Yoga's global appeal: The many interpretations of an age-old practice

How far reaching and widespread-and amusing even-the mighty yoga’s spread is evident in these recent images from around the world. Hold a posture while browsing these

Jun 21, 2018, 07:59 IST13 min
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FENGXIAN, CHINA - MAY 27: An aerial view of yoga enthusiasts performing yoga exercises at a park on May 27, 2018 in Fengxian County, Jiangsu Province of China. Chinese President Xi may well...
Image by VCG via Getty Images
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SOCHI, RUSSIA - JUNE 16 : Jan Vertonghen defender of Belgium doing a yoga exercise during a training session of the National Soccer Team of Belgium prior to the FIFA 2018 World Cup Russia g...
Image by Nico Vereecken / Photonews via Getty Images
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It was a yoga course on the move for locals on the 10.03 local to Virar on World Yoga Day . Alighting at stations to change coaches and trains, a group of yoga teachers taught yoga techniqu...
Image by Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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You may have mistaken this for a large artwork spread out to dry its inks by a well meaning Mumbai artist. It is merely students of N.H English Academy in the suburb of Mira Road in Mumbai ...
Image by Pramod Thakur/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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A primal practice in the most primal of spaces found on Earth. Yoga enthusiasts take part in a class at the Samalayuca dunes, on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on April 28, 2018. Th...
Image by Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters
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Can one concentrate on a posture while goats playfully nuzzle you or clamber on your back? Well, the classes which caught the world’s attention are all booked up at the five acre Jenness Fa...
Image by Brian Snyder / Reuters
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Members of Indian Navy perform yoga on the flight deck of INS Viraat, an Indian Navy's decommissioned aircraft carrier during International Yoga Day in Mumbai, India (June 21, 2017) ...
Image by Danish Siddiqui / Reuters
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Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev announced his plans to launch 10,000 wellness and health centres globally to popularise yoga. Ramdev’s Patanjali empire - a billion dollar consumer products bus...
Image by Adnan Abidi / Reuters
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"An experience to counter the effects of an overloaded and exhausted nervous system” is how an attendee described the "Yoga for Techies Meet Up" at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Film ...
Image by Brian Snyder / Reuters
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Congress attendee drawing with the Lenovo Yoga Book during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. And no, it can’t flex like a yoga mat, but don't rule that out yet. (February 28, 2...
Image by Forbes
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Taiwanese pop star Yoga Lin performs during 'The Great Yoga' world tour concert in Hong Kong, China. According to a reviewer, Lin’s abilility to ‘transfer emotions of detachedness at times ...
Image by VCG/VCG via Getty Images
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Yoga teacher Mahesh Yogiji attempting a world record for the longest yoga session in Ahmedabad, ahead of International Yoga Day on June 21. According to Guinness World Records, the longest ...
Image by Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images
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People take part in a "Sup Yo, Boston" stand up paddle board yoga class on Fort Point Channel on International Yoga Day in Boston, Massachusetts, US. The challenge? Trying not to fall in, e...
Image by Brian Snyder / Reuters
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Santa Jerry Julian of Colorado Springs, Colorado shows some yoga moves outside the Santa House in Midland, Michigan, U.S. The work as a Santa can be grueling, he sees as many as 15,000 kids...
Image by Christinne Muschi / Reuters
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Dolly Singh, a yoga enthusiast is proudly breaking down body image stereotypes in India. This 34 year old media professional began learning yoga after a doctor advised her to lose weight fo...
Image by Joshua Navalkar
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Wang Ruoyu, 37, poses with her new tattoo at Samurai Tattoo in Shanghai, China. Ruoyu had a caesarean delivery (C-section) because her baby weighed 4.25 kilo-grams at birth. She began pract...
Image by Aly Song / Reuters
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A group of young people doing yoga at Etno Drum Fest, a festival of ethnic music and dance that attracts the fringe in Homolshansky nature reserve, Ukraine. (July 08, 2016) ...
Image by Ramann / Shutterstock.com
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Nepali mountaineer Min Bahadur Sherchan was 77 when he first climbed the Everest in 2008. In May this year, at the ripe age of 85, he was preparing to climb Everest again when he passed awa...
Image by Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
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Hollywood actor Jackie Chan with Bollywood actor Sonu Sood and actress Shilpa Shetty during promotion of their action-adventure comedy film Kung Fu Yoga at JW Marriot in Mumbai, India. Acco...
Image by Prodip Guha/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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If the sight of a levitating yogi in the Krakow Central Square isn't causing any tourist to stop and gawk, blame it on the numerous websites that have laid bare the illusion trick! (3 April...
Image by Lesinka372 / Shutterstock.com
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This is no illusion! Chinese yoga fans perform on a 2,000-meter high precipice on Laojun Mountain during Women's Day in Henan Province of China. According to China Yoga Industry Development...
Image by VCG/VCG via Getty Images
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A sadhu performs yoga on a branch of a tree in Allahabad. In ancient times, yoga was referred to as a tree, a living entity. (June 21,2017) ...
Image by Ritesh Shukla / NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Muslim women perform yoga at an event to mark the International day of Yoga during the holy month of Ramadan in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (June 17, 2017) ...
Image by Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters
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It is what it says it is, finding your inner peace between body contorting stretches of an asana and the refreshing sip of an ice-cold beer. Participants in a beer yoga course at OMMO Studi...
Image by Anusak Laowilas/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
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AcroJam is a sport that’s fast catching on in Sydney. A mix of acrobatics and yoga, it involves balancing on others, an act of trust. Here a yoga group named AcroJam Sydney perform in front...
Image by Steven Saphore / Reuters
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Victoria’s Secret Angel Martha Hunt does a yoga leg lift in a head-turning lace and strap as they celebrate the Sexy Little Things Launch at the fashion destination Angel Oasis in Indio, Ca...
Image by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images

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