YOGA OUTREACH 2023

Sri Lanka – A Two-Week Tour

Jignasu Karma Dhyan, Chennai

As this outreach program from a traditional yoga lineage was entirely new to Sri Lanka, most of the sessions focused on providing the participants with a true understanding of yoga, the Satyananda Yoga tradition, its vision, mission, philosophy, as well as basic concepts and practices. The program was designed to create awareness of the benefits of yoga and to help people live healthier and happier lives. Some programs were conducted in Tamil others in English.

From 14th to 16th October, a three-day workshop at Arulmanikavel School in Wattala, Colombo, for approximately 23 people aged 16 to 60. Asanas, pranayama and yoga nidra were introduced and the connection between yoga and Ayurveda was discussed. Also the Mahamrityunjaya havan was performed.
From 17th to 19th October, a three-day yoga workshop was conducted at the Adhi Yogam Center, Kirulapone Colombo, a modern yoga teaching institute. The participants were a mixed group of 20 yoga practitioners and yoga teachers.
On 20th October, Araneri Kazhagam, a spiritual organization in Colombo, organized an introductory yoga session for children. The organization focuses on introducing Hindu tradition, philosophy and culture to Sri Lankan society. Approximately 30 children aged 6 to 18 attended this program.
On 21st October, the Rhythmic Yoga Academy requested a two-hour session on how to create a deeper awareness of yoga. Around 20 Sinhalese yoga aspirants attended this introductory lecture. The key topics covered were an introduction to traditional yoga, the Satyananda Yoga tradition, and demonstration and practice sessions.
On 22nd October, a leading Tamil daily, Veerakesari, covered this series of outreach programs in its Sunday special edition. The article detailed the Sivananda- Satyananda Tradition and Lineage, as well as the vision of the program. This article reached a wider audience, and more enquiries for further such sessions were received after it was published in print media.
Mr Ilankai Jayaraj is a renowned Saiva Siddhanta scholar, Tamil traditional literary speaker, and spiritual orator from Sri Lanka. With the blessings of our Guru, we were able to meet him on the day of Durga Pooja at the Sri Lankan headquarter of Kamban Kazhagam, an important Tamil cultural organization which he founded and still heads. He showed a profound interest in understanding the Samkhya tradition’s view on rituals and devotional practices, Saheswara vs Nireeswara Samkhyam, our Satyananda Yoga lineage and its philosophy. It was a great moment to present him the book Early Teachings of Swami Satyananda and receive his blessings.
In the evening of the same day, a session was held for the Vivekananda Society in Colombo, where our Paramguru Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj had visited and given a lecture during his 1950 All-India Tour. This place has a library that was inaugurated in 1903, and it was there that Swami Sivananda delivered a soul-inspiring speech on one-pointedness. As it was the 8th day of Dussehra, a pooja was also arranged after our lecture and practice session for around 30 participants of all ages, who were teachers, volunteers and a few students from this institution.
On October 23rd, Astanka Yoga Mandir, a yoga school run by Mr Vyasa, a disciple of Swami Sachidananda Mataji, a disciple of Swami Sivananda, organized a special lecture on ‘Understanding Pratyahara Techniques’ for its teachers and some regular practitioners
The highlight of this outreach program series was the workshop arranged for A level and O Level students of Westhall Vidyalaya in Kataboola, a remote uphill village near Nawalapitiya. The event was organized by Mr Rishanthan, the key organizer and coordinator for this Sri Lanka yoga outreach tour. He is a yoga practitioner and a successful engineer who originally hails from that remote region of Sri Lanka and is now settled in Indonesia. It is his wish and divine will that Sri Swamiji’s teachings reach these children who come from extremely poor families of tea estate workers. The session, named ‘Kalpakavriksha’ began with yogic games, and the students were instantly engaged. The need for yoga as a way to enhance oneself and move towards a greater future were explained to the younger audience. The students, along with a few selected teachers and the principal, attended this event with great interest. The interest and discipline with which the senior secondary grade students learned these practices offered immense satisfaction. With Sri Swamiji’s blessings, this could be a place where a kind of program made for the Bal Yoga Mitra Mandal could be initiated in Sri Lanka in the future.
On 27th October, an interview was recorded on Sri Lanka’s National Tamil channel Netra TV. The interview will be broadcast in the upcoming weeks. The purpose of the interview was to raise awareness about traditional yoga, the current state of yoga schools, and the future need for yoga.
On October 28th, a one-day workshop on ‘Yoga for Life’ was held at the Manipuram Meenakshi Amman Temple in Vavuniya. The workshop covered an overview of traditional yoga and how to integrate yoga into daily life, a practice and Q&A sessions.

We are receiving many enquiries for future events. The program was conducted in contemporary yoga studios, yoga schools, public schools, social welfare institutions, schools in remote villages of the central region, and self-help groups in northern Sri Lanka. It reached over 360 participants from all walks of life, including yogic practitioners, yoga teachers, volunteers, teachers, students, professionals such as doctors and lawyers, and people from the Tamil and Sinhalese populations with various religious backgrounds. The feedback we have received and ongoing interactions with many of the attendees indicate that the essence of the Sivananda-Satyananda tradition has had a deep personal impact on many of the participants. I surrender the success of this program at the feet of Sri Swamiji and seek his blessings and guidance for all future endeavours.

Our wholehearted gratitude to the whole group who helped arrange and support this tour in a very short span, Mr Rishanthan-Mrs Mirandi, Mr Guna-Mrs Premini families, Mrs Uma Maheswari, Mr Prashan from Nawalapitiya and Mr Arul, Mrs Sharadha, our demonstrator, Ms Subhasree, and Satya Narayanan, my son aged 7, who accompanied us to all events.