Rejoice in yoga with social distance

● Let’s celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 adhering to social distancing norms.

The United Nations declared 21 June as the International Day of Yoga (IDY) or World Yoga Day. What made this resolution global and spectacular was its universality and acceptability. More than 177 countries supported IDY, even as 175 countries cosponsored the resolution. It must be noted that this is the highest number of co-sponsors in any United National General Assembly resolutions of this kind to date.

Yoga’s not a religion; it’s a science of well-being, youthfulness and seamless integration of mind, body and soul. It reflects harmony and peace for humanity, which is yoga’s message to the world. It is the journey of the self, into the self and through the self.

Yoga helps not only one’s physical health but also one’s emotional and mental wellbeing, including ease depression. Research has shown that doing yoga causes molecular changes that encourage the circulation of immune cells.

Additionally, yoga is a part of an ‘experiential’ rather than instructive learning. Various “pranayama” techniques in yoga could also strengthen the respiratory system, which may even counter the effects of

Covid-19 in the body. On 21 June, we should ideally be celebrating the IYD fervently as in previous years. However,

Covid-19 requires that we adopt social distancing and celebrate the day with our family in restricted spaces.

However, let Covid-19 not diminish the spirit of IYD. Let yoga bring people, families, societies and nations together.