Today is International Day of Yoga

International Day of Yoga or as it’s more commonly referred to ‘Yoga Day’, is celebrated every year on 21 June to raise awareness about the benefits of Yoga in daily life. Today marks the 5th annual staging of the event and you can expect a wide variety of events and celebrations to take place, many of which will be free to attend and open to the general public.

The idea of International Day of Yoga was first proposed by the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), on 27 September 2014. During the address PM Modi 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.

The draft resolution establishing the International Day of Yoga was presented to the UNGA by India's Permanent Representative Asoke Mukherji and endorsed by a record 175 member states.

International Day of Yoga has now been practiced annually cross the globe since 2015 and continues to grow in popularity. Each year the event carries a theme and this year the theme is “Yoga for Climate Action’.

In a speech at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, PM Modi said different paths to “economic wellbeing” should be explored by world leaders. He recommended yoga as one way of fighting climate change, as it offered people a sense of “harmony with self, society and nature” and could create a “social consciousness”.

PM Modi practicing yoga during the 2016 International Day of Yoga celebration in India.

“In India faith and nature have had a deep meaning since ancient times – for us the only path is a sustainable one,” he said.

To celebrate this years event, Sacred Lotus Yoga will be holding a free class this Sunday (23 June) in Castleknock Community Centre at 10:00am. The class will be open to people of all ages and abilities so book your place and join us in celebrating the 5th annual International Day of Yoga.

10 Minutes Of Meditation For Improved Cognitive Ability

We all lead such busy lives these days that it can often be difficult to find time to recharge the mind but it's vital not to underestimate the importance of practising just 10 minutes of meditation per day.

It's not just rushing to get the kids ready for school or trying to prepare yourself for that big presentation at work but all that background noise that we endure on a daily basis. Modern day life consumes our minds with unnecessary distractions leaving us with no time to switch off. We all have mobile phones, tablets, laptops, TV's and it's all too easy to spend what little spare time we have lost to the virtual world. I often find myself picking up my phone first thing in the morning before I've even had a chance to properly wake up, catching up on what I might have missed during the night. Because as we all know too well Facebook, Instagram, Twitter never sleep!

But don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of technology and social media, after all here I am writing a blog post, but there is a point at which it all becomes just too much, a distraction that deadens our senses, and blurs our focus. Today more than ever before it's crucial that we afford ourselves the time that our minds need to rest and recuperate.

Of course meditation isn't the only way to achieve this goal but it is one of the oldest and most effective according to its practitioners. Some of the earliest written records of meditation (Dhyana), come from the Hindu traditions of Vedantism around 1500 BCE and has been practised since antiquity in numerous religious traditions and beliefs, often as part of the path towards enlightenment and self realization.

"The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear". - Rumi

Since the 19th century, it has spread from its origins to other cultures. Today meditation is commonly practised throughout the world by people of all walks of life. With its surge in popularity hundreds of scientific studies have been carried out in order to identify and examine its health benefits. Studies have shown that meditation can positively impact both mental and physical health by reducing stress, controlling anxiety, promoting emotional well being, enhancing self awareness, decreasing blood pressure and age related memory loss, improving sleep and increasing mental focus.

Thankfully though you don't need to become a monk or devote your life to finding enlightenment to reap some of these benefits. A recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience found that even 10 minutes of meditation can increase a persons cognitive abilities. According to Hedy Kober, senior author and associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at Yale University, “We have known for a while that people who practice meditation for a few weeks or months tend to perform better on cognitive tests, but now we know you don't have to spend weeks practising to see improvement."

Personally I try to practice at least 20 minutes of meditation per day, 10 minutes in the morning to start my day and 10 minutes in the evening before going to bed. Whenever I have time I like to extend my practice for longer periods but don't worry if you can't, just 10 minutes per day or as often as you can is a great way to begin.

Simple steps for effective meditation:

1. Find a peaceful space.

2. Make yourself comfortable.

3. Bring your awareness to the sounds outside the room.

4. Draw the same awareness to the sounds inside the room.

5. Guide that awareness to you body noticing the feeling of the air against your skin.

6. Begin to draw your focus to your breath without changing it but just becoming aware.

7. To deepen the breath, send the breath deep into your belly on the inhale before exhaling fully from the belly.

8. Repeat this breathing cycle for approximately 10 minutes or for as long as you feel comfortable.