International Day of Yoga 2023, Dallas Festival of Unity

Hosted by Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas Chapter and Greenvest Capital Investments

- Saturday June 24th 2023 @ Collin College, Frisco Campus, 10am to 2pm

Saturday June 23rd 2023, A free public offering marked a historical significance when the host organization Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas brought an exhilarating event that united various communities of Dallas.

The International Day of Yoga 2023 was conceived by a few Fearless Community Leaders with the sole aim of bringing the Community together and Celebrate the Spirit of Oneness as aptly highlighted by IDY Theme this year of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - Yoga for the Whole World as One family”. The tag line “One Earth, One Health, One Future“ effectively set in motion a few firebrands to bring a Wonderful Event that would showcase Yoga and also bring the various Community Organizations to Unify and work in harmony. 

In this regard the Collin County Commissioner was an Inspiration who embraced it with wide open arms and stated that she would give a Proclamation for this Event. Hemant Kale a Business Leader and big advocate of “Democratizing Wealth Creation” along with Savita Joshi a Seasoned Yoga Therapist and Executive Director of Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas started the journey by building a Team of Volunteers and Supporters to bring this program to the Community. The idea was brainstormed with a few organizations and as days went by more and more like minded organizations decided to join this “Festival of Unity” in Dallas Metroplex.

More than 20 partner organizations and 10 sponsors joined in bringing this event to the masses. This in itself was a Great Step towards the deeper message of Yoga (Uniting One's Internal Consciousness with the Outer One).

The event started off at 10:10 am on June 24th at the beautiful Collin College Frisco Campus Conference Center with teen Emcees from Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas high school youth yoga trained teachers Amruta Joshi and Smriti Ramakrishnan. The main stage was decorated with minimal but pleasant Signages of “International Day of Yoga” logo and the Serene Om. The side of the stage was set with an altar of Nataraja Shiva, the Adiyogi who first gave the knowledge of Yoga and a florally decorated Ceremonial Oil Lamp. The Ceremony began by lighting of the Lamp by the Distinguished Guests, Collin County Commissioner Mrs Susan Fletcher, Nityananda Prabhu from ISKCON, Ramprasad from Pyramid Meditation, Poorvesh Thakkar from FunAsia and Osho Universal, Hemant Kale from Greenvest Capital, Council member Place 2 Tammy Meinershagen from Frisco City and Savita Joshi from Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas with the chants of “Asatoma Sadgamaya” It was followed by an Invocation to Lord Ganesha, the lord of Auspicious beginnings & remover of obstacles by Diya Chetan. An invocation to Sage Patanjali, the father of Yoga followed thereafter as a gratitude to All the Yoga Gurus who have bestowed on humanity the timeless Yogic Wisdom.

As our guest Ms Tammy Meinershagen had to leave early, she expressed how pleasantly surprised and Happy she was to see the International Day of Yoga celebrated right here in Frisco. Being an ardent practitioner of Yoga since she was 8 years old and knowing firsthand the power of Yoga which promotes balanced choices and clear thinking, she expressed interest in collaborating with the City to bring Yoga to the residents of Frisco at large.

An Impressive and Engaging Chair Yoga Session was conducted by Rohini Garimalla, Director of Education, Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas which blended the Yoga poses beautifully improvised while sitting on our regular Chairs ! It was a delightful experience to do some finer practices to relax our joints and move progressively to movements of the upper and lower body and even Suryanamaskars. The Suryanamaskars were so wonderful that people wanted to do more, as time kept marching she swiftly moved into a few other Chair variant Asanas like Garudasana (Eagle pose) and many more. A Deep Relaxation completed this wonderful routine of Yoga. Chair yoga experience was appreciated by attendees of all ages and levels. Many said they never thought the experience can be so rich and so relaxing. 

The audience was slowly trickling in and the hall was slowly getting filled up when it was time for our Keynotes by our Distinguished Guests. The address started off by Acharya Shri Yogeesh from Siddhayatan Teerth who touched upon the aspects of living a Stress Free life with equal emphasis towards Self Control and Reflection. Nityananda Prabhu from Iskcon gave a world view from the Satya Yuga to Kali Yuga highlighting the diminishing powers and prowess of being of the times. He emphasized on 11 aspects of Living in which he highlighted how an Environment for Healthy Living promotes positive Health and Happiness. Our Chief Guest of the event Collin Commissioner Mrs. Susan Fletcher was next who emphasized on us being Compassionate Human beings and the importance of letting go of our Quick Anger and Ego which bursts in our mental foreground from time to time in our daily routine and how being Compassionate would help us make a better Human Being. She stated the incident when we get enraged when cut by a Driver on the road, instead of reacting if we give a pause and think of what the other person might be going through in her life and “Let Go” of our immediate rage to get back on it would be a Great practice of Yoga. Thank you Mrs. Fletcher for bringing such a Wonderful Insight into our Consciousness. We were fortunate to have Frisco Police Chief David Shilson address our gathering. He emphasized the daily situations of our First Responders and wanted to use the power of Yoga to help alleviate it. He welcomed the idea of incorporating Yoga in their work life to improve their morale, productivity and job contentment too. Shri. Ramprasad from Pyramid Meditation/Meditation magic  highlighted the way we could control our Well being by doing simple basic Meditation. His emphasis of doing a Practice at least for 15 mins daily was a Magic Pill. Shri. Poorvesh Thakkar of Osho Universal-FunAsia Radio brought in an Amazing insight in his address stating that it's futile to engage on the Mind level as its too different, difficult and divergent always, but to connect at the Heart level (Emotions, Song Music, Dance, Wonderment, Ecstasy) which every Human being can connect and stay on the same level. A brilliant observation by him that opened the Audiences perspective. 

Mrs. Susan Fletcher presented the County Proclamation of International Yoga Day to the organizers, Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Executive Director and Greenvest Capital. Distinguished speakers gave International Yoga Day messages with different perspectives, all merging into the same essence of Yoga “One Earth, One Health, One Future“, for health, happiness and peace.

Our event was also blessed by the Chairman and Spiritual founder of Yoga Bharati, Yogashri N.V Raghuram, President Anil Surpur, Executive Director Ashwini Surpur. Savita Joshi, the Executive Director, Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas spoke about Yoga Bharati institutional journey, purpose of the yoga day, community partnership and where are we heading. 

Dr. Sunil Thummala, a Board certified neurologist and Physician advisor for Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas spoke on Yoga as a healing modality and his personal journey and experiences. 

Hemant Kale from Geenvest Capital gave a message on the relevance of Yoga in the Corporate sector and his personal journey on the path of spirituality

With the help of the local leaders and institutions, Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas chapter initiatives for the Dallas community for the coming year were put forward: 

Yoga in Elementary Schools (Collin and Denton counties): pilot in 4 cities, 2 schools in each city. Yoga classes to be taught once a week for the entire school year at no cost to the schools. Private and Public funding will be called for. 

Yoga in Native American Community: In Partnership with Sewa International, we plan to offer yoga classes in the Native American community to help with their Diabetes management and wellness needs.

Yoga Teachers Training (YTT) and Yoga Therapy Teachers training (DYT), Youth yoga teachers training (YYTT) courses locally to increase teachers pool. 

Yoga Research on lifestyle disorders with community partnerships like Sewa International, TIPS, various local doctors and nutritionists. 

Thanks to all our Sponsors who made this event happen. Offered as a FREE event to the community with FREE food and Event day T Shirts, this event was attended by close to 300 people. Event covered by FunAsia Media Outlet. 

Grand Sponsor and Co-Host - Greenvest Capital

Platinum Sponsor - FunAsia & Osho International 

Gold Sponsor - VaYU, Yoga University 

Silver Sponsors - India Bazaar, Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and StudioSmita, Real Estate 

Bronze Sponsors - Mira Silks, Nutrifit, Mohanji’s Organization and Praroha Yoga Studio

Felicitations to all the esteemed guest speakers and doctors from Texas Physician Association. Dr. Sejal Mehta, a board certified Child and Adult psychiatry, Dallas received the memento given to the Texas Indo-American Physicians Society (TIPS) President, Dr. Amit Guttigoli, a board certified Cardiologist. Dr. Nick Shroff, Cancer surgeon, a Healthcare consultant, a Yoga-Alliance teacher, President of American Prostate Cancer Foundation and Chair also received a memento for his outstanding work in the community in bringing awareness on yoga as therapy and healing. These Mementos were one a kind with the yoga figurines on a wooden base with the message and name engraved, they were artistically designed by Sheela Venkata, Director of Youth Yoga Programs, Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas. 

Yoga based cultural program and yoga dances from Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas students and other organizations was very captivating to the entire audience.

From Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas 

  • Children ages 6-8 yrs (Dhruva group)

  • Children ages 9-13 yrs (Nachiketa group)

  • Women's classes group 

  • Partner YogaFlow by 10 YEC

From other organizations 

  • Seniors from Bhrugu Matr Sewa and Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas

  • Flute performance by Sangeeta Bharati students

  • Solo Kuchipudi Dance performance by Sai Nritya Academy student Siya Mehrotra

While our main hall featured talks and presentations, the lobby was fully engaging with sponsor booths and kids engagement booths. Surely the sponsors were able to make some good connections with the Festival attendees and were able to pass on the message of their organizations.

Kirtan by ISKCON of Dallas group created beautiful vibrations in the hall. Event ended with cheers and claps after the vote of thanks delivered by Sheela Venkata, Director of Youth Programs, Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas and Sharat Joshi, Treasurer, Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas. 

You can Enjoy the Video of our Entire Event at https://youtu.be/pgZkgKIT-y4, created by the Yoga Bharati-Vyasa Dallas youth volunteer Amruta Joshi.

Any questions can be sent to festivalofunitydallasidy@yogabharati.org

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