Temple Yoga - Purpose and Philosophy

 YOGA AT HTA FOR OVER 25 YEARS!

The main purpose and philosophy of Temple Yoga is promoting functionality of our devotees and all others interested. This means that devotees, regardless of age should be able to carry on the DALs - daily activities of life such as sit, walk, cook, think rationally, play chess or tennis, travel, drive, solve all kinds of problems, help humanity, worship and also stand on one's own feet even if one is 90 or 100 years of age. Yoga helps in achieving this objective. No one is condemned by nature to suffer loss of functionality just because he or she is growing old. Life styles could impact our health to a surprisingly great extent, more than our DNA.

We are glad that there is a sizeable outreach community participating in our weekly yoga class and finds our classes very secular. The Inter-Faith Coalition of Fulton County's Health Promotion Department organized a Workshop at HTA in April 2014. Temple Yoga has been organizing the annual Yoga Workshop when leading physicians, specialists and others interested participate on a voluntary basis.

 First Temple Yoga gives students the fundamentals of Yama and Niyama without which there can be no yoga. Then under the Asthanga Yoga of Patanjali there are Asana and Pranayama. The other four following steps viz., Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are learnt intuitively by anyone who has mastered the first four, and so we don't instruct them lest we insult human intelligence.

 Over these decades we have had hundreds of persons learn physical and breathing exercises to promote their cardio-vascular functionality, to obtain cures from body aches such as neck pain and back pain, asthma, cancer management, diabetes, mental depression, migraines,  monthly menstrual cycles, menopause,  and so forth. Can we put a dollar-value on such cures and health restoration? More importantly, yoga is the best preventive or prophylactic medicine and has proved itself over two millennia as the best evidence-based medicine. It is great in promoting homeostasis and helps people appreciate what a miraculous biochemical and biomechanical factory the human body is. SMART or Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques, a program promoted in Boston in the Sixties by Harvard Medical School professionals was very much based on good old Yoga.

Our students come to appreciate how the human body is a hologram of the universe, containing every one of the dozens of elements found in the chemical periodic table. This knowledge together with exercises helps anyone interested to come to get rid of even stubborn sicknesses and enjoy radiant and robust physical and mental health which alone can ensure better quality of life like Patanjali and other savants envisaged. Without health humans pay a heavy price (such as $2,5 Trillion in America alone) and their quality of life suffers, and  become a burden to society. Our faulty decisions under sickness cost society some more. We become "Prithvi bhara" as in "Prithvi bhara nasho Mukandaha" like Kulashekhara Alwar states in Mukundamala.

We invite all devotees and others to join us weekly and help us spread physical and mental health. 

The principal instructor is Sudhanva Char who obtained his Yoga Teaching Certification in 1984. He has been practising yoga for several decades and has trained several others in teaching yoga. He has published technical papers on yoga in refereed journals. He wrote a book on Agricultural Income Tax, published by Commerce in 1969.  Currently, after retirement in 2012, he serves as adjunct Professor, Biostatistics, Life University. Atul Khorana is the manager of Temple Yoga and communicates with yoga persons and others, besides running the YOGAHTA website.He too teaches yoga. Dr. Tulsi and Dr. Raju Vanapalli facilitate and adviseTemple Yoga.