Mumbai cops embrace Yoga to overcome stress

Mumbai, Nov 24 (UNI) In a bid to overcome increasing instances of stress-related disorders in its workforce, the city police today launched a programme to train 5,000 members of the force in Yoga techniques.

The training will be imparted free-of-cost in the next one year by a 90-year old Yoga Institute in the city's western suburb of Santacruz.

The first two batches, comprising a total of 60 police personnel from the Vakola area, were initiated into the Yoga way at the institute. The first batch included the Additional Commissioner of Police Sadananda Date and the Deputy Commissioner of Police Nisar Tamboli.

''In this huge metropolis, inhabited by one and a half crore people, the police force is bound to be under severe stress,'' Mr Date said, adding that health hazards such as heart disease, diabetes and paralysis are common.

According to him, although the average life span at the national level is 62 years, around 150 of the Mumbai police officers die before the age of 45 every year. Constables are dying before they reach forty and the situation needs urgent attention, he observed.

The institute will provide six-day training to policemen, drawn from all ranks, in batches of 30 from 0800 hrs to 0930 hrs. The institute is spread over one acre and comprises three buildings dedicated to Yoga activities. About 1000 persons visit the institute every day for training, health benefits and consultations.

''It is our way of service to the nation to ensure that the police force is equipped with the physical and mental strength to cope with the high levels of stress. By using the time-tested yoga techniques each of them can uplift himself to excel in terms of concentration, memory, efficiency and fulfillment,'' the institute director, Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra said.

According to him, due to long hours of work, little sleep or rest and no time with the family, the police live a life of prolonged and intense stress, anxiety and trauma.

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