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World Yoga Day 2008 in Bournemouth
It might have rained, it might even have snowed (unlikely in our South coast microclimate!), but a group of hardy yoga enthusiasts were undeterred from an outdoor practice on the beach in aid of World Yoga Day 2008. As it transpired, it was one of the coldest days of the year, with huge rolling seas and an icy wind blowing, but what an inspiring place to practice yoga; Bournemouth has some of the most beautiful beaches in the UK so why not challenge ourselves to keeping warm so that we could get some top quality air in our lungs I thought. I had organised this event on 3rd February as part of World Yoga Day’s 24 hour global Yoga marathon in which teachers from many different styles of yoga offer their time for free in support of this year’s project: Amnesty International. Classes were held from 11am – 1pm local time in each time zone around the world, with nearly 350 teachers from 45 countries practicing together in a spirited celebration of yoga, and devoting thoughts and energy globally to the human rights issue. In the run-up to the August 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Amnesty International are conducting a campaign to urge the Chinese authorities to keep their promise to improve the human rights situation in China, especially in the areas of death penalty, fair trial and prevention of torture and ill-treatment, protection of human rights defenders and freedom of expression and information. Amnesty International believes China's hosting of the Olympics provides it with a unique opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to human rights. They see it as their role to make sure that this opportunity does not pass by without notice, action and sustained improvements. A dozen people turned up to support my Bournemouth beach event - some of them for their first yoga session! I'm sure we would have had more if it was summer or if we were indoors, but I was impressed by the dedication of those who did attend, especially as some were still recovering from a late Saturday night! Getting some funny looks from the dog walkers and joggers we set off at a fair pace through a large amount of the yoga repertoire of standing postures and soon got the heat up. Wrapped up in layers of wintery clothing, and practicing in footwear on sand didn't make it easy to access many postures, and the southerly wind blasting us from the sea really challenged us in the balances but a sense of humour at the situation pervaded the session. I really felt for some people, especially those who hadn't brought gloves and so finished early so we could all go for a hot drink feeling totally energised and positive about the whole experience. Those attending the event donated whatever tuition fee they felt they could afford. Any further contributions are welcome. All money raised will go directly to Amnesty International. The total amount raised in 2007 was €14,657 = £10,896 Please check out the World Yoga Day website for more information.
I’d lastly like to say a big thank you and well done to all those who attended on the day to support this event.
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