Ex-Indian army officer Chatterjee inspires fitness trends in China
BEIJING: Siddharth Chatterjee, the head of the UN in China, is making waves on Chinese social media where he showcased his tough yoga and fitness exploits, including breathing exercises in sub-zero temperatures, which he says helped him to maintain physical and mental equilibrium.
Chatterjee, the UN Resident Coordinator for China, recently released a documentary on the efficacy of deep breathing exercises, which he said will provide immunity from viruses like COVID-19.
Chatterjee’s four-and-ahalf-minute documentary titled “Breathing for Good Health” starts with the recitation of the ancient Sanskrit symbol of “Om”, sitting shirtless on a frozen lake bed in Beijing, practising deep breathing workout followed by stomach churning and Sheersh Asan, the headstand exercise has gone viral in social media in China. “Breathing is the first thing we do when we come to the world and the last thing we do when we leave it,” he says as he sets to begin the exercise in the sub-zero temperature. Chatterjee, 60, said when he was appointed as the lead UN diplomat in China in 2020, he was close to obesity with high cholesterol, hypertension, and pre-diabetic with a high heart rate.
With high-intensity breathing, fasting and cold exposure, he lost 25 kgs while managing to attain normal blood pressure and other standard health parameters that helped him to achieve physical and mental equilibrium.
Chatterjee’s appointment to head 26 UN offices in China made headlines as it came amid the India-China tensions over the eastern Ladakh standoff which is still unresolved.