Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga

SPECIAL REPORT: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA
NEW DELHI, INDIA
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Nataraja Centre
Raising Yoga Awareness in and around Delhi
with the First World Yoga Day
An invigorating early morning breeze and cloudy skies together with
a lush green neighbourhood park in south Delhi, became the canvas for
staging the first International Day of Yoga celebrations, on the 21st of
June 2015, by the Sivananda Nataraja Vedanta Centre of New Delhi.
More than 40 of the Centre’s enthusiastic teachers, staff members and
volunteers gathered at the crack of dawn at a local park to organise
and prepare for the event ahead.
Separate sections within the park had previously been designated
as possible settings for the various Yoga classes and these were duly
earmarked before the entry of the participants. Thus dedicated areas
were allocated for three Open Classes, three Beginners Classes, one
Senior Citizens Class and one Surya Namaskar Class. Over 120 eager
participants of all ages joined in the event and sought introduction
to Sivananda Yoga. Each participant was given a specially designed
Sivananda Yoga booklet along with a Yoga Day commemorative T-shirt.
Karma Yogis, donors and volunteers had made ample arrangements for
water and fruit to be available for all participants at the venue.
After over 50 years of promoting Yoga in the West and helping
to rekindle the interest in Yoga in India, the International Sivananda
Yoga Vedanta Centres were honoured to collaborate with the Indian
Government to take this promotion to the next step with the first
UN sponsored International Yoga Day.
Almost a couple of months before the Yoga Day, the Nataraja
Centre began concerted efforts in reaching out to larger segments
of society both within the Delhi National Capital Region as well as in
other parts of Northern India. The latter was evident in dedicated Yoga
training camps for employees of public sector enterprises in Delhi,
Jammu City (in J & K State) and Chamba (in Uttarakhand State).
Moreover, increased awareness of Yoga with Children was seen in the
well attended Annual Kids Camp conducted in the Centre during June
2015. The higher level of participation this year by children was a gratifying
sign of steps taken in a positive direction.
Dissemination of information and knowledge of our ancient Yoga
practices and the messages of our Masters was made possible through
a series of media interviews, both in print and on television as a run up
to the Yoga Day event and thereafter. Specifically, some television news
reports and documentaries, included interviews with senior teachers at
the Delhi Sivananda Nataraja Vedanta Centre. Some of the TV channels
even filmed extensively at the centre showcasing Yoga open classes in
progress. The reports and documentaries were aired by both global and
national TV channels including Discovery, BBC, NDTV, CNN IBN and
Al Jazeera. The latter actually filmed the live Yoga demonstrations by
Sivananda Centre teachers at the Park on International Yoga Day, which
was later broadcast.
The Centre’s teachers and staff members proactively participated
in the flagship events and programmes conducted by the government
and several leading organisations before and on 21st June 2015. At these
events the Centre’s staff and teachers had an opportunity to interact
with other Yoga practitioners and schools of Yoga and share the teachings
of our Masters Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevananda.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
The Centre’s annual yoga and music festival was well attended with asana workshops, lectures and teachings from the yoga scriptures together with
Indian music. A highlight were two lectures by Swami Durgananda on “Necessity of Spiritual Practice”. The festival ended on the International Day
of Yoga with a special programme “Health is Wealth, Peace of Mind is Happiness” which also involved the nearby Technical University .
YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015
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