Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga

SPECIAL REPORT: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA
BERLIN, GERMANY
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
The Centre prepared in the morning for this special day. Decorations were put up and several delicious snacks were prepared with the help of dedicated
Karma Yogis. We received the students at 2pm for a little “peace session” in our garden, where we released balloons carrying peace messages.
Everybody wrote mantras on a little postcard which was then attached to a balloon. Once out in the garden we chanted Om Namo Narayanaya and
sent off the balloons full of peace mantras and good wishes for humanity. This was followed by a slide show on Swami Vishnudevananda’s peace
missions. Three parallel asana classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced students were all well visited. Snacks were served after the class and
the day concluded with more mantra chanting of Om Namo Narayanaya followed by a powerful Satsang. The booklet printed for the event was well
accepted by all students, everybody left the Centre inspired, thankful and happy.
CHENGDU, CHINA
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres in India
The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres in India were honoured to participate in the First India-China (Chengdu) International Yoga Festival organised
by the Consulate General of India, Guangzhou, with support from the Chinese local government. The five day event culminated on 21st June, the
International Day of Yoga. Nineteen yoga teachers from India were present, including some from the Ashtanga (Mysore style), Kaivalyadham,
Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Isha Hatha Yoga and India Yoga institutions.
Apart from educating the public about the benefits of Yoga, the festival was intended to emphasize the central place of India in the history of Yoga
as suggested by the festival motto ‘Taking Yoga back to its roots’. During the opening ceremony, H.E. Ashok K. Kantha, the Ambassador of India to
China referred to the large and growing popularity of Yoga in China and how it resonated with China’s own traditions like Tai Chi. He hoped that the
practice of Yoga would help to build friendly ties between India and China.
The SYVC programme included daily talks on the 5 Points of Yoga followed by a basic class. Additionally the event included panel discussions, press
interviews and promotional demonstrations such as yoga and Tai Chi and Panda yoga! The SYVC team consisted of Nataraj, Kalyani and Anisha as well
as three Chinese TTC graduates: Sivani, Vidyadevi and Jyothi. Sivani provided simultaneous Chinese translation. Due to popular interest we even held
two bhajan sessions with the students. The participants were very encouraged by the news of the forthcoming September TTC in Dujiangyan and the
October opening of the new SYVC Centre in Chengdu.
38 YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015