.png)
“The one who doesn’t invest some time every day for their health, will have to sacrifice a lot of time for diseases one day.” – Sebastian Kneipp.
No matter which part of the world you are, the thoughts from our ancestors, about good health and well-being have remained the same. The saying from the promoter of Naturopathy is not far away from that of the great Indian Saints like Swami Vivekanand and Gautam Buddha who believed, with a strong mind and strong body, one can cross the ocean of life. To celebrate and practice Yoga on the fifth anniversary of International Yoga Day- 21st June 2020 would be a tribute to these great minds. Rightly so, as they practiced Yoga, an activity which not only strengthens your muscles and joints but also keeps your mind calm and develops resilience. Yoga is a discipline to improve or develop one's inherent power in a balanced manner. The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word Yoga is 'Yoke'. Yoga can therefore be defined as a means of uniting the individual spirit with the universal spirit of God.
With one crisis which the entire human race is facing today, one is caught up in both physical and mental struggles. Though the timely and wise decision of lockdown and social distancing has helped curb the spread of the virus, the potential for adverse outcomes on suicide risk and mental illness has become higher. However, even though in these tough testing times, as the life throws us the challenge of limiting our mobility, it also opens a lot of possibilities to explore the digital ways of remaining indoors, to stay connected with loved ones and also be able to stay fit- both physically and mentally.
In this context, Sewa Deutschland, a voluntary non-profit organization, has offered to provide free yoga classes online to enable everyone to stay fit. Adults as well as children are more than welcome to join. Separate meditation classes as well are conducted in a playful manner for the kids to explore the power of awakening the different chakras in our body. Every week a group of enthusiasts come together and set up online conference. The Yoga Instructor dials in and explains the steps over video and the rest of the participants follow his/ her instructions. It is purely voluntary to put your camera and audio on, unless you would need support in verifying your yoga posture. So far many people have shown interest and are getting connected to this virtual platform for yoga.
SEWA have been contributing to the local society - given Indian cultural tour to old age homes, partnered with Hanseatische Hilfe for Refugee help, clean- up drives including that of G20 summit at Hamburg, volunteered for the Erntedankumzug at Pinneberg etc, to name a few of their initiatives.
The current initiative is in continuation of our efforts to spread compassionate society. Further, these days of being at home have made us prioritize between our needs and wants. The community has come together to support each other and give a helping hand, from picking up groceries to painting colourful pictures for old age homes, the nachbarschaftshilfe at local cities are doing a great job. Through this initiative, Sewa is contributing its bit in the ongoing efforts of the community to fight this criris together.
If you would be interested to know more, kindly write to us at sewa.deutschland@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the author and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of SatyaWahr.