Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace

BS, Sociology, Santa Clara

University, USA

MA, Peace Studies,

University of Innsbruck,

Austria

MA, Environmental

Security, UN University for

Peace, Costa Rica

(pending)

Yoga Teacher, Southwest

Institute for Healing Arts,

USA

Grew up learning yoga philosophies in daily life from my

family and through spiritual teachers in ashram

environments.

Took community yoga classes in California.

Turned back to yoga after going through a personal

traumatic experience. It was then that I found

Restorative Yoga.

Certified from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in

Arizona, focusing on Restorative and Yin Yoga.

Developed “Yoga for Peace” while in graduate school

and used the course in Austria & Costa Rica.

Qualitative research background, and studied Yoga,

Domestic Violence, and the Environment for my Master’s

Thesis.

Member, International Association of Yoga Therapists.

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Credentials

Stand Up and form a circle Lift your hands into the air and open

your heart towards the sky/ sun Feel the energy of the sun entering

through your hands and touching your heart

Tree Pose How do you feel? Share with your group

What thoughts and feelings did you have?

Yoga philosophies and practices are designed to help individuals and groups find peace.

Yet we’ve forgotten that over the years, and made it into a physical practice.

So as I continue to teach and research, I am bringing back those same peace concepts into the practices for people I work with based on their needs.

A way of life, including philosophies, moralities, poses, breathing techniques, and meditations, designed to promote self-awareness and healing. Yoga comes from the Sanskrit “yuj”, to yoke.

The father of modern-day yoga, BKS Iyengar, states that “yoga is the method by which the restless mind is calmed and the energy directed into constructive channels”. Sri Aurobindo envisioned yoga as everything, explaining: “All life is Yoga”.

In essence, yoga is life; yoga is living; yoga is: understanding oneself in relationship to the universe, with the universe, and to each individual being. Yoga is considered a way of life to enhance the mind-body connection.

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Yoga for Peace connects the philosophies and practices of yoga to the theories and concepts of peace studies.

It is used to students in development and peace programs, to learn how they can use it when working in the field.

They can also use it on themselves, as a method of reducing their own stresses, both as individuals and as a team.

Children Gender Environment War Media Religion And more….

Yoga Therapy is the use of yoga to ameliorate and assuage life issues.

Research shows that yoga can assist in physical, mental, and emotional health concerns. A great deal more research is required to understand the effects of yoga on various issues.

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To inculcate the philosophies and practices of yoga into the NGO sector via students and practitioners of peace and development and groups in need.

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To equip students and practitioners in the peace and development field with:

› tools they can use as therapy from the work they do; and

› tools they can use while working in the field, with people, environment, and within the workplace.

To work with groups in need, providing:

› tools for healing: Alleviate

individual and group concerns

› tools to reconnect and reintegrate them into society.

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Many yoga poses are based on animals and plants, and beings in the sky.

Designed to work on an individual’s elements: ether, air, fire, water, earth.

Invokes a biophiliac connection to nature.

Yin Yoga: away from aggression Working with traumatized women:

Yoga, Domestic Violence, and the Environment

Yoga Mudras: Used around the world, and through the study, we can channelize energies.

Yoga, Hinduism and its offshoots: Yoga and Islam: Yoga and Christianity:

Individual stress relief Team-building activity

Teaching Yoga Therapy to Groups in Need› For HIV+ women and Children

At Deena Seva Trust (Little Infant Jesus Home) Weekly classes for women and children Focus on immune system and restorative needs

› For Mentally Challenged women At Liza’s Home Focus on peace and calm, having fun

› Private Clients, Corporate Groups

Teaching Yoga for Peace as a Course/ Workshop› Annamalai University (India)

› University of Jaume (Spain)

› Other Universities and Centers around the world

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Feel free to ask any questions regarding Yoga for Peace.

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If you are interested in finding out how you can support Yoga for Peace, please contact me:Sowmya AyyarEmail: sowmyaayyar@gmail.comPhone: 78.2942.7742Blog: http://sowmyaayyar.wordpress.com

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