IN celebration of the upcoming International Day of Yoga, the High Commission of India on Monday held a yoga session with ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in the auditorium at Base Camp Ayanganna.

The session was a precursor to the commission’s official event to be held on Saturday at 10:00hrs at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC).
Approximately 20 ranks took part in the 40-minute exercise, and were joined by the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr K J Srinivasa. The activity was facilitated by Yoga Instructor Agnela Patil.

Many of the ranks who participated in the exercise were doing yoga for the first time, and were eager to see how much they would enjoy it.
“I don’t regularly do yoga, but I decided to volunteer to be a part of the exercise because I’ve never done it before, so I feel good to be a part of this, and looking forward to see what it will be like,” commented 23-year-old Melissa Mitchell.

Making brief remarks before the session began, Colonel Kenvoyd Roberts, thanked the High Commission for considering the force to be part of its celebration of the prestigious activity.
In his remarks, Dr. Srinivasa, reminded all that while yoga is an ancient Indian practice, it has transcended boundaries to become internationally practised due to the many benefits it affords those who practise the art.

“It is an art and science for healthy living. Yoga is a system of holistic living, having the roots in Indian tradition and culture. Yoga has transcended the barrier of race, religion and culture and has become a global movement. Yoga is essentially a mental and physical discipline based on an extremely subtle science which focuses on bringing harmony between mind and body. Yoga believes in the age-old adage of healthy body healthy minds. Yoga brings harmony between,” he related.

Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated in ancient India. It is one of the six darsanas or schools of orthodox Indian philosophy.
Dr. Srinivasa noted that given the mental-health benefits of yoga, it is a practice that is all the more needed due to the effects that COVID-19 restrictions have been having on persons over the past year.

“In these testing times of COVID-19 pandemic, many people seek benefit from yoga, and Ayurveda. In many countries, practising Yoga has been demonstrated to help people to find solace from the isolation forced upon them due to the COVID-19 restrictions,” he said.
This year will be the seventh year that International Day of Yoga is being celebrated. In December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution sponsored by 177 member nations, unanimously proclaiming 21st June, the longest day in the northern-hemisphere, as International Day of Yoga.
This year International Yoga Day is being celebrated under the theme “Be with yoga be at home”.

Last year due to the pandemic and restrictions on social gatherings, the Indian High Commission in Guyana celebrated the day with a virtual yoga session which was streamed on social media and was watched over 10,000 times.