The Power of Music & Yoga During a Pandemic

Michael Jackson The King Of Pop Credit: www.wishumgregoryart.com/

To live is to be musical, starting with the blood dancing in your veins. Everything living has a rhythm. Do you feel your music? – Michael Jackson

Our auditory systems and our nervous systems are tuned for music. Perhaps we are a musical species no less than a linguistic one. But there seems to be in us a peculiar sensitivity to music, a sensitivity that can all too easily slip out of control, become excessive, become a susceptibility or a vulnerability. That is the power of music. From droplets of rain touching the ground to the chirping of birds, it takes a keen eye to turn any melodious sound into music.

On this occasion of World Music Day (Fête de la Musique) celebrated on 21st June each year, The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Centre, Kuala Lumpur (NSCBICCKL), a Cultural Wing of High Commission of India created a special video to help us understand just how important music is in our lives, especially in such times.

His Excellency Shri Mridul Kumar – High Commissioner of India to Malaysia wished the nation a Happy World Music Day, while remarking on the dramatic differences in celebrating this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Music is a universal language. A language that has the power to unite, the power to heal. In these challenging times, when we are all fighting the COVID-19 epidemic and the world is struggling to come to terms with the new ways of life, let us be united through the universal language of music. Let us bring solace and peace to our actions, and our thoughts with the language of music. Let us share kindness and care with our fellow beings for our common humanity. The soothing voice of music is the most powerful tool and our most effective therapy in our hour of need. World Music Day reminds that the time has come to effectively use this tool. I wish all music lovers across the globe a Happy World Music Day,” said the High Commissioner to India.

His Excellency also thanked his team at NSCBICCKL for their invaluable support and dedication to promoting India in Malaysia. We are also in awe with music teacher Visalakshi Nityanand – her powerful voice, that has a rich, weighty quality throughout its entirety, similar to Chart-topping singer and humanitarian, Dame Annie Lennox! Check out https://www.icckl.com.my/ if you like to find out details for classes etc.

#SpiritofYoga

For the first time since it was instituted on June 21, 2015, the International Day of Yoga (IDY) celebrations is held virtually this year, across India and the world due to the coronavirus. This year’s theme is “Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family”.  To earmark this, the NSCBICCKL also created a stunning video based on the Yogasutras & Patanjali. Do take a look at this video that embodies the spirit of Yoga. #CelebrateGoodness

NSCBICCKL’s Yoga Master, Khemchand B.Gupta took it up a notch by conducting a Live Stream Yoga Session at their cultural centre in Brickfields earlier today at 8.00am. Master Gupta’s personal journey in Yoga began in 1999 when he undertook his Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga Education from the Kaivalyadhama in Lonavla, Pune, Maharashtra where he studied the Ashtanga Yoga of Sage Patanjali under the guidance of Swami Maheshanand – one of the most revered Paramhansa saints of the twentieth century.

Master Gupta in his element conducting the live stream session earlier this morning at NSCBICCKL

“Yoga is helping us in this fight against this pandemic,”says PM Modi on IDY

Addressing the nation on Yoga Day 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the benefits of yoga and how it is helping the world in the fight against COVID-19. Highlighting the importance of exercises, PM Modi requests to make yoga a part of our regular life. “ Anybody can embrace Yoga. All you need is some part of your time and empty space. Yoga is giving us not only physical strength but also mental balance and emotional stability to confidently negotiate the challenges before us,” he said.

“The meaning of Yoga is – ‘ Samtvam Yoga Uchhyate ‘, that is, the name of compatibility-adversity, success-failure, happiness-crisis, staying the same in every situation, remaining steadfast,” he adds

The proposal to observe IDY was introduced by PM Modi in his address during the opening of the 69th Session of the General Assembly back in 2014. The World Health Organization (WHO) mentions yoga as a means to improve health in its Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030: More active people for a healthier world.

We applaud the Government of India for placing the importance of healthy living and the appreciation of the arts! #CelebrateGoodNews