Nigerians Mark 3rd International YOGA Day

• As Indian envoy urges practice to promote well-being, peace


Alex Enumah in Abuja

Nigerians in their large numbers saturday joined the rest of the world to mark the third anniversary of the International Day of Yoga, a day set aside by the United Nations since June, 2014, to promote Yoga as a holistic approach to health and well being of the individual.

The event which held at the Indian High Commission’s premises in Abuja saw close to 300 Nigerians joined embassy officials and other nationals in a 45 minutes session conducted in line with the common Yoga protocol by both Indian and Nigerian Yoga instructors.

Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, B.N. Reddy, who expressed joy over the level of awareness of Yoga as a means of developing the soul, mind body and intellect of the individual, appealed to the general public to embrace Yoga as a way of life stating that apart from the development of the totality of the human being, Yoga has been identified to help address certain prevalent health challenges particularly those related to stress.


He said, “It is with the intention for yoga to be promoted as a holistic concept or approach for the well being of human beings that a resolution was adopted with the support of 177 countries of the 194 countries at the United Nations. It has received the largest support from all over the world which included Nigeria also, one of the teachers out there as you can see is a Nigerian and these goes to show the level to which the concept of Yoga is been accepted by Nigerians.


He said a lot of people today go through one form of stress or the order which could easily lead to some form of health challenges, but with the use of various Yoga postures these challenges can be overcome, adding that Yoga is cost effective as it does not require the use of a gym or other equipment. “Everything you need for this exercise is in your, your body. It is something you can do even at the comfort of your home”, he said.