Refrain from
Yoga Branding: Yoga Masters tell Yoga Preachers in
a Symposium held in the city
Hyderabad|India|February'2011: Yoga is not a brand. It doesn’t
belong to any single individual. It is our culture and tradition. It
is a way of life. It is an art of righteous living or an integrated
system for the benefit of the body, mind and inner spirit. This art
originated, was perfected and practiced in India thousands of years
ago. The references to yoga are available in 'Upanishads' and 'Puranas'
composed by Indian Aryans in the later Vedic and post- Vedic period.
The main credit for systematizing yoga goes to Patanjali who wrote
'Yoga Sutra', two thousand Years ago. But, he never branded it.
Unfortunately today well over 150
Yoga Brands exist all over the world. It is very confusing. So Yoga
preachers, trainers and masters were urged to keep off from Branding
Yoga. A Symposium on Yoga was held to this effect in city today at
Sundarayya Vignana Bhavan. Where some well speakers speaking on the
occasion told every one not to confuse the masses and damage to Yoga
with differernt names and nomenclatures.
The objective of the Symposium of Yoga Preachers, Teachers,
Trainers, Gurus, Master was 1. to bring all of them on single
plattform and to discourage the practice of branding of Yoga in
India and abroad. Also to work together to play a greater role in
the society and to discourage the alarming practice of branding of
Yoga in India and abroad. There was a overwhelming response to the
Symposium which was attended by well over 500 people comprised of
Sudershan Reddy, President of Andhra Pradesh State Yoga Association,
Senior Yoga Practitioners like Balaiah, Pratap Reddy, Ramchandra
Reddy, Raghav Reddy, Prakash Rao, Subba Rao, Suresh Agnihotri and
Raja Reddy. Mr. P. Ravi Kishore, President of A.P. Yoga Forum
participated as the Special Invitee.
Organised by Traditional Yoga, a city based NGO in association with
Namaste India it was the first of their series of lectures on Yoga
and Meditation to be held in city and other places across the
country. According to many Yoga Practitioners assembled for the
Symposium, Hyderabad has emerged as the Yoga Capital of the country.
The city boasts of 3 to 5 of its citizens practicing Yoga. Nearly
1000 Yoga Teachers engage them. But, the way Yoga is spreading city
requires a minimum of 10,000 Yoga Teachers. And there is a good
employment opportunities readily available for these teachers, they
opined.
Welcoming the gathering, Brijbhushan Purohit, President of Namaste
India Foundation will preside over the function said . Yoga is
science and it must be made part of the school curriculum. And
advised people not to abuse the Yoga.
Mr. A.L.V. Kumar, a living store house of Yoga and a scientist with
Nuclear Fuel Complex spoke on 'The Trends in Modern Yoga vis-a-vis
Ancient'. It is irony to see foreigners doing Yoga much perfectly
than us. We Indian don’t pay much attention to the pracitce of Yoga.
Where as our foreign counterparts attach lot of importance to
practice rather than just preach he said. I frequently visit lot fo
foreign countries for Yoga training. And each time when i see them i
envy about them because they do good Asanas than me. This gives me
an impression that "Is Yoga belong to us or to the West".
Unfortunately, many of us consider Yoga as few asanas and yogas.
But, that is not all. Yoga means not mere some monkey postures he
said.
Yoga means "union". It is a practice that uses posture and breathing
technique to induce relaxation and improves strength, and it's
health benefits may surpass those of any other activity. Whatever
the reasons you practice yoga, whether it is for relaxations, strech,
breathe, mediate or simply it is fashion, you many not realize the
numerous health benefits. Though there are many kinds of Yoga,
ranging from Hatha Yoga. Power Yoga, every form of of Yoga improves
your health from head to toe said Mr. Kumar.
From paralysis of the lower body due to a car crash, Kumar
completely healed himself with the help of yoga and decided to
dedicate himself to teaching of Yoga. He taught Yoga to more than
7500 aspirants through his public workshops in India, Germany and
UK. He delivered key note addresses at several International and
National Yoga Conferences. He delivered more than 250 talks to the
number of corporate companies.
Stating further Kumar added that Yoga is secular. Even our texts
communicate the same. It doesn’t belong to any single religion. It
doesnt promote any religion, Hinduism or Hindu chantings. Foreigners
embraced Yoga more than we Indians have.
Many of the westners have become full time professionals of Yoga.
But, we Indian have still not woken up to the advantages of Yoga, he
said.
Speaking on branding of Yoga, Kumar deplored at the current practice
of Yoga Branding. In the recent times we have seen a proliferation
of branded styles of Yoga, some named after their founders and
others after some yogic word or concept. Even ashtanga (literally,
"eight limbs"), the name Patanjali gave to the practice of yoga, has
become a brand name for a particular style of yoga. With branded
styles of yoga teaching, branded yoga clothing, branded training
programs, branded certificates, and branded instructors, present
trends suggest that yoga and marketing go hand-in-hand. Is it all
required today? he questioned. Branding is selling one's image or
self, rather than offering Yoga as a service. Yoga today is totally
scattered. It is quite disappointing trend he observed.
Chandrakanth is a much learned Yoga Teacher at Hyderabad Public
School who has 32 years of experience spoke on ‘The Science of
Pranayama as per ancient Indian Texts.
