The Indian Prime Minister is leading the 10th annual International Yoga Day celebrations in Srinagar on June 21. 

About 10th International Yoga Day 2024

• Refers: As per United Nations, the word ‘yoga’ derives from the Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolising the union of body and consciousness.
• Observation: The international community observes June 21 as International Yoga Day. 
  • Theme for 2024: “Yoga for Self and Society”. 
• Background: 
  • Resolution by the United Nations: The UN passed a resolution on December 11, 2014 during the 69th session of the General Assembly to proclaim June 21 as International Day of Yoga. 
    • Although yoga has long been recognised as India’s great gift to the global culture of wellness, the official recognition by the United Nations came in 2014.
  • The First Yoga Day Celebrations: These were held in 2015 at Rajpath in New Delhi created two Guinness World Records for being the world’s largest yoga session (35,985 people), and for having the largest number of participating nationalities (84).
• Significance: The International Day of Yoga is important in several ways:
  • An effective means of spreading knowledge about yoga’s benefits for physical and mental health worldwide. 
  • It invites individuals from all areas of life to investigate this age-old practice and learn about its transforming potential. 

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About Yoga

• Origin: Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. 
  • Philosophical Roots: These lie in the Six Doctrines of Salvation in Hinduism, in which Yoga forms a related and complementary pair with Sankhya, the other two pairs being Nyaya and Vaishesika, and Mimosa and Vedanta. 
  • Yogic Philosophy: Yoga encapsulates a broad set of religious practices and acts of self-mortification, the practitioner of which is called a Yogi. 
    • An early school of yogic philosophy emphasised psychic training as a means of salvation, drawing from the Yoga Sutras of the grammarian Patanjali. 
  • In the Medieval Period: The techniques of yoga were employed by various tantric schools who made the exercises increasingly difficult, and the practice attained a certain exclusivity.
• Significance: 
  • A Way to Discover: Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature.
  • Support by the World Health Organisation (WHO): The WHO has also asked its member states to practice Yoga and has included it in its Global Action Plan for physical activity 2018-30.
  • Yoga for Health and Wellness: Yoga is today a popular and accessible philosophy of physical and mental well-being that is practised by millions around the world. 
    • Yoga boosts physical fitness, reduces stress and anxiety, enhances general well-being, and improves sleep quality.
    • Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.