Hardly any other city stands for hectic pace like New York - and yet an island of calm emerged in the middle of Times Square on Monday.
Under the motto "Find your inner center at the crossroads of the world", hundreds of people rolled out their yoga mats on the traffic islands of the lively square in Manhattan and took part in a one-hour yoga class on the occasion of World Yoga Day, despite the high temperatures.
Much more impressive than the view of the advertisements during the sun salutation, however, was the view of the Indian border police on the border with Tibet: A photo published by the authorities shows the police officers doing yoga in front of a mountain panorama.
In the city of Bombay, hundreds of people not only stretched in public places, yoga sessions were also offered on the train.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had previously presented himself once again as an enthusiastic yogi in a morning address and touted the philosophical teaching from his country as a “protective shield” against the corona virus.
Of course, there is no scientific evidence for this - but there is for the effectiveness of the corona vaccines, which have also been distributed free of charge to all adults in India since Monday.
Even an intangible world heritage site
The more than 2000 year old yoga teaching has its origin in Hinduism.
While it was originally a spiritual path in search of enlightenment through meditation, the exercises that were supposed to strengthen the body for a longer stay in the meditation seat have been further developed.
In the West in particular, physical exercises have taken on a high priority in yoga practice and inspire many people.
Even the German national soccer team has been using the services of a yoga teacher since 2005.
“Recognizing that yoga offers a holistic approach to health and well-being,” the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21st as World Yoga Day in December 2014, and UNESCO recognized yoga as an intangible world cultural heritage two years later.