INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA

                International Yoga Day is celebrated on 21st June throughout the world. For the first time it was celebrated on 21 June, 2015. As, we all know environment is changing and the world is becoming more competent yoga help us to deal with this type of environment and also makes us healthy. It is observed on 21st June every year to spread awareness about the importance and effects of yoga on the health of the people. The word 'yoga' is derived from Sanskrit which means to join or to unite.

            Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice which gives calmness, peace, confidence and courage to the people through which they can do several activities in a better way. At every level of existence it is a state of harmony. Yoga is praciced in various forms around the world. For the first time International Day of Yoga was celebrated on 21 June 2015. This initiative was taken by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi by giving an impactful speech related to yoga on 27 September 2014 in the United Nations General Assembly and for this reason, on 21 June, it was declared as "International Yoga Day". The proposal to celebrate the International Yoga Day on 21 June in the United States was approved by 193 members on 11 December 2014.

What is the importance of yoga in daily life?

Yogic exercises recharge the body with cosmic energy and facilitates:

  *   Attainment of perfect equilibrium and harmony

  *   Enhances personal power

  *   Promotes self- healing

  *   Removes negative blocks from the mind and toxins from the body

  *   Yoga to live with greater awareness

  *   Helps in attention, focus and concentration, especially important for children

  *   Reduces stress and tension in the physical body by activating the parasympathetic nervous system

Benefits of Yoga

                The art of practicing yoga helps in controlling an individual’s mind, body and soul. It brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve a peaceful body and mind; it helps manage stress and anxiety and keeps you relaxing. It also helps in increasing flexibility, muscle strength and body tone. It improves respiration, energy and vitality. Practicing yoga might seem like just stretching, but it can do much more for your body from the way you feel, look and move. Yoga asanas build strength, flexibility and confidence. Regular practice of yoga can help lose weight, relieve stress, improve immunity and maintain a healthier lifestyle.

            Yoga lowers blood sugar and LDL ("bad") cholesterol and boosts HDL ("good") cholesterol. In people with diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar in several ways: by lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels, encouraging weight loss, and improving sensitivity to the effects of insulin. Get your blood sugar levels down, and you decrease your risk of diabetic complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and blindness. An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation demonstrate the ability to solve problems and acquire and recall information better—probably because they're less distracted by their thoughts, which can play over and over like an endless tape loop.