On 14 February, the Bal Yoga Diwas, the children’s yoga day, was celebrated with great joy at Paduka Darshan where over 1000 children and their parents had gathered for the occasion.
With kirtan, dance, yogasana and karate performance the children told the story of the movement’s 24 years of existence. The expressions of their skills, talents and natural self-confidence were a wonderful experience for the spectators to watch and listen to.
Six-year-old Prasiddhi from Chennai also gave a beautiful speech on yoga ecology and asked everyone to take the pledge to plant trees and protect nature. In his message Swami Niranjan said that while the world celebrates this day as Valentine’s Day, the children of BYMM celebrate it as Bal Yoga Diwas, as it is through yoga that one can imbibe the teaching of true love. He exhorted parents to impart positive samskaras to their children, so that they may become ideal citizens of the nation.
From 10th to 13th June, a yoga training program was conducted for the children of Bal Yoga Mitra Mandal at Paduka Darshan. The sessions were conducted by Swamiji. He was assisted by sannyasi Amargeet and senior BYMM members.
On the fifth International Day of Yoga, the children of Bal Yoga Mitra Mandal were to be seen throughout the town of Munger. As yoga instructors, demonstrators, organizers and enthusiastic participants they joined the many yoga sessions conducted in and around the ‘City of Yoga’.
From 26th to 28th September, during Swamiji’s program in Kota, Sannyasi Amargeet and four members of BYMM, Garima, Pritam, Shivani and Srikant, conducted various yoga sessions. At the DCM Sriram Bansidhar School morning APMB, yoga games and yoga nidra sessions were held for over 900 students. A yoga nidra class was conducted for 50 teachers and a special session for over 300 ladies.