Enthusiastic Malaysians celebrate International Day of Yoga

LETTER: The 7th International Day of Yoga (IDY) was celebrated by the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur virtually, yesterday.

The theme for this year's IDY is "Yoga for Wellness".

As a result of government of India's efforts under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the proposal for declaring June 21 as the International Day of Yoga was adopted by the United Nations on December 11, 2014.

Since June 21, 2015, IDY is being celebrated across the globe each year, spreading the reach and benefits of yoga to millions.

Amidst the challenging times of the pandemic and the restrictions on social gathering, High Commission of India is celebrating IDY 2021 through a series of Yoga events in partnership with Friends of Yoga and several partner organisations supporting Yoga in Malaysia, in accordance with the Covid-19 SOP and protocols.

In the run-up to IDY 2021, the High Commission organised several online curtain raiser events in collaboration with Yoga organisations and Yoga enthusiasts across the Malaysia.

Several yoga events are also planned in the coming days as part of the celebrations. These series of yoga sessions being organised across Malaysia will provide participants a unique opportunity to discover various aspects of India's age-old approach to well-being, from the comforts of their home itself.

On this occasion, Mridul Kumar, High Commissioner of India to Malaysia in his virtual address highlighted the importance of Yoga for physical, emotional and spiritual well-being since yoga deals with the mind, body, soul spectrum.

He also spoke about the relevance of yoga during the pandemic, which not only helps one remain physically fit but also helps in building emotional and mental fortitude.

He also invited yoga enthusiasts to benefit from the videos on yoga available on the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Centre's social media handles.

As a part of the IDY celebration, a special demonstration on light Yoga asanas (yoga exercises) and meditation was conducted by the Yoga teacher and senior students of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

A large number of participants across Malaysia enthusiastically joined the celebrations through Mission's social media platforms.

The virtual celebrations can be viewed at https://hcikl.gov.in/IDY2021

High Commission of India

Kuala Lumpur

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times