UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Remarks on International Day of Yoga

It is always a pleasure to attend events organized by the Embassy of India, and today’s occasion, the International Day of Yoga, is particularly special. Thank you for the invitation. Great to so many of you here this morning.

Why yoga? What does it have to do with international affairs? Let me share a few thoughts on that.

Today is International Yoga Day, and it is a wonderful reminder to recognize the countless physical, mental and emotional advantages of yoga and related practices. 

Recognizing yoga’s universal appeal, on 11 December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga. The draft resolution establishing this day was proposed by India and endorsed by a record 175 UN member states.

The resolution notes “the importance of individuals and populations making healthier choices and following lifestyle patterns that foster good health.” 

Yoga is more than a physical activity. In the words of one of its most famous practitioners, the late B. K. S. Iyengar, “Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.”

Yoga is a transformative practice; it represents the harmony of mind and body, the balance between thought and action, and the unity of restraint and fulfilment. Yoga helps build strength, flexibility, and inner serenity, while breathing techniques and meditation – which often go hand in hand – help to focus and relieve stress and worry. 

“Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down,” doctor and yoga instructor Jigar Gor has said.

Yoga is about introspection and peace, thoughts before action. This sounds like the exact recipe the world would need today.

Maybe it is not a coincidence that the theme of this year’s 10th International Yoga Day is Yoga for Self and Society: while we often think of yoga as a solitary activity of self-reflection, this year’s focus is on the collective as much as on the individual.

The theme is meant to promote the physical and mental well-being of the community. And how relevant this theme is in today’s turbulent world! If only society as a whole could adopt some yoga poses, reflect on the state of the world and would come back more zen, more chilled, more rational. The results on decision making at the highest level could be extraordinary.

Because perhaps in that zen, chilled, relaxed frame of mind, it would be easier for countries to agree on meaningful measures to finally address climate change and find the resources developing countries need to help them get off fossil fuels; or to find meaningful compromises that could help stop civil wars and the killing and suffering of civilians.

Sure yoga alone won’t do it, but it could be a catalyst along the way.

Perhaps all decision makers, as well as us diplomats should consider beginning the day with a 10-minute breathing session, followed by 15 minutes of high-intensity yoga training for reflection. Then during the day, in between meetings and rounds of negotiations, we could take time to do some breathing exercises and some yoga postures.

A healthy dose of yoga could do wonders for our world.

To quote another yogi, this time from the west, German writer and spiritual leader Echkart Tolle: “Inhale the future. Exhale the past.”

Thank you.