Mo Beach Yoga: Unique Beach Based Public Health Programme For Covid-19 and Environment Awareness

Puri: After the success of Mo Beach campaign and the Blue Flag eco label accorded to the Golden Beach, Puri is now all set to step up to promote public health and Environment Education in a novel way while ensuring the new norms of safety for Covid-19. In its endeavor to reinvent and prepare a resilient tourism that would facilitate public accessibility to the beach while encouraging public health and environment sustainability, the administration has envisaged a Unique Beach based Public Health Programme – Mo Beach Yoga.

As one among the eight beaches of India to have been accorded the ‘Blue Flag’ eco label, Puri’s Golden Beach, identified under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP), implemented the activities and facilities enlisted in the Extraordinary Gazette Notification issued by the Centre that ensures four important criteria -water quality, environmental management, environmental education and safety, early this year. This qualified the beach to preserve its pristine marine environment & fauna & flora while making it more accessible to the public, including amenities for children.

Yoga, forms of self-healing techniques, practiced in India from ages, is a great tool to help improve respiratory health and immunity.Useful in allaying fears and anxiety, Yoga plays a significant role in the psycho-social care and rehabilitation and has been helpful during the pandemic for people in quarantine and isolation. The Yogasanas, Pranayam, meditation & relaxation practices are known to help modulate physiological responses to stress. On top of it, practicing Yoga amid nature – with the Panchatatva (Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Sky) – play the most pivotal role in the overall functioning of our mind and body.

Mo Beach Yoga is a first of its kind beach campaign that is aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle habits and promoting Sustainable Development Goals in the most natural way while leveraging public participation for fostering wellbeing tourism. The programme is a pilot project of the Directorate of AYUSH, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Odisha which is being organized in collaboration with Beach Management Committee of Puri District Administration at the Puri Beach on October 17-18, 2020 at 5:30 AM. It starts with 200 participants, all COVID recovered person spread across in 10 selected locations of the beach. All COVID Guidelines will be maintained through the programme. Each location will have 20 participants and 1 instructor along with 1 on ground trainer to help in improving the postures. The instructors have been trained and oriented by Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, Puri for this special purpose.

The programme is organized on a pilot basis to learn from the experience of recovered people who are invited to this programme from all walks of life. It is an initiative to promote efficacy of Yoga which can be a useful aid in facilitating early recovery of COVID – 19.

The pilot project would also set the benchmark for resilient and safety methods to be adopted for on-ground implementation while making judicious use of traditional therapies and local sustainable solutions. The participants will be provided with basic support infrastructure and amenities like drinking water, organized platforms etc. This Yoga on the Beach will be conducted in a well-organized ambience providing a very special experience of yoga with the sound of the waves and perfecting your poses to a breathtaking panoramic view of the sea early in the morning – the ideal time to recharge your mental and physical energies.