Bareilly: Mental hospital officials have decided to conduct regular yoga classes for inmates. “Only those inmates, who are fit, will be encouraged to participate in yoga classes,” they said.First yoga class was conducted here on Sunday, while the second class will take place on Thursday. Yoga classes will be held every Sunday for a few weeks, and once more inmates are motivated to join the classes, it will be conducted daily,” they said.Director, mental hospital, Dr Pramila Gaur said, “As yoga is good for our health, it has been decided to conduct classes for inmates. I had approached a yoga trainer, who conducted class on Sunday, for inmates and staff, but we received lukewarm response from patients. We will now encourage more inmates to participate in yoga classes for 30 minutes.”“In the first phase, the classes will be held only on Sundays, and as International Yoga Day will be observed on Thursday, we will observe it here as well to mark the occasion. However, when majority of patients are motivated to do yoga, classes will be conducted every day,” said Dr Gaur.According to officials, at present, nearly 250 patients are admitted at the hospital. Sources said the hospital has around 20 unidentified patients who have recovered from illness and are fit to return home.Officials said yoga classes would be very beneficial for cured inmates.Dr CP Mall, senior psychiatrist, said, “Though no research has been done on the effect of yoga on the health of mental patients, it is considered that it will have positive effect on the patients. The challenge is to motivate patients to take part in the activity. We believe after seeing few inmates performing yoga, others will volunteer too.”

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