Siachen: High on Yoga

Yoga, a 6,000 year old practice that originated in ancient India is changing the lives of hundreds and thousands of people worldwide. Though it has gained popularity in West in recent times, the sages and rishis of India have been practicing it since ages at the high peaks of the Himalayas. But when part of these Himalayan ranges turn into the world’s highest and coldest battlefield, there is a need to ensure that our soldiers guarding our dizzy heights remain in good health and endure extreme weather conditions. Perhaps, this is the reason why the Indian army has adopted yoga for its troops in the Himalayas of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.

In those icy altitudes of Himalayas in Ladakh which itself is a high altitude cold desert in the border state of J&K, there is a huge deployment of Indian army owing to the geo-political significance of this region. However, the soldiers who are posted in high altitude areas have some ill-effect of altitudes on their health. This is the reason that the soldiers posted on the highest battlefield of the world -Siachen- have tenure of three months only as the altitudes make the soldiers vulnerable to high altitude sickness, hypoxia (deficiency of oxygen reaching the tissues) and the psychological stresses of isolation, monotony and separation from their family.

But even those three-months on the glacier in the two-year tenure in the Siachen region could be a real test of one’s physical and psychological mettle. At altitude varying between 11,000-21,000 feet and temperature dipping to -60 degree Celsius, slight physical activity on the part of the soldiers leave them gasping for breath which can trigger off other health related problems.

For the well being of soldiers in Ladakh, the Indian Army has been training them in yoga for almost ten years now which is helping in their good health and psychological well-being besides other related things.

“In the high altitude areas, as the oxygen decreases in 3000 meters altitude, the human body experiences lot of health related problems. Sub acute mountain sickness, Incidence Systemic Hypertension, hypoxia and many problems crop up due to altitude. The body needs to adjust to it by producing more red cells. To start the production it usually takes a couple of days,” informs an army doctor posted in the area adding high altitude sickness is common with various symptoms such as nausea, headache, fatigue, and so on.  The body also constantly loses heat to the environment.

Hypoxia affects the short-term memory of jawans as lack of oxygen impairs the brain cells. The physical capacity and the load carrying capacity of the soldiers decrease considerably due to lack of oxygen. The soldiers need to perform certain form of exercise at those heights to accustom their heart and lungs to the low oxygen content in the atmosphere.

Then why Yoga in Ladakh’s high posts? The answer simply lies in the huge benefits of this ancient Indian health tradition.

For keeping good health, Yoga is a good option especially since any rapid training exercise in the rarefied air with very low oxygen concentration can lead to physical disorders. There is a limit to the body’s physiological manipulation in sub-human conditions as soldiers need to work in the temperature as high as 40 degrees Celsius to as low as -60 degrees Celsius. 

Keeping in view the health hazards faced by the soldiers due to their postings in high altitude areas of Ladakh, a parliamentary panel had recommended in early 2006 that the Indian Army immediately introduce yoga for its soldiers in field areas to de-stress them. It recommended that there was an imperative need for regular lectures and exercises on yoga techniques to de-stress the soldiers in field units. Thus the initiative to start yoga at the high altitude areas was taken. The institution responsible for this innovation was DRDO’s Defence Institute of Physiological and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) which aimed at helping the armed forces acclimatize soldiers to adverse operational terrain like deserts, snow-clad mountains, underwater and aerospace.

Finally yoga was introduced for the soldiers who served in the Northern Command especially in Ladakh. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and junior-commissioned officers (JCOs) were taught to impart training to the jawans while trainers were invited from institutions such as the Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga and the Central Institute of Yoga, Delhi.

In the past few years, over 2500 soldiers have been trained in yoga. Yoga in Ladakh is a combination of ‘pranayama’ and ‘asanas’ and meditation. Surya Namaskar, Pawan Mukhtasana, Padamasana, Dhanurasana, Halasana are being practiced by troops at high altitude areas of Ladakh.

Five minutes of pranayama, i.e. deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing and abdominal breathing; and five minutes of meditation is working wonders for the troops posted on the world’s highest battlefield. As there is very small space available inside the posts on the top of the glacier, of all the Asanas and forms of Yoga, ‘Pranayama’ is proving to be very helpful.

“In Siachen area, many cases of Incidence Systemic Hypertension, Incidence HA Illness, High Altitude Pulmonary Odema, Deep Vain Thrombosis, Sub Acute Adult Mountain Sickness were common few years back but with yoga and more facilities being created for the soldiers, the jawans have been reporting lesser number of such cases,” inform the army officers posted in Ladakh.

High Altitude Medical Research Centre (HAMRC), 153 General Hospital of the 14 Corps which is the World's highest medical research centre at Leh, Ladakh, monitors the progress of the soldiers with regard to their health and yoga practices in Ladakh. According to the doctors at High Altitude Medical Research Centre (HAMRC) which is focusing on high-altitude medicine, yoga reduces wear and tear of the heart and produces mental tranquility, greater alertness, flexibility and enhanced tolerance of the cold. The objective is the soldier’s ability to survive and efficiency especially on the Siachen glacier where only half as much oxygen as the sea level is available and the temperatures dip to minus 60 degrees Centigrade. The troops are fighting fit under such adverse environmental conditions and yoga seems to be the best option for them in those heights.

HAMRC has concluded that by practicing a few minutes of pranayama (breathing technique), gentle asanas (postures) and meditation, many of the soldiers have testified to the physical and mental benefits in Ladakh. Deep breathing techniques used in yoga practice have been successful in averting hypoxia. Among all the asanas – Surya Namaskar, Pawan Mukhtasana, Padamasana, Dhanurasana, Halasana, which the troops practice at high altitude areas of Ladakh, Pranayama was found to be very useful to the soldiers at the glacier’s top.

The HAMRC supervised the training of first batch of soldiers in Ladakh in 2003 in collaboration with the Morarji Desai Institute of Yoga, New Delhi. As the HAMRC is monitoring the progress of the soldiers, the feedback that they have is that Yoga is extremely helpful in high altitude areas. Their physical fitness level increases and mental faculties get sharpened. It also helps improve their martial skills. 

The army has now trained many of its soldiers of its various army units in Ladakh with the help of yoga instructors. These trained soldiers have gone back to their respective units and are now imparting yoga training to other soldiers. The aim is to make every unit self-sufficient as far as yoga is concerned. Till now, they have trained hundreds of boys with the help of instructors at Karu, Partappur, Kumbathang and other areas in Ladakh with different units. These boys are now successfully imparting yoga lessons to the troops in different forward areas in Ladakh.

The recent trends show that there has been a shocking increase in the incidences of fragging (army soldiers opening fire at their own colleagues and officers) among Indian army. Yoga can be used for lessening such incidences and better mental makeup of the soldiers and also for reducing depression and isolation.