Sadhguru aka JaggiVasudev, 65, has 10 million followers on Instagram. Many westerners discovered him during the health crisis, thanks to his videos published daily.
“In 25 years, between 60% and 70% of the people in the world could practice a form of yoga,” estimates Sadhguru, a superstar yogi interviewed this week at a UNESCO conference on Yoga in Paris.
“Yoga is a science that was passed down to us by the first yogis 15,000 years ago, but I think it will be taken over by future generations,” adds Sadhguru.His video interventions combine teachings about life, yoga practice and reflections full of humor.
Expanding popularity
It was not necessary to wait for International Yoga Day -of which he was the star in Paris-, to realize that this ancient practice, recognized for its health benefits, has far exceeded the borders of India and feeds a well-being market in full swing. growth. While yoga is not about “twisting your body in every way, it’s not a philosophy, it’s not an ideology, it’s not a new religion, it’s not a belief system,” Sadhguru says.
“It is a technology of well-being, it is interior and it is the best that exists,” he adds, dressed, as usual, in a turban and an immense light-colored shawl.Meditation, postures, breathing and mantras are “internal tools” that are “available to everyone, if we learn to use them well,” says the yogi master.
Yoga transforms the individual
Sadhguru, who is seen alongside stars such as the American actor Will Smith or the famous American businesswoman Paris Hilton, is also close to the nationalist Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi, who made yoga an instrument to spread India in the world and who established this International Yoga Day, celebrated every June 21st.The discipline is also registered by UNESCO as Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
“I think the next generation will understand that yoga is a wise chemical factory. If you use it well, it creates ecstasy. Otherwise, torment,”says the master yogi.Sadhguru is also behind numerous projects in favor of the environment and biodiversity. He is convinced that it is the inner transformation of the individual that will allow the transformation of the planet.
He created a famed yoga center near Coimbatore, India, and a non-profit foundation, Isha, which develops educational and environmental programs, including planting more than 25 million trees in a deforested province in southern India.
He regularly intervenes in forums at TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conferences, and in large universities such as Harvard, MIT or the London Business School.His presence in Paris drew 1,300 people to UNESCO, where he received a standing ovation after a lecture and guided meditation.
