If a body is a temple of the mind, yoga creates a beautiful temple. - PM Modi
While we are celebrating the third year of International Yoga Day, the inspiration behind this celebration is heavily influenced by the ancient roots of yoga within India’s culture. PM Modi took his passion and deep beliefs in yoga’s benefits to the UNGA, United Nations General Assembly, in 2014 to express his desire to create an international day celebrating yoga and its powerful history.
It didn’t take much convincing - 177 of the 193 participating countries supported this idea and approved it to begin in 2015, where PM Modi then set a global record and created the largest yoga celebration in the world, with over 35,000 attendees from 84 different countries.
This landmark of a success jumpstarted the movement for countries all around the world to partake in celebrating International Yoga Day, falling in perfect harmony with the summer solstice. Yogis from around the world join together in mind, body, and spirit to visit the roots of yoga’s ancient culture and celebrate the vitality it strongly holds today.
If you plan to celebrate today, whether surrounded by others or in the solace of your own space, inhale gratitude to appreciate the growth of yoga around the world, and exhale optimism in knowing that yoga will always be there for you as long as you allow it to be.
