Yoga Day 2023: From Richard Gere to Ricky Kej... Prominent personalities to join PM Modi's Yoga session

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday (June 21) lead the "yoga session" at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York to commemorate the ninth International Day of Yoga. This event will see the participation from top UN officials, envoys, people from over 180 countries and significant dignitaries will participate in the event.

Here's a list of prominent personalities who will be joining PM Modi for Yoga Day 2023:

H.E. Mr. Csaba Korosi
A Hungarian diplomat currently serving as the 77th President.
United Nations General Assembly.

Mr. Eric Adams
American politician and former police officer, serving as the 110th mayor of New York City

H.E. Ms. Amina J.Mohammed
Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group.

Mr. Richard Gere
Famous Hollywood actor: He is an advocate for human rights in Tibet; He is a co-founder of the Tibet House, US and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Campaign for Tibet.

Mr. Vala Afshar
He is Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce and shares motivational stories / immigrant successes / tech in society stories.

Mr. Jay Shetty 
Award-Winning Storyteller, Podcaster, and former monk

Mr. Vikas Khanna
Award winning Indian chef and restaurateur; Host of the TV Show MasterChef India. 

Mr. Mike Hayes
COO, VM Ware (Cloud computing tech major) based in Silicon Valley. Highly Decorated former US Navy SEAL Commander has served as a White House Fellow, and as Director, National Security Council.

Mr. Britt Kelly Slabinski
Highly decorated US Navy SEAL officer has won several distinguished military honours for his services in Afghanistan and Iraq. Currently, Consultant at LeadWright Enterprise

Mr. Francisco D’Souza
Founder & CEO, Recognize (private equity). Son of IFS officer P.P. D'Souza; ex-CEO of Cognizant, now runs a venture capital fund in the US.

Ms. Colleen Saidman Yee
Celebrated Yoga teacher. New York Times christened her “The First Lady of Yoga.

Mr. Rodney Yee
Celebrated Yoga instructor, presently actively involved into integrating Yoga with Western medical paradigm. He has written two books, “Yoga: The Poetry of the Body” and “Moving Toward Balance: 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee”

Ms. Deidra Demens
She runs a popular Yoga studio in New York City. She combines Yoga with theatre.

Mr. Christopher Tompkins
He is a scholar of South and Southeast Asian Studies at Berkeley University, California, with an emphasis on the roots and evolution of Yoga in the tradition of Tantrik Śaivism.

Ms. Victoria Gibbs
Celebrated Yoga teacher and meditation coach. She is a 3-time New York regional champion of Yoga.

Ms. Jahnavi Harrison
Also known by her spiritual name, Jahnavi Jivana dasi, is a British musician. Known for her mantra meditation music (kirtan). She regularly appears as a presenter on BBC Radio.

Mr. Kenneth Lee
Community Health Chaplain at University Hospital, Newark, New Jersey. He is the husband of Ms. Jahnavi Harrison.

Mr. Travis Mills
Travis Mills is a war veteran who lost all four limbs in Afghanistan; He promotes yoga, meditation, and wellness to overcome adversity.

Mr. Jeffrey D Long
Professor of religion and Asian studies at Elizabethtown College,
Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania,

Ms. Seema Mody
She is currently global markets reporter for CNBC with focus on foreign policy and Wall Street.

Ms. Zain Asher
Prime Time news anchor at CNN popularly known for global news show ‘One World with Zain Asher’ .

Mr. Ricky Kej
Three-times Grammy Award-winning, three-times Grammy
nominated Indian music composer and environmentalist. 

Ms. Falguni Shah
American singer whose music blends ancient classical Indian
melodies with contemporary western sounds

Ms. Mary Millben
American singer and actress. 

The function will also be attended by personalities and influencers from all walks of life including Diplomats, Officials, Academicians, Health professionals, Technocrats, Industry leaders, Media personalities, Artists, Spiritual leaders, Yoga practitioners, among others. People from more than 180 countries will be joining the PM for Yoga Day programme.