HAVANA, CUBA, November 24, 2016 (14y Medio): In the 90s, when some Cubans chose to flee the country on a raft, Elsa Hermida found that practicing yoga was the best way to overcome the crisis that surrounded her. It was at that time, at the gothic Sacred Heart church in the Havana city center, that she met Professor Eduardo Pimentel, with whom she set a course where meditation and asanas (postures) became inseparable.
In the parish hall, Elsa Hermida and Pimentel, who became her life partner, created a program that until today teaches yoga throughout the country. For a quarter century, this smiling woman of infinite patience has helped hundreds of people begin to practice this unique physical and spiritual discipline. She now runs a community center in her own home, where three times a week the room is filled with people practicing postures and stretching.
Among the results of this constant work was the creation of the Cuban Yoga Association in 1990. Last June, the Association celebrated the World Day of Yoga with two days of classes, workshops and conferences. Today the number of people practicing the discipline in the country has increased not only in the capital city but also in the provinces of Matanzas, Havana, Ciego de Avila and Cienfuegos.