LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to
proclaim June 21, 2016, as Yoga Day in the State of New York, in
conjunction with the observance of International Yoga Day

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize official
days that are set aside to increase awareness of issues that affect the
lives of citizens of New York State; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, it is the sense of this Legislative Body to memori-
alize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim June 21, 2016, as Yoga Day in
the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of Interna-
tional Yoga Day; and
WHEREAS, In a proud moment for India, the United Nations has adopted
June 21, 2016, as International Yoga Day after Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has urged the world community to celebrate Indian yoga; and
WHEREAS, In India, respect for nature is an integral part of spiritu-
alism, and Indians treat nature's bounties as sacred; yoga is an invalu-
able gift of its ancient tradition; and
WHEREAS, Yoga is an Indian physical, mental, and spiritual practice or
discipline; there is a broad variety of schools, practices and goals in
Hinduism, Buddhism including Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism, and Jain-
ism; the best-known are Hatha yoga and Raja yoga; and
WHEREAS, Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action,
restraint and fulfillment, harmony between man and nature, and a holis-
tic approach to health and well-being; performing yoga allows an indi-
vidual to discover the sense of oneness with oneself, the world and
nature; and
WHEREAS, Yoga is believed to have five principal meanings: yoga as a
disciplined method for attaining a goal, yoga as techniques of control-
ling the body and the mind, yoga as a name of one of the schools or
systems of philosophy, yoga in connection with other words, such as
"hatha-", "mantra-", and laya-," referring to traditions specializing in
particular techniques of yoga, and yoga as the goal of yoga practice;
and
WHEREAS, The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to
pre-Vedic Indian traditions, but most likely developed around the sixth
and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic circles; yoga gurus
from India later introduced yoga to the west in the late 19th and early
20th centuries; and
WHEREAS, In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical
exercise across the Western world; yoga in Indian traditions, however,
is more than physical exercise, it has a meditative and spiritual core;
and
WHEREAS, It is the purpose of Yoga Day to bring greater public aware-
ness of the benefits of yoga, encouraging the growth of a sustainable
pattern of consumption and lead to a balance between man and nature;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim June 21, 2016, as Yoga
Day in the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of
World Yoga Day; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New
York.