Nevada (USA) : A US based Hindu group has commended American Major League Baseball team Oakland Athletics for embracing yoga as a part of daily workout and have urged sports teams around the world to do the same for their players. This "baseball-specific" yoga is claimed, according to a news-release posted on Athletics website, to provide "significant benefits in terms of breathing, flexibility and injury prevention". Calling it a "step in the right direction", Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on Saturday, suggested all sports teams to incorporate yoga in the daily routine of the players. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all.
According to United States National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress.
About 16 million Americans, including many celebrities, now reportedly practice yoga.
It was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.
Established in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) in 1901, Athletics moved to Oakland (California) in 1968. Robert Paul Melvin is the manager.
Source : New Kerala
