Yoga is a popular way to stay healthy. But it’s not just Indians who do it – Hollywood stars also practice yoga.
Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that has gained importance in modern times. Yoga is becoming more popular as it is not only good for your physical health but also for your mental health. It tones your body, relaxes your mind and at the same time improves your flexibility. The list of yoga devotees includes some of the world’s top celebrities, such as Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry and Reese Witherspoon. Some of them even share their love for yoga on Instagram. On the occasion of International Yoga Day, celebrated every year on June 21, we take a look at some of the top Hollywood stars who practice yoga.
Here is a list of international celebrities who cite yoga for their health and wellbeing.
1. Jennifer Aniston
Friends star Jennifer Aniston wasn’t an instant yoga fan. In a 2006 interview with Self magazine, she recalled going to a yoga class years ago. She remembered thinking, “It’s so crowded, so hot, and you get so sweaty. Running is a better workout, sitting alone is a better meditation.” She eventually used treadmills and elliptical trainers to achieve her fitness goals. In February 2005, a month after her marriage to star Brad Pitt ended, she consulted fitness trainer Mandy Ingber and found yoga appealing. She said, “I needed someone to hold me because I was tired of thinking about the past. I didn’t see myself needing to get in shape. I saw myself needing to get in mind.” Aniston also noticed that her legs were thinner and her arms stronger after doing yoga. At 55, she still keeps up with yoga.
2. Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson makes time to do “a little exercise” every day. The 45-year-old actress goes for walks, hits the treadmill, and does pilates. “If I had more time, I like to do hot yoga,” she told People magazine in 2021.
3. Madonna
Popular singer Madonna, 65, feels that yoga is a metaphor for life. “You have to take it really slow,” she told Life & Style magazine in 2019. She feels that while doing yoga, you shouldn’t rush or jump to the next pose. “You get into very humiliating situations, but you can’t beat yourself up. You just breathe and let go. Yoga is a training for the mind, body and soul.”
4. Alicia Keys
Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys tried Kundalini yoga after someone recommended it to her. “Between the chanting and the singing and the rhythm and the meaning of these ancient words, I discovered a sense of peace and ease,” she wrote in an opinion piece for USA Today. “I began to notice a richer connection with myself, an ability to go deeper.”
5. Reese Witherspoon
A look at her Instagram account reveals that Reese Witherspoon is a big fan of yoga, and in one of her videos, the ‘Legally Blonde’ actress can be seen performing yoga poses like Warrior I and Warrior II.
6. Jennifer Lopez
Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez frequently shares videos of her fitness routine on Instagram. One of the videos shows the Hustlers actress working out outdoors. Her routine includes weight training as well as yoga. The actress, fondly called JLo, also endorses an Indian yoga chain called SARVA.
7. Gwyneth Paltrow
In a 2018 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow even suggested that she helped popularize yoga in the West, saying, “I remember when I first started doing yoga, everyone was like, ‘What’s yoga? She’s a witch. She’s weird.'” The actress said she was shocked when she went to a yoga class and was asked if she’d ever done yoga. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I went to a yoga class in LA, and this 22-year-old girl behind the counter was like, ‘Have you ever done yoga?’ And I literally turned to my friend and I was like, ‘You got this job because I’ve done yoga.'”
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8. Miranda Kerr
Miranda Kerr is known as a Victoria’s Secret supermodel. She is also a yoga enthusiast. She told Women’s Health magazine in 2018 that she loves yoga in addition to other exercises like walking.
9. Lady Gaga
Singer Lady Gaga has had many hits, including “Shallow.” When the Grammy Award winner isn’t performing in the studio or on stage, she loves to do yoga. In 2014, she posted on Instagram that she had just returned from Bikram Hot Yoga in Houston, which is based on traditional yoga techniques but is done in temperatures that reach 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
10. Halle Berry
Oscar-winner Halle Berry considers yoga “one of the most helpful ways to relieve stress.” For her, yoga is a form of meditation that allows her to expel negative energy from her body. “No matter what type of yoga I practice, focusing on my breath and really feeling my body as I move in and hold the poses really calms me, and it’s like all the stress just melts away,” she wrote in Women’s Health magazine in 2020. She tries to do yoga at least three times a week.