UN spotlights 'power of Yoga practice' to help ease COVID-19 stress

21 Juin 2020

New York, US, June 21 (Infosplusgabon) - The UN is on Sunday celebrating the sixth annual International Day of Yoga, recognising the ancient practice as a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, and a powerful tool for dealing with the myriad stresses brought on by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India and is now practised in various forms around the world. The word “yoga” derives from Sanskrit and means “to join or unite”, symbolising the union of body and consciousness.

A UN statement said as the global outbreak of COVID-19 has upended lives across the world, a rise in conditions including depression and anxiety have been seen as people adapt to lifestyle changes.

This year’s observance -- organized as an online celebration on 19 June by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations -- will be held under the theme, "Yoga for Health - Yoga at Home”, as precautions taken during the fight against COVID-19 have shut down yoga studios and other communal spaces. Practitioners have turned to home practice and online yoga resources.

“During my missions and the ongoing confinement, yoga has really helped me to stay calm, balanced and focused,” said Silke Von Brockhausen, who is currently based in New York at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and has a career in helping the UN respond to global emergencies.

The statement said parents may also find it helpful for keeping their children relaxed and physically active while schools and summer break activities are cancelled.

“Yoga is a unique discovery,” says Nagaraj Naidu, Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations. “I have seen it transform me, my family. Yoga has got tremendous benefits to offer.”

The United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the annual International Day of Yoga in 2014 with the adoption of General Assembly resolution 69/131, endorsing a vision set out by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

“Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, through and action…a holistic approach [that] is valuable to our health and wellbeing,” he told the sixty-ninth session.

The statement said the World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed the benefits of yoga from the earliest days of the COVID crisis, recommending the practice as a way to look after physical and mental wellbeing at home.

WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, cited it among his tips for living well while in quarantine, during his 20 March media briefing.

Yoga also features prominently in WHO’s Global Action plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030, which makes a link between investment in policy actions to increase physical activity and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 3 (good health and wellbeing).

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ZTR/GABON2020

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