International Yoga Day: ‘Celebrating Yoga’ App Launched by Government

The International Yoga Day is today, and in recognition of the occasion, the government this week launched the Celebrating Yoga app. The new app, launched by Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan, is available for Android only and has been developed to popularise yoga and encourage people to participate for a “scientifically healthy living.” It can also act as a platform to share yoga-related events with others.

According to an official statement, the new Celebrating Yoga app will help connect enthusiasts with “both mass events being organized in public places, schools and office complexes across the country and individual enthusiasts who are performing yoga” to promote the International Yoga Day. However, unlike the many apps on Google Play, this app does not provide information regarding yoga asanas and exercises.

You can, however, create your own yoga event using the app. All you need to do is to open the menu and top on Share Your Event, and provide the requisite information. You can upload multiple photos to create a gallery for the event, and finally tap Submit to create the International Yoga Day event. To check out if your event is available on the Celebrating Yoga app, you need to go to the View Your Event tab; it may take up to 3 hours for the event to go live on the app. The event will show up on a Google Maps-based in-app map.

The information gathered through the app will be shared subsequently with the Ministry of (FULL FORM) AYUSH , the government statement said. Separately, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has launched a research programme called Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation (SATYAM) under its Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI). It says yoga and meditation are interdisciplinary endeavours that interface with neuroscience, medicine, psychology, engineering, philosophy etc., and yoga can contribute in a holistic way to derive integrated benefits.