By Our Staff Reporter
Rishikesh, 14 Mar: The ongoing International Yoga Festival concluded at Parmarth Niketan here today in the presence of Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Ashiwini Kumar Choubey who was the chief guest at the Valedictory Session on the concluding day. Mahamandeleshwar Swami Avdheshanand Giri of the Juna Akhara, Dr HR Nagendra, Chancellor of SVASYA and Governing Council Member of Indian Yoga Association, Raja Lewis, eminent leader of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation movement, alongside Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President of Parmarth Niketan and Pujya Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Director, International Yoga Festival and IYF teachers, presenters and participants from across the world were also present on this occasion.
Festival at Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh on Tuesday.
During the valedictory session a specially synchronised Surya Namaskar was performed to honour the hundredth day countdowin the International Yoga Day. On this occasion, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati’s 52th Birthday was also celebrated with prayers and yagya by Yoga Teachers and participants from around the world, where her life, her journey and her book “From Hollywood to the Himalayas” were also honoured.
The Festival is being successfully organised by Parmarth Niketan, with the support of Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism, in association with the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India. Everyone took part in a special Ganga Aarti and a special LIVE concert by the Kirtaniyas.
During a very special morning yagya there was beautiful sharing by Swami Chidanand who said, “I am so proud to see how Pujya Sadhviji has dedicated her entire life like a sacred yagya in the selfless service of Bharat Mata. She is a Guru and guide to so many people across the world bringing light, love, peace and yoga to wherever she goes.Her journey from Hollywood to the Himalayas is a journey that inspires countless many to offer everything they have to the service of humanity. Her life is yoga in action and yoga in its truest essence.”
Rev Michael Bernard Beckwith, Ira Trivedi, Gil Ron Shama and many others shared their experiences and deepest regards for Sadhvi’s divine presence and association in their life.In the final Spiritual Plenary session, Ken Honda of Japan, who is a best-selling author of self development books, including his most popular one “Happy Money,” was joined by Swami Svatmananda, ordained monk and teacher of the Vedas who has learned first hand from teachers like Swami Dayanand Saraswati, and Gurushabd Singh Khalsa, Co-founder of Golden Bridge Yoga, who has had the unique opportunity to learn from Yogi Bhajan for 25 years. Beautifully moderated by Ganga Nandini of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram and Director of Projects &
Communication for the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance was the session titled “The Yoga of Abundance: The Dharma of Prosperity.” The theme and the talks spoke about establishing a healthy relationship with money and wealth and utilising it with dharma and balance. Dr HR Nagendra, Chancellor of SVASYA, concluded the session by sharing about the various
initiatives, activities and programmes that the Ministry is doing ahead of International Day of Yoga. Vedic chanting followed which was led by Sadhvi Abha Saraswati.
Lila Yoga Sun Salutations by Erica Kaufman followed . She spoke on “Hatha Yoga – Chakra Alignment” where she covered topics on flow, balancing and unblocking of the 7 chakras using Hatha Yoga asanas.Yogrishi Vishvaketu, a world renowned yoga teacher and founder of the Akhanda Yoga Institute took the participants on a journey to learn about the History and Practice of Classical Sun Salutations. He traced the origin of these Namaskars to Vedic Times over 3500 years ago. A session titled “Tuning into a Grateful Heart ” by Anand Mehrotra talked about the value of humility and satisfaction Introduction to Classical Tools of Sound Medicine for Self Healing” helped participants to understand the fundamentals of Sound as a means to Self Healing through Kal Prakashini’s class. Saul David Raye, an internationally acclaimed teacher, healer, and spiritual activist, shed light on “Soul + Soma” and Awakening the Inner Body through Somatic Work, Intuition & Rejuvenation in Yoga.
In addition sessions on “Ayurvedic Clinical Potentialities” by Ayurveda experts, Dr. Raghavan Ramankutty & Sarada Raghavan of Kerala at the Yoga Ghat and “Homeopathy of Sound: Neural Network Wellness” by Joseph Schmidlin of USA who is a renowned practitioner of holistic medicine, were also conducted.
