International Day of Yoga: 21st June |

Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies the 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 you, the world and nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help in well-being. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day. — Narendra Modi, UN General Assembly

Yoga day was finally accepted by the world and came in existence on September 27, 2014, when PM Modi proposed a dedicated day for Yoga to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and In 2015, the first International Day of Yoga was finally made its mark, making India the country that actually made the world realize what they were missing in their almost perfect lives.

This year’s theme for the Yoga day is ‘Yoga for Climate Action’. The thing that most affected our lives and made it very important to take extra care of our lives because of all the pollution and all the effect that has been observed due to the declining effect of climate change. Nature is losing its balance and so are we. For nature, we have to make effects on a bigger scale but to attain this balance individually little efforts on regularly will be overwhelming.

We seldom give thought to follow this spiritual activity because of our busy schedules. What we forget is this busy schedule of ours is what needs some time out so that we can revitalize our bodies with fresh energy. It’s not a modern drug that needs to be lab tested before you try it out in person. It is something that has been passed down to us by our ancestors more than 5000 years ago.

The word yoga means ‘union’ in Sanskrit which is an art, shaping your mind and body in such a way that it fills the ecstatic core of yours with positive aura and induces the calmness of the sea into it. It combines and presents a perfect harmony between mind and body, man and nature, the holistic approach to health and well-being.

Yoga basically introduces your inner self with you reuniting a person with his or her true self. It’s a mirror that shows the reality of our existence. Many people when hearing the word ‘yoga’ all they picture is some poses, stretching and breathing activities, but in reality, yoga is more than just poses. It is an exercise that strengthens your inner core and shapes the brain with cosmic energy. Yoga surely involves the practice of stretching and strengthening poses which are called ‘asana’, but it is only one aspect of this multiverse system which includes:

1. Pranayama, the breathing practices

2. Techniques of meditation

3. Inducing Moral precepts into a being against stealing, lying, doing harm to yourself and others.

Chanting of mantras that sooth mind and help you concentrate

4. Introducing the habit of karma yoga which in turn means selfless service such as volunteer work

5. Visualization exercises in which you picture a scenario that builds an escape from the stress

6. Study of yoga philosophy explaining you all the logic that why we emphasize practicing yoga on a regular basis.

Yoga affects one’s body in a trivial manner, Physically, psychologically, and the last one is reducing stress.

Physically assisting one with increased strength and flexibility, heightened reaction times, better balance and coordination, accelerating lung functions, improved cardiovascular conditioning, and weight loss.
Psychologically providing relaxation, greater equanimity, better concentration, and improved mood in a person. Yoga can change a person completely, all we need to do is introduce ourselves with the savior.
Reducing stress with tools to shift the balance of the autonomic nervous system to the parasympathetic side, lower the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and calm the mind.

With time not only in India but people from all over are following the practices and introducing it in their daily life routines just like the gym. These are not just false hopes and promises scientifically proven fact that yoga is changing lives. Yoga has been accepted as a useful aide-de-camp to the care of medical conditions such as asthma, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease. It’s a boon for people suffering from types of medical conditions that are induced psychopathologically (e.g. depression and anxiety), cardiovascular (e.g. hypertension, heart disease), respiratory (e.g. asthma), diabetes, and others. Hatha yoga another form of yoga for people with conditions such as HIV/AIDS, scoliosis, back pain, depression, pregnancy, and cancer.