Yoga and technology: two worlds apart but not too far apart

The marriage of yoga and technology seems to work. But only if in the new headquarters of Facebook and Google there are special rooms for “meditating, breathing, stretching and flexing your body in harmony” and sweating. In Facebook’s new corporate village in Menlo Park, a $120 million Mr Zuckerberg complex, there will therefore be a swimming pool, gym, bar, dog park and of course the yoga centre.

Yoga unites thousands of people

In Time Square in New York, group classes in this discipline are often organised, attracting thousands of people. Already since 2013 in large cities across Europe, thousands of people gather to practise their exercises. Indeed, yoga and other practices unite thousands of people who are passionate about these disciplines.

Yoga becomes software

The most common yoga exercises can be found in the Plus Fitness programmes for Wii and Xbox. But there is a further evolution. A team of professors from the University of Washington’s School of Computer Engineering have just developed a software programme. It’s called Eyes-Free Yoga, which exploits the potential of Kinect to provide the user with real-time feedback on the yoga exercise he or she is doing, correcting breathing and incorrect postures.

When yoga meets the business world

Californian Lauren Imparato, a former Morgan Stanley manager, gave up her career to become a Vinyasa yoga teacher, with a buti yoga certification. Tokyo is a young manager at the investment bank Nomura. She has never regretted delaying her return home to attend her Ashtanga class in Shibuya. Bill Gross is the founder and manager of the world’s largest bond fund, Pimco. He practises Ashtanga five times a week. He has also publicly admitted that the best strategy ideas came to him when he had his feet above his head in the sirsasana position.

Freely adapted and translated from https://st.ilsole24ore.com/art/2013/2013-10-23/yoga-e-tecnologia-181914.shtml?uuid=ABwQ7qY