Preparations are on in full swing across the country and abroad to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on Tuesday. Theme of the Day this year is to connect the youth. <br/><br/>The main event of Yoga celebration will take place in Chandigarh where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate. The Common Yoga Protocol will begin at 7 am and last for 45 minutes. The first International Day of Yoga was celebrated last year.<br/><br/>The United Nations General Assembly on 11th of December, 2014 declared 21 June as International Day of Yoga while recognizing its universal appeal. Yoga Day aims at raising awareness about the benefits of practicing yoga. AIR correspondent reports that in the run up to the celebrations of International Day of Yoga, rehearsal of practicing Yogasanas were held at Rajpath and other places in the national capital today.<br/><br/>AIR correspondent's report:- "In Delhi, a special yoga session was organised at Rajpath this evening in which Yoga Guru Ramdev performed various Yogasanas. During the session, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, BJP MPs Mieenakshi Lekhi,Manoj Tiwari were prominent among others who practicised Yoga. On Tuesday, the Day will be celebrated at seven different locations in the national capital including Connaught place, Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park and Talkatora Garden. <br/><br/>Twenty differently abled participants will give a special performance during the opening ceremony at Connaught Place which will host the largest gathering of nearly ten thousand people.Besides, 100 resident welfare associations will organise yoga sessions in their localities."<br/><br/>Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he had not anticipated such enormous enthusiasm from across the globe for his call which had led the UN to declare June 21 as the International Yoga Day last year. In a video message ahead of the second International Yoga Day on Tuesday, Mr Modi asserted that yoga is much more than a physical exercise. <br/><br/>He said, the support and participation of the people last year and as well as this year redeem the commitment to nurture and promote Yoga and reaffirms yoga as an exemplary manifestation of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.' Maintaining that Yoga is much more than a physical exercise, he said, it enables people to access a new dimension of the self.<br/><br/>Hundreds of thousands of yoga lovers from Britain to Australia rolled out mats today to practice complex yoga postures, two days ahead of second International Day of Yoga. High Commission of India and the Indian government's Tourist Office in London, in collaboration with 14 British yoga institutions organised the day-long event at Potters Fields Park, near the iconic Tower Bridge. Over 10,000 people from all walks of life participated in various yoga and meditation sessions.<br/><br/>In South Africa, thousands gathered at more than a dozen venues across the country. Hundreds of Yoga enthusiasts of all religions and races performed yoga at the main event in Johannesburg's Zoo Lake park.<br/><br/>Yoga and meditation sessions were also organised across major Australian cities including Canberra and Melbourne with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hailing yoga as one of India's gifts to the world.<br/><br/>Mr Turnbull commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision<br/>of supporting global peace and well-being. Australian Prime Minister acknowledged yoga's aim to develop resilience, thoughtfulness, respect and harmony, towards each other and the world.<br/><br/>In China a large number of yoga enthusiasts yesterday participated in events held across the country in association with the Indian Embassy to mark the celebrations. China's Wuxi city organised the biggest yoga get together today in which 3,500 people took part.<br/><br/>In America, Indian classical dances and demonstration of popular yoga asanas on the lawns of magnificent US Congress yesterday kicked off the week-long International Day of Yoga<br/>celebrations. <br/><br/>Yoga enthusiasts and health conscious Americans turned up in large number to enjoy dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam and flex their muscles under the guidance of trained yoga instructors.

Preparations are on in full swing across the country and abroad to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on Tuesday. Theme of the Day this year is to connect the youth. <br/><br/>The main event of Yoga celebration will take place in Chandigarh where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate. The Common Yoga Protocol will begin at 7 am and last for 45 minutes. The first International Day of Yoga was celebrated last year.<br/><br/>The United Nations General Assembly on 11th of December, 2014 declared 21 June as International Day of Yoga while recognizing its universal appeal. Yoga Day aims at raising awareness about the benefits of practicing yoga. AIR correspondent reports that in the run up to the celebrations of International Day of Yoga, rehearsal of practicing Yogasanas were held at Rajpath and other places in the national capital today.<br/><br/>AIR correspondent's report:- "In Delhi, a special yoga session was organised at Rajpath this evening in which Yoga Guru Ramdev performed various Yogasanas. During the session, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, BJP MPs Mieenakshi Lekhi,Manoj Tiwari were prominent among others who practicised Yoga. On Tuesday, the Day will be celebrated at seven different locations in the national capital including Connaught place, Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park and Talkatora Garden. <br/><br/>Twenty differently abled participants will give a special performance during the opening ceremony at Connaught Place which will host the largest gathering of nearly ten thousand people.Besides, 100 resident welfare associations will organise yoga sessions in their localities."