Millions of people bend and twist their bodies for Yoga Day

NEW DELHI -- Millions of yoga enthusiasts around the world bent and twisted their bodies in complex postures Sunday to mark the first International Yoga Day.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spread his mat among rows of people, including his Cabinet members and foreign diplomats, at New Delhi's main thoroughfare, which was transformed into a sprawling exercise ground.

Thousands of people dressed in white sat on yellow mats under the Eiffel Tower, and similar events were held in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Beijing, Manila and other places. Modi had lobbied the U.N. to declare June 21 as the first International Yoga Day.

"We are not only celebrating a day, but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace and harmony," Modi told participants. "This is a program for the benefit of mankind, for a tension-free world and to spread the message of harmony."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the Yoga Day participants worldwide. He recalled that he tried his first Yoga asana -- the tree pose -- during a visit to India earlier this year and said once he regained his balance, he "began to feel a certain peace of mind."

"My hope is that yoga will give people everywhere the sense and the oneness we need to work together to live in harmony and usher in a life of dignity for all," Ban said.

Schoolchildren, bureaucrats, homemakers, soldiers and ordinary folk took part in the exercise, held in all Indian state capitals. In Modi's home state of Gujarat, yoga events were organized at nearly 30,000 places, state officials said.

In Taipei, more than 2,000 participants rolled out mats and performed 108 rounds of the "sun salutation" --the sequence of poses often practiced at the beginning of a routine as the sun rises.

In Dubai, a 41 year-old Indian man attempted the world's longest headstand. Ivan Stanley, who has lived in Dubai for 15 years, held the position for 61 minutes.