KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) are hoping to include two events trampoline and aerobics into their programme for the first time in a bid to expand and develop the sport in the country.

MGFs current programme has three disciplines rhythmic gymnastics as well as mens and womens artistic gymnastics.

And whats more, trampoline gymnastics, an Olympic discipline which involves gymnasts (mens and womens individual or duo) performing routines incorporating somersaults, jumps and twists at a height of eight metres will be contested for the first time at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore and will also be contested in the Asian Games and World Cup.

With the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) providing two Eurotramp trampolines, MGF president Razak Mat Amin said it was high time for Malaysian gymnastics to take up the discipline.

Trampoline is an Olympic discipline and our neighbours in the region have already included it into their programme so I think it is high time we do so too, said Razak at the first MGF council meeting of the year.

We definitely have the talent and the right stature and frame to excel in the sport and in 2017 Kuala Lumpur will host the SEA Games so we would definitely like to be able to have gymnasts involved, he added.

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19. MGF jump at the chance to include aerobics and trampoline

Smithsonian Launching Worlds 1st Yoga History Exhibit

Yoga: The Art of Transformation, termed as worlds first exhibition of the visual history of yoga, will be held at Smithsonian in Washington DC (USA), world's largest museum and research complex, from October 19 to January 26 next.

Through over 130 stone and bronze sculptures, devotional icons, illustrated manuscripts, court paintings, photographs, books, missionary postcards, magic posters, medical illustrations and films borrowed from 25 museums and collections worldwide; some as old as 3rd century; it will reportedly explore over 2,000 years yogas goals, manifestations, meanings, down-to-earth aspects, central tenets, obscured histories, importance, means of transforming body and consciousness, profound philosophical foundations, visual culture and varied roles yogis/yoginis played in society.

Applauding Smithsonian for exhibition highlighting yoga, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, yoga was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted that yoga was referred as a living fossil whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. Zed added.

Rajan Zed pointed out that yoga had become a global phenomenon and there were splendid yoga studios all over the world. About 20-million Americans practice yoga and about $11-billion goes into yoga gear and classes annually, reports suggest. According to National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress.

This exhibition will reportedly include stone yogini goddesses from Chola temple, folios from the first illustrated compilation of asanas from 1602, watercolor Visnu Vishvarupa, sandstone Yogini on Owl sculpture, first movie ever produced about India Hindoo Fakir (a Thomas Edison film, 1906), 12-foot scroll of the chakra body and earliest illustrated Yoga Vasishta. Public programs, symposium, concerts and family activities will accompany this presentation. It will later travel to the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2014.

Founded in 1846, Smithsonian, whose tagline is "seriously amazing", has 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, nine research centers and over 177 affiliate museums around the world; about 137 million objects; and over 30 million annual visitors. France A. Cordova and G. Wayne Clough are Board Chair and Secretary respectively, while Debra Diamond is Curator of this exhibition.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three-million Hindus in USA.

ENDS

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Smithsonian Launching World’s 1st Yoga History Exhibit

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Mobile phone calls may cause a rise in blood pressure; yoga may lower it; and despite the need to cut back on sodium to lower blood pressure, hypertensive individuals may have an increased desire for saltier foods.

These are the findings of new studies to be discussed at the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) in San Francisco, starting May 15 - 18, 2013.

Members of the medical community from across the globe will discuss the about high blood pressure, considered as the "silent killer," and which affects approximately one billion people worldwide.

During the conference, more than 200 new studies about hypertension will be shared, with the goal of increasing the understanding of hypertension and one day curing it altogether.

William B. White, MD, ASH President and 2013 Scientific Program Committee Chair added, "The ASH meeting brings together the country's top scientists in clinical hypertension to give numerous state-of-the-art lectures on a wide variety of topics in hypertension and related clinical concerns."

According to a recent study from doctors G. Crippa; D. Zabzuni; A. Cassi; and E. Bravi of Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, talking on mobile phones causes a significant rise in blood pressure. During a phone call, blood pressure readings jumped significantly from 121/77 to 129/82.

Systolic blood pressure rise was less drastic in patients who were used to participating in more than 30 phone calls per day. While the reason behind this is not known, Dr. Crippa speculates two possible reasons: "The subset of patients who were more accustomed to phone use were younger, which could show that younger people are less prone to be disturbed by telephone intrusions. Another possibility is that people who make more than 30 calls per day may feel more reassured if the mobile phone is activated since they are not running the risk of missing an opportunity."

Yoga calms the mind and works out the body, but now, a study on the effects of yoga on hypertension concluded that yoga could significantly lower blood pressure.

The 24-week study, conducted by Debbie L. Cohen, MD; Anne Bowler, BA and Raymond R. Townsend, MD of the University of Pennsylvania, showed that people who practiced yoga 2 - 3 times per week saw their blood pressure decrease significantly: an average of three points for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, from 133/80 to 130/77.

Participants who only followed a controlled diet-and did not practice yoga-saw only a decrease of one point, from 134/83 to 132/82.

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Yoga lowers blood pressure while cell phone use raises it