Introduction
It is a day of reckoning for the yoga of breathing exercises of Indian origin. After careful deliberation, the Indian government could convince the United Nations international body to celebrate the beautiful yogic exercise to establish a healthy state of health in people. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), the state of good health can only be achieved when there is a constructive balance between body and mind. From there start the premises of yoga. Through a series of breathing and physical exercises, he brings harmony between the mind and the body. It doesn’t matter if a yogi is of a different faith or not. What matters is how these exercises are done by that person.
growing popularity
Since the early 1980s, the people of India have brought the principles of yoga to different countries and demonstrated them to the people living there. For more than 30 years, there has been a steady growth in the number of people practicing yoga at home and in the workplace. Many teachers of this primordial exercise have customized the principles of yoga to meet the requirements of people in different countries. In transforming the basic principles of the yoga exercise to meet the needs of clients, these teachers have taken cultural sensitivities into account. These teachers have been largely responsible for the growing popularity of this exercise that aims to restore a healthy balance between the body and mind. Other countries around the world have slowly begun to recognize the positive effects of exercise on the body and mind. Even the most conservative countries in the Gulf region have begun to embrace mind-body exercise to reap its health benefits. This is especially true in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia.
International Yoga Day Designation
Immediately after coming to power, the Indian government under the leadership of Narendra Modi took steps to get the views of other countries on Yoga. For 3 months, the government received feedback on the popularity of this ancient exercise. Armed with the massive volume of data, Narendra Modi addressed the United Nations General Assembly and called on the countries of the world to support the Indian government’s initiative to spread the message of yoga as exercise to more countries. He said that the over 6,000-year-old Indian mind-body exercise can be used as holistic medicine in a narrower sense. He showed member countries the statistics of the positive change that this exercise brings to people’s lives after adopting it. Member countries put themselves to the test and gave their go-ahead to designate a day for Yoga at the international level. Henceforth, the world body ratified an agreement to designate June 21 as International Yoga Day.
First International Day of Yoga
On June 21, 2015, India joined the growing number of countries in the world in swearing to advance the cause of yoga for the establishment of a world where there are fewer health problems. On that day, the Government of India launched a website dedicated to the cause of yoga. It is maintained by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. On this day, various yoga instructors from around the world conduct classes, seminars, and practical sessions annually for the benefit of the general public. This is done for free so that people get an idea of yoga. In India, people are organizing a large scale yoga exercise so that people from all walks of life can visit and participate in it. Ram Dev followers also organize big events to perform yoga exercises for the benefit of people on this day every year. Other spiritual gurus also do their bit on this day to spread the knowledge of yoga in our country.