International Yoga day 2016 - Promoting Health for Humanity

International Yoga day 2016 - Promoting Health for Humanity

21 June 2016

Yogathon New Zealand, a division of Hindu Council of New Zealand (HCNZ), has been promoting the practice and raising awareness of Yoga in collaboration with various schools and practitioners of yoga at grassroots level for the last many years, organised community led events for International Day of Yoga, 2016, in New Zealand today. HCNZ is also an affiliate of ECOSOC, a division of UNO.

The science behind Yoga is based on the conception of koshas (layers/levels) of human personality consisting of the physical body, physiological structures and functions, and mental, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of human existence. Yoga theory asserts that each of these koshas should be healthy in themselves and in combination to achieve a balanced, healthy and fulfilling life while reaching out towards higher awareness that every person is potentially capable of.

This principle of Yoga is based in reality observed in nature around us, supplemented by centuries of practice and refinement of Yoga techniques. Yoga techniques based on asanas (postures), pranayam (breathing techniques), and dhyana (meditation) are designed to address the health of each kosha and the totality of personality. The Sanskrit word Yoga itself indicates this meaning.

“Yoga is a unique gift for a way to good health that has its roots deep in the Hindu heritage and traditions. In our quest to share this gift with New Zealand, we established Yogathon New Zealand several years ago, to facilitate different schools of yoga and practitioners to promote the common goal of raising awareness of Yoga and public health,” said Mr Vinod Kumar, President of Hindu Council of New Zealand. “Last year, the United Nations (UN) declared 21st of June as an International Day of Yoga. This declaration has greatly aided the purpose of Yogathon New Zealand and seen more organisations joining hands with Yogathon NZ and various schools of yoga, to actively promote yoga.

In Wellington, Yogathon NZ is collaborating with VYASA NZ, who are leading the organisation and facilitation of 2 community workshops:

Workshop 1: ‘Yoga techniques for general wellbeing’, held on 25th June, in Lower Hutt, facilitated by Mr Ram Bharadwaj.

Workshop 2 ‘Yoga for diabetes’, held on 26th June in Newtown, facilitated by Ms Naena Chimma.

“It is great to see the message of health & wellbeing conveyed to general public. The Vegetarian Society of New Zealand, Wellington branch have extensively promoted these events”, said Dr Rajiv Chaturvedi, vice president for Hindu Council of New Zealand.

In Auckland Yogathon NZ collaborated with Manukau Indian Association, who lead the organisation of Auckland’s largest International Yoga Day celebration at the Vodafone events centre, in Manukau on 19th June. “Our team at Manukau Indian Association has seen the establishment of Yogathon New Zealand several years ago and believed in the goal of spreading the awareness and practice of yoga among general population,” said Mr Veer Khar, president of Manukau Indian Association. “Last year, when we learnt about the UN announcement, we joined hands with Art of Living and Yogathon New Zealand to hold New Zealand’s first, largest indoor celebration of the first International Day of yoga. Yoga originated from the rishis (researchers) and sages of Bharat (India). Manukau hosts the largest Indian population of New Zealand and we are chuffed to see the large numbers of people who came to support and celebrate yoga as a community, both last year and this year. In addition, the Indian High Commission in New Zealand has recognised the lead that wider community has taken to spread Yoga over the past decades, and come on board to participate in the International Day of Yoga, 2016,” added Mr Khar.

Along with Art of Living, instructors from Bikram Yoga, Bramha kumaris Raj Yoga meditation group and independent practitioners such as Gurpreet Siddhu have taken an active role in instructing and supporting the celebration of International Yoga day in Auckland. Auckland event was attended by people of varied ages and ethnicities.

The fortnight long annual Yogathon 2016 event will be held from 10th to 24th September 2016. The participants aim to collectively perform 108,000 repetitions of ‘Surya Namaskar’ (Sun Salutation) over a period of 15 days. A repetition of Surya Namaskar consists of a series of yoga postures of well-balanced movements linked with simple breathing techniques. Participants can conduct Surya Namaskar repetitions from the comfort of their homes or as part of the regular group they practice with; in addition venues will be available in some cities where they can join in group practice with trainers.

Those willing to volunteer and help promote and coordinate this event in their respective cities/ schools/ neighbourhoods and be part of the Yogathon team are heartily welcome.

ENDS

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