The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?
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Grants Pass Anti-Camping Laws Head to Supreme Court
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Hundreds Gather at White House to Demand President Biden Let Youth Climate Case be Heard
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OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide
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A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states
A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it. Tennessee became the latest when the Republican...
Ex-police officer wanted in 2 killings and kidnapping shoots, kills self in Oregon, police say
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Op-Ed: Why MAGA Policies Are Detrimental to Black Communities
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Gallup Finds Black Generational Divide on Affirmative Action
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OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party
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Pro-Palestinian student protests target colleges' financial ties with Israel
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A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states
A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it. Tennessee became the latest when the Republican...
What to stream this weekend: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift reigns
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Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'
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Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace
Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it. We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia....
A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states
A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals...
Pro-Palestinian student protests target colleges' financial ties with Israel
Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in protest encampments with a unified demand of their...
The Latest | Germany will resume working with UN agency for Palestinians, following review
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World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
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Villagers in Mexico organize to take back their water as drought, avocados dry up lakes and rivers
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MUMBAI, India (AP) — The soldiers in Kashmir are squatting on mats and arching their backs. In the parks of Mumbai, retirees reach toward the sky, or cover their eyes in a form of meditation. In New Delhi, one of the city's main parks erupts every morning with the guffaws of believers in "laughing yoga," who say forced laughter can give way to true inner peace.
Yoga has a long history in India, reaching back for thousands of years. Ancient temples show long-dead royalty in yoga poses. Tales of yogis who can rise into the air, or go long stretches without breathing, or cure terminal illnesses, are still told here.
But yoga long ago went mainstream, with ancient practices melding with techniques that have changed and evolved as teachers have taken them back and forth between India and the West. There are no reliable estimates of how many people regularly practice yoga in India, though the number is certainly in the millions. Especially in the mornings, parks across the country can fill with clusters of practitioners and teachers, or with people going through poses on their own.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made clear it wants the first International Yoga Day, held on Sunday, to be taken seriously. Modi will address tens of thousands of people who will gather at a central New Delhi park for a group yoga session. Many government officials, meanwhile, have told employees that they need to join in the celebrations somehow.
And in a country where the austerity of Mohandas Gandhi long ago gave way to modern consumerism, plenty of companies are joining in.
Just ask Yatra.com, a popular travel website, which proclaimed in a Friday press release that it was launching a series of special yoga packages. Prices will be available on Saturday.