Surya Namaskar Yagna Concluded in Seattle

Surya Namaskar Yagna, a two-week long initiative to perform 1 million Surya Namaskars or Sun Salutations, was completed by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) in Seattle on January 27th, 2008. HSS is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Hindu cultural and religious values among Hindus in the USA. Several HSS members took part in the Yagna by performing Sun Salutations in both group setting as part of HSS programs and also in their homes. At a concluding event, dubbed Seattle Yoga Marathon, HSS Hindu Yuva group conducted a two-hour session with 35 participants, who collectively performed 4500 Sun Salutations.

Surya Namaskars are a series of Yoga postures or Asanas, each providing distinct benefit to the human body and mind. When done properly and on ongoing basis, Surya Namaskars are expected to have a profound impact on the people's lives. HSS volunteers say that with the Yagna, they aim to spread awareness on the benefits of Sun Salutations and hope that participants will cultivate a habit of doing Yoga everyday. Surya Namaskars are done in 10 postures, though there are multiple variations that have additional postures. Yogasanas (Yoga postures) are one of the eight elements of the ancient science of Yoga that originally came from the Hindu saint Patanjali.

This is the second year of the Yagna. Last year, more than 4500 participants performed over half-a-million Sun Salutations collectively all over the USA. The Yagna attracted the attention of various cities around the USA such as the City of Oklahoma, which proclaimed one of the days of Yagna to be the Yoga Day. Now, Yoga is a multi-billion dollar business in the USA and is practiced by millions of Americans irrespective of their religious faith.

Visit HSS website, http://www.hssus.org/sny for more information on Surya Namaskar Yagna and associated resources. Though the Yagna has completed, one can practice Sun Saluations everyday to stay fit and healthy in today's stressful environment.

- A Seattle Desi Network Report