“Yoga is a metaphor for life. You have to take it really slowly. You can’t rush. You can’t skip to the next position. You find yourself in very humiliating situations, but you can’t judge yourself. You just have to breathe, and let go. It is a workout for your mind, your body and your soul.”–Madonna

This should come as no surprise. Health pundits have over and over again stressed that yoga is adds to the credibility of celebrities while also helping change their image from a yo-yo dieting celebrity to someone who’s responsible enough to spend time on their own health.

And the list of celebs practising yoga is grwowing. ModelSophie Anderton is well-known fan of yoga practices. Other top celebs include Naomi Watts, Ricky Martin , Meg Ryan, Sting and his wife Trudie, Jerry Seinfeld, Jennifer Lopez, Nicolas Cage and Gwyneth Paltrow, to name a few.

Says Meg Ryan: “I started yoga about five years ago. I will say, definitely, it changed my life. It made me calmer. It puts you right in the place of witness — which is great.”

No wonder then that global celebrities Christy Turlington, Russell Simmons, Sting and Donna Karan participated in yoga-inspired events of UN’s Peace Day in LA last month. The 12-hour programme included yoga trance dance, meditation, Kundalini yoga pose, 108 rounds of Surya Namaskar, mandala creation and kirtan.

Yoga journal surveys estimate that about 16 million people practise yoga in the US alone and the market for yoga is worth $3 billion.

Finally, a tip from author and model Christy Turlington: Do yoga regularly and you might just get “the yoga butt.”