-says India’s High Commissioner to Guyana

GIVEN the benefits to one’s mental and physical well-being, efforts are being made to make yoga popular among youths, India’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, has said.

Dr Srinivasa made this disclosure to the Guyana Chronicle during an interview ahead of International Day of Yoga 2022, which will be celebrated on June 21.

“Yoga is the art and science of well-being, which is a traditional practice from India. Over these years, it has grown from strength to strength because it is good for not only your mental well-being but also physical well-being. It helps also in your spiritual upliftment,” he told this publication on Friday.

He related that yoga is not bound by race, religion or creed and is helpful to people in many different ways.

“If you see the latest COVID pandemic, it has been able to help people to fight the stress, fight depression, and fight loneliness, at the same time keeping them both physically fit and mentally active,” Dr. Srinivasa added.

He explained to this publication that yoga is also proven to help combat non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and it helps your memory to improve.

“This will help the new generation and also the older generation to combat all this daily stress and strain that they undergo, help them to keep themselves fit,” Dr. Srinivasa said.

The United Nations in December 2014, proclaimed June 21 every year to be International Day of Yoga. The concept of such a day was first proposed by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. This year is the eighth International Day of Yoga.

“Since 2015, every year, despite the pandemic, we have held [International Day of Yoga] and this year, we have a theme called ‘Yoga for humanity’ because we believe that humanity can be served well,” Dr. Srinivasa said.

He added that given the COVID-19 pandemic, it was celebrated under limited circumstances with fewer people at the gatherings.

“This year, we are doing it in a big way. In Georgetown, we are having one event on the 19th of June at the Everest Cricket Ground. We are expecting ministers from the Government of Guyana. At the same time, we will also be encouraging the youth and the students from the University of Guyana [and] the various other universities here,” he said.

He related that in Palmyra, Berbice, there will be seven or eight local schools taking part. There will also be live coverage of yoga events happening across the world.

“So, they start early morning in Japan, going one-hour incremental basis westwards. And they have about 35 to 40 countries who will be a part of this and I’m very proud to say that Guyana is a part of this,” Dr. Srinivasa said.

He noted that not only are they happy with the interest being shown from the western world, which is already exposed to yoga, but they are also getting tremendous interest from Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

People are getting together to celebrate yoga at iconic locations across the world, he added.