Relevance of Yoga increased during Covid-19 pandemic, says Harsh Vardhan

On seventh International Day of Yoga, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that Yoga has helped people to maintain physical and mental health during Covid-19

On the occasion of the seventh International Day of Yoga, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that the relevance of Yoga has increased during COVID-19 and asserted that Yoga has helped people to maintain physical and mental health.

After performing Yoga at Maharaja Agrasen Park here, Vardhan said, "Relevance of Yoga has increased during COVID-19. Yoga has helped us to maintain our physical and mental health. We should make Yoga or other physical activities a part of our daily life. These will help us to increase our immunity against coronavirus."

"I assure you, include yoga in your daily routine, it will increase your body's urgency and inner strength, it will also give you more strength in the fight against Covid," he added.

"In the battle of the second wave of covid, we are slowly moving towards success, we do not have to be careless at all, if we would be careless and relax again, then there can be many more cases of Covid again," Vardhan warned.

Vardhan also said that the free vaccine will be provided to every citizen who is above 18 years of age at every government health center from today.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Yoga has provided a ray of hope to the people across the world amid the ongoing Covid pandemic.

"Yoga is a ray of hope amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as the enthusiasm for Yoga has only increased over the last two years," he said while addressing the seventh International Day of Yoga (IDY).

While giving the mantra of 'Yoga se sahyog tak', the Prime Minister announced the launch of the M-Yoga app for yoga training videos that will be available worldwide in different languages and said that the application will play a 'great role' in expanding yoga across the globe.

This year, the theme of the occasion is 'Yoga For Wellness', and will focus on practicing Yoga for physical and mental well-being.

Since 2014, the occasion has been observed in mass gatherings in different parts of the country. Last year and this year, however, the lead event has been presented in a televised programme due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The observation of IDY is a global activity and the preparatory activities normally start 3-4 months prior to June 21. Millions of people are introduced to Yoga in the spirit of a mass movement as part of IDY observation every year.