98th Foundation Day of The Yoga Institute

98^th Foundation Day of The Yoga Institute

The oldest and organised yoga centre in the World, The Yoga Institute, completed 98 years on 25^th December, 2016. Rightfully so, this day was celebrated with great festivity.

Thousands of people visit The Yoga Institute daily, with problems ranging from minor to life threatening health issues, weight loss, family discords, professional tensions, depression, etc. This makes one wonder that in a country where education is given so much importance why are we unable to lead a healthy and peaceful life. Probably the basic life skills such as how to live, how to manage our emotions, are not taught in schools. Befittingly, the Satsang topic on the 98^th Foundation Day was ‘Need for a Life School.’ Three esteemed guests were invited to mark the special occasion.

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik, an Indian physician turned leadership consultant, mythologist, author and communicator whose works focus largely on the areas of myth, religion, mythology and also management was the first guest speaker. Dr. Devdutt narrated an interesting story from the great Indian epic, ‘Mahabharata.’ Just before the on start of the Kurukshetra war, both the Kauravas and Pandavas went to Lord Krishna seeking his help. The Lord said that he had two things to offer- his ‘Narayani Sena’ (divine army) and Himself (Narayan). In other words they had a choice between ‘what he owned – Narayani Sena’ or ‘what he is- Himself.’ Dr. Devdutt explained that this was how we viewed the world. We judge people by what they own, their credentials, their assets, their looks, their awards. Incidentally Dr. Pattanaik has done his yoga Teacher Training Course from The Yoga Institute more than a decade ago. According to him, practice of yoga leads us from the superficial to the essence.

The next guest was Dr. D. R. Karthikeyan, President of Age-Care India, Ex-Director of the CBI, and an advisor to various organisations. Shri Karthikeyan has recently got associated with The Yoga Institute and was surprised by the quality of work done by the Institute in the field of yoga and that too without any boastful display. He said most of us neglect our health on the pretext of leading busy lives with no time to practice yoga. But if the Prime Minister of our country, in spite of his busy schedule, can practice Yogasanas and Pranayamas daily for 90 minutes, then why can’t we?

Our Chief Guest for the event was Dr. H. R. Nagendra, President of VYASA and Chancellor S-VYASA University; also Chairman, IDY (International Day of Yoga), Experts Committee, Task Force of AYUSH (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare), and SAC of CCRY (Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy). He said that yoga teaches us to introspect and know who we are. He strongly believed that integrating yoga in the education system would help us inculcate yoga learnings at an early age and also help incorporate yoga as a way of life.

Smt. Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra, Director of The Yoga Institute, concluded the special programme in her own charming way. She said that when a person is in a celebration mode, his daily struggles of living life fade away. She urged us to be happy like the saints. For the saints every day is Diwali, every day is spring time, they are always celebrating life. Happiness is a choice and we should all choose not to suffer. She touchingly spoke about the struggles of the Founder of The Yoga Institute, Shri Yogendraji in establishing the Institute. Smt. Hansaji asked everyone, including the three esteemed guests, to participate in spreading the message of yoga to the people at large and enrich the centenary year celebrations of The Yoga Institute in 2018.