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.
