June 21 is International Yoga Day.
Declared by the United Nations in 2014, the day celebrates and raises awareness about the benefit of yoga for the body and mind.
This year's theme is "Yoga for Humanity".
For Sydney based yoga instructor, Kasumi Songeon-Senzaki, yoga is a tool for improving physical and mental well being, and one's quality of life.
Kasumi says she has mastered breathing technique to stay calm and grounded in her busy life Source: Kasumi Songeon-Senzaki
Kasumi arrived in Australia in 2003, and took up yoga for "health benefit, like everybody else".
"I began yoga much later in my life" says Kasumi to SBS Japanese.
"I was not flexible at all, in fact I have always being like that since a child"
Not only did she see the changes physically by taking up yoga, Kasumi was soon able to take control of her inner self.
"We move and act, based on the habits and patterns we have developed over the course of our lives, such that when we see or hear things, we have our own filters in place"
By removing these filters and turning our attention to our inner self, we can "see things as they really are," she says.
In this busy world, Kasumi explains, it is easy for the mind and body, which were originally connected, to become disconnected.
Source: Kasumi Songeon-Senzaki
"The mind is just moving ahead," she says, "like what to do next, what to do tomorrow."
To bring them back together, in other words, to bring yourself back together, is what yoga is all about, she explains.
Kasumi says, yoga for her, is a "lifetime of exploration".
"I don't know what I will do without it"
For the full interview, listen to the audio interview in Japanese below.
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森林浴、上を向いて、つらい気持ちをリセットしましょう（お勧めアーカイブ）
火木土の夜10時はおやすみ前にSBSの日本語ラジオ！
