Leading the country's Yoga Day celebrations from the heritage city of Mysuru in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Yoga is a problem- solver that brings inner peace not only for individuals but our entire society.

The Prime Minister said,” Today, Yoga is being practised in all parts of the world. The peace from yoga is not merely for individuals. Yoga brings peace to our society. Yoga also brings peace to our nations and the world.”

Glimpses from the 8th #InternationalDayofYoga

PM @narendramodi participates in the Yoga day celebrations with thousands of participants at the Mysore Palace ground, Mysuru on the occasion of #InternationalDayofYoga today#YogaForHumanity pic.twitter.com/s2RMUEmAiy

— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 21, 2022

"Yoga is not only for any individual but for entire humanity. This is the reason that the theme of International Yoga Day is 'Yoga for humanity'," PM Modi explained.

"This whole universe starts from our own body and soul. The universe starts from us and Yoga makes us conscious of everything within us and builds a sense of awareness," he pointed out.

"No matter how stressful an atmosphere we are in, meditation for a few minutes relaxes us and boosts our productivity. So we should not consider yoga an additional work. We have to know yoga and live yoga and make it our own," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said this year’s theme of "Yoga for humanity" has been selected after much deliberation and it appropriately portrays, how during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, yoga served humanity in alleviating the sufferings and in the emerging post-COVID geo-political scenario too, it will bring people together through compassion, kindness, foster a sense of unity and build resilience among people world over.

Prime Minister's Yoga programme at Mysuru is also part of the novel programme 'Guardian Yoga Ring' which is a collaborative exercise between 79 countries and United Nations organisations along with Indian Missions abroad to illustrate Yoga's unifying power that surpasses national boundaries.

As the sun apparently moves from the east to the west across the world, the Mass Yoga Demonstrations in the participating countries, if seen from any one point on Earth, will seem to be happening one after the other, almost in tandem, thus underlining the concept of 'One Sun, One earth'.

The Digital yoga exhibition will showcase the latest technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) to project the history and wisdom of Yoga. The static exhibition consists of 146 stalls which have been taken up by yoga institutions, Ayush institutions under the ambit of the Government of Karnataka and the Government of India.

Keeping the overarching theme of 75 years of India's independence, the Ministry for Ayush also identified 75 iconic locations for Union Ministers to participate in the Yoga Day celebration.

#WATCH | People perform Yoga at Mysuru Palace Ground in Karnataka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the #InternationalDayOfYoga celebrations from here.

(Video: ANI) pic.twitter.com/dIseB117mm

— OTV (@otvnews) June 21, 2022

According to the Ministry of Ayush, it is expected that as many as 25 crore people will participate in International Day of Yoga 2022 celebrations across the world.

It was during his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 27, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi first floated the idea of the International Yoga Day. The draft resolution passed by India was supported by 177 nations. With universal recognition and growing popularity of Yoga, the United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga on December 11, 2014.

The first International Yoga Day was celebrated on June 21, 2015.

Practice Vakrasana to lower blood sugar levels

Visuals from historic Mysuru Palace where #IDY2022 celebrations is being held

Watch LIVE – https://t.co/5txvmnUgzC#YogaForHumanity #GuardianRingForYoga pic.twitter.com/WzUkKCuEQi

— DD Uttar Pradesh(DDUP)डीडी उत्तर प्रदेश(डीडी यूपी) (@DDUttarPradesh) June 21, 2022