International Yoga Day is celebrated every year on 21 June. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) started in 2014. Accordingly, it was first celebrated in 2015. But, this idea was first conceived by our Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his speech at the United Nations. Ayush is for this purpose. The aim of AYUSH is Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.
what is yoga?
As many of us already know, yoga is a physical, mental, spiritual and cultural practice. This practice is now around 5000 years old. Yoga has many benefits such as mental peace, calmness and confidence to the individual. Enhancing our knowledge is a Vedic practice. It has always been a part of our culture. Patanjali Muni is credited as the visionary behind this Vedic science.
Swami Vivekananda introduced yoga in the West. He addressed the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. It was after this that yoga became famous and even a field of study. It was after this that people came to know about the benefits of yoga.
Modi proposes Yoga Day:
On 27 September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the idea of International Yoga Day at UNGA. His speech is as follows:
Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It symbolizes the unity of mind and body; Thoughts and action; Moderation and perfection; Harmony between man and nature; A holistic approach to health and wellness. It is not about exercise, but to discover a sense of unity with self, the world, and nature. By changing our lifestyles and creating consciousness, it can help with well-being. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala was the first person to support Modi for the International Yoga Day resolution. The draft was proposed and implemented within 90 days, which is a record for any UN resolution.
Importance of 21 June, International Yoga Day
Modi proposed June 21 for various reasons. For one, it is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. This means that June 21 is the longest day in the hemisphere. Another major significance is that this day marks the transition to Dakshinayana in yoga. Also, on this day Lord Shiva started imparting yogic knowledge.
According to Hindu belief, when Lord Shiva came to Earth, many people surrounded him to gain spiritual knowledge. But, he did not feel their presence and ignored them. Lord Shiva was deep in his meditation. Only seven people lived there for 84 years. As a result, inevitably Shiva saw him and began to teach for 28 days.
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Every year Yoga Day Theme:
In 2016, an event called “The National Event of Mass Yoga Performance” was organized. Ayush organized the event on behalf of the Prime Minister of India. Many prominent personalities including Modi himself participated in it. The theme of the year was “Connect Youth”. It happened in Chandigarh.
In 2017, the participation count increased drastically. About 52000 people from 150 countries participated. The theme of the year was “Yoga for Health” and took place in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
The event was held in Dehradun in 2018. The number of participants again saw an increase. 55000 people engaged in Vedic activity. The theme of International Yoga Day in 2018 was “Yoga for Peace”.
In 2019, there was a panel discussion about various environmental issues like deforestation, global warming, etc. Therefore, the theme of the 2019 International Yoga Day was “Climate Change”.
Fact
When Mr. Ashok Mukherjee, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations, presented the draft, 177 countries approved it. This is the largest number of co-sponsors in the UN resolution in history.
Even Islamic countries supported this draft, showing that yoga is not limited to Hinduism alone. It is beyond religion and religious beliefs. Therefore, it shows that it is a spiritual improvement. Of the 56 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), 47 supported and sponsored it.
The Yoga Day celebrations took place in one of all 193 member countries except Yemen – due to conflicts and violence.
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As a result, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued two commemorative coins in honor of International Yoga Day. They were of the same denominations of 10 and 100 rupees.
The very first International Yoga Day in 2015 set a world record for the largest yoga class. 359 ated5 people from a record 844 nations participated. It took place in Rajnath, New Delhi, which had many famous personalities like Narendra Modi. He performed 21 asanas which lasted for about 35 minutes. Successive years have broken the record of previous years. As mentioned earlier, 55000 people participated in the year 2018.
Conclusion
International Yoga Day is a very famous festival. Unlike many other ceremonies, this improves your physical, mental and spiritual health. The benefits of yoga are numerous and exhaustive to list below. Furthermore, in the current scenario and in our, modern ‘lifestyles, it seems very necessary to allow some time to practice yoga.
The theme for this year’s International Yoga Day 2020 is “Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family”. This epidemic is due to the increased devastation caused by coronaviruses. Accordingly, the festivities are to be held on virtual platforms.
Furthermore, it is now that we have to stay away from each other and stay united. This does not mean that we cannot celebrate Yoga Day. Join various virtual platforms to show your support on this great day.