State Chapter Activities

Webinar on Yoga and Spirituality by Rajasthan SCC
Rajasthan State Chapter Committee recently organised a discussion on “Yoga and Spiritual­ity in Swami Vivekananda’s Vision” in collaboration with Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari. The keynote speaker of the program was the Shri Hanu­mantha Rao, National Vice President of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari. The event was organized under the All India Samarth Bharat festival celebrated by Vivekananda Kendra from 25 December 2020 to 12 January 2021. Members of various State Chapters of the Indian Yoga Association and Karyakartas of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari were well-attended in the program.

The keynote speaker Shri Hanumantha Rao in his address while discussing Swami Vivekananda’s Complete Work’s literature, Bhagavad Gita and various ancient texts on the subject of yoga and spirituality, said that spirituality is the feeling of divinity and the ultimate goal of yoga is also the attainment of God element. We can call spirituality a science and consider yoga to be technology, that is, the technology to bring spirituality into life is yoga.
A question-and-answer session was also held towards the end. Thereafter, Shri Vinodji Pareek, Chairperson, Rajasthan State Chapter thanked all present. Dr Swatantra Sharma, Secretary, Rajasthan SCC was also present.

Gujarat SCC holds a felicitation drive
In order to have a wider reach across the state Gujarat Chapter Committee organized a felicitation drive to honour the work done by yoga professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic on January 20, 2021 at 4pm.

The felicitation ceremony was held on Zoom and streamlined Live on Gujarat SCC’s Facebook page. Acha­rya Birju Maharaj commenced the programe with a brief introduction about IYA, its vision and mission. Shri Kamlesh Udasi, Secretary, Gujarat SCC explained the purpose and implications of this felicitation drive.

Smt.Bhakti, Joint Secretary elaborated on the events and drives organized by the Chapter. Smt. Mauli Bavisker, Joint Secretary announced the candidates who received the felicitation certificate and also called for yoga teachers from across Gujarat to share their yogic knowledge through more videos as well as the technical and quality requirements as well as policies. Smt. Meetal Kotecha, Vice-President appealed to fasten up the mem­bership drive and Shri Rajeev Mishra announced the Online Gurukulam Program. The Chapter gave away certificates to 77 deserving candidates.

RKMVERI with Jharkhand SCC organizes prize-giving

On the occasion of National Youth Day and 50th anniversary of the annual competition on life of Swami Vivekananda, an online prize-distribution ceremony was organized at the conference room of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekanand Educational and Research Institute, on January 12, 2021, in joint collaboration with Ramakrishna Mission Ashram-Ranchi, Indian Yoga Association-Ranchi, and Lions Club International-Ranchi.

On this occasion, the awardees in the annual com­petition made their presentation and they were awarded online. In the inaugural address of the program, Swami Bhaveshananda, Secretary- Ra­makrishna Mission Ashram- Ranchi, shared the works done so far in the ashram, since its inception. Thereafter, Shri Rahul Sharma Secretary, School Education and Literacy Department, Government of Jharkhand explained the importance of Swami Vivekanand’s ideas and thoughts.

The event saw the presence of Dr. Ravi Ranjan, Chief Justice, Jharkhand High Court, Ranchi and Shri Anirudh Bose, Judge, Supreme Court of India.
Subsequently, Chair-person of the program, Swami Atmapriyanandaji, Pro-Vice Chancellor- RKM­VERI, Belurmath and Director, Standing Academic & Accreditation, IYA spoke on the ideas of Swami Vivekanand and how they are a source of inspiration to all. Explaining the difference between self-confi­dence and over-confidence he told that there should be self-confidence and not over-confidence.

Towards the end Swami Subiranand ji Maharaj, Gen­eral Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission and Ramak­rishna Math and Vice Chancellor, RKMVERI urged the youth to have faith in themselves. He appreci­ated the Govt. of Jharkhand’s instructions to all the schools for participating in the competition. Rep­resentatives and members of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram- Ranchi, Indian Yoga Association-Ranchi, Lion’s Club International- Ranchi, and principals, teachers and students of various schools and other distinguished guests participated in the program, online.

The program ended with thanks giving speech by Shri Amit Kumar, Secretary, IYA Jharkhand.

A five-day virtual training program on Shatkarma

The five-day virtual training program on Shatkarma was started under the joint aegis of the Indian Yoga Association, Jharkhand State Chapter Committee and the Department of Yoga and Naturopathy, Sarla Birla University, Ranchi. The program was held from Janu­ary 17- 21, 2021.
Addressing the guests and students on the occasion, Professor Dr. Vijay Kumar Singh, Registrar, SBU said that Yoga is one of the oldest and greatest teach­ings of India. While the number of deaths during the Corona period, was high in other countries of the world, the numbers remained low in India because of its healthy culture and eating habits of citizens. Swami Bhaveshanand Ji Maharaj, Secretary, Shri Ra­makrishna Mission Ashram Morabadi, Ranchi, who was also present in the program said that Shatkarma is a special discipline under Yoga. It is a technique of expelling the unwanted-elements from our body.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Dr. Radha Mohan Jha, Co-educational Founder of the Faculty of Hu­manities and Yoga, said that today the whole world is accepting Yoga, Ayurveda, Naturopathy and its importance in one voice.

Prof. Kumar Rakesh Roshan Parashar, Head of the Department of Yoga and Naturopathy while address­ing the audience, said that our body is continuously undergoing through chemical processes, due to which many unwanted elements get stored in the body. Peri­odic cleansing of these elements is very important for our health.

Shri Amit Kumar, Secretary, Jharkhand SCC, IYA explained to the attendees the importance of yoga and the importance of Shaktarma. On this occa­sion, the Chief Instructor of the program Acharya Krishna Kantilal Dalwadi and Dr. Ramjit elaborated about various techniques of Shatkrama, and about the practice and benefits of Jal-neti, Sutra-neti and Rubber-neti etc. Students got their doubts clarified by Acharya Shri Krishna ji and Dr. Ramjit.
People from other countries also participated in the program. Distinguished participants in the program included Professor Nilanchal, Mr. Ram Jeevan Pan­dey, Vice Chairperson, Jharkhand SCC, IYA, Dr Pa­rinita Singh, Vice Chairperson, Jharkhand SCC, IYA, Smt. Rikita Swaroop, Shri Manish Singhal, Shri Naveen Chaurasia, Shri Pritam Banik, Shri Manoj Kumar Rai, Shri Balram Kumar, Dr. Anuj, Shri Ravi Prakash, Shri Anurag Kumar, Shri Bhardwaj Shukla, Professor Honey Singh, Professor Kavita Kumari, Professor Rahul Vats, Professor Sanjeev Singh and others.

Jharkhand SCC and SBU comes together for ‘Diabetes Free India’

A 4-day virtual training program on “Diabetes Free India” was launched under the joint aegis of the Indian Yoga Association, Jharkhand State Chapter Committee and the Yoga and Naturopathy Yoga Department of the Sarla-Birla University, Ranchi, Jharkhand on January 22, 2021.
On this occasion, Prof. Vijay Kumar Singh, Regis­trar, Sarla-Birla University, addressing the visiting guests, students and seekers said that diabetes has taken the form of a global disease. Peoples whether rich or poor, adult or child, all are getting affected by the disease. In such a situation, it has become necessary to save ourselves from this disease by bringing changes in our thoughts, behaviour and life style.

Shri Ramjeevan Pandey, Vice Chairperson, Jharkhand SCC said that we can avoid this disease by taking the shelter of Yoga and Naturopathy. Prof. Dr. Radha Mohan Jha, Co-educational Founder of the Faculty of Humanities and Yoga in his address said that today the whole world is accepting Yoga, Ayurveda, Naturopathy and their importance, in one voice. On this occasion, Prof. Kumar Rakesh Roshan Parashar, Head of the Department of Yoga and Naturopathy elaborated that Yoga is the name of systematic, established and disciplined lifestyle.
On this occasion, Dr Kamlesh Solanki, Gokul Nature Care Gujarat and Dr. Shubhendu, Chief Instructor of Yoga from Vietnam explained in detail about the disease and steps that could be taken to treat it.

The others who marked their presence in the pro­gramme were Shri Amit Kumar, Secretary, Jharkhand SCC, Professor Nilanchal, Dr. Parinita Singh, Smt. Rikita Swaroop, Shri Manish Singhal, Shri Naveen Chaurasia, Shri Pritam Banik, Shri Manoj Kumar Rai, Shri Balram Kumar, Dr. Anuj, Shri Ravi Prakash, Shri Anurag Kumar, Shri Bhardwaj Shukla, Professor Honey Singh, Professor Kavita Kumari, Professor Rahul Vats, Professor Sanjeev Singh and others.

HYC and Haryana SCC join hands for a Conference on Mental Health

Haryana Yog Council held a national conference on Mental Health through Meditation and spirituality in collaboration with Haryana State Chapter Com­mittee, Indian Yoga Association on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s birth, on January 11-12, 2021 with Dr. Jaideep Arya, Chairman, of Haryana Yog Council, and Dr Jaideep Arya, Regional Co­ordinator, North Region and Joint Secretary, IYA as the convener. This was a hybrid conference with participants joining virtually as well as attending the Conference in physical presence.

Eminent speakers from all over the nation joined in the presence of Hon’ble Speaker of Haryana Leg­islative Assembly, Shri Gian Chand Gupta, as the Chief Guest. Deputy Speaker of Haryana Legisla­tive Assembly, Shri Ranbir Gangwa inaugurated this conference on the second day.

The Conference was aimed to discuss the potential benefits of Meditation and Spirituality on Men­tal Health. The speakers also focused on research priorities in the area of mental health and Yoga for the future. Most particularly, the Conference noted how much we need to pay attention to mental well-being of School Children, College students and people working in IT sector and Banks. Infer­ence from the conference emphasised on increasing risk of psychiatric diseases – and the importance of adopting Meditation and Spirituality in maintaining the Mental Health.

In this regard, in the closing ceremony the Honour­able ACS Sir, Shri Rajiv Arora Ji, advised Haryana Yog Aayog to prepare Yoga module for mental health.

The first day of the conference saw Dr. B. N. Gangadhar, Former Director, NIMHANS, Benga­luru giving a discourse on ‘Yoga for Mental Disor­ders’. Dr. Subhodh Tiwari, Vice President, IYA, Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, Director, SPPPRC, IYA and Dr. Ramesh Bijlani also delivered lectures on the first day.

Dr. Subodh Tiwari imparted knowledge on Jnana Yoga while Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani shared his thoughts on Bhakti Yoga and Emotional Intelligence.

Shri B K Gaurav, a spiritual seeker and meditation expert, Brahama Kumaris, initaited the second day of the conference with a guided meditation. The conference was then joined by Smt. Kamlesh Barwal, Secretary General, IYA for a discourse on ‘Importance of Meditation for Mental Health and Balanced Lifestyle’.

Dr. Shirley Telles, Director of Research at Patanjali Research Foundation, concluded this two day confer­ence with her lecture and presentation on ‘Yoga and Optimal Health’.

The sessions witnessed speakers highlighting the importance of PRANAYAMA in maintaining the mental health. The conference was a great success as it included physical presence of more than 100 participants as well as online viewership of more than 90,000, on virtual platform.

All news from the State Chapters are collated by the newsletter team as received from each State Chapter Committee. All State Chapters may take the initiatve of sending your news soon­est to include the same in the next newsletter.