Wellbeing Wednesday: International Day of Yoga

Sunday 21 June was International Day of Yoga.

A spiritual, mental and physical group of exercises originating in ancient India, yoga has grown into a popular form of exercise and meditation to improve strength, flexibility and overall wellbeing.

The United Nations formally recognised the universal appeal of yoga in 2014, making 21 June its international day.

The theme for this year’s event is ‘Yoga for Health - Yoga at Home’. 

With studios and gyms closed for lockdown, and many people spending most of the day at home, finding the time and space for exercise can be difficult. Yoga requires little to no equipment, and the meditative side of its practice can help to alleviate the anxiety of a global pandemic happening outside.

Online health and fitness resources have boomed during lockdown, and yoga is no different.

Here are four resources online to learn more about yoga.

The NHS guide to yoga

An overview of how yoga can be part of a balanced lifestyle, its health benefits and further resources to learn more. The NHS advice is it’s better for an absolute beginner to learn with a class or practitioner rather than starting yoga with books or videos.

United Nations website

The UN website has more on the history of yoga and how International Day of Yoga is celebrated around the world, as well as further resources on yoga and staying healthy in lockdown.

Yoga With Adriene 

Adriene Mishler is YouTube’s biggest yoga guru with nearly eight million subscribers. Adriene’s playlist Yoga for beginners includes short guides Yoga at your desk and Yoga for daily neck relief, which you may find particularly useful if you work at a computer.

Cosmic Kids Yoga

With schools yet to fully reopen, finding ways to entertain children at home remains commonplace. Many parents will be among the 871k subscribers to the Cosmic Kids Yoga channel on YouTube. You may remember Unipart Logistics Internal Communications Manager Jo Matson shared her Cosmic Kids Yoga experience back in April.

Find out more about staying fit and healthy.

Our Employee Assistance Provider called LifeWorks, has a wide range of resources that can help to support you, and up to five members of your family, at this time.

If you are struggling, you can get free, confidential support from independent caring counsellors 24/7, via the phone number on 0800 169 1920 or through unipart.lifeworks.com or the LifeWorks mobile app. 

If you don't already have a log in, find out more about how to sign up here.