2011 is the Year of Yoga Worldwide to boost health and fitness
In a dynamic initiative committed to improve the health and the fitness levels of people in over 1,800 cities, towns and villages across the world, The Art of Living in Sri Lanka has declared the year January 2011 - 2012 as the Year of Yoga Worldwide.
A full year dedicated to heighten awareness and deliver the direct experience of yoga as a life-supporting science to the general public worldwide. Educational exhibitions, town-hall workshops, awareness camps, lec-dem`s (lecture cum yoga instructions), presentations of yoga case studies, fact – sheets, research findings, campaigns on healthy food, lifestyle and habits, women and children`s health, spiritual wisdom, environment and ayurveda will also be showcased in several countries to mark the year.
On January 22, 2011, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is expected to inaugurate the Year of Yoga Worldwide in Sri Lanka, setting the rhythm to tune up health and fitness across continents. Says Gurudev “My vision is of a violence-free, stress-free world.” The Year of Yoga Worldwide is inspired by this very vision.
For over 29 years,The Art of Living founded by Gurudev, has been at the forefront of delivering perhaps the best of yoga programs reaching out to over 30 million across 151 countries.
The theme of the Year of Yoga Worldwide will cater to the needs of several people across continents, including families below the poverty-line, internally displaced people, refugees and prison inmates, students, rural youth, police, armed forces, corporate executives, homemakers, sportspersons and persons with health conditions like stress, diabetes, asthma, migraine, obesity, chronic conditions and many other health imbalances. Several international health organizations and health brands are also expected to come together to catapult and endorse the status yoga as a life-supporting science. Impetus to research and development initiatives on yoga and breathing techniques will also find a high place in the calendar of events.
On July 2-3, 2011, Berlin will host and showcase the best of yoga coinciding with the 30th year celebrations of The Art of Living with participation from over a 100 countries.
Moreover, yoga enthusiasts will get to experience the paths of yoga at the Spring-Summer and Autumn-Winter World Yoga Festival scheduled during the year across continents. Some of the unique programs in the Festival include Sri SriNatya – Yoga with dance, Yoga and Meditation, Laughter Yoga (Hasya Yoga), Subtle Yoga (Sukshma Yoga), Yoga and Ayurveda, Yoga and breath, Yoga for women, Yoga and creativity and exclusive yoga modules for various health imbalances and conditions.
The life-supporting science of yoga as delivered by The Sri Sri Yoga nourishes the very root and basis of human life – the prana (the subtle life source energy) . Unique and effective breathing techniques like the SudarshanKriya, KanishtaPranayama and Padmasadhana are just some of the many offerings that people will get to experience in the World Yoga Festival and the innumerable events scheduled in the Year of Yoga Worldwide.