International Day of Yoga is on June 21. We use this day to bring back this art form and align our mind, body, and spirit.

Yoga is a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation (yinandkin.com).

Yoga also literally means “to unite” and also refers to an inner science comprising a variety of methods through which human beings can realize this union and achieve mastery over their destiny. Yoga improves flexibility, helps your posture, ease stress and anxiety, reduce back pain, and even improve sleep (shecodes.io).

Yoga originated from the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India over 5,000 years ago (degruyter.com). The word yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred texts, the Rig Veda. The Vedas were a collection of texts containing songs, mantras and rituals to be used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests (linkedin.com).

International Day of Yoga was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, “Yoga is an invaluable gift from our ancient tradition” (facebook.com)

There are four primary types of yoga: karma, bhakti, jnana, and raja. Karma practices service through selfless acts for others, bhakti cultivates the expression of love and divine through rituals, jnana is the path of intellect and wisdom, and finally raja refers to the journey of personal enlightenment (humankinetics.com). .

You can experience International Day of Yoga by going to a yoga class, following videos online, or learning about different types of yoga.