#InternationalDayofYoga. Yes, that was the day when Times Square turned into a yoga ground that saw an assembly of more than 17,000 New Yorkers, who got down and active on their mats in complete synchronization. Even the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon got on board the yoga express to stretch out every tick and cramp, under the guidance of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Art of Living founder and spiritual guru from India.
And it now seems that the Russian President Vladimir Putin too wants to give the ancient meditative practice a go, but he is a little skeptical and has some reservations. Putin, who is known to be an ardent supporter of a healthy lifestyle, fitness and sports, has promised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will go in for yoga—on the condition that his level of fitness will allow him to*.
He made the remark at a meeting with Modi on the sidelines of the simultaneous summits of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at Ufa in the western Urals, after Modi thanked Moscow for supporting India’s idea to mark June 21 as International Yoga Day at the level of the UN, TASS news agency reported.
Modi also thanked the Russian side for widely marking the day this year. “Yoga is something I’ve never done so far, but it can’t help being attractive,” Putin said. “I’ll see what my condition permits me to do proceeding from the level of my physical fitness,” he stated. “When you look at real yogis, it seems no one can attain this kind of perfection and the thought stops you,” he added.
Needless to say, the popularity of the practice has spread far and wide, and with many celebrity endorsements, we won’t be surprised if International Yoga Day comes back twice as strong next year.
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