Yoga enthusiasts celebrate International Yoga Day in Israel

Tel Aviv: Hundreds of Yoga enthusiasts in Israel, a country that boasts of the highest number of practitioners and teachers of the ancient Indian discipline per capita of population, participated in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations on Wednesday.

The celebrations here are marked by a series of events across the country every year, and the same vigour was visible this year, leading into the main event organised at the Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation in collaboration with the Indian mission in Israel and the Indian Cultural Centre.

India's Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla, Director General of the Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation, Efrat Duvdevani, and Anat Ben-Levi, a member of Tel Aviv-Yafo City Council, participated in the event.

“Yoga is a gift from India to the whole world. It is our ancient heritage that transcends borders, and in Israel, I am happy to know that Yoga is becoming an integrated part of the local culture. The International Day of Yoga is a perfect opportunity to further spread the benefits of yoga", Singla said.

Duvdevani, in her address, recalled former President Shimon Peres' active role in establishing full diplomatic relations between India and Israel in 1992 while serving as the foreign minister at that time.

"I am very happy to host the International Day of Yoga. In 1992, Shimon Peres was posted as the foreign minister under Yitzhak Rabin's government. Together they led the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and India, which are the basis for the fruitful cooperation that exists to this day between the two countries in the fields of economy, energy, agriculture, security and more," the Director General of the centre said.

"Our centre, the Peace House of Shimon Peres, where women, men, children and teenagers, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, religious, secular and more gather every day, matched like a glove for this lovely day, a day full of calm and peace," she added.

Anat Ben Levi, the city council member of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, spoke of Yoga's "connection between the body and the soul".

"What characterises the values of the yoga day matches the values of the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, among them freedom, love, giving, and the acceptance of everyone," she emphasised.

Talia Sutra, an Israeli who has become a global celebrity in the Yoga world, and Darshana Rajput, a yoga expert at the Indian Cultural Centre in Tel Aviv, led the practice session at the event.

The event concluded with a spiritual music performance by Sandrine Santal and her band, who weaved together the rich Indian tradition with charming bhajans and hymns.

Almost every form of Yoga has patrons in Israel, but Ashtanga Yoga, with some 95 centres across the country, is the favourite, followed by Vinyasa and Vijnana, with more than fifty centres countrywide.

Another popular stream of Yoga is the Iyengar School of Yoga which has 30 centres across the country.

There are more than 1,100 registered Yoga teachers in Israel, and Yoga centres can be found in almost every major township of the country.