If you have visited Zuccotti Park recently, you may have seen a man in his thirties leading a meditation session of about 30 protesters.
A midst the chaos that is inherently part of Occupy Wall Street movement, that's Rasanath Das or Chelakara Ramanth (his given name), a former investment banker and an Ivy League graduate who now wakes up at 4:30 a.m. for daily prayer and occasionally goes to Zuccotti Park to lead meditation sessions.
According to a profile in the Wall Street Journal by Jo Piazza, Das, who spends most of his time looking for enlightenment, once used to earn a $170,000 salary negotiating deals at Bank of America.
Do you know why many people know about yoga in the US and the West? India Ink, the new New York Times India blog has the answer. Vivekananda was the one who single-handedly helped westerners understand the value of yoga and practice it. NYT launched India Ink in early September to “provide more in-depth, on-the-ground coverage of the world’s biggest democracy — and of a people who know that no matter how far they roam, their hearts will always be Indian.” At the time of this writing @nytindia had 6,250 Twitter followers.
Anuradha Bhagwati, the first South Asian woman officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, is now out of a former Marine and a writer in Brooklyn. She is also doing something unique: Teaching yoga to military veterans in NYC. Details about the course below.
Asked why yoga would benefit veterans, she told SAJAforum:
The military doesn't teach you how to stand on your feet and deal with
the world after you're out. a lot of veterans carry the weight of
their time in service with them. They wear the stress and anxiety in
their bodies, on their faces, even in their voices. Yoga helps by
teaching them to breathe all over again, to listen to stuff that's
happening inside the body and not to ignore it--or fight it--like you
are trained to do in uniform. The vets are so calm and relaxed after
yoga, It's like layers of chaos and worry have literally disappeared.
If you know veterans in the city, please let them know about the details below. Journalists interested in contacted Bhagwati can write to anukristina[at]yahoo.com.
YOGA FOR VETERANS
WINTER CLASSES
Taught by a veteran, these beginning classes are designed to reduce stress and anxiety. Classes include gentle and therapeutic yoga poses, breathing techniques, guided relaxation and meditation. No flexibility or prior experience with yoga is necessary! We can work with injuries—please call if you have any questions. The teacher is a former Marine and close combat instructor trainer.
THURSDAY EVENINGS: JANUARY 8TH – FEBRUARY 26TH
7:00-8:30 pm
ONLY $5 per CLASS at
INTEGRAL YOGA INSTITUTE, 227 West 13th St btw 7th Ave & 8th Ave
To register, call the Integral Yoga Institute (IYI) at 212-929-0586 ext 0
IYI offers discounts for Veterans on all classes, workshops, and bookstore items; more info at www.iyiny.org
Forget yoga chic. Reema Datta is on a mission to introduce yoga to abused women, orphaned children and struggling
villages through her non-profit, The Usha Yoga Foundation. Her group also promotes yoga for HIV patients and people with depression.
Since yoga has arrived in the west, science has found ample proof of yoga’s physical and psychological
benefits.
The National Cancer Institute recently funded a study that
determined the improved quality of life in patients practicing yoga while
undergoing chemotherapy. An article in Psychology Today also touted the role of
hatha yoga in manic depression.
One of Datta’s projects involves a teacher, Marie Claire
Jenkins, in England who teaches yoga to people suffering from bipolar disorder.
A background of women’s studies and work with the United
Nations led Datta to work with battered women shelters. She found that teaching
yoga to emotionally and physically scarred women was empowering.
Working at Yoga + Joyful Living magazine--and serving as a certified Sivananda yoga instructor--have opened my eyes to our expansive national yoga community. Downward dog pose, ayurveda and sun salutation have become household words, if not household practice. And commerce has kept pace: From the first time that batik-clad flower children got a whiff of yogic practice, the market started to integrate the nirvana-bound consumer with everything from hemp pants to rudraksha malas.
About 16 million Americans now practice yoga, and there are dozens of spiritually inclined publications catering to them. Today, yoga magazines are fixtures at newsstands and on coffee tables, amidst Cosmopolitan and Esquire, and are supported mostly by the demographic of 25-45 year-old women (some marketers call them Yoga Mamas). Here are some of the top yoga publications:
Yoga Journal – Founded in 1975 by members of the California Yoga Teacher’s Association, YJ hit mainstream circulation in 1990 and has continued to grow to its current readership of over a million. As the most popular yoga magazine in the country, YJ also features an extensive Web site with links for the yoga community. The publication is a glossy amalgam of trendy new-age style, health tips, travel and practice.
Yoga + Joyful Living – Produced from the non-profit Himalayan Institute, this bi-monthly
magazine was founded in the 90s by Swami Rama as a response to the
watering down of traditional yoga practice he was witnessing. Featuring
articles from renowned spiritual teachers Rolf Sovik, Rod Stryker and
Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Yoga+ covers topics of holistic living,
classical yoga scriptures, journeys and spirituality in action.
This week, we wrote about the death of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at 91. The New York Times has gone back and dug up the moment in 1986 when he, unknowingly helped swing a U.S. election. William W. Scranton III, a two-time Pennsylvania lieutenant governor, ran for governor that year and his opponent Robert P. Casey, used Scranton's connections to the Maharishi, against him. Casey's campaign manager was a young man named James Carville, who'd go on to national fame as an architect of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential win. From "Recalling the Maharishi and Carville’s Killer Ad" by Tom Ferrick, Jr:
The TV spot featured sitar music, pictures of the young,
long-haired Mr. Scranton, a mug-shot like photo of the long-haired,
bearded Maharishi and a sneering mention of transcendental meditation.
Though the exact words were never used, the message was clear: Mr.
Scranton is a weirdo!
The ad was timed to air the Saturday
before Election Day, too late for the Scranton camp to respond. Mr.
Carville chose not to run it in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh media
markets, fearing a backlash in the state’s two major urban areas.
Instead, he made a big buy in central Pennsylvania, hoping to undercut
Mr. Scranton’s support among that region’s conservative Republicans. <snip> Out of 3.3 million votes cast statewide, Casey defeated Scranton by a margin of 79,216. A victory of 2 percent.
The political consensus was that it was the “guru ad” that did Bill Scranton in.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation and the guru of several celebrities of our time died at his home in Netherlands today. From The New York Times, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Spiritual Leader dies:
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced transcendental meditation to the
West and gained fame in the 1960s as the spiritual guru to the Beatles,
died Tuesday at his home and headquarters in Vlodrop, the Netherlands.
He is believed to have been in his 90s. Steven Yellin, a spokesman for
the organization, confirmed the Maharishi’s death but did not give a
cause.
On Jan. 11, the Maharishi announced that his public work was finished
and that he would use his remaining time to complete a long-running
series of published commentaries on the Veda, the oldest sacred Hindu
text.
He was at the center of many controversies including his title, which is traditionally used by Brahmans (he belonged to a lower caste), his alleged sexual improprieties towards actress Mia Farrow and the TM technique Yogic Flying, which disciples complained never went beyond the first stage.
He founded Transcendental Meditation in the 1950s.
Known as TM, a trademarked name, the technique consists of closing
one’s eyes twice a day for 20 minutes while silently repeating a mantra
to gain deep relaxation, eliminate stress, promote good health and
attain clear thinking and inner fulfillment. Classes today cost $2,500
for a five-day session.
The TM movement was a founding
influence on what has grown into a multibillion-dollar self-help
industry, and many people practice similar forms of meditation that
have no connection to the Maharishi’s movement.
Over the years
since TM became popular, many scientists have found physical and mental
benefits from mediation in general and transcendental meditation in
particular, especially in reducing stress-related ailments.
Since
the technique’s inception in 1955, the organization says, it has been
used to train more than 40,000 teachers, taught more than five million
people, opened thousands of teaching centers and founded hundreds of
schools, colleges and universities.
In the United States, the
organization values its assets at about $300 million, with its base in
Fairfield, Iowa, where it operates a university, the Maharishi
University of Management. In 2001, disciples of the movement
incorporated their own town, Maharishi Vedic City, a few miles north of
Fairfield.
His following was diverse and included Clint Eastwood, David Lynch and Deepak Chopra, Donovan, and Mike Love of the Beach Boys. But his most famous disciples were the Beatles. Check out this video, with interviews and archival footage.
The Maharishi had established a multi-billion dollar global empire in his years of teaching and mentoring people.
Some 5 million people devoted 20 minutes every morning and evening
reciting a simple sound, or mantra, and delving into their
consciousness.
On Thursday, Dec. 27, the St. Louis Zoo celebrated the 15th birthday of Raja, the first Asian elephant born at that zoo (that's a photo of him at the zoo site, showing of his "elephant yoga" skills). Here is the official press release announcing the event and here's the coverage from the Belleville News-Democrat:
A crowd gathered at the St. Louis Zoo's Rivers Edge Thursday
morning to watch Raja, the first Asian elephant born at the zoo,
celebrate his 15th birthday.
Raja's
birthday gifts included cereal, melons, bananas, popcorn and other
favorite foods. Employees also constructed giant cards for visitors to
sign.
The birth of Raja in 1992 was big news at the zoo. Raja remains a star attraction and is a two-time father.
He first mated with a 34-year-old Asian elephant named Ellie, who gave birth to a 341-pound daughter, Maliha, in August of 2006.
Raja then mated with Ellie's other daughter, 10-year-old Rani, who gave birth to 236-pound Jade in February of 2007.
Raja
stands at nearly 10 feet and weighs about 9,000 pounds. He remains the
centerpiece of the zoo's prized collection of Asian elephants on
display at the zoo's River's Edge, which also includes several members
of the hippopotamus family, black rhinos, cheetahs and hyenas.
Workers at Reid Park Zoo are mourning
the loss of, "Raja," a 7-year-old Indochinese tiger. He died suddenly
on Thursday afternoon. An examination is underway to determine the
exact cause of death. Raja did not show any signs of illness prior to
his death.
Zoo officials say it may be weeks before final
results of the necropsy are available. The post mortem examination is
standard procedure with all animals that die at the zoo.
"Raja" and his brother first arrived at the zoo in October of 2001.
Just when you thought all forms of yoga have been explored, here's Time on "facial yoga."
Photos: Stick Out Your Tongue and Say 'Om' Exercising
your face muscles tightens, tones and, according to practitioners,
combats aging. Photographer Gene Moz offers a gallery of some of the
more intriguing poses
In the Wall Street Journal of Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007, reporter Nancy Keates asks a provocative question: "Is Yoga Just Posing As a Good Workout? While practitioners say the ancient art is good cardiovascular exercise, most fitness experts say that's a stretch."
Almost every study on yoga and fitness agrees that the practice has a significant positive impact on muscular strength, endurance and flexibility. But most find doing only yoga -- without mixing in some traditional aerobic workouts -- doesn't exercise the heart enough. That's a growing concern, with more than 14 million Americans practicing yoga and Tai Chi now, up from six million in 2000, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.
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