Thousands come together to mark yoga day in Abu Dhabi

Thousands of residents twisted and turned on their mats as Abu Dhabi, celebrating the fifth edition of International Day of Yoga with a message of peace and harmony on Thursday.

The event held by Indian Embassy at Umm Al Emarat Park saw participants - young and old - follow the experts with utmost dedication. Each sessions of 10-15 minutes helped keep the crowd engaged throughout the event and refresh their mind and body.

Minister of Tolerance Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the chief guest, joined the sessions and noted that the event helped to promote core values of peace and harmony.

"The UAE is a strong supporter of International Day of Yoga. This event promotes close friendship between India and the UAE," he said and lauded yoga's central concept of uniting mind and body.

Sheikh Nahyan added events like yoga helped the UAE residents develop empathy, compassion and respect towards each other.

"These values have helped us to live in peace, harmony and prosperity."

There were sessions like therapeutic yoga for core strength by Brinda Tamilarasan, face yoga by Namrata Nanda, raja yoga by Sister Sona Bahri, laughter yoga by Naser Al Riyami, yoga for spinal health by Sundar Pratap Singh, heartfulness yoga by Indumathy Madhav and blend of dance and yoga performance by Priyanka Sharma of Indian Ladies Association. Amid these disciplined exercise, there was fun moment when children led the way for elders. It was Dr Lokesh Hegde who got children onto the main stage and performed exercises for the rest to follow.

In further support to yoga, Adnoc will be lit with messages on Friday evening, said Indian Embassy's deputy chief of mission Smita Pant.