The United Nations General Assembly declared June 21st as the International Day of Yoga on Dec 11, 2014. Addressing the UN General Assembly on 27 September 2014, the Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi had said: "Yoga is an invaluable gift of India's ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day." On Dec 11, India's Permanent Representative introduced the draft resolution in UNGA. The draft text received broad support from 177 Member States, including USA, and the draft text was adopted without a vote. Hence, June 21, 2015 is the first International Day of Yoga. Government of India is planning to celebrate IDY 2018 in all the countries around the world. Embassy of India is planning to organize a series of events culminating on June 17, 2018 to celebrate the IDY.

The idea to celebrate World Yoga Day has Been Proposed by many. Amongst them is a call by Significant international Humanitarian and meditation and Yoga Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in December two thousand and eleven.Following the Adoption of the UN Resolution, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar lauded the Efforts of Mr. Narendra Modi, stating That "It is very Difficult for any philosophy, religion or culture to survive without state patronage. Now, official recognition by the UN would Further spread the benefit of Yoga to the entire world."