Residents enjoy the sunshine in Victoria Park at Newbury’s International Yoga Day event on Saturday, June 22

Newbury residents rolled out their mats and enjoyed the warmer weather when they took part in a group yoga session on the weekend.

Around 80 people took part in the town’s third annual International Yoga Day event in Victoria Park at 9am on Saturday (June 22) that was organised by local Hindu group Bharati Shakha Newbury in association with Swasti Yoga and Newbury Town Council.

Newbury’s mayor Andy Moore was present on the morning and took part, afterwards thanking the teachers who led the session.

He said: “It was very nice to see the Newbury community, especially the youth, come together for this event and to also see this turning into an annual event.”

The hour-long event was led by yoga trainers and founders of Newbury-based Swasti Yoga, Veena Dange and Shweta Pawar, who led the participants through a series of yoga asanas, breathing exercises, and meditation techniques.

Their expertise and engaging teaching style ensured that both beginners and experienced practitioners fully benefitted from the session.

Bharati Shakha Newbury member Sanjeev Agarwala said: “Yoga is the soul of Indian culture which enriches its heritage, ideology, and path of living.

“There have been many scripts about yoga written all over India that have been passed on from guru to shishya [student].

“Around 5,000 years ago, Sage Patanjali consolidated all the knowledge of Yoga into 195 sutras [aphorisms] that are used as a base for yoga even now.

“Yoga is for everyone and is not bound by faith or religion. It is the connection between body and mind.

“The event in Victoria Park has been very encouraging for all of us and we have made this an annual event on our calendar.”

In 2014, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as International Yoga Day because of the practice’s universal appeal and physical, mental and spiritual benefits.