By Reena Bhardwaj

New York [US], June 22 (ANI): Yoga practitioners gathered at New York's Times Square for the 12th edition of Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga -- one of the world's most striking annual wellness events and increasingly one of the most visible stages for India's soft power abroad.

The day's first session, which began at 7:30 am on Saturday, had participants stretching and balancing against a backdrop of flashing advertisements and the roar of Midtown traffic, a contrast that has become the event's signature.

Headlining this year's International Day of Yoga celebrations was Padma Dr HR Nagendra, president of S-VYASA University in Bengaluru and the man widely credited as the guiding force behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal yoga practice. For many in the Indian diaspora gathered in New York, his presence lent the occasion both spiritual gravity and national pride.

'Our honourable Prime Minister has brought this International Day of Yoga throughout the world, and the theme this year is 'Yoga for Healthy Ageing'. That's what all of us observe: that as we age, we should continuously become healthier day by day, day by day, and that's the theme. And that can happen when we bring balance to the catabolic and anabolic rates that are there in our body. And the catabolic rate takes over normally in our age, and we have to reduce that. For that, very special pranayamas have also been developed by our ancient masters. And yoga is an ancient science which gives direction to modern science to go beyond the physical. To understand what prana, mind, devotion, and intellect are and that which is beyond everything,' he said.

Dr Nagendra's visit was arranged at the invitation of the Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA) and co-hosted by BRUHUD NY Seniors and Jaipur Foot USA.

Prem Bhandari, Chairman of Jaipur Foot USA and President of RANA New York, has organised yoga programmes at some of America's most high-profile venues, including the United Nations headquarters and Capitol Hill, for over a decade.

'This is of the country's successful Prime Minister Narendra Modi; he was instrumental in the UN declaring 21st June as International Yoga Day. As the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', which the Honourable Prime Minister is also following, and we have been doing for thousands of years. The world is one family; the whole world is one family. And never before has there been such a need; there is a need for world peace,' Bhandari said.

The origins of the Times Square yoga gathering are modest by any measure. On 21 June 2003, three people unrolled their mats at sunrise in the middle of one of the world's busiest intersections. Two of them went on to found Solstice in Times Square as a formal event. Over two decades, it has grown into a full-day programme offering seven free yoga classes, drawing practitioners from across New York and beyond.

This year, the event was organised by the Indian Consulate in New York, a sign of how firmly it has been woven into the fabric of official India-US cultural engagement.

'We have been celebrating International Day of Yoga at Times Square, and this year, the theme of Yoga Day is 'Yoga for Healthy Ageing'. Generally, I've been here for the last few years, and on the last two occasions, we've seen more than 10,000 people come and practise yoga at Times Square. And this year, we have been told by the organisers, which is Times Square Alliance, we work with them; we do the Yoga Day with them. This year, I think more than 12,000 people have registered, so that's what we are expecting today,' Consul General Pradhan said.

On performing yoga at Times Square, a participant said, 'This is my second time doing yoga at Times Square... It is magical, but mainly it is about gathering all the people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, coming together as one to raise the spiritual energy in New York and the world...'

Another participant said, 'Times Square is so busy and getting to be a part of this community and do yoga in the middle of it, we find peace, grounding and some stillness in the chaos.'

The choice of date is not incidental. The United Nations declared 21 June the International Day of Yoga in 2014, following a proposal by Prime Minister Modi. The summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, has since become a global marker of the practice India has long called its gift to the world. (ANI)