The 300 or so people who attended a free yoga event at Marquette Plaza in downtown Minneapolis Sunday for International Yoga Day were a fraction of Twin Cities devotees of the breathing-focused exercise.

Jennifer Gray, founder of the Yoga Center, opened one of the first suburban yoga studios 15 years ago to fill a void. Now there are about 4,000 people who practice at Yoga Center studios each month, Gray said.

"People are so excited to be part of the yoga scene in Minneapolis because it seems to be a really strong community and a strong group of people," Gray said Sunday.

From the popular Vinyasa, a flow for people who like to be active, to the most challenging hot-room poses, there's a type for just about anyone in the Twin Cities, she said. "People worry it's a fad, but my answer to that is that it's at least 5,000 years old — a very old fad."

KAREN ZAMORA