Lalit Garg
The 10th celebration of International Yoga Day will becelebrated in India as well as in most of the countries around the world on21st June 2024 with a new theme- 'Yoga for women empowerment'. This year thetheme of Yoga Day is based on women to promote the physical, mental, emotional,social and spiritual well-being of women by using yoga as a tool. This willensure that women are healthy, confident and play a leading role in society. Yogais being made a medium to connect human beings. In 2014, Prime Minister NarendraModi had proposed to celebrate Yoga Day in the United Nations meeting, afterwhich it was announced on 11 December 2014 to celebrate 21 June every year asInternational Yoga Day. Due to India's efforts regarding the importance ofyoga, countries around the world started celebrating Yoga Day at the worldlevel. Through Indian Yoga and Meditation, India is succeeding in achieving'Vishwa Guru' status and a unique identity in the world. That is whyInternational Yoga Day has been accepted by the whole world.
The vision and efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi hascreated an unusual atmosphere for the international acceptance of Yoga Day.Today every sphere of life is surrounded by problems due to pandemic, GreatWar, terrorism, rising inflation, poverty, unemployment, due to which everyperson and family is feeling extreme stress/pressure in their daily life.Everyone is living a life of doubt, conflict and mental turmoil. There is acrisis of life in front of man. Mental balance is getting disturbed. Mentalbalance means to establish harmony in different situations and to achieve this;the powerful and effective medium is yoga. Yoga is such a technique, a sciencethat heals our body, mind, thoughts and soul. It removes our stress andfrustration. When we do yoga, focus on the breath, do pranayama and exercise,all this inspires our body and mind to be happy and cheerful from within. Yogais a powerful way to get rid of the hustle and bustle of life.
Yoga is the process of purifying and enlightening the consciousnessof man, it is an undertaking to elevate man, it is a means to establish balancein life and it is the science of oneness with God and the universe. Realizationof self is the task of life, the goal. This realization can neither be attainedby discourse, nor can it be attained by intellect, nor by listening a lot, forthat it is necessary to have self-realization and this realization happens onlyto the one whose conscience is pure and selfless.
The pure conscience is the mirror in which the vision of the soul,the manifestation of nature and the vision of the self are seen. In a pureconscience, the intellect remains heavenly and clean, the mind as pure as theGanges, the mind as steady as the light of a motionless lamp without wind, andthe entire consciousness flowing like rivers to meet the ocean. Just as one'sface is visible in the mirror only when the mirror is clear and stable,similarly the Supreme power of self is visible only through a pure conscience.Yoga is such an effective form of exercise, through which balance is creatednot only in the parts of the body but also in the mind, and soul. This is thereason that apart from physical ailments, mental problems can also be overcomeby yoga.
The importance of yoga, which is found in our Vedas or evenearlier literature, today the same yoga is gaining its fame all over the world and due to the corona crisis, the usefulness of yogahas increased more than before. Seeing its benefits, everyone seems to beadopting it in their rushing life and life crisis caused by epidemics, war,violence, economic instability and terrorism. Slowly, but people areunderstanding that by doing yoga, not only the biggest diseases can be drivenaway but also happiness can be brought in their life, life can be balanced,Work-efficiencies can be increased, peace and harmony can be established.
Yoga is the only way for physical, mental and spiritual peace of health. But inthe occult age, the history of yoga is hidden in the infinite depths of time.By the way, some people also believe that the science of yoga is older than theVedas. In the excavations done by the Archaeological Department of Harappa andMohenjodaro, many such sculptures have been found in which Shiva and Parvatiare shown performing various yogasanas. Swami Vivekananda, who promoted IndianYoga to the world, says – “A pure heart is the bestmirror for the reflection of truth. That's why all spiritual practice is forpurifying the heart. When it becomes pure, all the truths are reflected in itat that very moment. Unholy imagination is as bad as unholy acts."
Modern materialistic and convenient life is pushing man towards disturbance,imbalance, tension, fatigue and irritability, due to which the disorder isincreasing. Yoga is such a powerful medicine that keeps the mind cool and thebody fit to keep such heterogeneous and discrepant life healthy and energetic.The pace of life can be given a musical pacethrough yoga. Yoga is the oldest identity of our Indian culture. The awakeningof Yoga-consciousness leads to purification of the mind. Its process is to seethe soul through the soul. Observing the tendencies and states of mind by thefree consciousness of attachment and aversion. Right philosophy is a powerfulundertaking to transform the Self. The secretions of the glandular system arebalanced by the experiments of self-realization. Due to this the feelingsremain pure, thoughts become healthy.
The word yoga is derived from the age of culture, which means the union of thesoul with the universal consciousness. Yoga has been practiced for more thanten thousand years. According to the Vedic Samhitas, it is mentioned in theVedas about the ascetics since ancient times. Sculptures depicting yoga and meditationwere also found in the Indus Valley Civilization. In Hinduism, Yogacivilization was adopted by sages, monks and yogis from the very beginning, butnot much time has passed since this method has spread among the common people.However, knowing the glory and importance of yoga, it is being adoptedextensively for a healthy lifestyle, mainly because of its positive effects inbusy, stressful and unhealthy routines.
Yoga is necessary for us to stay healthy. Through yoga, you can benefitfrom many diseases like asthma, diabetes, blood pressure, and arthritis. Yogaremoves stress and gets good sleep, appetite is good, not only this, digestionis also improved. Body fat can be reduced only through yoga. When man takesshelter of yoga to solve his physical, mental and spiritual problems and gettheir solution, then he connects with yoga, makes relationships, tries to bringit into life. But when one starts knowing something about it, knowing it stepsin the process of action, then it reaches the limit of use. By making the roleof this experiment an integral part of life, we can give a new shape tohumanity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is deeply interested in Yoga, has implementedit with a great resolution. Surely his yoga-revolution will become the mediumof development, happiness and peace in the life of world humanity.Yoga not only teaches how to live a beautiful and orderly life, but alsoteaches the art of improving personality, communal harmony, good governance andbalanced life. Those who do politics in the name of yoga are doing great harmto humanity. Because Yoga is not associated with any religion, sect, caste orlanguage. Yoga means to unite, so it talks about love, non-violence, compassionand taking everyone along. Yoga is an investigation into the process of life.It came into existence before all religions and it opened up infinitepossibilities before human beings. This science related to inner and spiritual development, human welfare is a great gift for the whole world.