International Yoga Day: Beginner’s Guide

A celebration of life, good health & inner peace. We’re talking about the International Yoga Day, before you start guessing what it is.  
 
You may have come across people in the park or beach & bend backward or lift their legs over their head which may seem like a daunting feat or make you wonder if you’ll be able to do those moves because it’s not easy for sure.
 
Let’s roll our mats & dive a little into the story of International Yoga Day and how it started.  

When and How was Yoga Day started? 

The idea of International Yoga Day was proposed by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on 27 September, 2014.  
 
The draft resolution proposed by India was then endorsed by a record 177 member states. The UN recognized it’s appeal and on 11 December 2014 proclaimed 21^st June as the International Day of Yoga.  
 
June 21, known as the summer solstice, is the longest day of the year which is why it has been selected as the International Yoga Day  

Why was Yoga Day started? 

Narendra Modi stated the importance of yoga & how it can help in well-being through a change in lifestyle and becoming more conscious, thereby working towards adopting an International Yoga Day. He believes that Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. 
 

Benefits of Yoga

Yoga is a practice that has been known to benefit both mental and physical well-being, ensuring sound health. It has an overall approach targeting all the different systems of the body & mind. The different exercises (commonly known as asanas) make the body strong and flexible. Asanas such as the Shavasana (Corpse Pose), Malasana (Yoga Squat Pose) are some of the simpler exercises to start off with for those who are getting started with Yoga.  You can also find out more information about these asanas here on “Yoga Basics: Asana Your Way To Health”

How has Yoga helped since COVID had started?

Back in 2020, the whole world was suffering due to the pandemic, both from a physical and mental point of view. With the death of loved ones and the need to isolate from others, physical health affected mental health and vice versa. The pandemic did see a lot of people taking up home workouts especially Yoga. This helped to improve respiratory & cardiac function along with calming down the mind & enhancing immunity & still does. 

One thing we can say for sure is that yoga is more than just a physical activity & we are seeing so many people adopting this to improve their lifestyle. We are definitely seeing so many trainers & yoga centers coming up promoting Yoga as well.  
 
To quote the words of one of the most famous practitioners, the late B. K. S. Iyengar, “Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.” 

Inspired enough to get started? Share your Yoga journey with us.  
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