2) Rediff News on 05 Feb 2010

3) Hindustan Times

4) Indo American News

5) Voice of Asia

6) The Orange County Register News

7) Manorama Online News

8.) Zee News

9) India Tribune

10) Central Illinois Proud News

11) Lokvani Coverage

12) Hindu Press International

13) Indo US Talks

SNY 2010 At Renton School WA

In Ridgewood Elementary Schoo, Renton WA,  six(6) SNY sessions were scheduled thru-out the day where 440 children’s and 4 teachers from 19 classes (grade KG to grade 6) performed 8,722 Surya Namaskar in different sessions throughout the day. We demonstrated SN to the each session describing each pose in-depth, Described the importance of breathing patterns, benefits of each and every sthiti, and the time of the day SN should be performed.

Girish Ji(Seattle Nagar Sampark Pramukh), Anil Ji(Seattle Nagar Karyawaha) and  Krishna Ji(Swami Vivekananda Shaka Karyawaha) have supported the demonstration and execution of the program. It was very well taken by the school.

The PE teacher wants us to train the remaining (~200) children in the school, and incorporate it in their regular PE routine. The school principal has also promised to recommend this program to other schools (~20) in that school district.

This is an amazing experience to demonstrate and execute the Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) collectively along with school kids and teachers.

SNY 2010 At Renton School, WA

Provided By: Girish G Shindhe From Renton, WA on 4th February, 2010

Mayor of Hoffman Estate

From Rediff News (Click Here for the original Rediff News link)

Continuing a tradition started four years ago, the annual Health for Humanity Yogathon organized by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh has attracted thousands of participants across the United States to perform the Surya Namaskar.(sun salutation exercise)

The program that began on Makar Sankranti–January 16–saw 1,194 participants performing 39,173 Surya Namaskars at 55 places in the first five hours. The Yogathon involves a nationwide HSS effort to create awareness about  yoga and its advantages. The HSS encourages its members and others at its 140  centers to perform 10 lakh Surya Namaskars.

Participants included Mayor William McLeod of Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The City of Decatur in Georgia declared January 17 as Yoga Day. A 24-hour Yogathon was scheduled at Keshav Smruthi in Houston.
“Over 25 organizations are joining  the movement for the first time in Houston,” said Vijay Pallod of Hindus of Greater Houston, who coordinated the event.

The center at Billerica in Massachusetts saw 3,310 Surya Namaskars being done in the first two hours. Among the participants were several children under 12, according to Vikas Deshpande, an organizer based in Boston.

Last year, more than 6,500 people from 34 states participated in the Yogathon, performing in total over 700,000 Surya Namaskars, the organizers said. The Surya Namaskar was added to the Makar Sankranti celebrations in Houston three years ago at the George Bush [ Images ] Park.

The festival is organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, the Gujarati Samaj of Greater Houston and the Hindus of Greater Houston, with other organizations.  The Gujarati Samaj served free Khichri and buttermilk, while Ekal Vidyalaya volunteers provided masala tea. Swami Nikhilanand of the JKP Barsana Dham in Austin, Texas, the chief guest,  inaugurated the Surya Namaskar Yogathon.

The Makar Sankranti and Swami Vivekananda birth celebrations were started by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America and the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh in 1989. “We are very pleased that several thousand people came together to celebrate Makar Sankranti,” said Pradip Parekh, president-elect, VHPA Houston.

(Click Here for News from Press Trust of India)

(Click Here to read the IndoAmerican News)

(Click Here to read the news from Voice of America)

SNY 2010 Samaroop Event at St Louis MS

Samarop for Surya Namaskar Yajna in Missouri was conducted in Mahatma Gandhi Center, St. Louis.   A total  of 50 participants, including 18 kids did 3 rounds of Surya Namaskar to Aruni.   After completing Surya Namaskars, we had an opportunity to watch a small video presentation on Rastriya Swayamsvak Sangh. Later, all the adults and kids excitingly participated in a few  games . The event concluded with presenting SNY certificates to participated kids, followed by Prarthana.

Provided By: Sekhar Konduru From  St. Louis on 3rd February 2010

Provided By: Poolsingh Bhookya on 31st January 2010

SNY 2010 Conclusion Yogathon At Abhimanyu Shakha, Chicago

This year Abhimanyu shakha had tremendous participation in annual Surya Namaskar Yagna. Shakha team in association with Chicago Vibhag team launched this Yagna by organizing a Yoga Event at Hoffman Estate Village Hall right after Makar Sankranti on Jan 16th. Honorable Mayor of Hoffman Estate Mr. McLeod and others from the city and our Shakha participated in this event with great enthusiasm.

Pctures from this event: (Click Here)

Not only Abhimanyu Shakha members but Yoga classes from many local Temples also participated in this 2 weeks long Yagna. Conclusion of this Yagna took place with a 2 hour long Yogathon at Abhimanyu Shakha on this Sunday Jan 31st. A total of 3280 Surya Namaskars were performed by 51 participants in this event. Surprisingly many kids performed all 11 sets of Surya namaskars without missing any. For others, a parallel track for yogasana, pranayam and meditation was conducted.  Delicious Samosas and Sweet Barfi was served after the session.

Pictures from this event: (Click Here)

We are proud to share that City of Hoffman Estates proclaimed Jan 31st as Surya Namaskar Yoga Day. Initial counts of total Surya Namaskars for Abhimanyu Shakha is coming to 13000 or so ! Thanks to all Karyakartas and members in making this year’s Surya Namaskar Yagna a great success.

Abhimanyu Shakha in Schaumbur (Click Here)

Provided By: Manish Garg From Chicago on 1st February 2010

SNY 2010 Beginning Day at Hoffman Estate, Chicago

SNY 2010 At Naperville, IL

Namaste Everybody,

We are glad to inform you all that we had a very successful concluding Ceremony of the Surya Namaskar Yagna at Eola Community Center . A Big OM for all the participants and karyakartas who actively involved and made this Event a Big Success. We thank all of you who have helped us in getting closer to meet our goals.

We had a total of close to 80 people joining us for today’s event performing over 2483 Surya Namaskars. The Surya Namaskar Yagna started on 16th of January, in past 16 days with a total of 115 participants performed approximately 5704 surya Namaskars.

The total 3 hour event was divided into several sessions. To start with we showed the documentary explaining the benefits of Surya Namaskars. Followed by this session was a collective set of surya Namaskar’s where everybody performed two 13 sets of Surya Namaskars. Followed by which we had a Yoga Session for the adults and Arts & Crafts for Kids where kids were actively participated. After which we had a second set of Surya Namaskar Marathon for all the adults and Simple Yoga asanas by Abhita Ji for the kids. Followed by this session was a Wonderful Meditation session by Mr Allen from Science of Spiritualty (SOS). Next we had third set of Surya Namaskaras followed by a small break for drinks & Twisting exercises.Finally we concluded the event with one more collective set of Surya Namaskars with Adults and Kids. The Shavasan session of 10 minutes after a 3 hour long marathon by Digant Ji helped everyone to regain the energy with peace of mind and relax to the body.

Please find the Event Pictures and Videos at the following location:

(Click Here) For Video1 Link
(Click Here) for Video2 Link
(Click Here) for Video3 Link
(Click Here) For Video4 Link
(Click Here) For Video5 Link

(Click Here) For Photo Link

The highlight of the whole event was to see the dedication of the core team of Karyakarta’s united, working together for a good cause and building a family & brotherhood atmosphere. So with the help Surya Namaskar Yajna, we have achieved some major milestones….this is great success ……..
A Big OM once again to everyone participated and contributed.

Provided By: Maruthi Kunigiri From Naperville , IL on 1st Feb 2010

SNY 2010 At Colorado

Here are some of the pictures from sny concluding event for CO vibhg where 160 partcipants performed 14075 SNs. The 13 kids standing in one of the pictures have completed 1000 or more SN during SNY period and are awarded with special certificates and prizes with funds raised by sponserers locally.

(Click Here) For the Photo Link

Statistics:
Total centers: 5
participants: 300
SN count: 82,000
special lehar/phone experiments:
This really worked out great and helped exceeded targets. More than the number we could create more awareness in the community and more people participated and felt happy and were impressed by the HSS project.
We had conference calls 4 times daily people meeting in virtual group.
2 places group of 20 used to meet daily to perform SNs.
All 5 centers did marathos/lahars for 5 hour period each one taking one hour slot and also hosted many mini marathons/open houses events for the community.

Last day we had samarop utsav where 160 participated and performed 14075 SNs.

SNY 2010 Concluding Event At Colorado

SNY 2010 24 Hour Yogathon at Southern CA

Hindu Swayamsevek Sangh (HSS) brought together over 200 people to perform 12025 Surya Namaskars (Sun Salutations) for the 24 Hour Yogathon. People drove from distant places including Pasadena, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Cerritos and Anaheim to participate in this unique Marathon.

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) organized a 24-hour Surya Namaskar Yogathon 2010 at the Irvine Temple beginning January 29 at 7:00 pm. Hundreds of volunteers gathered and performed the Surya Namaskars or Sun Salutations for the cause of “Health for Humanity”.

Surya Namaskar has ten different physical postures, which includes stretching and bending. These alternating backward and forward bending postures flex and stretch the spinal column through their maximum range giving a profound stretch to the whole body. Surya Namaskar has a deep effect in detoxifying the organs through copious oxygenation and has a deeper relaxing effect.

Benefits of Surya Namaskars include improvement in the digestive system, strengthening abdominal muscles, ventilating lungs and oxygenating the blood, tones up nervous system and improves memory, promotes sleep and clams anxiety, normalizes the activity of thyroid glands, refreshes skin, improves muscle flexibility, prevents hair loss, reduces fat, and makes the spine and waist flexible. To say it in short, Surya Namaskars help in maintaining good health, strength, efficiency and longevity.

Swami Ishwarananda of Chinmay Mission, Tustin, inaugurated the Surya Namaskar Yogathon. Swamiji is a dynamic speaker and has given talks on Vedanta, stress management, management techniques and other spiritual topics. Swami Ishwarananda stated that we do not grow because of what we learn, but by doing what we have learnt. “Make your knowledge your experience, otherwise it is useless”, he said. He also urged people to practice Yoga not only as a remedy over some health problem but also as a part of daily routine. “Sun gives brightness and nourishment to everyone. He is the one who gives energy and life sustainance to all living beings”, he said while explaining the importance of worshiping the Sun god and performing Surya Namaskars at Sunrise.

HSS volunteers performed Surya Namaskars in a set of 13 as there are 13 names for Sun God. After performing one or two sets, next group of people replaced them. Irvine chapter of HSS compiled a list of volunteers and allotted time slots for each. Great effort was taken in coordinating this event. More interestingly, free Surya Namaskar training was provided by the volunteers at request. Many people who were not aware of the right postures for performing Surya Namaskar benefited through this service.

Irvine Mayor and City Council could not join the Yogathon due to schedule conflicts. However, they sent their wishes and a letter of          recognition. HSS hopes that they could participate in the event, next year.

Yogathon is part of the fourth annual Surya Namaskar Yajna (SNY) organized by HSS throughout USA between Jan 16 and Jan 31st. Our goal is to perform 1 million Surya Namaskars with the help of more than 10,000 participants by January 31^st 2010. To mark the beginning with great enthusiasm, HSS also arranged `Surya Namaskar Yajna Lehar’ meaning – Wave. On Jan 16, HSS volunteers started the Lehar by contacting each other on the phone and performing Surya Namaskars in a series.  83 participants all over Southern California performed 2024 Surya Namaskars in first two hours. This included participation of volunteers from Salt Lake, Phoenix, Pasadena, Cerritos, San Diego, Simi Valley, Valencia, Irvine and students from University of California, Irvine (UCI). Irvine shakha is proud to announce that Jamin was a sole contributor of 1781 Surya Namaskars that is, 137 sets during this year’s Surya Namaskar Yajna.

Since 2006, HSS has been conducting Surya Namaskar Yajna, and in all these years various Yoga Centers, community  organizations, regardless of individual faiths and beliefs, have participated in this “Health for Humanity” marathon all across the United States. Last year, over 6,500 people from 34 states participated in this unique marathon offering over 700,000 Surya Namaskar.  Community leaders and many elected officials across USA have appreciated this initiative and encouraged their residents to participate and take the advantages for overall healthy life style. The latest number of namaskars is being worked out.

HSS invited community groups, Yoga centers and students of all ages to participate, learn, this unique Yoga, and continue practicing beyond the Health for Humanity Marathon. This program was open to people of all ages, gender, and races.

HSS meets at Heritage Park Community Center, Irvine every Sunday between 3:30pm to 5:00. Their activities include Yoga, games and spiritual lectures. For more information visit : http://www.hssus.org/

A Blog From VSKJODHPUR (Click Here to read)

Provided By: Anjali kashalkar From Southern CA on 2nd February 2010

(Click Here) For News Link

(Click Here) For Video News Link

Provided By: Ajay Singh From Rochester on 2nd February 2010