Image Source: THE HINDU

Indian Embassy announced online free yoga classes to Americans to keep them"fit", "healthy" and "cheerful" as they are forced to stay at home and work from home due to the fast spreading novel coronavirus that has taken the lives of more than 1,100 people. “We are happy to announce the online Yoga classes during weekdays @ 5 PM EST, starting from Monday, March 30, 2020. The classes will be live streamed through the Embassy's Facebook page," the embassy tweeted. "A good initiative by the Embassy to keep healthy and cheerful while working from home," Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India's Ambassador to the US, tweeted. The online yoga teaching would be imparted by Moxraj, the teacher of Indian culture at the Indian Embassy. Such an announcement by the Indian Embassy comes days after the Harvard Medical School recommended yoga, meditation and controlled breathing to address anxiety issues related to the novel coronavirus. "Regular meditation is very calming. Many apps teach simple forms of meditation, such as Headspace or Calm," wrote John Sharp, a board-certified psychiatrist on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles. "Not a yoga person? No need to start now unless you'd like to try it. Sometimes trying new things and discovering new activities you can benefit from and enjoy can be a welcome, healthy distraction. Yoga Studio and Pocket Yoga are good apps to consider," he said. According to the CNN, the United States now has the highest number of known cases of the novel coronavirus in the world with more than 82,000 confirmed infections. The cases in the US have surpassed China and Italy. The total number of deaths in the US are at least 1,195.