Incorporate yoga to reduce non-communicable diseases: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday urged people across the world to incorporate yoga in their daily life.

It said that such a practice will reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases including heart disease, diabetes and respiratory diseases.

"Yoga can be practiced anywhere by people of all age groups, irrespective of their socio-economic status. It fits in very well with the healthy lifestyle that WHO has been strongly advocating for, throughout the life cycle - from childhood to healthy ageing," WHO's Southeast Asian regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh said.

She said that the United Nation's decisions to observe June 21 as the International Yoga Day is a recognition of this ancient Indian practice which has become global.

"The day will rightly put the spotlight on physical exercise, much needed in today's world when sedentary lifestyle is becoming a leading cause of illness," she said in a statement issued on Friday prior to the International Yoga Day.

Emphasising that the Southeast Asia region had a long history and rich heritage in traditional medicines and practices that contributes to health and wellness of the people, she said that Yoga was one of the finest traditional therapeutic system.

"Yoga is believed to offer means for actualisation of human potential to perfection through its three-dimensional approach to health - physical, mental and spiritual. Yoga is very much relevant even today - as it is both a physical activity and an effective way of managing stress," said Singh, adding that the world was fortunate that such traditional medical practices have survived over the centuries.