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. Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 2 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.

Defining Yoga… In essence….  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. Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 5

What is it? Topics of Importance  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. Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 7

 To inculcate the philosophies and practices of yoga into the NGO sector via students and practitioners of peace and development and groups in need. Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 8

 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. Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 9

 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

Practical Research Academic Endeavors  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 Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 14

 Feel free to ask any questions regarding Yoga for Peace. Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 15

If you are interested in finding out how you can support Yoga for Peace, please contact me: Sowmya Ayyar Phone: Blog: Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 16

Sowmya Ayyar Yoga for Peace 17