The Consulate General of India in Houston, in collaboration with several supporting organizations, turned living rooms into yoga studios on Sunday, June 21, 2020 in honor of the Sixth International Day of Yoga (IDY), with a virtual event streamed live from India House and broadcast through the Consulate General of India Houston Facebook page, as well as the Facebook page of India House. This year’s event brought together families and yoga enthusiasts around the country together virtually to create a sense of community with the theme “Ghar Ghar Se Yoga - Yoga at Home” to achieve physical fitness and mental well-being. The two-hour virtual yoga session commenced with opening statements from Patanjali Yogpeeth USA President Shekhar Agrawal by delving into the purpose of yoga and translated some yoga sutras from Sanskrit to English with a brief explanation of its essence. This was followed by a message from International Day of Yoga pioneer and ardent yoga practitioner, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the benefits of yoga in ending the distance between the mind and body; and additional statements from India’s Consul General in Houston, Aseem Mahajan, invoking yoga’s holistic approach to well-being and health in these “challenging times,” and describing yoga as a binding force for humanity that goes beyond race, language, culture and gender.

“It's always a pleasure to be a part of IDY,” said Secretary of Indian Muslims of Greater Houston Saeed Pathan. “This year COVID-19 didn't deter us and we all enjoyed watching and practicing yoga virtually.”

The event’s highlight consisted of a virtual hour-long yoga session from Haridwar, India by world renowned yoga guru Swami Ramdev in which participants followed easy verbal instructions and demonstrations of postures (asanas) and breathing techniques (pranayama). Swami Ramdev motivated participants to activate their hardware (body) and software (breath) for greater health and inner peace. By infusing the session with encouraging words and the benefits of yoga, Swami Ramdev taught the basics of yoga that are highly beneficial for structural balance and fitness, but also the pranayama, or 11 breathing techniques, that can help people build an immunity and protect themselves from the risk of COVID-19.

“This is such an important day to recognize and more important is that we start to spread this day out to every day of the year,” said Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, Director Integrative Medicine Program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. “The evidence is clear that those who lead yogic lifestyles in the fullest sense of the word will not only lead longer lives, but they will lead happier, more fulfilling lives.”

Hindus of Greater Houston marked the Sixth International Day of Yoga by providing scholarships to four students from the African-American community in a first of its kind initiative. The scholarships will support the students training to become certified yoga instructors.

While yoga enthusiasts from Austin, Denver, Dallas, Tulsa, Kansas, New Orleans, San Antonio and several other cities across the US came together on the digital platform, iDoYoga San Antonio, in collaboration with all 10 City Council Districts and local yoga studios also held a successful 12 hour Yogathon on Saturday, June 20 and raised more than $15,000 for yoga teachers impacted by the pandemic. The funds will be used to award grants of $500 to 30 local yoga instructors who make their living teaching yoga.