Yoga is a 5,000-year-old physical, mental and profound work on having its starting point in India. On December 11 in 2014, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed June 21st as the International Day of Yoga. In Suggesting June 21, which is the Summer Solstice, as the International Day of Yoga, Mr. Narendra Modi had said that, “the date is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has exceptional noteworthiness in numerous parts of the world.”
Yogi and spiritualist, Sadhguru takes note of the significance of this day in the yogic custom: “upon the arrival of the mid-year solstice, Adiyogi [the first yogi] turned south and first set his eyes on the Saptarishis or Seven Sages, who were his first trains to convey the exploration of yoga to numerous parts of the world. It is superb that June 21 denotes this meaningful occasion in the human history.”
“175 nations, including USA, Canada and China co-sponsored the resolution.” It had the “highest number of co-sponsors ever for any UNGA Resolution of such nature.”
The thought to observe World Yoga Day or International Day of Yoga has been proposed by numerous. Amongst them is a call by Significant worldwide Humanitarian and contemplation and Yoga Guru Sri Ravi Shankar in December 2011. Following the Adoption of the UN Resolution, Sri Ravi Shankar praised the Efforts of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, expressing that “It is extremely difficult for any rationality, religion or society to get by without state support. Presently, official acknowledgment by the UN would further spread the advantages of Yoga to the whole world.”
The Basic benefits of Yoga:
- Enhances vitality, focus, memory and productivity
- Stabilizes the body, mind and emotions
- Strengthens and stabilizes the spine
- Can relieve back pain, stress, anxiety and tension
- Can relieve from chronic ailments and improves overall health
- Enhances teamwork and communication
- Imparts a lasting sense of joy, peace and fulfillment
There are many other benefits to include yoga in your daily life practices. Yoga has always been contradicted by many due to the belief that, it is associated to Hinduism and Buddhism. Whereas, it is yet another exercise to bring you strength mentally and physically.
Try these three basic Yoga poses today!
1. Mountain Pose
- Stand tall with feet together, shoulders relaxed, weight evenly distributed through your soles, arms at sides.
- Take a deep breath and raise your hands overhead, palms facing each other with arms straight. Reach up toward the sky with your fingertips.
2. Cobra
- Lie face down on the floor with thumbs directly under shoulders, legs extended with the tops of your feet on the floor.
- Tighten your pelvic floor, and tuck hips downward as you squeeze your glutes.
- Press shoulders down and away from ears.
- Push through your thumbs and index fingers as you raise your chest toward the wall in front of you.
- Relax and repeat.
3. Tree Pose
- Stand with arms at sides.
- Shift weight onto left leg and place sole of right foot inside left thigh, keeping hips facing forward.
- Once balanced, bring hands in front of you in prayer position, palms together.
- On an inhalation, extend arms over shoulders, palms separated and facing each another. Stay for 30 seconds.
- Lower and repeat on opposite side.
- Make it easier: Bring your right foot to the inside of your left ankle, keeping your toes on the floor for balance. As you get stronger and develop better balance, move your foot to the inside of your left calf.