Yogic path
Hundreds of yoga enthusiasts rolled out their mats at a park in Hubei Province on Sunday, along with thousands of others across China, to celebrate the upcoming International Yoga Day, which falls on June 21.
Yoga benefits people’s health and wellness and presently enjoys a vast popularity in China, especially among young urbanites who now have a strong consumption power and an awareness to stay mentally and physically healthy.
The “China Yoga Industry Development Report,” jointly released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other organizations last year, revealed that yoga has done booming business in recent years. There were 14,146 yoga studios in 131 Chinese mainland cities. Guangdong, Shandong and Jiangsu ranked among the top three provinces for the number of yoga studios, while Tibet Autonomous Region claimed the least, read the report.
Despite its newfound popularity, yoga in China has also seen its fair share of controversy, with some claiming it may do harm to the human body, including damage to the spine.
Hao Yuhui, founder of Yoga Summit, told the Science and Technology Daily that some practitioners who merely imitate others’ movements without awareness of their own physical condition and capabilities could get hurt.
Hao added that the Chinese yoga market is huge but its admittance threshold is low, hence many unlicensed yoga organizations and unqualified teachers have caused damage to the reputation of the ancient practice.
According to the Xinhua New Agency, International Yoga Day was first declared by the United Nations in 2014 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the UN General Assembly, promoted this tradition of India to the world.