Thousands expected to attend second International Day of Yoga

New York, June 12

Thousands of yoga lovers are all set to inundate the iconic Times Square as spiritual leaders and several Indian community associations prepare to organise a host of events in schools, temples and top tourist spots to commemorate the second International Day of Yoga on June 21.

Isha Foundation founder and spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, diplomats and UN officials will attend the Yoga Day celebrations organised by India's Permanent Mission to the UN on June 20 and 21.

The Indian mission is organising a special event 'Conversation with Yoga Masters - Yoga for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)' at the world body's headquarters on June 20.

Sadhguru will be the lead speaker at the event, which will be attended by senior UN officials as well as Ambassadors and dignitaries from all other countries.

On June 21, the Indian mission and the UN Department of Public Information will host the celebration of the 2016 International Day of Yoga in the world body's headquarters.

President of the UN General Assembly Morgens Lykketoft will be the Chief Guest and Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information Cristina Gallach will address the event.

The celebration will be led by Sadhguru and would include a musical incantation on Yoga and special Yogic meals.

The Indian Consulate, in association with the local Indian community and associations, is organising a series of Yoga related events in and around the city that started over the weekend in the run up to the main event.

The organisations will be hosting special Yoga sessions in schools, temples as well as at the J F K International Airport and Newark Airport.

A special yoga day celebration will also be commemorated at the Kresge Auditorium of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge.

Several thousand people are also expected to attend the annual day-long yoga celebrations at Times Square that coincide with the summer solstice, the yearly moment when the sun is at its highest position in the sky for the longest period of time.

"Yoga unites us with the Universal flow and connects us with our own personal rhythms. The discipline of yoga enhances our ability to respond to subtle cues that promote wellness.

Peace becomes the natural environment of our relationships and our world," said Douglass Stewart, Cofounder of the Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga.

The first International Yoga Day was commemorated at the UN with aplomb last year.

In December 2014, the UN General Assembly had adopted a resolution with a record number of 177 co-sponsoring member states to establish the International Day of Yoga to be commentated every year on June 21. — PTI