Yoga centres, gyms set to reopen after 4 months
Bhubaneswar: After a gap of four months, yoga centres and gyms across the city are set to reopen from Wednesday. But there’s a catch. The owners of several yoga centres said they will open with fewer people, increase the number of practice sessions and continue with the online classes as many members may not turn up owing to the fear of exposure to the virus. Similarly, gyms are also getting ready with more space between equipment, frequent sanitisation and fogging, and multiple time slots.
The Centre on Monday issued the standard operating procedure (SOP) for yoga centres and gyms and said people above 65 years of age and with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below 10 years are not advised to use gyms in closed spaces. The advisory mandates a distance of at least 6ft between participants and the use of masks at all the time inside the premises. The health ministry has also suggested not to practise yogic kriyas like nasal cleaning (neti), (cleaning of respiratory system) kapal bhati, stomach cleaning (dhouti) for the time being. If at all, they must be done in open spaces.
“We are going to take all the precautionary measures like thermal checking, maintaining proper hygiene and use of gloves. Though it is not advisable to wear masks while doing asanas, those who are comfortable in them may keep them on. We are planning to conduct more practice sessions with fewer members. Those with heart and lung problems and asthma patients can practice at home,” Narayan Nanda, director of Prayaas Yoga and Research Institute, said. He added that the institute, which used to have more than 40 people in each batch earlier, will now restrict it to 10 and will continue its online classes for those who do not want to venture out yet.
However, many yoga centres are skeptical about the return of the fitness enthusiasts amid the steady rise in cases in the city as well as the state. “With no let-up in Covid cases, we are not going to reopen now, but will wait for some more days before taking any decision. Even if we open our centre, not many will turn up owing to the fear of the infection. Besides, there are issues of wearing masks and maintaining distances,” a member of Satyananada Yogashrama, another yoga centre in Bhubaneswar, said.
Though the SOP calls for the use of available outdoor spaces and minimum physical contact between the trainer and practitioner, maintaining social distance is a challenge for some centres. “During the practice sessions, we have to correct the postures of people. Besides, wearing a mask during asanas is not comfortable and there will be a need for more space to maintain social distance, so we may not open from August 5,” Sanatan Mahakud of Vivekananda Yoga Therapy and Research Centre, said.
“We have started sanitising the gym and are waiting for the health freaks to start pouring in. From checking the temperature, wearing face shields and gloves, we will take every possible preventive measure. There will be enough space between equipment and each one will be sanitised after every use. Shower and steam bath will not be allowed for the time being as everyone will be required to bring their own mats, towels and water bottles,” Nihar Mullick, the owner of the Bhubaneswar Health Club, said.
The All Odisha Gym Owners’ Association have urged the state government to provide some relief in terms of waiving the electricity bill or tax on POS machine to the owners of those gyms, which have been suffered huge losses because of the prolonged closure for the last four months. “Doing exercises regularly will help improve one’s immunity. Besides, reopening the gyms will ensure the livelihood of hundreds of trainers and other workers engaged in the industry,” Satyajit, president of the association, said.
Fitness trainers also lamented job loss and lack of work owing to the pandemic in the last few months. “This life-threatening disease has made life difficult for many of us. I was thinking of taking up some other profession for survival. Thankfully, the government has allowed the gyms to reopen,” Umesh Sahu, a fitness trainer, said.