Individuals From 118 Cities Across 17 Countries Perform Over 33,000 Surya Namaskars

After Ministry of AYUSH’s global Surya Namaskar demonstration programme on the occasion of Makar Sankranti last month, India’s leading organisation specializing in Diabetes Reversal – Freedom from Diabetes (FFD) held a virtual worldwide event to perform 108 Surya Namaskars on the auspicious occasion of Ratha Saptami which fell on 7 Feb 2022. To celebrate the birth anniversary of Lord Surya, close to 500 individuals across ages ranging from 19 to 73 years, from 118 cities across 17 countries attempted to perform 108 cycles of Surya Namaskar at a stretch. Under the guidance of FFD’s founder – Dr Pramod Tripathi, over 300 participants successfully managed to perform 108 Surya Namaskars.

Ratha Saptami falls on the seventh day of February and is symbolically represented in the form of the Sun God Surya turning his chariot drawn by seven horses towards the northern hemisphere. Surya Namaskar, a combination of 8 asanas, performed in 12 steps, in coordination with mind and the body, is practiced as a salutation to the Sun to express gratitude for its life giving and nourishing properties.

“Last month, the Ministry of AYUSH hosted a global Surya Namaskar demonstration programme for 7.5 million individuals on Makar Sankranti. This exercise was an extension to India’s efforts in promoting Yoga as a sustainable lifestyle for everyone. At FFD, we too firmly believe in power of Yoga and performing Surya Namaskar on Ratha Saptami was our attempt to promote the practice further. Also, practicing Surya Namaskar is one of the basic steps in the diabetes reversal programme offered to our participants. We are glad that in our small way we could encourage individuals to practice Surya Namaskar through this activity,” says Dr Pramod Tripathi, Founder, FFD.

Dr Pramod Tripathi is a pioneer of diabetes reversal in India. Since 2013, through his FFD initiative, he has helped 11314 diabetics free themselves from dependency on either insulin or medicines or both. He is currently on a mission to free 100,000 diabetics by 2025.