Yoga and Yogis Take over Times Square

Have you ever laid yourself down in the middle of bustling Times Square with traffic flowing furiously all around you?

Well, I have!

 Lying flat on the ground, looking up at the swirling clouds, the towering skyscrapers, and giant billboards above me, it was truly surreal. Normally this kind of behavior could get you arrested!  But on Sunday it was all legit – even the cops were smiling! This was because Times Square was in the midst of its annual yoga fever, and thousands of people had come to indulge, to participate, and to watch as yoga mats were laid out and experts gave free yoga classes to everyone.

 It was International Day of Yoga as well as a celebration of Summer Solstice, and as every year the Times Square Alliance hosted a grand free-for-all along with the Consulate of India and other sponsors. Founded in 1992, the Times Square Alliance is a nonprofit business improvement district that improves and promotes Times Square

On June 21, 2003, three people did yoga at sunrise in Times Square – two became the co-founders of Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga.  Over the past 20+ years this event has grown to welcome thousands of locals and tourists taking multiple classes throughout the day and finding calm in the middle of turbulence.

According to Douglass Stewart, Cofounder, Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga: “Yoga unites us with the Universal flow and connects us with our own personal rhythms. The discipline of yoga enhances our ability to respond to subtle cues that promote wellness. Peace becomes the natural environment of our relationships and our world.”

 This celebration of the 12th International Day of Yoga brought together yoga enthusiasts from diverse nationalities. Padma Shri Dr. H.R. Nagendra highlighted yoga’s timeless relevance for healthy and harmonious living. This year’s theme, “Yoga for Healthy Ageing,” reflects yoga’s enduring value in promoting wellness, longevity and holistic well-being.

On the longest day of the year, a sunrise practice presented by the Consulate General of India and led by the Art of Living Foundation, blended gentle asanas, guided breathwork, and meditation – a complete reset for body and mind, instructed by Ruchika Lal

Ruchika Lal is a senior faculty member of the Art of Living Foundation and has spent over 15 years teaching yoga and meditation to thousands of practitioners worldwide. She has led transformational programs for the United Nations, Fortune 50 companies, and universities including Wharton and Columbia. She currently serves as Chairperson of the Art of Living Foundation USA and is the co-founder of IntuitionAI.

This year, what was particularly heartwarming was that yoga has become so democratic, it’s no longer the preserve of either yogis, swamis, hippies or trendy influencers. It’s truly for everybody. This year it also welcomed the disabled and people who were having issues with actually lying down on the floor. They had reserved access and could even do chair yoga.

This is really a welcome move, because as the population of America ages there are so many people who could benefit from yoga, but hesitate to do it, and this makes it possible for them to participate and be part of the stream.  My friend, who was having painful knees, was given a chair to do her yoga, and right next to me on the mat was someone who was perfect at all the moves  – a yoga practitioner and teacher herself, Valerie Loei .

We all took a class by Divya Balakrishnan who is a teacher with years of practice and teaching. As a Tamil-American woman, she teaches through a lens of decolonization and deep inquiry, honoring yoga’s South Asian roots while making the practice accessible and transformative. Her classes, available via YouTube and in-person workshops, draw from āsana, philosophy, meditation, and pranayama. In her podcast Yoga Off The Mat, she challenges her students to integrate yoga into their day to day lives.  In this class Divya lead through energizing breath work, a flow including sun salutations, standing postures and balances, and closed with a centering meditation.

It was a summer day, but not too hot, and later we visited the Yoga Village, where new healthy products were introduced. For me, a mushroom addict, the  highlight was to taste mushroom infused matchas. coffees, and teas by Ryze. These were a blend of Ayurvedic spices and six superfood mushrooms including Shitake, Lion’s Mane and King Trumpet which are supposed to enhance immune support and focus.

What was really great to see was the universal nature of the crowd with men and women, mothers with babies, friends, older people and the young. Yoga is really here to stay, and that’s good news. Maybe the thousands more who watched would also one day be inspired to try it, because there’s no two ways about it: as one gets older, you have to keep moving, and yoga is one of the easiest ways to keep your joints limber and young.

Related Articles:

Yoga: The Art of Transformation – Yogis in America

Yoga Celebrated in New York’s Times Square