“On June 21, more than 100 people will perform Yoga on board a boat in the river Seine sailing from the Eiffel Tower to Cathedral Notre Dame”, the Embassy said in a press release.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi described yoga as a “people’s mass movement” as he took to the mat Tuesday, June 21, along with millions of others in India and overseas to celebrate the ancient practice.
President Pranab Mukherjee kicked off the celebrations at Rashtrapati Bhavan with around 1,000 persons participating in a mass yoga event.
The second International Day of Yoga is being celebrated by people across the globe.
Various yoga poses were projected on the United Nations world headquarters in New York City to emphasize the role yoga can play in helping the United Nations achieve its sustainable development goals.
In the current times of “unsustainable consumption and production, climate change, discrimination and injustice, I hope that today and in the future the International Yoga Day can serve to raise consciousness, to advance action to realise our sustainable development goals”, he said. “By improving fitness, teaching us how to breathe correctly, and working to diminish stress, yoga can help to cultivate healthier lifestyles”.
The practice of yoga has spread across the world in the past two centuries, and gained vast popular appeal in the Western world. Yoga has even come to be incorporated into mental health therapy for the treatment of trauma. But it does not belong to India.
The UN Chief’s message for yoga day was read out by veteran Indian diplomat and now his Special Advisor on Myanmar Vijay Nambiar during a special panel discussion organised here by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN on the eve of yoga day.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and spiritual gurus Sri Sri Ravishankar and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev all supported the yoga initiative, with several events. In a homily at the Vatican a year ago, Pope Francis cautioned Catholics against believing that yoga could open them up to God, saying “only the Holy Spirit can teach us how to love and free us from our hardened hearts”. In the United States, some parents whose children’s school created a mindfulness class expressed concern that the program was inculcating religious and spiritual beliefs they did not necessarily share.
Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information Cristina Gallach read out UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moons message for the Yoga day, in which he underscored Yogas message of promoting harmony among people.
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“Yoga is not about the other life”.
