Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga

SPECIAL REPORT: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA
KERALA, INDIA
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Trivandrum
and Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram, Neyyar Dam
The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Trivandrum and the Sivananda
Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram, Neyyar Dam hosted a series of
events in the lead-up to International Yoga Day. The aim of these events
was to create awareness of yoga and the teachings of our gurus and
our efforts appear to have successful. We received a lot of attention
from both local and national media as well as members of the community
and are thrilled to have received so many invitations from such a wide
variety of groups. Some of the highlights during the last few weeks
have included:
• Mathrubhumi (local TV show); a discussion on yoga and the
relevance of Surya Namaskar
• A.I.R. (All India Radio); 90 minute yoga demonstration and discussion
at Vylopilly Hall, Trivandrum which was broadcast live over the radio
• India Today, CNBC, CNN, BBC, The Hindu, Doordarshan (local
TV station); coverage included photo shoots, interviews and filming
of asana classes and ashram life
The International Day of Yoga events began early and were spread
out over various locations. At the Ashram in Neyyar Dam we had our
regular Sunday morning silent walk and held morning classes. After
brunch, all the staff and guests boarded a bus to the Trivandrum Centre
to participate in the events being held there.
Our programme at the Trivandrum Centre began at 5am with
a Ganapathy Homa and Sivananda chants. This was followed by more
chanting with Saundarya Lahari of Adi Shankara by Sri. Kailasji & group.
Several talks were given throughout the day including: Healthy Living
by Dr. Gopinathan Pillai; Life Style Disease Management by Dr. Trishna;
Yoga and Healthy Diet by Dr. Leena; and Yoga Sastra: Bhagavad Gita in
Daily Life by Dr. K.U. Devadas. We also held a Quiz Competition on Yoga
prepared by Sri Praveen Das.
A variety of yoga classes and a kriya workshop were held at the
Trivandrum Centre throughout the day. We also conducted several
classes outside the Centre including:
• Kerala State Police, Chandrashekaran Nair Stadium, yoga demon -
stration for over 350 police officers, presided over by the Director
General of Police
• Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, State Bank
of India, and NSS School: classes were held for employees and students.
A delicious lunch was served in the afternoon and the Centre was
positively buzzing with activity. Over 350 people attended the day’s
events and each participant received a copy of the Sivananda
International Yoga Day magazine along with a certificate of attendance.
We completed the day’s events with satsang and a special Cultural
Programme – classical bhajans sung by Vital Vinod. After arati and
prasad an evening meal was served and then the Neyyar Dam group
boarded the bus and headed back to the Ashram. Thank you to all the
volunteers, students and the more than 50 staff from both the
Trivandrum Centre and the Neyyar Dam Ashram for their attendance,
participation and lively spirit.
The events of the past few weeks have created a lot of positive
energy and enthusiasm among our community. It is our hope that we
can continue to spread the knowledge of yoga and the teachings of
our gurus to those around us, and in doing so achieve the vision of a
world living in peace. Let’s keep the momentum going until next year!
TOKYO, JAPAN
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
The Tokyo Centre celebrated International Day of Yoga with Swami Dharmananda from the Yoga Farm who was visiting us for 2 weeks in June. We had
a full schedule of free classes as well as a “tea and snacks”mid-day open house with students asking many questions about Yoga life and practice.
Swami Dharmananda led the evening satsang speaking about the International Day of Yoga, the lives of Master and Swamiji and Swamji’s mission
to the West and the foundation of his teaching, the Five Points of Yoga. It was a wonderful day at the Centre, full of energy and inspiring for all.
YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015
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