As part of the commemorations of the 6th International Day of Yoga, the world’s first yoga university outside of India has been launched in Los Angeles, offering programs that combine scientific principles and modern research approaches to the ancient Indian practice of yoga.

Vivekananda Yoga University (VaYU) was jointly launched on Tuesday by Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan and Chairman of External Affairs Standing Committee PP Chaudhary during a virtual event held at the Consulate General of India At New York.

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Prominent Indian Yoga Guru, Dr. HR Nagendra, Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA) is the first President of VaYU.

Addressing the virtual launch, Mr. Muraleedharan said that Swami Vivekananda had carried the message of universal brotherhood from the United States and that through the first yoga university of its kind outside India, the message of the yoga will be broadcast from America to the world.

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As a symbol of Indian culture and heritage, yoga has become the medium of unity and brotherhood in the world. Through yoga, we can convey the message of world peace, he said, adding that yoga provides mental balance and emotional stability.

The event was co-hosted by the Consulate General and President of Jaipur Foot USA and Founding Director of VaYU Prem Bhandari.

In his message, Nagendra, well known as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s yoga consultant, said that Swami Vivekananda had announced the greatness of the Indian dimension of yoga to the world through his famous speech in Chicago in 1893.

Inspired by his teachings and the solutions he gave to meet the challenges of the modern age, we took up this whole process of bringing yoga into the academic dimension, he said.

He noted that the university combines the best of the East with the best of the West. “The best of the East is yoga and its applications and the best of the West is modern scientific research.”

“We want to bring this integrated dimension of health care to the whole world – allopathy and AYUSH systems,” he said referring to the practice of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, ‘Unani, Siddha and homeopathy.

New York Yoga Connection

India’s Consul General in New York Sandeep Chakravorty said New York has deep ties to yoga as many years ago Swami Vivekananda spent time in the city and wrote books on yoga. yoga who popularized the Indian practice all over the world.

This has helped make the United States the country of adoption for yoga, Mr. Chakravorty said, applauding the efforts of Nagendra and Bhandari for this initiative.

He pointed out that VaYU will involve leading yoga research and popularize it further in America, where currently around 40 million people regularly practice yoga.

Bhandari said that Swami Vivekananda, an Indian monk, introduced Hinduism to the Western world through his landmark speech in Chicago in 1893. Now, 127 years later, another Indian monk, Dr. HR Nagendra , brings the age-old science of yoga to the Western world. – Guru-Shishya Parampara by creating this university.

He noted that in the years to come, VaYU would produce the best modern yoga practitioners who would not only spread peace, but would make planet Earth a better place to live.

The university is a prime example of people-to-people relations between India and the United States, he said.

Chaudhary said yoga makes the human immune system very strong and acts as a bridge between mind and body, which is very important these days.

He said the university would help thousands of yoga teachers in the United States whose yoga instruction was limited to 200 or 500 hours of certificate programs to progress further into higher academic education.

He pointed out that Mr Modi helped get the UN to declare June 21 International Yoga Day, saying it further popularized yoga across the world.

In congratulatory messages, India’s spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that in these difficult times the practice of yoga has kept life going and for the first time ever a university espousing yogic science is being launched in the USA.

Thanks to the scientific assessment of yoga, I am sure millions more will benefit, he said, calling the launch of the world’s first yoga university outside India a milestone in the world yoga.

Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev said the launch of the Yoga University is a matter of pride and expressed his confidence that VaYU will boost India’s pride for years to come in the field of yoga research .

Former Director General of Border Security Force KK Sharma says yoga is the best exercise system and recalled how he introduced it instead of PT exercise and noticed noticeable improvement of the overall physical and mental health of the force.

Founded on the principles of Swami Vivekananda’s Prescription for Universal Wellness, VaYU will offer online graduate programs based on scientific principles and modern research approaches to yoga.

VaYU teachers were recruited from SVYASA, the first yoga university in India.

It will facilitate collaborative research, credit transfers and joint programs with several leading universities around the world.

The university will offer an online master’s program in yoga. Applications for the Fall 2020 semester are open with the first day of classes beginning August 24 in virtual mode.

The launch comes within three months of receiving official recognition from the California Office of Private Post-Secondary Education to offer yoga-based higher education programs in November 2019.