Yoga

Just consider these instances for gauging the popularity and scope of yoga: a group of U.S. war veterans took to yoga classes to help them control their post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) symptoms. Or, the Indian Defence Ministry telling the Delhi High Court that it would include yoga and other training as part of stress management for armed personnel to prevent them from committing suicide due to work-related stress. Or, big companies organising yoga classes for its e mployees to cool off and ‘de-stress’ themselves.
In India there are only a few universities and colleges which offer yoga and yoga therapy courses.
Institutes
The Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy under the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on its website identifies only 10 such colleges in the country — three in Karnataka, four in Tamil Nadu, one each in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Chattisgarh.
There are about 30 universities offering certificates, diploma and degree courses in yoga. Some universities even offer courses ranging from certificate to Ph.D level.
The institutes offering five or five-and-a-half years’ Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences are:
• Government Naturopathic Medical College, Hyderabad (30 seats);
• SDM College of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Ujire, Karanataka (60 seats);
• JSS Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Mysore Road, Ootacamund (60 seats);
• Shivaraj Naturapathy and Yoga Medical College, Salem (40 seats);
• Government Naturopathy and Yoga Medical College and Hospital, Anna Nagar, Chennai (15 seats);
• SRK Medical College of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Kulasekharam, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu (40 seats);
• Mahavir College of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Durg, Chattisgarh (40 seats);
• Alvas College of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Moodbidri, Karnataka (25 seats);
• KLES College of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Shahapur, Belgaum, Karnataka (25 seats);
• Morarji Desai Institute of Naturopathy and Yoga (50 seats);
• Government Nature Cure and Yoga College, PKTR Hospital, Mysore (25 seats).
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA), Bangalore, an university approved by Government of India in the field of Yoga and Science, offers short-term and long-term courses, Bachelor of Science in Yoga ( B.Sc. Yoga); Postgraduate Diploma in Yoga Therapy (PGDYT), Postgraduate Diploma in Yoga Therapy for Doctors, Master of Science in Yoga (M.Sc. Yoga), Doctor of Medicine in Yoga and Rehabilitation (MD Yoga and Rehabilitation) and Doctoral Degree in Yoga (Ph.D. Yoga).
The Physical Education Department of Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College in Kozhikode, under the Calicut University, is offering a two-year, four-semester University Grants Commission-aided innovative programme — M.Sc. in Health and Yoga Therapy.