Happy International Day of Yoga!
Did you know that today we celebrate second International Day of Yoga? On December 11 in 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21st as the International Day of Yoga. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address to UN General Assembly on 27th September 2014 stated: “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition . It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; 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. ” June 21, which is the Summer Solstice, was specially chosen for the International Day of Yoga, because of it’s meaning. Mr. Narendra Modi had said that, “the date is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has special significance in many parts of the world. ”
Yoga Day around the world
Today’s second International Day of Yoga was celebrated all over the world. You can see some great photos from different countries in The Wall Street Journal article In Pictures: Yoga Takes Over the World on Second International Day of Yoga .
In India’s capital city, President Pranab Mukherjee conducted a Yoga class at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, his residence-office located in the heart of Delhi.
In my beautiful city, in Sydney, Australia, the celebrations started at dawn and were conducted in many spots of the city including iconic Bondi Beach and on the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. To find great photos from this celebrations on 134m high above Sydney Harbour have a look at the link to Brigeclimb.com
Yoga benefits
Yoga is a type of the exercises which have amazing effect on our body but also our mind. Basically yoga brings your body and mind together and seems like perfect combination of exercise, breathing and meditation!
We all heard about the benefits of yoga. Some of them include:
- Improves your flexibility and builds muscle strength
- Perfects your posture and protects your spine
- Improves your bone health
- Drains your lymphs and boosts immunity
- Regulates your adrenal glands
- Founds a healthy lifestyle and makes you happier
- Lowers blood sugar
- Helps you focus
- Relaxes your system
- Improves your balance
To find more information about yoga, look at my other post Mind body fitness- holistic approach to your health
Namaste 
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Also check my review of T5T– The Five Tibetan Rites- 10 minutes per day Yoga-like exercise routine which can make you feel great and few years younger 🙂
Thanks for the informative article. The history of yoga is so interesting, the mysticism is beautiful too. I have had a hard time doing yoga because I’m just not flexible enough to do the poses, so I mostly stick with meditation and stretching. Any recommendations for a total beginner?
Any pose can be adjusted for a beginner, you can use yoga blocks, straps etc. just ask your yoga teacher for help. I guess the flexibility comes with practice. You don’t need to be flexible to start with, you will build this flexibility but doing yoga 🙂
I love the yoga frogs! May you inspire everyone to take time today to practice yoga. Have a wonderful International Yoga Day!
Thanks Patty! I hope more and more people will catch yoga bug 😉
Those are some really beautiful photos. And nice job clearly listing out the benefits of yoga! I had no idea about some of those things. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Mike! I’m glad you liked the post and found it informative.
I read about International Yoga Day in my local newspaper last week and how it was celebrated around the world. Perhaps I will take part in the next annual International Yoga Day. I’m not sure it will be fun though as I haven’t tried it before.
You have a year to practice then 😉 Worth to try 🙂