Celebrate International Yoga Day On June 21

As June 21 is the summer solstice, the day also marks International Yoga Day.

JUNE 21 IS INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY

While the day was deemed International Yoga Day by the UN Assembly in Dec. 2014, yoga has been practiced for physical, mental, and spiritual reasons for more than 6,000 years. There are dozens of types of yoga for help in all areas of life, and almost anyone can benefit from going back to the basics with the exercise.

There are special children’s yoga classes, meant to teach youngsters the importance of a strong mind-body connection. It can also serve as an alternative to competitive sports, keeping kids at peace. Children’s yoga classes also tend to be more creative than adult ones, offering fun ways to celebrate the sport and keep kids focused on fun.

Then there’s heli yoga, a branded yoga experience only available in Las Vegas. Maverick Helicopters fly clients up to the top of some desert peaks to enjoy a 75-minute yoga experience. The event is more of a vacation highlight than a weekly exercise class.

Then, of course, there’s goat yoga and dog yoga, which are exactly what they sound like. “It’s impossible to be sad and depressed when there’s baby goats jumping around,” founder Lainey Morse told ABC News. “They have a sense of clam about them, but they are really funny too. They’re the perfect therapy animal,” she says about her goats. Dog yoga, or doga, is similar, except clients can hold cuddly pups whilst working out.

Lastly, there’s Voga, or vogue-yoga. One class’ description advertises as, “synchronized movement of yoga with the expressive moves of a dance class, fusing power and strength with attitude and flamboyance, where slick alignment is key.”

These are just some more eccentric examples of the ancient practice. The more popular varieties are hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga, Bikram, and Iyengar. Hatha just means taking poses one by one, while vinyasa means smoothly flowing between the poses. Ashtanga is more intense, Bikram, aka hot yoga, is done to sweat at around 105 degrees, and Iyengar introduces props to help with flexibility.