Hindus have commended America’s seventh largest city San Antonio (Texas) for sponsoring Om Festival, a free and open to the public event on April 22, regarding which the City announcement says: “come spread your Om with us!”
“Om” is the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.
Explaining the Om Fest Yoga Festival, City announcement states: Yogis unite to say “om” in Travis Park for a post-Fiesta evening of yoga demonstrations, community yoga, live music, food and entertainment. The Om Yoga Festival will leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed.
“Cultivate all the good vibes” during this “Om-azing morning in Travis Park”, which also includes meditation, yoga lounge, henna, yoga classes, “Soulful Vinyasa with Live Gongs”, Meditation Bowls; per Om Fest announcements.
Calling it a step in the positive direction, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, praised the City of San Antonio for promoting yoga through such a festival and making San Antonians aware about the Hinduism concept of Om. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged all cities of Texas to incorporate multi-beneficial yoga in the lives of their residents through such free festivals.
Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed pointed out.
Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.
According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to “2016 Yoga in America Study”, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.
San Antonio is home to UNESCO World Heritage Site of San Antonio Missions and hosts the huge annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. Ivy R. Taylor and Sheryl Sculley are Mayor and City Manager respectively.
Source: World Hindu News (WHN)