After the White House and Pentagon and mushrooming of several studios across the nation, Yoga has conquered the last bastion in the US - the Congress.

Ahead of the first International Yoga Day on June 21 - a move initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly - a group of US lawmakers and hill staff have come together to form the first ever and one-of-its kind "Congressional Yogi Association". Many of the top American lawmakers attended this inaugural event that was held at historic Cannon House Office Building of the US Congress. Prominent among the participants were Tim Ryan, Charles Rangel and Barbara Lee.

Organised by the Congressional Yogi Association with support of the Indian Embassy here, the first-ever -Yoga on the Hill- on May 1 was attended by Brennan Mullaney (Team RWB- veterans' welfare organisation) and Tom Voss (Iraq War veteran). Around 60 Congressional officials participated in the yoga and meditation session. Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio, who performed yoga and meditation along with others, said an important issue faced by Americans is extremely high levels of stress. "I have found that mindfulness and the practice of yoga help to reduce stress, improve concentration, and increase feelings of well-being," he said.

Ahead of the June 21 celebrations, this was the second yoga event at the Capitol Hill this week-the first event being a meditation session held by spiritual speaker Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The Indian Embassy in Washington started the series with the Talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on 'Nurturing Peace through Yoga and Meditation' on April 29th.