Thousands of yoga enthusiasts Americans spread their mats for yoga sessions across America from East to West Coast to observe the First International Day of Yoga and perform the ancient Indian spiritual practice. Reflecting the increasing popularity of Yoga in the US, the organizers in Houston had to increase the capacity of their venue as a large number of health enthusiasts turned up for the celebrations.

More than 1500 participants joined the event held at Sylvan Theatre Stage on the prestigious National Mall, next to the towering National Monument, built to commemorate the first American president George Washington. "This is good for health. If you do yoga regularly, you do not get sick," said young Chris as he headed towards the national mall.
On a sunny but breezy Sunday morning to teach and practice basic skills of Yoga, a number of Yoga teachers were seen giving demonstration of various "asanas" describing them in detail and commenting on its advantages and also cautioning against doing this for people suffering from some ailments.

"Yoga is a union between mind and body, with something with holistic health benefits," Indian Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh said in his remarks at the National Mall, adding that several hundred events are being held in the United States. The event at the National Mall, among others was attended by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal and former Miss America Nina Davuluri.

Yoga is now practiced by one in every 10 health-conscious Americans and the Yoga industry alone is estimated to be worth USD 27 billion in the United States alone. The University of San Francisco Professor, Vamsee Juluri, said though Yoga is Hindu in origin but it is universal in scope like much of Hindu philosophy.