Yoga in Israel
Photo: AP
Hundreds of yoga enthusiasts stretched, pulled and lunged on coloured mats in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday to celebrate International Yoga Day.
Some 1,500 mats printed with artwork depicting Israel's future were laid out for the event in Rabin Square.
"This is the third International Yoga Day and we have basically an amalgam, a mix of all different yoga schools here in one place," said volunteer Yuav Yenen.
Other mass yoga sessions were held in China, Colombia, the United States, Mexico, Paraguay, Italy, Singapore and atop Machu Picchu, a 15th century Inca citadel in Peru.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined 50,000 people in an outdoor yoga session in Lucknow.
Modi has pushed for the annual event to be celebrated worldwide, promoting a lifestyle industry that has grown up around the ancient physical and spiritual discipline that is estimated to be worth around $80 billion