World Yoga Day
International day of yoga is also called as the world yoga day. United Nations General Assembly has declared 21st of June as an International Yoga Day on 11th of December in 2014. Yoga in India is considered to be around 5,000 year old mental, physical and spiritual practice. Yoga was originated in India in ancient time when people were used of meditation to transform their body and mind. Launching a particular date of practicing yoga all across the world and celebrating as yoga day was initiated by the Indian Prime Minister to the United Nations General Assembly.
Yoga is very necessary and beneficial for all human being if it is practiced by all on daily basis in the early morning. Official name of this day is UN International Yoga Day and also called as Yoga Day. It is a worldwide event celebrated by the people of all countries through practicing yoga, meditation, debates, meetings, discussions, variety of cultural performances, etc.
International Day of Yoga 2019 (World Yoga Day)
International Day of Yoga 2019 was celebrated on Friday, 21st June. This year was the fifth International Day of Yoga with the theme of “Climate Action”.
Events for the day, organized at the United Nations included “Yoga with Gurus” on Thursday 20th June, which was followed by a panel discussion on 21st June.
Similarly, several Yoga events were organized across the world, where people from different walks of life gathered to practice yoga.
In India, the country of origin of yogic practices, several events were organized in big cities and small towns on International Day of Yoga. People gathered early morning, at pre decided locations to perform yoga under the guidance of trained yoga masters and spread awareness about its health and spiritual benefits.
On this International Day of Yoga 2019, the Prime Minister hosted the event at Prabhat Tara Ground, in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The state government of Jharkhand had provided free bus services for the participants.
Personnel of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) performed yoga at an altitude of 18000 feet in northern Ladakh in minus 20 degree Celsius.
The celebrations for International Day of Yoga 2019 had already begun in advance, with great fervor, all over the world. Prime Minister of India had urged all the nations and citizens to take part in yoga practices and spread awareness.
The Prime Minister of India distributed Yoga Awards 2019 on International Day of Yoga 2019. Several other yoga related activities were arranged in the National capital Delhi and surrounding areas.
Many yoga teaching sessions were organized on 21st June at various locations. Hundreds of schools have enrolled in advance and thousands of children from Delhi’s schools learned yoga on International Yoga Day.
A special sale of yoga essentials like yoga mats tees etc was also organized at Friends of Meditation, Naraina, New Delhi on 21st June 2019, on International Day of Yoga.
World Yoga Day Theme
- The theme of World Yoga Day 2019 is “Climate Action”.
- The theme of World Yoga Day 2018 was “Yoga for Peace”.
- Theme of 2017 was “Yoga For Health”.
- Theme of 2016 was “Connect the Youth”.
- Theme of 2015 was “Yoga For Harmony And Peace”.
What was Special on World Yoga Day 2018
As per the Media, the 4th International Yoga Day in 2018 will be celebrated by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in Dehradun. He would lead the day with the crowd of over 60000 people at Dehradun Forest Research Institute on June 21, 2018. The aim of the day is to raise awareness among people worldwide about many benefits of practicing yoga in their life on regular basis. World Yoga Day celebration of 2018 is based on the theme “Yoga for Peace.”
History of World Yoga Day
Celebrating yoga day all over the world as World Yoga Day or International Day of Yoga on 21st of June every year was declared by the United Nations General Assembly on 11th of December in 2014. The declaration was done after the call by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to the United Nations General Assembly on 27th of September in 2014 during his address to the UN General Assembly. He call the United Nations General Assembly for adopting 21st of June as an International Yoga Day to get all the benefits of yoga for the people all around the world.
Narendra Modi has said during his address to the UN General Assembly that “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. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.”
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 practice.
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