The 21st June is The International Day of Yoga, also known as World Yoga Day. It has been celebrated since 2015, the year was approved by the United Nation’s General Assembly, by an unprecented concensus by the Member Nations.
The impetus to mark the Yoga Day came from India, the birth country of Yoga. The Prime Minister of India, Narenda Modi, said at the time how “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; 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”.
Many of us are familiar with the physical aspect of yoga, the asana, but there is much more in offer when we start digging into yoga. Interviewed few days ago, India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu noted “As Prime Minister Modi has emphasized yoga is a means to both fitness and wellness. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our daily lives. In this context, yoga has become even more relevant for healthy living. I hope more people will be inspired and adopt yoga in their lives.”
The theme for this year’s Yoga Day is Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family, quite aptly. I would imagine many of you reading this have taken at least one YouTube, IG Live or a Zoom Yoga class over the past months, from your respective quarantine locations. However, it does not take these unusual circumstances to appreciate how yoga is as much of a personal practice, as it can be about community. The eight limbs of yoga are an enormous offering for contemplation that can be conveyed to audiences of any age.
So why the date of the 21st June, the time of Summer Solstice in the Northern hemisphere? It is the that marks also the longest day of the year, and already has special significance in many parts of the world. Well that IS the reason, as from Yoga’s perspective summer solstice is a transition period and therefore an optimal time for meditation. But so does the Winter Solstice, taking place exactly 6 months after (or before) the Summer one. Lets look further
The summer marks a time of everything being in full bloom. In the other end, the Winter Solstice symbolizes death and rebirth, new beginnings and fresh starts. I have heard how this can parallel the phases of the moon. The New Moon is dark and is often said to mark a new cycle, whereas the Full Moon is when things you started to foster at New Moon become to their full potential. Essentially both are about the cyclical nature of life, about beginnings and endings, starting and finishing… and repeating the cycle again.
Like the sound of this all and keen to hear more? To celebrate the World Yoga Day I am offering a session of 36 Sun Salutations for FREE on Sunday the 21st June, at 12:00 pm UK Time. Everybody on my email list will be sent a Zoom link before Sunday, and you can join the list by leaving your email address here.
But why 36 Sun Salutations? Why not 108? Check in later in the week to know why.
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