International Day of Yoga to be marked in Amman

AMMAN — Registration for an event to commemorate the first International Day of Yoga that will be held in Amman on June 21 is currently open for the public.   

The activity, to be held as part of ceremonies in more than 150 countries, will include a presentation about yoga and offer participants the chance to do some meditation, according to India’s embassy in Amman. 

In December 2014, the UN General Assembly declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga after a call by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the assembly on September 27.

Yoga, a 5,000-year-old legacy from India, embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action, restraint and fulfilment and harmony between man and nature and is considered a good means to ensure sound health and wellbeing, according to the Indian embassy’s Facebook page.  

The name is derived from Sanskrit root “yuj” meaning “to yoke” or join together.

Hatha yoga is the type of yoga most frequently practised in Western culture; Ha means “sun” and tha means “moon”, so hatha yoga represents an attempt to combine both complementary forces, the embassy said. 

Subject to a first come first serve basis, registration for participation in the Amman event is available on the embassy’s website (indembassy-amman.org).

The event is held in collaboration with different Yoga institutes in Amman.