GUYANESE Americans partook in yoga exercises across New York and Florida at various locations on the first International Yoga Day held last Sunday as authorised by the United Nations. Neither rain nor sun deterred the enthusiasts on Yoga Day in NY or elsewhere. The event was praised by the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon, who also partook in the exercise at the world headquartes after meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Guyanese swore that yoga provides them with peace of mind and a calming of the nerves and freedom from stress. The Yoga Day garnered unprecedented worldwide participation with tens of millions participating in it.
The UN secretary General expressed his thanks to Minister Swaraj who flew in to NY for the event on the commemoration of the first International Day of Yoga. Ban warmly greeted Swaraj at the posh Manhattan Hotel with “Namaste, kya haal chaal hain” as he shook her hands. Yoga is meant to engender a “sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature” and it is believed it could “even help with the modern-day challenges of climate change”.
At the UN last September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the global community to adopt a resolution for an international day of yoga as an “invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition” to the world. The Modi resolution was supported by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and it was unanimously accepted to be observed annually on January 21. People from virtually every country partook in exercises. Swaraj met with people of varied nationalities, including Guyanese, praising them for participating in the exercises and promising them health benefits especially that so many people suffer from non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and heart ailments. Yoga helps to fight these diseases.
At Rajpath, Delhi, Yoga Day claimed two Guinness World Records – for largest number of participants in a yoga lesson (30,000) at a single venue and for the most number of nationalities (36,000 from 84 countries) represented in a single yoga session.
Yoga was held all over India and the globe with tens of millions participants, young and old. Every country, including some Islamic nations, partook in the yoga exercises. And in India, several Islamic scholars and mullahs supported yoga. All of India’s overseas missions held yoga exercises, including in Guyana.
In Delhi, Prime Minister’s Modi’s words on the size of the crowd participating in yoga was: “Had anyone ever even thought that Rajpath could become Yogpath?” The majestic Rajpath usually showcases the mosaic that is India during Republic Day celebrations, a tradition going back 65 years with a foreign dignitary as Chief Guest; President Obama and First Lady Michelle were the Chief Guests last January.
Yoga exercises, developed in India in ancient times, are very popular in the West with countless Americans engaged in the art. Spiritual expert Dr. Deepak Chopra notes that there are yoga studios all over the U.S. and Europe, including in places one would never have thought about. Medical doctors recommend yoga for a healthy lifestyle. Yoga breathing exercises, meditation, and stretching are said to provide peace of mind leading to a healthier lifestyle. There are numerous yoga institutes in Hollywood and Bollywood. Famous Hollywood and Bollwood stars practice yoga, including Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce Knowles, Reese Witherspoon, Jane Fonda, Charlize Theron, Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Aniston, David Beckham, Brooke Shields and George Clooney, Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena, Amitabh, Hema Malini, Jeetendra, Madhuri Dixit, Bipasha Basu, Shilpa Shetty, Manisha Koirala, etc. Madonna told publications she practices yoga for two hours daily. Beyonce posted a stunning image of herself on Instagram showing off her flexible, yoga-fit body in a blue bikini. Many of them have found solace and a healthy lifestyle in the ancient Indian discipline. They have inspired their fans to follow in their footsteps to practice yoga.
Reports out of Paris say hundreds gathered for yoga exercises under the famed Eiffel Tower in the backdrop and thousands more partook in exercises in towns and cities across France. Ditto all over Europe, Asia and Latin America (including Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Brasilia, Rio).
At the UN, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who, along with his wife, performed yoga and stretching his body and forming varied shapes. The SG said: “I feel like yoga can promote physical dexterity; it can also promote diplomatic dexterity. In my job, I have to be agile all of the times”.
Ban Ki Moon said he felt a “certain peace of mind” in performing Yoga. He complimented Prime Minister Modi for taking the initiative to spread the practice of yoga far and wide across the world. “It is already immensely popular and is good for health and does not discriminate … to varying degrees all can practise it”.
The President of the UN Assembly, Sam Kutesa, said “an estimated one-third of humanity around the world would be participating in the celebrations, which was a true test of its popularity”.
Swaraj said: “Yoga was neither a religion nor should it be seen as belonging to any particular religion. It is a science, the science of well-being, the science of integrating body, mind and soul, the science of actualising our true potential”. She added: “At a time when ethnic conflicts and extremist violence are threatening to destabilise societies, yoga can serve as the perfect antidote to stem such negatives”.
Being such a powerful antidote to violence, Guyanese at home should embrace it perhaps as a way to help solve their ethnic conflict.
VISHNU BISRAM