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COVER FEB 28th 2009

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Yoga: Army’s new Mantra in Kashmir

Five minutes of pranayama, i.e. deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing and abdominal breathing; and five minutes of meditation is working wonders for the troops posted on the world’s highest battlefield.

BY DR. KAVITA SURI

Do you belong to that generation of young Indians who, after getting inspired by yoga guru Swami Ramdev, have made the ancient Indian health tradition a part of their modern-day stress-filled lives? If yes, needless to ask how yoga has worked wonders for you. Though it is gaining popularity in recent times, the sages and rishis have been practicing it since aeons at the high peaks of the Himalayas. And when part of these Himalayan ranges turn into the world’s highest and coldest battlefield, the army has to ensure its troops remain in good health and endure extreme weather conditions. Perhaps, this is the reason why the Indian army has adopted yoga for its troops in the Himalayas.

At heights ranging from 11,000 to 21,000 feet with temperatures that can plummet to minus 60 degrees Celsius, the army troops have started yoga for the past few months at the Siachen Glacier, which is the world’s highest battlefield and also in some other parts of Ladakh.

For keeping good health, yoga is a good option especially since any rapid training exercise in the rarefied air with very low oxygen concentration can lead to physical disorders. Soldiers posted on the icy mountains of the Siachen glacier are exposed to the physical extremes of high altitude and hypoxia, besides the psychological stresses of isolation, monotony, separation from family etc. In such circumstances, yoga can prove to be very beneficial. “We recently trained our first batch of soldiers in collaboration with the Morarji Desai Institute of Yoga, New Delhi,” informs the Officer in-charge, High Altitude Medical Research Centre (HAMRC), 153 General Hospital of the 14 Corps which is the highest multi-specialty hospital in the world elaborating that in high altitude medicine and extreme cold conditions elaborates that they have trained various army units in Ladakh with the help of yoga instructors. These trained soldiers have gone back to their respective units and are now imparting yoga training to other soldiers.

“We are trying to make every unit self-sufficient as far as yoga is concerned,” he says, adding the training has been especially designed by HAMRC with DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation).

There are certain things the soldiers are not supposed to do in high altitude areas when they are inducted in these areas which they however, do not know. So, nothing is better than a tailor-made yoga package on the dizzy heights of Siachen. The boys also undergo exams, which are both written and practical as well. When they pass it, they become trainers.

Till now, they have trained hundreds of boys with the help of instructors from Moraraji Desai Institute of Yoga, New Delhi at Karu, Partappur, Kumbathang and other areas in Ladakh with different units. These boys are now successfully imparting yoga lessons to the troops in different forward areas in Ladakh.

It is a combination of ‘pranayama’ and ‘asanas’ and meditation. But even after the training, how successful is the course or training on the glacier where even taking a single step is a big strain in itself?

”Among all the asanas – Surya Namaskar, Pawan Mukhtasana, Padamasana, Dhanurasana, Halasana, that the troops practice at high altitude areas of Ladakh, Pranayama was found to be very useful to the soldiers at the glacier’s top,” informs the officer.

Five minutes of pranayama, i.e. deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing and abdominal breathing; and five minutes of meditation is working wonders for the troops posted on the world’s highest battlefield. ”As there is very small space available inside the posts on the top of the glacier, of all the Asanas and forms of Yoga, ‘Pranayama’ is proving to be very helpful. And for that, you don’t need to have more space”.

As the HAMRC is monitoring the progress of the soldiers, the feedback that they get is that Yoga is extremely helpful in high altitude areas. Those who practice it are well but those who are not are suffering health wise.

As most of the soldiers give up smoking and alcohol before getting inducted, yoga certainly helps them in maintaining good health for those three months when they are posted here. Their physical fitness level increases and mental faculties get sharpened.

Yoga reduces wear and tear of the heart and the HAMRC says that its results show that it produces mental tranquility, greater alertness, flexibility and enhanced tolerance to cold. ”Our objective is the soldier’s ability to survive and efficiency especially on the Siachen glacier where only half as much oxygen as the sea level is available, and the temperatures dip to minus 60 degrees Centigrade,” the officers posted in Siachen inform adding that keeping the troops healthy and fighting fit under such adverse environmental conditions calls for detailed insights into human physiology at extreme altitudes and yoga seems to be the best option in those heights.

Now, as a part of its initiative to keep its troops in good health and shape in insurgency-hit northern sector and also to increase the endurance of troops posted at world’s highest battlefield at Siachen, the Indian army which adopted yoga for its troops in the Himalayas, has achieved wonderful results.

As against 44 cases of suicide and 10 cases of fratricide in 2005, only 34 cases of suicide and a single case of fratricide took place in 2008. Thanks to Indian Yoga which has become popular worldwide and within Indian army also. “Troops of Northern command are deployed in harsh terrain and withstand extremes of weather. Continuous vigil, relentless counter infiltration and counter terror operations coupled with unresolved domestic problems become the causative factors of stress. Because of this, the Army has taken a number of measures to reduce the cases of suicide and fratricides,” informs Colonel DK Kachari,Public Relations Officer,Ministry of Defence,Northern Command.“While our efforts have substantially brought down the related incident levels, a constant effort is to be made towards creating a healthy and happy working environment and development of camaraderie”, he added.

Concrete steps have been initiated in Northern Command Theater, based upon an in-depth analysis of past incidents and identification of windows of prevention. The major causes of these deaths are on account of martial discord and domestic reasons. Other reasons include medical problems, failed love affairs and organizational reasons.

Interestingly, a major initiative was training of counselors. Two separate categories of counselors have been trained by specialists. Of these, one comprises Junior Commissioned Officers from the Army Medical Corps who are to be available at a formation for monitoring stress management programmes, training and advice. The second category comprises Junior Commissioned Officers and Non Commissioned Officers from units who have again been trained to act as a friend and guide at the functional level. They are capable of identifying indicators of stress and take or suggest immediate remedial action to their seniors.

So far, a total of 1200 individuals have been trained and deployed so far.

Some other measures initiated by the army include educating all ranks to understand stress and how to manage it; practice of yoga and other stress relieving techniques; increased emphasis on group cohesion and constant interaction among officers, Junior Commissioned Officers, Other Ranks and their families. Various recreational facilities including multi-gyms are being provided.

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