Russian President Supports Yoga

“I can even stand on my head,” says Russian President, Dmitry Medvedv

Practicing yoga in Russia has not always been openly supported, but according to President-elect Medvedev (by the encouragement of his wife), yoga will soon have a place in the Kremlin.

From an article in The Hindu, yoga in Russia was primarily underground. In the 1960’s an Indian professor of yoga was forced out of his position at the university, due to the perceived elements of Hindu religious practice associated with yoga.

In previous years Russian Presidents practiced martial arts, mountain skiing and tennis. Each time the country took on a renewed popularity with in each of these sports. Now with President-elect Medvedev and his interest in a continuing yoga practice, as one reporter noted “And if this trend is to contiue under Medvedev, Russia will soon have more yoga schools than India.”

Currently, a record number of people, approximately 100,000 have been practicing yoga in Russian and continues to spread into local cities.
[tags] yoga practice, yoga in Russia, President Dimitry Medvedev, Hindu practice,yoga schools [/tags]