose in life,” says Nguyen Thi Nga. According to them, the future of yoga in Vietnam is bright. The duo is also pushing the government to introduce yoga in the SEA Games.
Women and yoga
Over 95 percent of those who learn yoga in Vietnam are women, says Gurdev Singh Karan. “You cannot find many overweight people in Vietnam. They all want to be fit. Vietnam is a woman-dominated society and they are choosing yoga as the means to beat stress,” he adds.