No harm in glamourising Yoga, says Ramdev

Shilpa Shetty might have attracted flak from a section for her 'sizzling' yoga performance in a recent video but yoga guru Baba Ramdev sees no harm in glamourisation of the ancient healing practise.

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty might have attracted the criticism from a section for her 'sizzling' yoga performance in a recent video but yoga guru Baba Ramdev sees no harm in glamourisation of the ancient healing practise.

"Yoga is attracting people from different walks of life and glamour world. But it is not because of celebrities that this art is becoming popular. Yoga itself is so glamourous and useful that everybody is embracing it," he told a press conference here today.

Ramdev, known for popularising the ancient art of breathing exercise, was accompanied by former Miss Universe Yukta Mukhi.
Asked whether celebrities were needed for popularising yoga among modern generation, the seasoned yoga teacher said, "Yoga does not need support of glamour. But if it is being glamourised, there is no harm in it."

"It is significant that in recent time this art of our great ancestors has overpowered the increasing consumerism," he said.

However, stressing for not converting Yoga into a skin show, Ramdev said he had been always in favour of keeping Yoga "pure and sublime."

"There are hundreds of my women followers who are teaching yoga in several parts of the country. But all of them are doing this with full dignity and simplicity," he said.

Shetty, who released her Yoga video recently, had grabbed the headlines after her reported statement that she was adding "sex appeal" to the ancient art.

Titled 'Shilpa's Yoga', the 60-minute video is shot at exotic Kerala locales and features the Bollywood star teaching some yoga moves.

Yukta Mukhi released a book on Yoga, written by Swami Ramdev, on the occasion.

"In my profession, physical beauty speaks more than inner beauty. And I have experienced that thare is no other medium to get lasting beauty than the Yoga. It heals my body, mind and the soul," she said.