Over 7,000 Yoga enthusiasts of Belgium and Luxembourg turned up at different cities on Sunday to celebrate the International Day of Yoga that was organised in these countries by the Embassy of India in Brussels. The Embassy in association with the Belgian NGO Vidonne, prominent Yoga Federations of Belgium and Luxembourg, Antwerp Indian Association, University of Ghent, Katholic University of Leuven, Radhadesh and the City of Enghien celebrated the First International Day of Yoga in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Ardennes, Enghien, the coastal city of Kortrigk and Luxembourg City. The celebrations were part of the global efforts to popularise Yoga which was pioneered by India.
The celebrations began with a curtain raiser with the internationally renowned Yoga exponent from India and the pioneer of the “Art of Living” - Sri Sri Ravishankar - speaking on Yoga and guiding a meditation and question and answer session at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Subsequently, the Embassy of India in Brussels took the initiative to co-host the large public Yoga event along with all prominent Yoga institutions and federations across Belgium under a single umbrella at the picturesque Bois de la Cambre (Forest of Brussels) in Brussels.
The Yoga session commenced at 10.30 am with the message of the Prime Minister of India relating to Yoga at the last UNGA in New York. Thereafter, Ambassador of India to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union Manjeev Singh Puri, welcomed the participants following which an experienced Yoga trainer from France conducted a series of Yoga asanas for about an hour. The Yoga session in Brussels commenced with a prayer in a meditative posture with namaskara mudra and ended with Dhyana/Meditation in Jnana mudra/Yoga mudra with eyes closed for 6 minutes. Five mini Yoga sessions – for kids, back pain sufferers, pregnant ladies, senior citizens and stress emphasizing on the different aspects of Yoga followed. The Yoga session in Brussels saw participation of about 5,000 people from across Belgium comprising of all sections of the Belgian society including local politicians, diplomats, EU and Belgian Government officials, businessmen, academicians, students etc. Several members of the Indian community also attended the event. Almost all Yoga experts in and around Brussels served as volunteers for the Yoga session. Yoga mats, T-shirts containing the image of the popular Belgian cartoon character “Smirf” and other goodies were distributed to the participants. The proceeds from the sale of the T-Shirts are to be donated to the Cancer Research Programme of the renowned Institute Juliet Bordet of Brussels. Tech-Mahindra, an Indian IT company having operations in BENELUX, played the role of a major sponsor for organizing the celebrations in addition to other sponsors.
Similar, large public Yoga events as also Yoga related lecture-demonstrations and seminars were organized in the Indian diaspora dominated city of Antwerp, the University towns of Ghent and Leuven, Enghien, Radhadesh at the Belgian Ardennes as also at the Luxembourg City in Luxembourg. Each of the venues saw participation of over 200 Yoga enthusiasts with over 1,000 people participating in Antwerp and over 500 in Luxembourg City.
