On account of outbreak of COVID-19, mass gathering was not advised to celebrate IDY 2020 by Ministry of AYUSH and it was suggested to celebrate IDY 2020 at home with participation of entire family. My Life My Yoga video blogging competition was organized online by the Ministry and it was instructed to upload a video performing yoga and the benefits experienced by practicing regular Yoga. Nature cure clinics and hospitals, Nature Cure & Yoga colleges, reputed yoga institutions across the country were contacted and requested to promote the My Life My yoga challenge. Principals of all the colleges, practicing naturopaths across the country, Organizations like International Naturopathy Organization (INO), Indian Yoga Association (IYA,MH) were requested to publicize the challenge through their respective social media platforms and Whats App groups.

NIN through various activities inspired and called on people to actively participate in the celebration of IDY 2020 on 21st June 2020. Doctors from NIN also performed 3min video and released on NIN’s Facebook Page. Many followers of NIN’s page were encouraged and actively took part in the competition as per Ministry’s guidelines.

This year IDY-2020 was observed by encouraging people to practice Yoga at their home, with participation from the entire family in view Covid-19 pandemic. My Life – My Yoga (also called “Jeevan Yoga) Video Blogging Contest, a Joint effort by the Ministry of AYUSH and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), was launched on 31st May, 2020 by Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi which was implemented through Social and Digital media platforms like Youtube, Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc. The contest was open to participants from across the world. The participants were required to upload a 3 minutes video of any 3 Yogic practices (comprising Kriya, Asanas, Pranayama, Bandha or Mudra), including a short video message / description on how the said Yogic practices influenced their life on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the contest hashtag #MyLifeMyYoga to participate in the contest. The contest closed on the International Day of Yoga, i.e. on 21st June, 2020 at 23:50 hrs.

There were six categories in the contest (Youth <18 years, Adult> 18 years and Professional with Male and Female contestants considered separately). A screening panel of around 150 Yoga experts nominated by the Ministry of AYUSH and evaluation jury of 15 members in India nominated by National Institutes and the Council for screening uploaded videos. A total of 35141 entries were received from India out of which 890 videos were shortlisted by the screening committee in Ist phase of screening. Videos were further shortlisted to 160 videos across 3 categories for the evaluation of Jury based on hierarchy of their score and ranking. Three separate Jury teams, having 5 renowned Yoga expert members in each jury were formed for evaluation of 3 categories. Each Jury member evaluated each shortlisted entry. Score of each entry was determined and the winner was chosen by the Chairperson of the Jury in consultation with the team.

In countries other than India, the Contest was overseen by the ICCR, through the respective Indian Missions. More than 2000 entries were received from other countries. The number of countries from where entries were received was 130, apart from India. The Ministry of AYUSH centrally compiled the data of all the entries received globally on 3 platforms, namely, through (i) Social Media uploads on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, (ii) My Gov platform of the Government of India, and (iii) on the Contest Portal set up by the Ministry of AYUSH. The list and details of these entries were provided to the Indian Missions of the respective countries. The Missions added other entries received by them locally through e-mail or the Mission’s website to these entries. The Evaluation Panel finalized the winners from each of the 6 categories of the contest for the respective country. A total of 2292 foreign entries were received for evaluation which was evaluated by respective countries through respective Indian Embassies by nominating expert. A total of 624 foreign country winners and 18 Indian winners completed global prize across the six categories. These entries were screened by the Screening Committee and shortlisted 106 entries were screened by 3 member Jury panel. Winners of the global prize were announced on 4th August, 2020.