International Yoga Day was celebrated on 21st June across the world to bring peace, harmony, happiness and success to every soul. This day has become a great opportunity to imbibe the value of discipline. Yoga is a mental, physical and spiritual practice that needs to be carried every day. The idea of an International Day for Yoga was first proposed by our Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji.

At H.K. Campus, where three institutes, H.K. Institute of Management Studies & Research, H.K. College of Pharmacy and H.K. College of Education are located, the staff and students came together to celebrate the second United Nations International Yoga Day. The day was marked with a deliberation on ‘Values and Importance of Yoga in our daily lives.’ The session began with an welcome speech by Prof. T. G. Roy, in-charge Director, H.K. Institute of Management Studies & Research, who introduced the importance of practicing Yoga in our daily lives.

The first speaker was Maphishisha Nongbri who explained objectives and genesis of International Yoga day. She shared ten benefits of Yoga that could change our lives. She further demonstrated the essence and magic of Yoga, through a video. She concluded with inputs on how to get tuned with your body and your inner self. The session was intersting and insightful.

The next speaker was Prof. Sunita Das, who put forth the importance of knowing oneself. She explained how we connect to the entire world surrounding us, but, remain disconnected from ourselves. She demonstrated through a practical session on meditation on how to connect mind, body and soul. All participants sensed a change after the session.

The practical session on meditation was followed by a demonstration session on critical aspects of yoga by next speaker Sarita Pathania, who herself is a disciplined yoga practitioner. She demonstrated three basic yoga exercises – Pranayama, Kapalbharti, and Anu vilom, which are breathing oriented exercises and explained the benefits that can be derived out of these yogic exercises. She explained how these exercises helps in releasing stress, including Kapalbharti that brings glow on the face.

Overall the session imparted an awareness on the basics of Yoga to participating staff and revolutionary change it can bring in our lives through disciplined and regular practice. The participants were all enthused with the idea of practicing yoga and when asked – committed to integrate basic yoga in their life, slowly and steadily. As it is being said, the idea is to explore limits not strive for some perfection.