Indian Mission Hosts Yoga Day

The Indian High Commission in Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, has launched the celebration of the 3^rd International Day of Yoga (IDY) in Accra.

The High Commission as part of activities to create awareness and benefits of practising Yoga, will host a yoga session at the forecourt of the State House on Saturday, 17^th June, 2017 from 7:00 am to 9:00 am.

The session would see a demonstration of Yoga postures/techniques by a qualified instructor from India who also conducts Yoga classes at the Indian High Commission's Chancery premises and India House.

Birender Singh Yadav, Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, addressing the media, said the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had approved the resolution, co-sponsored by 177 countries by consensus to celebrate 21^st June as “International Day of Yoga.”

He explained that the resolution acknowledged that Yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being and wider dissemination of information about the benefits of practising Yoga for the health of the world population.

Birender Singh Yadav said, “Yoga is not about exercise but to discuss the sense of oneness with ourselves, the world and nature. Yoga also brings harmony in all walks of life and thus, is known for disease prevention, health promotion and management of many lifestyle-related disorders. Today, everybody has conviction about Yoga practices towards prevention of diseases and promotion of health.”

He was hopeful the day would foster relationship between the two countries and expressed his gratitude to the ministry of youth and sports for agreeing to be part of the celebration.

Dr. Emmanuel Owusu Ansah, special advisor to the minister of youth and sports who claimed to have been practising Yoga for years, shared the benefits of the exercise with the audience. “Since I started practising Yoga, I have never been sick before,” he asserted.

He thus pledged the ministry's support to the celebration and called on all to participate in the healthy exercise.

The science of Yoga has its origin thousands of years ago.  It was in India that the Yogic system found its fullest expression. Agastya, the saptarishi, who travelled across the Indian subcontinent, crafted this culture around a core Yogic way of life.

Yoga is widely considered as an “immortal cultural outcome” of the Indus Saraswati Valley Civilization – dating back to 2700 BC- and has proven itself to cater for both material and spiritual uplift of humanity.

By Bridget Tenkoramaa Boateng & Jamila Akweley Okertchiri