Israelis mark Yoga Day with 1,500 mats depicting country’s future

1,500 yoga mats were printed with artwork depicting Israel’s future.

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.

People practice yoga on 1500 yoga mats, printed with an artwork and placed together to form the artwork, during an event marking International Yoga Day, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen(REUTERS)

Hundreds of people practise yoga on the occasion of the International Yoga Day in Tel Aviv on June 21, 2017. (AFP)

Some 1,500 mats printed with artwork depicting Israel’s future were laid out for the event in Rabin Square.

People walk on 1500 yoga mats, printed with an artwork and placed together to form the artwork, during an event marking International Yoga Day, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, on June 21, 2017. (Reuters)

“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.

People practice yoga in Tel Aviv on June 21, 2017. (REUTERS)

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.

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.