International Yoga Day is celebrated on June 21.
UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi has shared a picture from the International Space Station (ISS) to mark yoga day. In the picture, shared on Twitter, Sultan AlNeyadi is seen meditating. According to the astronaut, yoga “not only strengthens the body but also sharpens the mind and reduces stress.”
The text attached to the tweet read, “Today is International Yoga Day and here is me practicing a bit of yoga on the ISS. A personal favourite, yoga not only strengthens the body but also sharpens the mind and reduces stress. Which is your favourite yoga pose?”
International Yoga Day is celebrated on June 21. While the day was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, it was officially adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. The UN General Assembly declared June 21 as International Yoga Day. This was in recognition of yoga's growing popularity around the world and its potential to improve the health and well-being of people across the globe.
Several Bollywood stars as well as politicians also urged people to embrace yoga and make it an integral part of their day-to-day lives.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on his first state visit to the US, also led a yoga day celebration at the UN headquarters in New York. It went on to create a Guinness World Record for the participation of people of most nationalities.
"I'm delighted to see you all. And I thank you all for coming. Friends. I'm told that almost every nationality is represented here today," PM Modi said.