High Commission of India

Singapore

PRESS RELEASE

4th International Day of Yoga in Singapore

With the objective of decentralising the International Day of Yoga Celebrations and making it more participative by involving more organisations and associations and bringing Yoga closer to people in their vicinity so that it can become a regular habit, High Commission of India organised the IDY 2018 for a full week (16 – 24 June 2018) at various centres across the city. The total number of centres and sessions is a record in this city of 700 square kms and a population of 6 million.

Total no. of Centres: 110

Total no. of Sessions: 183

30 Partner organisations

The categories of centres were Schools, Universities, Community Clubs, Sports Centres, Elderly Home Care, Home for people with special disabilities and mental health, Temples, Yoga Centres, Tourist Centres.

2. More than 7000 people from all walks of life participated in these celebrations with bountiful enthusiasm. We worked with approximately 30 yoga and wellness organisations to conduct yoga sessions across the city. Singapore government organisations such as Peoples’ Association, ActiveSG and SportSG, participated for the first time in the International Day of Yoga event. These organisations have a wide reach across the entire city and are major draw for propagating sporty and healthy lifestyle. Yoga centres in Singapore like Art of Living, Isha Foundation, Vyasa Yoga, Sahaja Yoga and Jal Yoga have all joined with the High Commission to make the 4th IDY a success in Singapore. It may also be noted that we involved several local associations such as Narpani (a grassroots organisation of Tamil community) and LISHA (Little India Shoppers and Heritage Association), Sun Love and Swami Home, Sree Narayana Mission, Ramakrishna Mission, Hindu Endowment Board and Indian Heritage Centre. We also incorporated several community clubs in our list of yoga centres so that it reaches maximum number of people. A detailed list is attached herewith.

3. The general programme at each of such centre was as follows:

It started with playing of the audio (video where possible) message from Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. Greeting Yoga lovers all over the world, Prime Minister explained Yoga's role in achieving ‘oneness among mind, body and intellect’. He also emphasized that Yoga is not just a set of exercises, but also a passport to health assurance.

High Commissioner addressed several such sessions. He explained the three reasons for Prime Minister’s call for IDY, namely, healthy life, sustainable planet and peaceful world. He also explained the benefits of yoga for both body and mind and the benefits of making it a part of daily life. High Commissioner lauded Singapore for the huge turnout and the manner in which Singapore has embraced yoga. He said that instead of doing one large event, we wanted to bring yoga closer to the people by holding it in their local community center, sports center, schools, colleges, housing complexes, hospitals, local parks, etc.

A guided Yoga session based on 'Common Yoga Protocol' created by Ministry of Ayush, Government of India was conducted with the help of Yoga demonstrators. The Yoga session concluded with Sanskrit Shlokas and Shantipath.

4. All the IDY sessions were free and open to the public. Registration at any of the IDY centres was done at http://www.idayyoga.com/

5. The inaugural session was at Home of Athletics, Kallang Stadium on 16 June at 6 pm with a participation of 1000 people and there were several venues and sessions on the first weekend of June 16 and 17, including ones at UNESCO World Heritage Site Botanic Garden and Gardens by the Bay, which led to a build-up of momentum for the coming week.

6. We also conducted yoga sessions at centres such as Sun Love and Swami Home, to reach out to the elderly and people with intellectual-disability.

7. To further give impetus to India’s ancient knowledge of traditional medicines like Ayurveda and Siddha, we are supporting Ayurveda Practitioners Association of Singapore (APAS) and Siddha Practitioners Association of Singapore (SPAS) in organising the fourth conference on Traditional Indian Medicine in Singapore. It’s a daylong session with panel discussions highlighting the several benefits of traditional medicines. A detailed report of the same is attached.

Singapore
21 June 2018