A week of yoga has passed in Washington

Thousands of open-air yoga lovers gathered on the National Mall in downtown Washington. They practice yoga for completely different reasons - for good health, gaining tranquility and strength, beauty or for the sake of a pleasant pastime with friends.

From the enthusiasm of a small group of enthusiasts, this tradition has become a mass celebration. Practice yoga in such an unusual company come to Washington residents of many US states.

The mega-class in yoga, which has been held annually in the American capital for ten years, demonstrates that in the United States yoga has become massive.

More than 20 million Americans practice yoga. If in the 2012 year the 24 schools of Washington’s yoga participated in this event, this year the number of participating schools has grown to 70. The number of yoga instructors continues to grow rapidly in the United States, according to Forbes magazine. Washington has become one of the capitals of American yoga.

However, it is easy to see that in America, yoga is a female occupation. If in the homeland of yoga, in India, this set of spiritual, physical, and mental practices is founded by men for men, then for the majority of American men these secrets of attaining an exalted spiritual state are unknown.

Miguel Rivera, Voice of America's television producer, learned about the benefits of 43 yoga a year ago, when he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of twenty. Since then, yoga has become an integral part of his life: “When my life changed dramatically, it was necessary for me that my world view also changed - only this could help me fight the disease. Yoga and meditation made me stronger not only physically, but also spiritually. I began to look at the world completely differently. ”

For 19 years, Miguel has been teaching yoga to his coworkers every day during the lunch break, thereby, according to him, he gives people an hour of “real life”: “One hour when you can feel your body, hear the world around us… Live in the present moment. We are losing a lot of time thinking about the future. ”

And maybe everyone has different reasons for the passion for yoga, the instructors of this large-scale open-air class emphasize that in any case, practicing yoga is beneficial and gives completely new sensations.