Baba Ramdev addresses the yoga camp in Cuttack on Wednesday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Feb. 13: Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru, today promised an aggregate weight loss of approximately 50,000kg among participants in his Cuttack camp in the next five days.

Thousands are expected to participate in yogic Baba’s first camp in Cuttack. The event is being organised at the new Baliyatra Maidan on the banks of the Mahanadi and it attracted over 4,000-odd enthusiasts on the first day.

“More than 20,000 people in and around Cuttack are expected to attend the camp, which will continue for six-days, that is till February 18, and will focus on yogic postures with breathing techniques called pranayama and meditation,” said an organiser.

“I have brought to you a package of seven simple breathing exercises. These would be enough to keep minor ailments away,” stressed Baba Ramdev, as he began his camp at 5.30am sharp after a brief introduction by the organisers.

“My goal is to create an awareness about yoga and teach people its benefits here. Man has the innate powers to remain healthy. Pranayama activates these inner powers,” he said, while demonstrating the seven pranayamas.

The yoga guru claimed that participants of the six-day camp would lose 2 to 4kg.

The yoga guru’s first camp was in Bhubaneswar in January 2007.

Earlier, on Tuesday evening the guru told reporters that a “scientific study” conducted by his Patanjali Yogpeeth in Hardwar had revealed that yoga and pranayama helps in bringing about positive psycho-somatic effect in people.

The study conducted by Acharya Balkrishna was carried out among 5-lakh people between the ages of 25 and 50 years in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, United States of America, Thailand, Australia, Canada and United Arab Emirates.

“More than 90 per cent of the people in the target group admitted that yoga and pranayama helped them quit smoking, drinking and other addictions such as chewing gutkha or consuming tobacco,” he added.