Annual Report 2015
Another successful and fulfilling year!
We are proud to claim thirteen years of bringing authentic yoga, ancient wisdom and modern research. As a volunteer-managed global community, we work to foster a better understanding of yoga’s benefits, therapeutic applications, life transforming effects and wisdom traditions. We bring yoga classes for general wellness, yoga teacher training courses for students who want to teach yoga, and yoga therapy to heal those with chronic ailments.
Volunteers in the community
Yoga Bharati has trained 400 yoga teachers that now volunteer in local communities to offer holistic and research-driven approach to yoga. Just this year, we have delivered about 3500 class-hours of yoga asana sessions in our communities, including special classes for kids, seniors, stress management and therapy. We continued our expansion, adding more public classes in Sunnyvale, Milpitas and the Tri-Valley in the SF Bay Area.
Yoga Therapy
Yoga Bharati has committed to building a world-class research culture that can scientifically validate the benefits of Yoga Therapy, and to bringing authentic Yoga Therapy to our community.
Our New Center:
We have now leased a new facility in West San Jose close to Cupertino, Saratoga, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. We have been conducting regular yoga therapy classes from 7am until 8pm all 7 days of the week, thanks to our yoga therapy teacher volunteers.
Visit our center at: 20445, Prospect Rd, Suite #1, San Jose
Therapy classes for special groups – we have yoga therapy classes running continuously in Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Milpitas and Fremont. This year, we have conducted workshops on Yoga for back, neck, shoulder and knee pain, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, obesity and metabolic disorders, vision disorders for children and teens, prenatal and postnatal workshops.
Surya Namaskar Yagna (SNY) 2015 – we conducted SNY as both ‘yagna’ and also a pilot cohort study. More than 500 people participated throughout America for the yagna. The theme of the closing ceremony was group practice of 108 sun salutation cycles (yagna). More than 300 people from age 3 to 75 years participated in SNY.
Yoga Centric Lifestyle Intervention Program (LIP) – Yoga Bharati launched LIP, an integrative therapy for people with various ailments from back pain to anxiety to cancer rehabilitation under the guidance of Dr. Naveen Visweshwaraiah of Yogaksema Bengaluru, India and Sachin Deshmukh, our local Integrative therapy specialist.
Yoga Teacher Training 2015
More than 25 students from age 13 years – 60 years took Yoga Instructors Course (YIC) aka Yoga Teacher Training at Sunnyvale location. It was a 3 month course from March to May 2015 and ended in a yoga retreat at Sivananda Ashram. Sri.N.V.Raghuram, the spiritual founder and Chairman of Yoga Bharati conducted the philosophy course for YIC students.
CSE Yoga Teacher Training 2015
10 students took Yoga Teacher Training at Center for Spiritual Enlightenment’s San Jose location jointly conducted by Yoga Bharati and CSE. It was a 3 month course from Sep-Nov 2015. Rev. O’Brian, the head of CSE conducts philosophy course for the students.
Yoga Therapy Training 2015
More than 15 students have signed up for Yoga Therapy Training. This is a 2 year course, which is self-paced course, aimed at training the yoga teachers to address people with different chronic ailments and empower them towards management and healing of their disease conditions.
Creating lifelong Yogis by catching them young
Yoga Bharati has a unique focus on building youth ambassadors and lifelong yogis. In the past few years we have begun showing special attention to the youth during the YIC course as well as creating opportunities for them to channel their energy and develop their leadership skills.
We also initiated the Project Vision Workshop as a part of Natural Vision Improvement program. We have completed 3 workshops in the past one year. Out of them the second workshop results motivated us to compile and bring a professional paper on Yoga for Vision. 15 children participated in this workshop to improve their vision challenges such as Myopia, Hyperopia, Astigmatism and Lazy eyes. Some children participated simply to improve their memory, focus and concentration. Below are the significant results of the workshop we have shown earlier in 2014.
Clinical Results
Improved Vision – 20%
Headache Relief – 10%
Easing Burning Eye/ Eye Strain – 10%
Reduction in allergy symptoms – 20%
Improved Sleep – 20%
Improved Appetite – 10%
Subjective Results
Improvement in social skills & participation – 40%
Details of the institutional report can be found at the Link Institutional Report
We conducted two weeks Summer kids yoga camp where more than 20 kids attended and enjoyed yoga classes taught by our high school youth teachers, Bhagavad Gita shloka chanting, art and crafts on yoga theme, Ayurveda, Environment awareness, and stories on yoga concepts, skits performed by the kids, and a field trip to McLellan Ranch park to see the ranch animals.
Promote awareness of Yoga, Vedanta and Ayurveda
Yoga Bharati hosts prominent speakers in the fields of Yoga, Vedanta and Ayurveda.
In 2014, we arranged pranayama and meditation workshop and discourse by Shri N.V.Raghuram, Chairman of Yoga Bharati, Dr. Nagarathna, Chief Yoga Therapist and VYASA, Bengaluru, India, Dr. Naveen Visweswaraiah of Yogaksema India, Dr. Prasad Kaipa of Selfcorp among others.
The later part of this year (November 2015) is a month with Satsangs on Parenting workshops, Viveka Chudamani, Bhagavad Gita, Spiritual Relationship, Patanjali Yoga Sutras by Swami Bodhananda Saraswati.
Active partnership with local organizations
Over the years, Yoga Bharati has passionately served the community and has created a niche position for itself in the local volunteer organization network. We consistently contribute and support local events in various roles – as specialists in yoga and also as enthusiastic participants. This year was no different.
Sevathon 2015: This was held in the month of June Yoga Bharati has been a key partner of Sevathon since it’s inception. This year Yoga Bharati conducted Yogathon in Baylands Park Sunnyvale, California. There were more than 110 participants. The participants practiced 27-108 sets of Suryanamaskars as per their capacities on the day of the event. Unish Corporation sponsored Yoga Bharati as with every year. Yoga Bharati expects more participants in the coming years.
Yoga Bharati has taken an initiative to collaborate and work in various fields of yoga alongside the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment (CSE). We actively partnered with CSE and conducted the Yoga Teacher’s Training at their facility where 15 students took the training.
Roadmap for Future Events in 2016
In 2016, Yoga Bharati will work with greater resolve towards our goals, building on the momentum in previous years. In addition, we’re planning a few new projects that are outlined below.
Yoga for Cancer – A three month active support for Cancer using Yoga Therapy for people undergoing Chemo/Radiation and after the therapy is completed to help them achieve a better quality of life and move towards normalcy. We plan to offer this workshop FREE for low income patients and a 20% quota is reserved for the low-income group.
Yoga for Obesity and Metabolic Disorders – A three month workshop on yoga and lifestyle awareness for people with weight problems, pre-diabetes, diabetes, thyroid conditions and for dyslipidemia – the cholesterol issues and people at risk for heart disease . We plan to offer this workshop FREE for low income patients and a 20% quota is reserved for the low-income group.
Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) 2016 – We invite everyone to participate in SNY like every year, and in addition we are also preparing and training for a competition of practicing 108 Surya Namaskars around Ratha Saptami day on Jan 26th when we conclude the Yagna (Sun Salutations Marathon).
Yoga Teacher Training 2016 – This year, we are likely to have Yoga Teacher Training in March 2016. Venue may be BayVP, Milpitas.
Sevathon 2016: We will be partnering with Sevathon organization and organize Yogathon in big way in 2016.
Support Us
With your generous support, we at Yoga Bharati have been able to take up significant programs to promote Yoga in a holistic way. Your further contributions will strengthen our resolve and initiatives. Please see the link below for ways to contribute generously towards ‘Samājanidhi’.