June 21 is International Yoga Day, the United Nations-backed initiative which was launched last year on the initiative of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is one of Britain’s most active dementia research charities, and the national event will serve both as an awareness-creation event and a fundraiser for dementia research. Dementia affects 850,000 people in the UK and 44 million worldwide.
Research has shown yoga has many benefits, and is being increasingly seen as a mainstream option for the treatment of various ailments. Ingrid Stone, organizer of the event came up with the idea of hosting such an event to raise money, after her mother was diagnosed with Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease. Ingrid said, “We need everyone to get on board for this year’s event and sign up to raise money for vital research into dementia. The money raised will make a real difference, bringing us ever nearer to finding new preventions and treatments through the world-class research we fund.”
While yoga has been an ubiquitous part of the Indian subcontinent for many centuries, it has steadily grown in popularity in the western part of the world over the last century. Perhaps its popularity is due to the fact that apart from its obvious health benefits, it is easily practiced and non-competitive. Stone expressed similar sentiments, explaining why she chose yoga rather than some other activity, “The event was designed to be inclusive. We know not everyone can run a marathon, but if everyone can put forward one to three hours of their time to try something they’ve never done before then we’ll be one step closer to defeating dementia.”
