Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga
Yoga_Life_Winter_2015_WEB
Yoga_Life_Winter_2015_WEB
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
SPECIAL REPORT: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA<br />
SOUTH AMERICA<br />
Sivananda <strong>Yoga</strong> Vedanta Centres in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia,<br />
Chile, Colombia and Uruguay<br />
Our Sivananda <strong>Yoga</strong> Vedanta Centres in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile,<br />
Colombia and Uruguay celebrated this World <strong>Yoga</strong> <strong>Day</strong> with great<br />
enthusiasm.<br />
Although the day was very wintery in the southern-most countries,<br />
students, teachers and people eager to know the benefits <strong>of</strong> <strong>Yoga</strong>,<br />
participated in different events organised by local <strong>Yoga</strong> Centres and the<br />
Embassy <strong>of</strong> India.<br />
Columbia<br />
Montevideo, Uruguay<br />
<strong>The</strong> Montevideo Centre celebrated with a full week <strong>of</strong> yoga classes,<br />
meditation and special talks open for everybody. On Sunday we joined<br />
the local celebration organised by the Indian Consulate. <strong>The</strong> programme<br />
was at the Sheraton Hotel in a very pleasant neighbourhood <strong>of</strong> Montevideo<br />
close to the seashore.<br />
About 250 people participated. Kanti Devi had trans lated a book<br />
on Swami Sivananda to <strong>of</strong>fer free to all those taking part.<br />
Teachers and close students <strong>of</strong> the Centres supported the activities<br />
with their presence and gave active karma yoga during the week and<br />
especially on Sunday, <strong>The</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Yoga</strong>.<br />
This was a very positive opportunity for people from all over the world<br />
to join together in <strong>Celebrating</strong> <strong>Yoga</strong>. Gratitude, humility and a great spirit<br />
<strong>of</strong> sharing was very present and we are already getting ready for next year!<br />
Santa Cruz de la<br />
Sierra, Bolivia<br />
Valparaiso, Chile<br />
Sao Paulo,<br />
Brazil<br />
Buenos Aires, Argentina<br />
We had a wonderful <strong>International</strong> <strong>Yoga</strong> <strong>Day</strong> celebration in Buenos Aires.<br />
We held a schedule with open classes and meditations throughout the<br />
week. <strong>The</strong> main celebration organised by the Indian Embassy in Buenos<br />
Aires was shared with many <strong>Yoga</strong> Centres. We set up a stand where<br />
participants could get information about all the Sivananda <strong>Yoga</strong> Centres<br />
and Ashrams.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Indian Ambassador lit a lamp at the opening ceremony to start<br />
the event. This was followed by a video message from India’s Prime<br />
Minister, Narendra Modi, which was projected onto a large screen. <strong>The</strong><br />
programmed activities then started and there was good attendance<br />
throughout the event, which commenced at 11am and ended at 5pm.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were two main venues: A big stage, from where yoga classes<br />
were led, and an auditorium in which brief talks and videos about yoga,<br />
were conducted. Swami Premananda taught part <strong>of</strong> a yoga class together<br />
with two teachers from other <strong>Yoga</strong> Centres on the main stage. In the Audit -<br />
orium Swami <strong>Day</strong>ananda gave a brief talk about Swami Vishnudevananda’s<br />
five points <strong>of</strong> yoga.<br />
Kanti Devi sent from Uruguay the book, <strong>Yoga</strong> for the West, translated by<br />
her and printed for this <strong>Yoga</strong> <strong>Day</strong> as a tribute to the Masters. <strong>The</strong> book was<br />
given as a gift to attendees.<br />
People enthusiastically participated in all the activities despite the cold<br />
weather. <strong>The</strong> attendance at the celebrations throughout the day was about<br />
1,500 people. 28 yoga teachers from the Buenos Aires Centre helped run<br />
the event which concluded with the Indian Ambassador, government<br />
authorities and representatives <strong>of</strong> the different <strong>Yoga</strong> Centres chanting<br />
together the Saha Navavatu Mantra.<br />
We ended the day with our usual Sunday Satsang in the Centre thanking<br />
our Masters for their knowledge and guidance in this wonderful path <strong>of</strong> yoga.<br />
34 YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015