Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga

A True Light-house Institution in Public Health.

If you are involved with Yoga in any formal capacity, you are certain to have come across the name Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga [MDNIY]. An autonomous organisation located in New Delhi under Ministry of AYUSH, it has claims of being India’s premier Yoga institute, and one of the leading Yoga institutions of the world.

The Institute was established in 1970, as a hospital, opened by the now non-existent Council for Research in India Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy under the VishwayatanYogashram. Later the hospital was converted into an institute named Central Research Institute for Yoga [CRIY] in 1976, to provide free training to people and to organize research on Yoga. In 1988, the institute was further renamed as Morarji Desai National Instituted of Yoga with an expanded mandate.

Today MDNIY is a focal institute for planning, promotion and coordination of Yoga education, training, therapy and research in all its aspects. MDNIY aims to promote deeper understanding of Yoga philosophy and practices among the  people based on classical Yoga. The Institute is housed in a campus measuring 2.8 acres, and is equipped with amenities such as a conference hall with audio visual facilities accommodating 50 people, an auditorium with a capacity of 140 people, a library with a collection of over 9000 books on Yoga and related topics, a practice hall (Kriya block) for 30 people, and an academic block for classes and practices. The out-patient facility of the Institute has therapists, dieticians and medical officers offering consultancy services, a laboratory with physiological and biochemical testing and research facilities and an x-ray unit. MDNIY also has a multimedia centre with audio-visual support.

Several new initiatives have been undertaken during the current year to accomplish the objectives of the institute and to cater to the present-day demands. The educational programmes - Diploma in Yoga Therapy (DYT) of two years duration and Diploma in Yoga Studies (DYS) of one year duration -  are being conducted successfully. Yoga training and therapy programmes are growing in popularity. Summer Yoga camps were organized in different parts of Delhi. The Institute has taken the initiative to establish preventiven health care units of Yoga in 10 CGHS dispensaries in NCT of Delhi. The institute has actively participated in the Arogya Exhibition Organized by the Ministry of AYUSH at different places.

Today, as the significance of Yoga as an instrument of Public Health has considerably increased, MDNIY has successfully positioned itself to lead the Yoga fraternity of the country to greater professional competencies