Earlier in April, we went to the Kyoto Yoga in the Park event. Even in the rain we had people donning rain coats to stay in a pose. It was a smaller event than the big International Day of Yoga. Still, it was filled with fun activities, yoga classes, and talks on yoga philosophy.

Last January, while returning from Tokyo back to Kyoto. I stopped briefly in Nagoya. I met up with Dr Ben Dorman,  co-editor of Asian Ethnology, to speak about my research into global yoga around the world and in Japan. Here's the final product. 

On April 17, 2018 at Osaka Castle Park there was a community event related to the 4th International Day of Yoga. Unfortunately, we missed a lot of it because the park around the castle is so damn big, we got lost. By the time we got there, the participants were already in the shade meditating. When we got our cameras out to record, they had all moved into the middle of the oval to celebrate coming together through yoga. So, this is what you see, a couple of concentric rings of people hugging and high-fiving each other. Still, it looked like a lot of fun. We aim next year not to be late!
 
Here is the link to the event.

Music: Our Big Adventure by Scott Holmes Music.
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We made a short 2-minute film from our day out in Kobe, Japan at the 4th International Day of Yoga 2018 event.
1500 people partook in a group yoga class. That is about 500 more than last year! There was music, dancing, a market with yoga goodies and snacks. There were also other smaller classes throughout the day. 60 volunteers helped make the event successful.
Enjoy! 

I'm happy to announce this FREE open to the public workshop that I am involved in. It is happening in early AUGUST, at the Australian National University.

Canberra, Australia 
04 AUGUST 2018

9am-12.30pm


​DESCRIPTION

How do diverse communities that practice yoga think about the rightful care of the body? This workshop – a morning of talk, practice, and creativity -- will bring together scholars and practitioners to explore questions about yoga, ethics and the body. We will consider how Indian religious traditions have conceptualized these questions, explore the public reshaping of yoga, and reflect on how a yoga practice can nurture new ethical approaches.
This half-day workshop includes short talks, practice sessions, and creative experiences. Through these different ways of knowing and reflecting, participants gain the opportunity to deepen their personal and community understanding of yoga, ethics and the body.
This event is free and open to the public. Places are limited and pre-registration is required. Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to ongoing research about the meaning of yoga today.

9:00-9:30: Andrea Jain, Indiana University-Purdue University, "Yoga and the Ethics of the Body: Sex, Religion, and Power Across Traditions"
9:30-10:00: Alan Goode, Yoga Mandir, "On Samyama: Inquiry and Practice"
10:00-11:00: Patrick McCartney, Kyoto University, "Body Mapping: A Workshop"
11:00-11:15: Morning Tea
11:15-12:15 Shameem Black, Australian National University, "Anti-Instagramming the Body: A Writing/Art Workshop"
12:15-12:30 Concluding Reflections

Andrea R. Jain, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, editor of the Journal of American Academy of Religion, and author of Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture (Oxford University Press, 2014). She is a regular contributor to Religion Dispatches and co-chair of the Yoga in Theory and Practice Group of the American Academy of Religion.
Alan Goode is the Director of Yoga Mandir in Canberra. He is a senior teacher and a direct student of B.K.S. Iyengar- one of the most influential teachers of Yoga in the last century.

Alan Goode is passionately involved with the practice of yoga and its application to daily life. Through his writing he unravels the themes of the yoga sutras and demonstrates their link to our daily practice.

Patrick McCartney, Ph.D. is a JSPS Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan; a Research Associate at Nanzan Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University, Japan; and a Visiting Fellow at the South and South-East Asian Studies Department, Australian National University, Australia.

Shameem Black, Ph.D. is the Acting Director of the South Asia Research Institute and a Fellow in the Program of Gender, Media and Cultural Studies in the School of Culture, History and Language in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University.


Samyama Lab is a partnership between the South Asia Research Institute at the Australian National University and Yoga Mandir: An Iyengar Institute. This workshop is supported by the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, the ANU South Asia Research Institute, and Yoga Mandir.
This workshop is presented with funding through APIP, at the College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University.



​https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/yoga-ethics-and-the-care-of-the-body-an-experiential-workshop-tickets-47340081458?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

There is lots to #yoga in #japan, but the best thing I've come across so far is this = temple yoga + marriage meet up + kyoto - the hashtags down the bottom of the page confirm it.

#京都 kyoto
#ヨガ yoga
#お寺 temple
#婚活 marriage hunting 

 https://www.facebook.com/events/1675356489167637/?active_tab=about

This is interesting and if you don’t know this site, I recommend exploring it.
http://kjc-sv013.kjc.uni-heidelberg.de/dcs/index.php…
Here is the results for yoga in the online  Sanskrit corpus database. Have a look at the expandable folders by clicking on them on the right of the screen. Especially the references with topics in chapters, meanings, and occurrences (ie the texts it's mentioned in). 

On 16th June, we attended Yoga Day Marche at Five Elements yoga studio.
We sat in on group harmony with:
Masumi Lacoste 
Hibiki Tanabe
Hana
Mamiko
Napo
Yoshie
Panman
There were a few stores selling gems, clothing, food, instrument and classes were held upstairs. 

Great day connecting with Five Element tribe.

We caught the end of Aki-Ra Sunrise, Sound & Expression
Check out his youtube channel for more music https://www.youtube.com/user/AKIRASUNRISE369
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On the 4th International Day of Yoga, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India would lead the Mass Yoga Day Demonstration at Dehradun (India) on 21 June, 2018.
The event would bring 60,000 yoga lovers together to collectively perform different asanas from 6:30 AM to 7:45 AM (IST). Event would be live streamed by Doordarshan TV and can be watched live on http://webcast.gov.in across the globe or here http://yogaday.nic.in/
We here at the Consulate General of India in Osaka would also be screening the India’s PM’s Mass Yoga Day Demonstration from 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM (local time in Japan) on the occasion of 4th International Yoga Day on 21 June and