International Yoga Day -21 June 2016

The School of Education, did our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi proud a second time round by organizing the Yoga day under the guidance ofDrBalachandran K., who with three decades of practice in yoga helped us gain a thoroughunderstanding of the ancient Indian practice in the 2.5 hours we spent with him. The students engaged in performing some asanasfollowed by an interactive discussion. The occasion was graced by the Dean of Humanities ansd Social Sciences Dr.MallikaKrishnaswami and Dr Nanjegowda, Dean of Sciences.
The first asana for the day was the salutation to the sun – Suryanamaskar followed by a host of other aasanas like pavanamukthaasana, sarvangaasan, dharnuraasan, trikonaasan, padmaasana, sukhaasan etc. Dr.Balachandran explained the significance of performing each of these aasanas along with breathing. The students were very pleased with their stretching capabilities and Dr. Balachandran assured that practice would make us “yoga-fect” as each aasana comes with its unique set of benefits.
In the interactive discussions, Dr. Balachandran primarily spoke of specific aasanas to relieve a few basic health issues and to always learn in the presence of a guru. In response to our questions he explained that the scientific principles of the different yogic practices –sudarshankriya, iyengar yoga, hatha yoga, ashtanga yoga, patanjali yoga etcare all the same with the ultimate goal of achieving complete harmony between the mind, body and soul. He also stressed that the “power of yoga” will certainly help us effortlessly combat an integral part of all our lives in the modern day – stress.

At the end of the day our take home learning was – “Stretch, Breathe, Smile, Repeat – Yoga is the way!”