People all around the world are celebrating International Yoga Day on June 21. It coincides with the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
One place people are flocking to is Triyoga in the U.K.
The London yoga studio holds a lunchtime class for enthusiasts. Many here have been practicing yoga for years.
Instructor Anna Ashby said yoga originated as a form of meditation. Over the centuries it incorporated postures and poses. She believes city living creates a craving for yoga.
“There is this sense of disembodiment, people not connected to their bodies, they’re on their phones, or on their emails, and that kind of thing. So it’s like the physical, I’m not surprised that yoga has evolved to incorporate physical practice because that’s what contemporary society needs to get present and in their bodies,” said Ashby.
Many people find that yoga can bring many benefits.
“It helps me relax, it helps me keep fit, it helps me sort of get some space to think about what’s going on in my life, and generally I regard it as like rebooting a computer. Coming to a yoga class enables me to reboot myself,” said Amy McKeown, a yoga enthusiast.
Jonathan Sattin is the founder and managing director of Triyoga.
Having practiced yoga since 1985 he is not surprised at how the practice has spread from the east across to the west.
“What’s happened is people have realized there isn’t just one style of yoga, I think that there was a perception for a long time that yoga was this thing that you sat and you closed your eyes whatever you did and when we opened our idea at Triyoga was to create a place where there were many different styles of yoga so you could find a style that worked for you,” he said.
Sattin started with one studio. Now he has three, and business is growing.
Part of what makes yoga popular is that it adapts to people of all abilities and needs.
The Triyoga center helps people discover a style that suits them.
“You have as many styles as there are human beings, right so you have some people who come and they’re confined to a wheelchair and there’s yoga for them. There are some styles that are for older folks you know, and it’s not … . You have to find the style that works. It wouldn’t be suitable for somebody who’s 70 years old to go into a rocket yoga class,” said Ashby.
Classes last one hour and a half. Many leave feeling fit and refreshed.
