INTERNATIONAL DAY
OF
YOGA-JUNE 21
Yoga is a 5,000-year-old physical,
mental and spiritual practice Having its origin in India, Which Aims to
transform both body and mind. On December 11 in 2014, the United Nations
General Assembly declared June 21st as the International Day of Yoga. The
declaration came after the call for the adoption of June 21st as International Day
of Yoga by Hon’ble Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi during his address
to UN General Assembly on September 27, 2014 wherein he stated: "Yoga is
an invaluable gift of India's ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and
body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and
nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise
but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. “In
Suggesting June 21, which is the Summer Solstice, as the International Day of
Yoga, Mr. Narendra Modi had said that, "the date is the longest day of the
year in the Northern Hemisphere and has special significance in many parts of
the world. "
Yogi and mystic, Sadhguru notes the
importance of this day in the yogic tradition: “On the day of the summer
solstice, Adiyogi [the first yogi] turned south and first set his eyes on the
Saptarishis or Seven Sages, who were his first disciples to carry the science
of yoga to many parts of the world. It is wonderful that June 21 marks this
momentous event in the history of humanity.”“175 nations, including USA, Canada
and China co-sponsored the resolution.” It Had the "highest number of
co-sponsors ever for any UNGA Resolution of such nature."
The idea to celebrate World Yoga Day
has Been Proposed by many. Amongst them is a call by Significant international
Humanitarian and meditation and Yoga Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in December two
thousand and eleven.Following the Adoption of the UN Resolution, Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar lauded the Efforts of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi,
stating That "It is very Difficult for any philosophy, religion or culture
to survive without state patronage. Now, official recognition by the UN would Further
spread the benefit of Yoga to the entire world. "The word ‘yoga’ derives
from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and
consciousness.Today it is practiced in various forms around the world and
continues to grow in popularity.International Yoga Day aims to raise awareness
worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.
Yoga Day, is celebrated annually on
June 21 since its inception in 2015. An international day for yoga was declared
by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on December 11, 2014, almost
unanimously. Yoga is a physical,mental, and/ or spiritual practice attributed
mostly to India. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his UN Address
suggested the date of June 21, as it is the longest day of the year in the
Northern Hemisphere and shares special significance in many parts of the world.
The idea of an International Day of Yoga was although first proposed by
Narendra Modi during his speech at the UNGA , on September 27, 2014 but
Neighboring country Nepal has started to celebrate World Yoga day before 36
years, only few SAARC country has agreed and signed Nepal Proposal for to celebrate
yoga day.
Yoga embodies unity of mind and body;
thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man and nature; a
holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to
discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By
changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help in well being .
Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day."On December 11,
2014, India's Permanent Representative Asoke Mukherji introduced the draft
resolution in UNGA. The draft text received broad support from 177 Member
States who adopted the text without a vote. This initiative found support from
many global leaders. A total of 175 nations co-sponsored the resolution and had
the highest number of co-sponsors ever for any UNGA Resolution of such nature.
The first International Day of Yoga
was observed world over on June 21, 2015. The Ministry of AYUSH made the
necessary arrangements in India. 35,985 people, including Narendra Modi and a
large number of dignitaries from 84 nations, performed 21yoga asanas (postures)
for 35 minutes at Rajpath in New Delhi. The day devoted to yoga was observed by
millions across the world. NCC cadets entered the Limca Book of Records for the
"Largest Yoga performance simultaneously by a single uniformed youth
organisation" by performing at multiple venues.
The event at Rajpath established two
Guinness world records awarded to the Ministry of AYUSH and received by AYSH minister
Shripad Yesso Naik. The two records were for the largest yoga class, featuring
35,985 people, and for the largest number of participating nationalities (84
nations).
The 2nd year, Mr. Modi joined
thousands of people in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh as they pulled
their mats out for a massive demonstration. World over, 173 countries will
celebrate the discipline Tuesday ( 21ST June,2016).“Yoga helps us reconnect with ourselves,” Mr. Modi
said, addressing participants at his event.On Monday, Mr. Modi also released a
set of commermorative postal stamps showing the various.
The declaration of International Day
of Yoga is the great moment for the India in the history. It took less than
three months to be declared as the World Yoga Day by the United Nations General
Assembly. Narendra Modi had called for it on 27th of September in 2014 which
was finally declared on 11th of December in 2014. It was first ever in the
history that the initiative of any country has been proposed and implemented in
the UN body within 90 days. This resolution has been adopted under the Global
Health and Foreign Policy by the General Assembly in order to provide a
holistic approach to the people worldwide for their health and well-being.
In order to create a great level of
consciousness and positively changing the lifestyle of worldwide human
population Indian PM, Mr. Narendra Modi has put his views for adopting a day
especially for yoga while address to the United Nations General Assembly. He
asked to the world leaders for adopting international Yoga day to deal with the
declining health because of negative climate changes. Especially, he suggested
21st of June for adopting the International Day of Yoga as this day is the
longest day in Northern Hemisphere regions as well as of great significance for
people in many parts of the world.
World Yoga Day Celebration
The celebration of the event
International day of yoga is supported by various global leaders. It is
celebrated by the people of more than 170 countries including USA, China,
Canada, etc. It is celebrated on international level by organizing the
activities like yoga training campus, yoga competitions and so many activities
to enhance the awareness about yoga benefits among common public all over the
world. It is celebrated to let people know that regular yoga practice lead to
the better mental, physical and intellectual health. It positively changes the
lifestyle of the people and increase the level of well-being.
All members, observer states, United
Nations system organizations, other international organizations, regional
organizations, civil society, governmental organizations, non-governmental
organizations, and individuals get together to celebrate the International Day
of Yoga in suitable manner according to the national priorities to raise the
awareness about yoga.
Objectives of World Yoga Day
International Day of Yoga has been
adopted to fulfill the following objectives:
• To
let people know the amazing and natural benefits of yoga.
• To
connect people to the nature by practicing yoga.
• To
make people get used of meditation through yoga.
• To
draw attention of people worldwide towards the holistic benefits of yoga.
• To
reduce the rate of health challenging diseases all over the world.
• To
bring communities much close together to spend a day for health from busy
schedule.
• To
enhance growth, development and spread peace all through the world.
• To
help people in their bad situations themselves by getting relief from stress
through yoga.
• To
strengthen the global coordination among people through yoga.
• To
make people aware of physical and mental diseases and its solutions through
practicing yoga.
• To
protect unhealthy practices and promote and respect the good practices to make
health better.
• To
let people know their rights of good health and healthy life style to
completely enjoy the highest standard of physical and mental health.
• To
link between protection of health and sustainable health development.
• To
get win over all the health challenges through regular yoga practice.
• To
promote better metal and physical health of people through yoga
Prof. John Kurakar
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