scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeIndiaOn International Yoga Day, a look at PM Modi’s yoga diplomacy &...

On International Yoga Day, a look at PM Modi’s yoga diplomacy & weird yoga trends

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made the proposal of yoga day in his first address to the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: International Day of Yoga is observed every year on 21 June since its inception in 2014. The importance of this day assumed significance in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for it in the United Nations.

This year, the PM has upped the ante on Twitter and has been sharing yoga events happening worldwide and a series of yoga videos in which Modi’s animated version can be seen teaching various asanas step by step.

On yoga day, ThePrint traces its origin, takes a look at PM Modi’s yoga diplomacy and the various offbeat yoga trends that have emerged over the years.

The history

In December 2014, the United Nations had passed a resolution declaring 21 June as the ‘International Day of Yoga’ and as many as 177 countries had co-sponsored the declaration.

It was PM Modi who had made a proposal of yoga day in September that year during his first address to the UN General Assembly. He spoke about the importance of yoga in his address: “Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action, restraint and fulfillment, harmony between man and nature, a holistic approach to health and well-being.”

In 2015, the event was celebrated in India with much gusto. Modi had come to Rajpath where almost 35,000 people had gathered to perform asanas. Since then, India has been celebrating yoga day every year. With each passing year, the number as well as the scale of the yoga events have only increased.

Modi and yoga

In his first term, Modi had made it obvious that he values and fosters international relationships, and his record 92 foreign trips hold proof of it.

Many of his visits were characterised by ‘soft power’ push. Joseph Nye, a prominent American political theorist, has coined the term that denotes a form of power exercised by a state that persuades rather than coerces other states into accepting the outcome it desires.

Modi has increasingly been a promoter of ‘soft power’ exercises such as giving gifts to heads of states, including a cricket stadium, to tapping into the widespread Indian diaspora living abroad.

The yoga day is arguably Modi’s most successful ‘soft power’ endeavour. While the export of yoga to the West preceded Modi, it was his efforts that retraced the origins of yoga to India. On his visit to Argentina in November 2018, Modi had said yoga was India’s gift to the world of health.

Researchers Aavriti Gautam and Julian Droogan in their paper titled Yoga soft power: how flexible is the posture?’  argue that this soft power diplomacy using yoga as a tool has been beneficial in reiterating the position of India as a cultural, spiritual and inclusive force.

“Yoga soft power diplomacy represents a concerted effort on India’s behalf to draw on ancient South Asian spiritual traditions to portray itself as a benign and beneficial cultural force in global affairs,” the paper stated.

Further, this mobilisation around yoga has also consolidated Modi’s own cult personality. He assumes the centrestage every year on this day.


Also read: BJP to field 300 MPs in Delhi for Yoga Day, signals focus on Capital before polls


The rise of yoga industry

In India, celebration of yoga day has led to a better organisation of yoga instructors and institutes. The intake of yoga institutes around June and July also goes up. Ankur Mehta, founder of Pune-based wellness centre PausenLearn, said the rise in customers in June-July could be as much as 25 per cent.

“While the government has certainly created a big wave around yoga, it has not been very successful in dispelling certain myths about it and this is where the facilitators are important,” he said.

The AYUSH Ministry has also come up with yoga certification courses. Exams are held annually for these courses and it is only after receiving certificates that an individual is eligible to teach yoga in the Asia-Pacific region.

Internationally, yoga has transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry in the health and wellness sector, and the yoga day has played a significant role in promotion of this industry.

The yoga industry in the United States is predicted to bring in revenue of over $11.6 billion by 2020A study by Yoga Journal says the number of yoga practitioners in the United States has increased to 36 million in 2016 from nearly 20 million in 2012, and the numbers are steadily rising.

Types of yoga

The celebration of this day has also given rise to various forms of yoga. Some of the popular yoga postures are Vinyasa, Ashtanga and Iyengar.

Vinyasa yoga, also known as flow, emphasises on the coordination between breath and postures, while Ashtanga yoga is more fast-paced and rigorous. Iyengar yoga was formulated by B.K.S. Iyengar and gives precedence to precision and alignment of postures.

Offbeat yoga practices have also come to the fore in recent years such as power yoga, aerial yoga and wheel yoga. Some even perform goat yoga, which is practised with a live goat, beer yoga, which is performed in breweries while drinking beer, and underwater yoga.

What to expect this year

The theme of this year’s yoga day is ‘Yoga for Heart.’ The main event will be led PM Modi in Ranchi, Jharkhand, where approximately 30,000 people are expected to take part. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and several BJP ministers are expected to attend the event. Several other yoga events are being held across the country.

The AYUSH ministry has even launched a Yoga Locator app this year to help people find yoga centres and events in their respective localities. The ministry also gives ‘Pradhan Mantri Yoga Puraskar’ every year for contribution in promotion and development of yoga. AYUSH minister Shripad Naik said this year at least 200 applications have been received.

The Modi government has also decided to institute the Antarrashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman in a bid to encourage the media to help propagate yoga.

Yoga events have also been organised worldwide. From Washington D.C. and Texas to Abu Dhabi, thousands of people are expected to participate in yoga events.


Also read: On International Yoga Day, Amit Shah to tell Haryana BJP to stretch itself past 75+ seats


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular