Monday 13 April 2015

International Day for Yoga - June 21


June 21 was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 2014. Yoga, a 6,000+-year-old physical, mental and spiritual practice having its origin in India, aims to transform body and mind. The declaration came after the call for the adoption of 21 June as International Day of Yoga by Indian Prime Minister, 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 mindand body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man andnature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with your self, 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
”By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change,” he told the group of nations at the time. ”Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.”  On Thursday, 177 countries co-sponsored the resolution to establish an international day of yoga, Pakistan, India’s neighbor and long-time rival did not join in doing so. Malaysia is also not sponsoring the event. Islamic clerics sparked controversy in 2008 after issuing a fatwa against yoga, because of its association with Hinduism.

The resolution on 'International Day of Yoga' was introduced by India's ambassador to UN Asoke Mukerji and had 175 nations joining as co-sponsors, the highest number ever for any general assembly resolution.

It is also for the first time that such an initiative has been proposed and implemented by any country in the UN body in less than 90 days.