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World Yoga Expo in Los Angeles
India Post News Service
LOS
ANGELES: The first-ever World Yoga Expo premiered on September 24 at
the Los Angeles Convention Center with a star-studded gala opening and
VIP/press reception featuring the Consul General of India, Deepak
Chopra, Amrit Desai, Bikram and Rajashree Choudhury, Self-Realization
Fellowship head Vishwananda, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bappi Lahiri and
Gulshan Grover. The event was held to benefit Karma for Kids, a
non-profit organization that sponsors children with cancer, and Your
Kids, which teaches inner-city children through culture, arts, dance
and yoga to stay off the streets, away from drugs and out of gangs. The
entertainment for the evening included Shanti Shanti, the world's only
Sanskrit rock band, Yoga Angels, a dance group representing the Your
Kids Organization, and DJ BabaG. Nearly one thousand people attended
the opening, representing many countries within the international yoga
community.
Yoga Expo has been created as a
joyous world-class event featuring over 230 speakers, teachers and
masters offering 400 classes, lectures and workshops over the course of
four days. More than 350 exhibitors are displaying their unique
selections of lifestyle-enhancing products and services, supported by a
global array of stars, fashion, music, entertainment and great food.
Daily fashion shows showcase the finest apparel from over 60 clothing
companies, and musical performances are provided continuously
throughout the event. Major sponsors include Toyota, Whole Foods
Market, Yogi Times, KFWB, Natural Health, and the Yoga College of
India.
The conference program features renowned speakers such as Deepak
Chopra, John Gray PhD, Mariel Hemingway, Marilu Henner, Alan Arkin,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bikram Choudhury, Amrit Desai, Yuan Miao, and many
others. Many leading medical doctors, health experts, authors,
teachers, inspirational speakers and fitness gurus will offer seminars
and workshops on such topics as yoga, meditation, stress relief and
Ayurvedic medicine.
The mission of Yoga Expo, as communicated by Executive Producer of the
event and Founder/President of the Yoga College of India Bikram
Choudhury, is to generate greater public awareness of yoga by appealing
to the widest possible audience. Its goal is to help all people better
understand and experience the profound healing benefits that this
ancient, yet very modern form of health and fitness can impart to every
aspect of human life. This is the first major gathering of its kind,
joining the yoga and fitness communities with all other forms of
health, healing and well being for the unification of body, mind and
spirit.
A major feature of the Yoga Expo are the finals of the International
Yoga Asana Championships. Qualified finalists from all around the globe
will meet in Los Angeles to create more public awareness of the beauty
inherent in the human form and to decide the recipient of the Bishnu
Ghosh Cup. The format of the championship will be based on the national
competition held in India, with the official committee of the Indian
competition to serve as judges. The final round of the championship
will be held on the main stage of the exhibit floor on the last day of
the event.
Yoga Expo is dedicated to the memory of Bishnu Charan Ghosh on his
100th birth anniversary. His devoted disciple and student Bikram
Choudhury declared, "As one of the most influential physical culturists
of all time and an untiring leader in the field of human potential
development, my Guru devoted his entire existence in body, mind and
spirit to helping countless people save their own lives. I have been
truly blessed to witness the lasting impact of his life's work on his
students, his country and this world. He is the reason I am here today.
It is my greatest dream that the whole world experience the healing and
self-realization that the practice of yoga offers, so that we may all
come together to shape the promise of a brighter tomorrow for those who
would see its dawn-our children.”
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