International Day of Yoga at UN Headquarters

In 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga.

The 2017 main events at UN Headquarters in New York, held on 20 and 21 June, were organized by the Permanent Mission of India in association with the UN Department of Public Information and the World Health Organization.

On 20 June, members of Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations celebrated the day with a lunchtime meditation session for staff at UN Headquarters in New York. The Peace Meditation Group also offered a commemorative booklet on aspects of yoga to participants of the “Yoga Session” held that evening on the UN North Lawn, as well as the “Conversation with Yoga Masters” held the following morning in the ECOSOC Chamber.

Photo UNIS - International Day of Yoga, Vienna.

The theme for 2017,  “Yoga for Health”,  was highlighted in many local events worldwide this week  – recognising how yoga could help enable an integral approach to a healthy, balanced lifestyle which promotes long-term good health.

Yoga is an ancient art, combining physical, mental and spiritual practises to attain a union between man and the Ultimate Reality.

Since his arrival in the West in 1964, Sri Chinmoy has written extensively on the virtues of yoga and its capacity to expand the horizons of seekers and aspirants. In the very first edition of Aum Magazine (Sri Chinmoy’s first printed work in the West), Sri Chinmoy wrote about traditional yoga exercises.

“The traditional yogic exercises attempt to place the body in a state of receptivity in order to bring down peace and certain higher forces from above.”

Sri Chinmoy [1]

Sri Chinmoy teaches that through the practise of yoga, we can attain both peace of mind and an awareness of a more illumined consciousness.

“The very aim of practising Yoga is to have peace, peace of mind. When one acquires peace of mind, automatically one possesses indomitable inner strength.”

– Sri Chinmoy [2]

Further links

• Yoga Day at the United Nations
• International Day of Yoga at UN and Elsewhere at Yoga of Sri Chinmoy
• Yoga and the Spiritual Life by Sri Chinmoy at Sri Chinmoy Library

References

[1] Sri Chinmoy, AUM, Vol.1, No..1, 1965

[2] Sri Chinmoy, Realisation-Soul and Manifestation-Goal, 1974.