Dear Yoga Followers,

Swadhyaya - The Yoga Institute Alumni Association, Santacruz(East), is organizing  a one day Workshop for the trained teachers  and Instructors of The Yoga Institue on Sunday 08th July 2012 at The Institute.

The announcement and the enrolment form are enclosed for your kind perusal.

Special attraction : The Theme “ Know Thyself for better living” by Dr. Jaydev & Smt Hansaben J Yogendra.
If interested, pl enroll your name by sending the enclosed form duly filled in by email to
swadhyayatyi@gmail.com OR blagrawala@gmail.com
at the earliest as only 60 participants will be registered on First Come basis.

On getting our confirmation you may deposit the registration fees of Rs 250/- in our bank account directly or pay to the accounts department of the yoga institute on getting our confirmation for your registration.

SWADHYAYA -THE YOGA INSTITUTE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Swadhyaya Annual General Meeting- 8th April, 2012

The Annual General Meeting of Swadhyaya will be held on Sunday 8th April, 2012 at The Yoga Institute.

All members and their family are invited for the fun filled get-together.

The AGM will include an enjoyable and educative Folk Dance session with coreographer Foram Shah.

This will be followed by a session with our President, Smt. Hansaji.

Finally we will have a contributory Sattvic lunch at the Institute. (lunch Rs. 50/- per person)

All those attending are requested to RSVP latest by Thursday, 5th April.

For RSVP, email swadhyaya@gmail.com, informing us of your name and number of family members attending.

Or call 9969451926

- -

Swadhyaya Managing Committee

In the Midst of Life We are at Death

Dear Members,

Our next talk is on Sunday 11th March 2012.

Topic: In the Midst of Life We are at Death
Speaker: Dr. Bhupesh Velaskar
Venue: The Yoga Institute
Time: 11 am onwards, after Satsang.

All Swadhyaya members and their family are invited.

About the Speaker:
Dr. Bhupesh Velaskar is a consulting Psychiatrist practicing since 1995. He is presently attached to P.C.J. Hospital and Guru Nanak Hospital. He has been associated with The Yoga Institute since many years.

Our Spiritual growth

Swadhyaya Commitee members requested Dr. Jayadev for guidance in one's own growth. He has suggessted us (all teachers) to read very old institute magazines and pick an article, and contemplate on it for few days and write down your expereinces. And discuss/share those expereinces amongst ourselves.

We Request everyone to do so and those who are unable to come to the institute can post their expereince on this page or send an e-mail to swadhyayatyi@gmail.com. Dr. Jayadev is waiting to hear from us.

Also, we will be coming up with Q & A section on this page and our blog where in members can send questions related to self improvement or teaching and these will be answered through e-mails,facebook page and blog simultaneosly under Swadhaya's President, Hansaji guidance.

So, people gear up and take the next step towards your own growth.Our Teachers are taking so much interest in our progree, let us not be lazy.

Talk on Laya by Shri Kartik Vyas, 12 Feb 2012

Namaste Members,

Shri Kartik Vyas

Our next meeting will be on Sunday 12th February at The Yoga Institute.

Shri Kartik Vyas will be introducing us to the theory and practicals of Laya.

About the Speaker
Shri Kartik Vyas has been associated with The Yoga Institute since many years now. He is currently teaching in the International Board of Yoga at The Yoga Institute.

Swadhyaya Facebook Page
We are happy to announce that we now have a facebook page where our activities and event announcements will be updated (For events RSVP required). Here is the link for our fb page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Swadhyaya-The-Yoga-Institute-Alumni-Association/153226691457968?ref=ts

Anyone having suggestions and ideas for betterment of our association, are welcome to write to us at swadhyayatyi@gmail.com.

Those who wish to become members of the Alumni Association can do so at the meeting on this Sunday. 

Membership details are given on the membership page on our blog. http://swadhyayatyi.blogspot.in/p/membership-details.html

Details of Swadhyaya are also given on the official website of The Yoga Institute -http://theyogainstitute.org/

Hope to see you there!

Swadhyaya Managing Committee

Trip to Devlali

For those who are unaware of Swadhyaya's regular activities, we conduct two trips a year for all our members and their family. Trips provide us with the much needed break from monotonous life and also give us a refreshing and new perception to things. 

The recent trip to Devlali on 6th January, 2012 was a great way to start the new year. It provided us with an opportunity to get to know our fellow teachers better. It helped us bond, share experiences, and simply have some fun together. 

Our bungalow apartments at Kothari Sanatorium, Devlali

Devali (aka Deolali) is a small hill station near Nashik. It is the home of the School of Artillery and not many are aware of the amazing mineral museum nearby known as the Gargoti Museum. Due to its dry and cool air many people come to stay in the sanatoriums in Devlali for weeks and even months to recover from health conditions, especially those related to the Respiratory System. 

Swadhyaya Members

The Swadhyaya members also gave a surprise birthday party to one of our members. The party was preceded with a hilarious game of cards which tested our observation powers and concentration. We shared many jokes and laughs over each other's mistakes. After all, laughter is really the best medicine.

Happy Birthday Ankita



Artillery Park

We visited the Artillery Park nearby which was beautiful and peaceful. We even got to watch some people play golf in the nearby golf course from a vantage point.

Sunset Point

Devlali is a great place to be one with nature. There is greenery everywhere. The roads are clean and one gets to experience all elements of nature very closely.

The Elements of Nature

The Great Warrior- King Rama, Sita And Laxman

The Ramayana is given great importance here. It is believed that there is a cave in Devlali where Sita was hidden by Ravana. There is an old temple which is believed to be almost 500 years old which contains an idol that is believed to be worshiped  by Ravana himself.

Devlali is filled with Jain temples and sanatoriums. We visited some beautiful temples with breathtaking idols and architecture. One of them was a Digambar temple which had a picture museum of the different stories in Jainism. A young Bhramachari lady who lived there explained the stories to us.

We were very moved when we learnt about the stories which correlated so much with the Yogic concepts that we have learnt about. Most of them talk about how a small incident instigates a seemingly ordinary man or even animal to mentally detach with the material world (Vairagya) in order to attain the highest, which is our goal.

Jain God

Engrossed in the Soul

The above picture is that of a Jain God sitting in deep meditation. It is believed that when a person gets so  engrossed in the Atma (Soul) and so detached from the body, he continues to experience pure bliss even if wild animals come and start eating his flesh.

Samosaran


Sermon in the Heavens

Samosaran is the word given in Jainism to the congregation that assembles when God speaks. When God gives his sermons, millions of Lives come to listen to the holy words. It is believed that those who hear the words achieve Kaivalya. Even animals and other creatures come to listen. This congregation is held in the skies where large spaces are converted into beautiful lush lands where Lives can come. Some find the place so mesmerizing that they roam about among the creations, rest under the trees and wander about. These Lives miss out on the holy words and remain stuck in material attachments. One must overcome the attachment to such material things if we want to learn the holy teachings. 

Swadhyaya Group

Returning refreshed and inspired from our visits to such a spiritual place, we all must get back to our routine work. After all, "nothing lasts forever and everything is changeful". However, today, the members of the alumni association present at the trip and their families share a great bond of friendship and happy memories and can't wait for the next trip to come. 

Teaching Yoga in Schools

Mrs. Sudarshan Saigal

Teaching children is a challenge by itself and teaching them Yoga … even a bigger challenge. This challenge is very well experienced by all of us and so, on the 13^th of November 2011, one of our senior teachers Mrs. Sudarshan Saigal shared her experience and advice on teaching yoga to children in school.

She very rightly started by saying that the key is to ‘Accept’ the challenge. Not only teaching the children, but managing relations with other staff members in school will also be challenging. 

Not everyone has the knowledge of yoga. You, as a yoga practitioner, a teacher, have to educate and inform them. And to do so the first and foremost thing is to follow the yogic path yourself. Yoga is to be learnt, not taught. We can learn even from an innocent, naughty and yet smart child! Be friendly with the children, teach them concepts, attitudes, leadership qualities, awareness, alertness, concentration. etc. Doing Asanas only should not be given too much importance.

Break the ice by making them feel important: ask them to teach you for eg. Being from a Hindi medium school Mrs. Saigal asked the students of a high profile English medium school to correct her English language if she makes mistakes in the class. That broke the ice and the children felt so happy. They knew that here was a friend and not just a teacher.

To improve their concentration powers make one of them start reading a chapter and quickly ask another student to continue reading from there. So they don’t have time to think also and they are very alert, thinking that they might be the next one to read.

If there is loud music going on outside the examination hall, they can just close their eyes and quietly count 1-10, start breathing in and out and visualize their lesson.

They should always sit with their spine erect and carry their bag on both the shoulders to maintain their posture.

They can be taught all the concepts with games, like counting spaces, juggling; stories, like ‘The Five Gurus’ and a lot more of activities, like singing, dancing, drawing, etc. Be creative and they will love it. Yoga will be fun learning and not boring for them.

A Report by Geeta Udasi.