March 1-7, 2012 – Rishikesh, India What is the International Yoga Festival? Parmarth Niketan is a top yoga center in our book “Yoga in India: a Journey to the Top 24 Yoga Places” and co-hosts the annual International Yoga Festival. This one-week festival located in Rishikesh, otherwise known as the birthplace of yoga, offers…
Read MoreNational Conference on Yoga & Naturopathy for Holistic Health
by April Mietz – editor for yoga.in A welcoming surprise greeted me upon my recent return to India, only one day after arriving in Mysore, I learned that Yogacharya BKS Iyengar himself was visiting his mother city in order to participate in the National Conference on Yoga & Naturopathy for Holistic Health. With a full two-day…
Read MoreCertified Iyengar Yoga
Some clarifications on Iyengar Yoga. Just a few days ago we got a letter from B.K.S. Iyengar, the founder of the yoga style now called ‘Iyengar Yoga’. In his letter he recommends us to differentiate official Iyengar yoga centres operated by certified Iyengar yoga teacher from other non-official centres on our website http://www.yoga.in. What is…
Read MoreYoga class at the Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh
It doesn’t really bother you to get up at 5 in the morning when you know that you will walk along the mother and the holiest of all rivers for half an hour. A cup of chai on the way to the yoga class helped start the day though. Swami Sridarananda welcomed me at 6am…
Read More2nd meeting with Swami Vimalananda
I arrived a bit early again at the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh to take more photographs. At 10am sharp I was in Swami Vimalananda’s office: “Hari Om!”. What a loving and natural being he is! The head of about 160 swamis of the Divine Life Society has spent 60 years in the ashram. He told me about…
Read MoreMeeting Swami Vimalananda at the Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh
Back to the Himalayas, Coni has visited the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh, home of the Divine Life Society founded by Swami Sivananda. Here’s his account. This morning, I met Swami Vimalananda who invited me at the great Swami Sivananda’s Samadhi in Rishikesh. Since I was a bit early, I had a stroll around and took…
Read MoreIn the car with Sadhguru
It is well known that Sadhguru likes to drive. So, logically, he was behind the wheel when he picked us up at 8:30am. His 18 year-old daughter and two swamis were also in the car (one of them for recording our conversation with Sadhguru). He does not only look like a guru from ancient times,…
Read MoreInterview with Sadhguru
Our appointment with Sadhguru is due sometime between 9am and 4pm today. We slept the night in Coimbatore, and at 9am we were at the gate of the Isha Yoga Center. Waiting for the call, we had rest for another 2 hours in a nice and clean room, then a small walk around the center, and…
Read MoreGoing back to Isha Yoga Center
In the last 3 months we’ve visited several yoga universities, educational institutes, yoga centers, ashrams, and many more yoga places. Looking back, we can say that we’ve been very lucky that we were allowed not only to cover all places, but also to interview and photograph almost all swamis, gurus, directors and founders of the…
Read MoreStudies at the SVYASA Yoga University
In the early morning at 5:30 am we went to the Om meditation. From 6 to 7am we saw the kriya cleansing techniques, then a short chanting session, followed by a morning lecture by Dr. Nagendra, who is both the spiritual and scientific head at the SVYASA Yoga University. The challenge for us when visiting universities…
Read MoreSVYASA Yoga University
Dr. Yoga! Yes, you can do a Ph.D in Yoga at this government recognised yoga university near Bangalore. On Sunday afternoon, we drove to the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA), located about 30 km outside of Bangalore. Spread over more than 100 acres, it was a bit difficult to get an overview of their full range of activities.…
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