Yoga
Prime Minister of India Sh. Narendra Modi Ji’s attempt to introduce Yoga as an “invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition,” which engenders a “sense of oneness with ourself, the world and the nature” and could even help with the modern day challenges, was well received worldwide. The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated annually on 21st June since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.
Yoga is defined as union between the limited self and the divine self. The aim of Yoga is to help us realize our identity with the divine self, to make us know and tune into our intrinsic nature. Yoga is the giver of infinite happiness. Patañjali, the author of the classical Yoga text, The Yoga Sutras, defines Yoga as, “complete control over patterns or modifications of the mind.”
Physical and mental therapy is one of Yoga’s most important achievements. What makes it so powerful and effective is the fact it works on the holistic principles of harmony and unification. Yoga is simply a means of maintaining health and well being in an increasingly stressful society. Yoga is far from simply being physical exercise rather it is an aid to establishing a new way of life which embraces both inner and outer realities.