Photo essay
A stretch of desert: Hundreds attend Arava yoga festival
Israelis and foreigners hold sessions throughout region’s villages in annual event, ‘the largest yoga gathering in the Middle East’

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)
Hundreds of Israelis and foreigners took part over the weekend in the ninth annual Yoga Arava festival, practicing throughout the southern Arava desert.
Sessions were held Thursday-Saturday in various villages of the Arava — the border region between Israel and Jordan that stretches from the Dead Sea to Eilat.
Organizers described the event as “the largest yoga gathering in the Middle East.” The festival, they said, featured “the best teachers in Israel and special guest teachers from all around the world.”
On Friday a joint yoga session was held at Timna Park, at which festivalgoers could enjoy breathtaking scenery as they practiced their cat pose and downward dog.

Yogis, Israeli, and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)
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