Yoga To Be Banned In Russia As Officials Think ‘It Is Like A Religious Cult’

Yoga in its true form, lies beyond any religion or any geographical boundary. But, the world fails to acknowledge this fact again and again and Russia is a recent addition to that list.

Russian officials have reportedly sent letters to two Yoga Studios in the central city of Nizhnevartovsk, asking them to stop hosting yoga classes being taught in municipal buildings. They have targeted yoga as part a crackdown on activities associated with “religious cults”.

The Aura and Ingara studios conduct classes of Hatha Yoga which is considered to be one of the most popular forms in Europe. The letter received by them identified Hatha Yoga ‘inextricably linked to religious practices’ and urged the owners to prevent the spread of new religious cults and movements. Inga Pimenova, a teacher at Ingara School said that the letter scared and amused everyone at the same time.

Last week, when the entire world celebrated International Yoga Day, things caused controversy in India when Muslim politicians said it was an attempt to force people to conform to Hindu practices which go against Islamic teaching.

The world needs to understand that Yoga means union. It is joining together the aspects of ourselves which were never divided in the first place.

News Source: The Independent 

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