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International Day of Yoga

The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated annually on 21 June since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.

Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice which originated in India. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in his UN address in 2014, had suggested the date of 21 June, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world.

According to Hindu mythology, Shiva is considered to be the originator of yoga. He is said to be the Adiyogi, the first yogi (adi ="first"). Summer solstice holds importance in the yogic culture as it is considered to be the very beginning of the yoga.

Yoga was brought to the people by the "Saptarishis". The Vedas explain how Shiva's second teaching as a Adiyogi was devoted to the Saptarishis. It is said that Shiva was sitting in blissful meditation for years, many people flocked to him out of curiosity, but left as he never paid attention to anyone. But seven people stayed, they were so determined to learn from Shiva, that they sat still for 84 years.

After this, on the day of summer solstice, when the sun was shifting from the northern to the southern run, Shiva took notice of these 7 beings - he could no longer ignore them. The next full moon, 28 days later, Shiva turned into the Adiguru (the first teacher), and transmitted the science of yoga to the Saptarishis.

Laughter Yoga

Laughter yoga (Hasyayoga) is a modern exercise involving prolonged voluntary laughter. This type of yoga is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides similar physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. It is usually done in groups, with eye contact and much playfulness between participants. Intentional laughter often turns into real and contagious laughter.

Laughter yoga was popularized by family physician Madan Kataria who modernized and simplified the work of earlier laughter pioneers, who taught very similar concepts starting in the 1960s. Madan Kataria wrote about his experience in his 2002 book Laugh For No Reason.

Laughter yoga is found in 53 countries. There are about 5,000 laughter yoga clubs worldwide, with roughly 200 of those in the United States.