Dear yogis,

My name is Santosh. I grew up in india in a city called latur surrounded by yogis like harishchandra guruji, devvrat ji and many other great teachers, who taught yoga selflessly everyday in our city. My parents used to take us every weekend to yoga classes and send us to yoga retreats during summer vacations where we would learn yoga, pranayam, meditation and ancient books. These teachers believed in sharing knowledge of yoga to benefit society over fame and money.

Practicing yoga provides health and mental well-being. I strongly believe that yoga in it’s many forms can ease many of our society’s ills including crime, anxiety, depression, addiction, among others. Yoga has something for everyone and can make a difference to someone who is seven years old and someone who is seventy years old. Yoga can help every human being.

When i moved to New York for my work in 2005 and started experiencing more about yoga in the west, i was surprised to learn that more people do yoga in this country then in india. Yoga has grown in popularity in the u.S. On its own because of of it’s benefits to mind and body. I met many yoga teachers and students and saw how much effort they have put to study yoga.

Throughout those years there was a thought in back of my mind which always said that there something that is not correct. I realized that yoga is out of reach (or not accessible) to many people who really need it; homeless, addicts, abused, prisoners, elderly, students; people who may benefit most from the practice.

I grew up with the teaching of “seva” (selfless service to the community) and hence the birth of yoga for people took place. With the goal of making the practice and study of yoga accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford it. We will be providing free yoga classes to those who really need it with the help of local yoga teachers and studios. Many people don’t know about yoga and we want to educate them. Some people still believe in myths about yoga such as yoga is religious, yoga is only for flexible people, etc. – we want to remove those myths.

Through the practice of yoga in our communities, many of society’s ills can be eased or eradicated all together.If yoga has helped you and you think it will help your friends and family, please take them with you when you practice next time. If you are a yoga teacher, please volunteer with us to teach (one class per month or more) to those who can not access it. If you operate a studio, please consider making some classes accessible to people – either making them free yoga for people class or a donation-based class. You can also contact us to organize educational seminars at your location.

We all yogis in this world and can help bring peace, happiness and healing in many lives through the practice of yoga. Please help us help millions through yoga. Explore our “get involved” section to volunteer or donate.

Namaskar,

Santosh