Paris (AFP)

Like sports halls, yoga studios have had to close in several large cities due to new sanitary regulations, a "gruesome" situation for operators who fear a heavy impact on their sector, but also on "health of body and mind ".

"Zen, but angry: with zero + cluster + declared since the reopening, was it logical to close us, us?", Deplore in a forum more than one hundred operators, representing several hundred yoga rooms in Paris and in the region - while some three million French say they practice this discipline, according to the Kantar Institute.

The collective text, published in several media and on social networks in recent days, follows new instructions from the government to stem the progress of Covid-19, including the decision to close sports halls in areas of enhanced alert, like Paris.

Denouncing a "ubiquitous and arbitrary decision", the signatories ask the government to "reconsider its position which, if maintained, will kill thousands of jobs".

"Pointing the finger at us is unfair, the statistics prove us right, we are less than 0.1% of cases of Covid-19 in sports halls. So, pretending to be places of contamination and spread is unacceptable ", denounces to AFP Élodie Garamond, founder of the Tigre Yoga Club studios (five sites in Paris, Neuilly and Lyon), at the initiative of the forum.

According to her, "there is no valid reason to close the yoga rooms. We had already reduced attendance in classes by 40%, closed changing rooms and lockers, we were no longer loaning equipment, disinfection was reinforced, and above all, we had perfect traceability of the students ".

- "vectors of well-being" -

"Why are we punishing practitioners? In addition, the air hole in our treasuries will be dramatic", underlines Ms. Garamond, who indicates that she filed an interim relief before the administrative court on Tuesday to request the reopening of her studios as soon as possible .

"We have about forty employees, and some 300 self-employed, like masseurs. Since March, we have -65% of turnover, and online courses, it does not pay the rents," t -she.

"We were already all in great difficulty, we could not reopen until June, after three months of total closure. There, it's like a new confinement", adds Véronique Maillet, founder of the Qee centers (Paris, Levallois , Boulogne, Aix-en-Provence) which offer yoga classes, but also other gentle practices such as pilates or the bar on the floor.

"We are vectors of well-being, more than anything else," emphasizes Ms. Maillet, who is also preparing a summary to challenge the government decision.

In their forum, the professionals thus deplore "no longer being able to offer spaces of breathing and calm to the inhabitants of large cities under pressure" and "no longer being able to contribute to the preventive movement for the health of the body and mind which we need more than ever on the cusp of a horribilis autumn ".

Nerea, who has been practicing yoga assiduously for years, told AFP that her classes will "really miss her. During the confinement, I teleworked a lot on the computer, which gave me back pain. Return to yoga did me a lot of good, made my contractures go away and improved my sleep ".

At present, "I am deprived of a practice which brings me real comfort, relaxation, appeasement during an often stressful week. And I find it difficult to take online courses, no one corrects your postures, we can hurt ... ", underlines this Parisian who will suddenly turn to an osteopath to" relieve "her back.

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