India: PM Narendra Modi to perform yoga at public event in New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform yoga at a public event on the country's main ceremonial venue in New Delhi on 21 June, government and ruling party officials have said.

Modi was instrumental in getting the United Nations in declaring 21 June as International Day of Yoga.

It was during his first address at the UN general Assembly that he spoke of the need to encourage yoga in order to "discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature".

Modi says he performs yogic exercises every day and credits them with giving him energy despite sleeping only for a few hours at night.

He appointed India's first minister to promote yoga and traditional medicines to carry out a mission to increase awareness about home-grown health treatments.

Modi also introduced a plan to allow government officials to practice yoga at work, reports Reuters.

Police are drawing up security plans to manage the crowd at the event.

Yoga which is often mistaken for complicated body postures is actually a technique of uniting the body, mind and breath derived from the core of Vedic science developed in the Indus valley more than 5,000 years ago.

Millions across the world have taken to the practice which has been scientifically proven to deliver many health benefits. In the West it is offered as a fitness practice in studios, community centres, hospitals, gyms and health clubs.

Yoga and wellness guru Deepak Chopra says the gift of yoga is the path it offers us into the timeless, spaceless world of spirit.

The Yoga Sutras or techniques offer a clear roadmap for the evolution of consciousness from ordinary states of awareness such as waking, dreaming, and sleeping to higher states of consciousness, says Chopra whose classes are a big hit in the West.