Assembly Resolution No. 690

BY: M. of A. Malliotakis

MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
June 21, 2017, as Yoga Day in the State of New York,
in conjunction with the observance of International
Day of Yoga

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
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim June 21, 2017, as Yoga
Day in the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of
International Day of Yoga; 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
spiritualism, and Indians treat nature's bounties as sacred; yoga is an
invaluable 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
Jainism; 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
holistic approach to health and well-being; performing yoga allows an
individual 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
controlling 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
awareness 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, 2017, as Yoga
Day in the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of
World Day of Yoga; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York.