3rd International Day of Yoga - Report

Event Report

Vasudeva Kriya Yoga celebrated their 10th Annual Yoga conference on June 18th 2017, the 3rd in a row coinciding with the International Day of Yoga.  It is a unique conference in Melbourne that endeavours to share the benefits of Yoga as experienced by practitioners from various professional backgrounds. This year the Keynote was delivered by the world famous Dr. Ian Gawler, a cancer survivor for close to 40 years, he has started a globally famous foundation promoting alternate forms of treatment.

The day started at 7.30 AM sharp with a round of Yoga practice and 51 Suryanamaskaras.

The conference was officially inaugurated by the dignitaries including Honourable Inga Peulich – Victorian Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Dr. Ian Gawler, Prof. Marc Cohen, Dr. Sanjay Raghav, Dr Vicki Kotsirilos, and our founder of VKY Shri Rajendra. The IDY Souviner was also released by the guests on this occasion. You can read the Souviner by clicking here.

Our distinguished guests shared some amazing incidents and learnings from their personal and professional lives that demonstrated the benefits of Alternative medicine and Yoga.

The theme for our conference was Illness to Wellness – and Rajendra ji very aptly introduced the concept of Wellness through Yoga. A healthy society is a happy society and a lesser burden on Medicare system. The essence of Illness to Wellness is to move from I to We – think as a group or community, share our learnings with the society, act for the wellbeing of the society and we will all move towards wellness. And Dr. Gawler is a living examples of moving from Illness to Wellness – he has successfully kept cancer at bay for close to 40 years, which is more than half his life! He lost his leg to cancer, but not his determination!

Rajendra’s students range from 4 years old to 80 years old. And the audience witnessed some Yoga asanas both from kids as well as 80 year old student (Nerghis ji). It was quite heartening to see the 84 year old mother (Eva Cohen) of Prof. Cohen sportively come on stage and share her gains from Yoga and demonstrate a few asanas. Yoga is indeed the recipe to stay young and healthy at all times.

We also celebrated the International Day of Yoga at the Victorian Parliament, Durga Temple in Rockbank and Sri Venkata Krishna Brundavana in Murrumbeena.

Vasudeva Kriya Yoga’s motto is Jeevema Sharadarshatam! Let us all live healthily in body, ming and soul for 100 years! We urge you to practice Yoga and share this message of wellness with your family and friends. You can find more details about our classes below.

About Dr. Ian Gawler

Our Keynote Speaker

Dr Ian Gawler has played a major role in pioneering and popularizing meditation and other mind-body techniques in the Western world. A powerful advocate of a healthy lifestyle, Ian has appeared widely in the media and presented at many major conferences.

Ian began his working life as a veterinarian, then in 1975 he had his right leg amputated due to bone cancer. The cancer recurred later that year and utilizing a wide range of treatment modalities and self-help options, Ian survived against the odds.

Dr Gawler co-founded the world’s first lifestyle-based cancer self-help group in 1981 and the first similar groups for people with multiple sclerosis in 2001. Ian convened Australia’s first Mind-Body Medicine conference in 1995. His biography The Dragon’s Blessingwas published by Guy Allenby in 2008.

Ian has authored six bestselling books, including the internationally acclaimed and recently revised You Can Conquer Cancer that has been translated into 14 languages. Ian’s latest book is The Mind that Changes Everything and he is a regular blogger. He has also co-developed a meditation platform app, the Meditation Gateway.

Dr Gawler holds a degree in Veterinary Science and a Masters in Counselling.

In 1987, Ian Gawler was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his services to the community.

Text Source: Dr. Ian Gawler’s Website.