Yoga Vidya Gurukul

14/07/2022

Gurupournima गुरुपौर्णिमा
Full moon day celebration of Guru's energy
Who is Guru?
Guru is a Sanskrit word which means dispeller of darkness or energy that brings light or wisdom to destroy the ignorance and sufferings in our life. Where is this energy? Yoga believes that this energy is inside of us. We all can bring wisdom, light, positive energy to our life and end our attachments, stress, depression, fears, diseases and experience positivity.
However, this energy is not easily accessible to our gross mind and that is the reason why we find it hard to get out of negative states of mind. Although the path of yoga resolves all our problems, it is not easy to walk this path without support. Especially once you enter intermediate practices like pranayama, mantra, meditation, tapas or austerities or lifestyle practices, help is required to give direction and resolve the problems that arise. The master who has awakened the Guru 's energy within himself / herself can guide others during this journey. If one can't find such master then guidance is provided in great ancient texts such as Ashtanga Yoga Sutras or Bhagavad Gita or Upanishad or Hatha Yoga Pradipika or other traditional yoga texts.
Today is the day of committing ourselves to the resolve bringing light, wisdom, positivity to our life destroying sufferings and negativity and getting rid of attachments to the material world.
Guru Gayatri Mantra
ॐ गुरुदेवाय विद्महे
परब्रह्मणे धीमहि
तन्नो गुरुः प्रचोदयात ।
Om Guru devay vidmahe para brahmane dhimahi tanno guruh prachodayat ।।

With respect and love to my Guru Swami Niranjan
Gandhar

22/06/2021

Yoga Vidya Gurukul has been selected by Government of India as one of the 25 Fit India Centres. Proud moment for all of us. 🌸🌺😊🙏 And you are all a part of this achievement..👍😇🕉️

18/04/2021

09/03/2021

Women – Yoga View by Gandhar Mandlik .com
"Shivah Shaktya Yukto Yadi Bhavatu Shaktah Prabhavitum|…"(Soundarya Lahiri - 1 By Adi Shankaracharya)
A great yoga master Adi Shankaracharya has summarised the power of Shakti - the feminine principle or the energy of the cosmos. Shiva the masculine principle of consciousness is unable to even move without the grace of the great feminine energy. Moreover, the feminine Shakti is being worshipped by Brahma – God of creation and Vishnu – God of operation of the cosmos along with Shiva – God of transformation. Such is the importance given to Shakti or feminine principle in Yoga.
In Yoga, the Shakti is symbolised as a goddess of beauty and intelligence, riding a lion, carrying different weapons in her multiple arms, destroying evil and spreading love. The form is depicting the feminine strength. For example, the intelligence and beauty are the first attributes, the multiple arms showing her high level of efficiency, weapons displaying the courage and strength while the lion is symbol of her victory over fear. In today’s world, we see women are super achievers in all the fields and have exceeded men. The analysis could point out to a greater intelligence, better emotional balance, clarity of thoughts, sincerity and stronger commitment in women as compared to men. For example, women live 3 to 5 years longer than men in any part of the world. So, something women are doing right as compared to men which allows them to live longer. Another example could be related to yoga which has established itself as a science that benefits physical and mental health. Therefore, there is a lot of interest in yoga practice but look at who is practicing yoga, 85% of yoga practitioners are women and only 15% men want to practice it.
Shri Krishna, the lord of yoga has described the concept of heaven. According to him, heaven is a place where a woman is not equal to a man but is higher or more respected and is a role model for the entire society. There are many reasons for higher respect of women. Firstly, the beautiful heart and unconditional love that a woman is capable of spreading is nothing but the basic quality of mother nature supporting life. Secondly, the woman is born with intelligence of creating, nourishing and nurturing life. Interestingly, the selfless and non-attached aspect of her divine karma is visible in her nurturing of a baby. Thirdly, a woman can go beyond fear of her own life to protect the loved ones. To achieve these qualities, one needs to transcend selfishness, ego, anger and material desires and a woman can easily achieve it. Moreover, if one thinks about these evils and corruptions of human mind, it easily points to the vary reasons of our sufferings. But if a woman decides then she can certainly go beyond evils and create a little heaven. In this heaven, the unconditional love is more important than selfishness, ego and desires. So, if women are more powerful and have more importance in all the decision-making processes connected with all walks of life, then life would be so much better for everyone.
If one looks at the history of yoga culture, stories of Rama and Krishna become most important. However, both of these epic stories conclude with wars that were fought between two groups of men. Interestingly, for both these wars, the 2 groups were similar. The first group was fighting for the honour and freedom of women while the other group was fighting for taking control of women. And the end result is the victory for the armies who fought for the freedom and honour of women in both the battles. Shri Krishna has explained this end result while summarising the wisdom of life which is extreme importance given to freedom and honour of women. This freedom and respect to women is necessary for evolution of human life and harmony in mother nature.
But to achieve these objectives women must follow their own instinct and not a direction dictated by society which is dominated by men. After all world is made up of half women and the remaining half are their children.

28/01/2021

Namaskar and Hari Om,
Find below is the Yoga practice for Knee Problems. Our daily lifestyle has weakened our knees so it has become very important to take extra care of our knees.
Following yoga class by Kate Mandlik is focused on maintaining the health of knees as well as healing the knee problems.

This gentle class is for teaching the movements that are helpful for people with knee problems.

06/08/2020

Shri Ram - Idol for every yoga practitioner

by Gandhar Mandlik
About 7500 years ago, India witnessed the life of a great king Shri Ram who lived an exemplary life of a yogi. Shriram’s life gives a powerful message of truth, equality, unconditional love, respect, discipline, simplicity, restrained mind and selflessness. Additionally, the wonderful and inspiring story of Shri Ram has set an ideal direction for individuals and the society for generations. Shri Ram represents the cultural identity of not only the Indian society but also other countries like Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Ramayan, the story of Shri Ram is popular in countries like Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Iran and in religions like Buddhism and Jainism.

The example Ram Rajya or kingdom of Ram is the perfect idea of rule of law. Mahatma Gandhi lived with this idea of Ram Rajya close to his heart and died with the last words of “Hey Ram”. Although Shri Ram never wrote any text or religious book, people cutting across the society have treasured him as a role model and embodiment of the virtues. The Hindus all over the world treat him as the 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu (Shri Vishnu is the cosmic energy responsible for maintaining the creation) for his virtues.
Shri Ram was born into a royal family belonging to the kingdom of Ayodhya (Ayodhya is located in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in India). He was a very intelligent, educated and well-trained prince. Shri Ram was undoubtedly a great scholar and the best archer of his time. The eldest of 4 siblings, he was to succeed his father and become the next king. However, a selfish politics deprived him of his rights, and he was sent to 14 years in forest without any fault of his own. Interestingly, Shri Ram accepted this injustice as a respect to his father and stepmother and his commitment to keeping the word given to his parents. Furthermore, he left on this unknown journey without any discontent or aggression accompanied by his wife Devi Sita and younger brother Laxman. Interestingly, he was equally comfortable with hardships of forest life as if the life was same like that of his comfortable palace.

During the exile, the beautiful Devi Sita was kidnapped by Demon King Ravan as the demon wanted to marry her. Despite having no army of his own, Shri Ram did not lose the courage while exploring the available options. He met Shri Hanuman, a wise and powerful tribal leader who later became a great devotee of Shri Ram. With the help of this group of tribal people, Ram found Sita who was kept in captivity in Sri Lanka. The way to reach Sri Lanka was very difficult as the ocean had to be crossed but by building a bridge using innovative thinking the army reached Sri Lanka and fought a war with king Ravana, defeating him.

During his stay in the forest, Shri Ram brought positive changes to the lives of tribal people, showing the society that a life of simplicity and preserving nature is extremely crucial for survival of mankind. May it be a story of saving a little squirrel or treating the injured bird or planting banyan trees, he showed the deep connection we have with the nature. His stories of transforming mistreated life of Ahilya, a neglected woman yoga practitioner or extreme respect given to Shabri, a tribal woman living the path of yoga, displayed the higher importance and respect women should be given in progressive society. Shri Ram fought for the honour of women. Moreover, despite winning the war he didn’t take over the kingdom but reinstated Bibhishan as the king, the brother of slain king Ravana. The story of Shri Ram is about courage, standing up for truth, fighting for the honour of women, protecting and respecting the weak and neglected, non-attachment, humility and unconditional love for all life forms.

In conclusion, every society needs a role model for inspiration, direction, trust and positive experience of life. Shri Ram represents the these virtues which are necessary for positive experience of life and for survival of humanity. If we try to follow Shri Ram’s path of truth, then there will be no problems. Furthermore, all will have respect for each other, everyone will get equal opportunity and the direction of personal and social life will be beyond desires and ego which will stop destruction of nature.
Jai Shri Ram

18/07/2020

Om tat sat,
Happy to share the certificate of appreciation received from Government of India for sincere participation of our institute in International Yoga Day 2020.

18/06/2020

08/06/2020

Patanjali's guidelines for Asana Practice by Yogacharya Dr. Vishwas Vasant Mandlik!

The Ministry of AYUSH presents a series of Yoga Discourses by renowned Yoga Gurus as a prelude to the International Day of Yoga 2020.

Join the renowned YOGA Guru and recipient of Prime Minister's Award, Yogacharya Dr. Vishwas Vasant Mandlik to transform your life with holistic Yoga practices. He is also an expert member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.

Date of event: Tuesday, 9th June 2020
Time: 7:30 to 8:00 PM

Link to the event:
https://tinyurl.com/y9lf9lmv

Note: There is no need for separate registration for this event. You can participate in this event by clicking on the link provided at the said time on 9th June.

30/05/2020

A yoga class designed for parents to do with their children, led by Kate Mandlik of Yogapoint.