Celebrations of the 7th International Day of Yoga orgainsed by Consulate General of India, Birmingham

Celebrations of the 7th International Day of Yoga orgainsed by Consulate General of India, Birmingham

 

To spread the benefits of holistic wellness the Consulate General of India, Birmingham, celebrated the 7th International Day of Yoga this year with a series of specially curated events both physically and virtually from June 20 to 27, 2021. The week long celebrations provided opportunity to discover the various aspects of India's age-old approach to well-being of yoga asanas and make it accessible to a large number of people in the Midlands and North England. Though the events were held the entire week, there were 3 main celebrations, the first one was the centralised virtual Yoga event celebrated under the aegis of High Commission of India, London on 21st June, 2021 followed by the virtual celebration hosted by Consulate General of India, Birmingham, on 22nd June and the finale physical event on 27th June at the Sant Nirankari Mission in Wednesbury, West Midlands. The celebrations were graced by noted personalities from India and UK. Messages underlining the benefits of yoga, its importance during the coronavirus pandemic and how Yoga embodies unity of mind and body were received from the Internationally acclaimed Yoga Guru Swami Ram Dev, Padmabhushan Jagadish Vasudev Sadhguru & Lord Mayor of Liverpool Cllr Mary Rasmussen. We were honoured to have Sister BK Shivani, a practitioner of Rajyoga Meditation of the Brahma Kumaris for over 22 years join us virtually to deliver her spiritual message about Raj Yoga and its relevance. Both the programmes commenced with the screening of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi’s message on the International Day of Yoga 2021 followed by messages from other dignitaries. Consul General Dr. Shashank Vikram in his addresses, enumerated the steps taken by the Indian Government to popularise Yoga and its benefits internationally, he remarked that yoga brings the world closer to India and India closer to the world. The programme continued with practice of the Common Yoga Protocol by members of Shivodham Organisation, Birmingham and Dr. Dheeraj P. Joshi, Teacher of Indian Culture who joined us virtually on 22nd July event. Yoga enthusiasts present both physically and virtually enjoyed the simple yoga asanas and enthusiastically performed it one after another.

On 26th June, Consulate General of India also virtually launched the Little Guru app through an exclusive talk show on the eternal connection between Sanskrit & Yoga. This talk show explained how the communities of UK can learn Sanskrit in a very interesting and gamified way.

Other than the above mentioned events, series of events were jointly cohosted by the Consulate with different organisations of Midlands and North England celebrating the common theme ‘Yoga for Wellness’

• On Sunday 20th June a virtual event was held in association with the Bradford Hindu Council, this session was led by an Yoga expert Mr Satish Shah.

• On 21st June a group of senior elderly British people residing at the Keighley at Norwood House, an iconic care home in the Yorkshire Region benefitted from the Yoga conducted with our partner Indian organisation in Leeds.

• On 22nd June, a yoga event undertook at the Roundhay Park (Leeds, West Yorkshire) with the Indian communities of Leeds. The park is one of the largest city part in the Europe and has long precious history that goes back to the 11th century.

• On 23rd June, another yoga event took place near the the iconic Albert Docks and Liver Building in Liverpool in association with the Indian communities of Liverpool, both Indian and British yoga enthusiasts thronged near the Dock and performed the asanas enthusiastically.

• On 26th June, the Yoga enthusiasts in Manchester performed yoga in front of the 9ft bronze statue of the Mahatma Gandhi on Deansgate in Manchester, near the amazing Manchester Cathedral. The celebrations were hosted in association with the Vedic Organization for Indian Culture and Education, Manchester, on 20th June a virtual yoga event was also organised with the same organisation where communities of Manchester virtually joined in huge number.

• The Brahmakumaris of Coventry enthusiastically joined hands to celebrate the Yoga at Harmoney House, Coventry.

• The Hot Yoga group of Nottingham demonstrated yogas to the yogis gathered near the Wollaton Park in Nottingham on 26th June.

• Yogis from the Ayurveda clinic, Birmingham performed various Yoga Asanas in front of the 100m tall, Old Joe which is the world’s tallest freestanding clock tower, in University of Birmingham. Similar yoga asanas were also performed in the Gandhi Peace Centre of Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple, Tividale in Dudley.

• Spectacular display of Yoga posters and its relevance were displayed at the Grand Central, Birmingham, the heart of Midlands.

These events encouraged the participants to imbibe yoga in their daily lives to ensure that this ancient form of physical and spiritual exercise will help them to overcome the stress and ailments of today’s modern-day life.

 

Catch a glimplse of the celebrations at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee4oR5ngWbI