हिंदी
Yoga finding its way to Cuban hearts
New Delhi, October 9. Yoga is becoming increasingly popular in Cuba and this is an utter bliss for yoga lovers in India. Yoga is widely accepted as India’s gift to world and it is a matter of delight that it is now spread all across the globe.
According to information received from Indian Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Prof. Eduardo Pimentel Vázquez, the President and Founder of the Cuban Yoga Association, is a leading figure for yoga in that country. He has been teaching Yoga in Cuba for 30 years, and has trained 50 instructors. This is a significant contribution to the sustainable growth of Yoga in a country with a population of 1.13 crore.
A recent interview of Prof. Pimentel in Juventud Rebelde by Luis Raúl Vázquez Múñoz and Rafael Pinares González has been widely read in Cuba, and it throws light on how Yoga has become quite popular in the country. People of all ages are spotted in parks, rooms, and museums performing yoga and a visitor from India cannot be faulted for a brief illusion that he is back home in Mysore or Haridwar. The Yoga participation in Cuba is increasing day by day.
As per the interview, it was a book that changed the life of Professor Eduardo Pimentel Vázquez. All the difference was made when he was gifted a book on the subject of yoga. He then started practicing and he has not stopped studying Yoga since then.
Prof. Pimentel defines Yoga as a philosophy more than anything else. He further adds that Yoga is of immense interest to the western world, especially its physical practice. He has taught Yoga lessons in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico. In his last book published in 2018, Tu session de yoga (Your Yoga session) he quotes that Yoga is a preventive system and that it has been acknowledged as a part of the Traditional and Natural Medicine Department of the globally acclaimed Ministry of Public Health of Cuba since 1995.
According to Prof. Pimentel, a single posture doesn’t make a yoga session. He recommends practicing a series. His two favorite postures which help in releasing stress are Trikonasana and shirshasana.
Every year the International Day of Yoga (IDY) is observed in Cuba with utmost zeal. In 2020, they observed the 6th IDY across the country, along with active involvement of the Embassy of India in Havana.
