The Indian High Commission in Guyana conducted another successful curtain-raiser yoga session event this week, in which more than 50 ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were given the opportunity to participate at its Camp Ayanganna base.
GDF ranks participating in the yoga session
This was the second curtain raiser event organised by the High Commission in the run-up to the eighth International Day of Yoga (IDY) celebrations. A yoga session event was earlier held with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in May.
Indian High Commissioner, Dr KJ Srinivasa and GDF Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess were in attendance in the session spearheaded by yoga guru Agnela Patil.
While addressing the GDF officers at the yoga session, the High Commissioner shared insights about yoga and its benefits for mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. According to him, frontline workers, including army officers, across the globe have benefited from practising yoga even during the testing times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The yoga session was organised with the aim of demystifying the traditional Indian science of yoga and allowing GDF Officers to personally experience the benefits of yoga as it helps in controlling mental stress and tension as well as to keep them healthy and fit in keeping with the IDY 2022 theme, “Yoga for Humanity”.
“Yoga is a system of holistic living, having its roots in age-old Indian tradition and culture. Yoga transcends the barrier of race, religion, and culture and has thus become a global health movement. Yoga is essentially a mental and physical discipline based on an extremely subtle science that focuses on bringing harmony between mind and body. It is an art and science for healthy living,” the High Commission said in a statement.
In December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution sponsored by 177 member nations unanimously proclaiming June 21, the longest day in the northern hemisphere, as the International Day of Yoga. Since then, June 21 has been celebrated as International Day of Yoga each year.
The High Commission of India will also be organising one more curtain-raiser event for IDY 2022. The main event will be held on June 19, at the Everest Cricket Ground in Georgetown where Guyanese dignitaries are expected to join in along with members of the diplomatic corps and students.
On June 21, a yoga event will be held at the Indian Arrival Monument in Palmyra, Berbice. This event has been selected to be telecast live across the world as part of an initiative of the Government of India to ensure live broadcast of 24 hours of yoga on IDY 2022 from iconic locations across the globe and is denoted as “Yoga Ring”.
The High Commission of India has invited all Guyanese to join these celebrations. These events will be live broadcast on the Facebook pages of the High Commission of India and the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center as well as on prominent local TV channels.
