India Post News Service

CHICAGO: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) has announced holding Yagya of one million Sun Salutations, known as Surya Namaskar, to create awareness among the people in general about Yoga and its advantages in achieving a healthy body, mind and spirit.Each year Hindus worldwide celebrate January 14as Makar Sankranti - a day that marks a change of season as the Sun enters the sign of Capricorn or Makar.

Makar Sankranti ushers in longer days; thus the festivity symbolizes sunshine in life. Therefore, to mark this occasion, HSS will conduct a collective Surya Namaskar Yagya (SNY) from January 12 to January 27, 2008. It will be performed by HSS members at their weekly meetings (shakhas/balagokulams), as well as at home on other days. The Sun is the source of energy for all life on earth. Surya Namaskar is a combination of yoga postures, called "asana(s)", performed in a pre-determined sequence, in appreciation of this extremely valuable solar energy.

They are a set of well-balanced movements that will stretch and exercise all the muscles in the body, thus keeping the body and mind healthy. It is practiced all over the world in more than forty different ways. A common practice of performing Surya Namaskar in a set of ten yoga postures provides good exercise to the whole body, calms the mind, and sharpens the intellect.HSS invites everyone in the United States to perform Surya Namaskar at weekly shakhas and/or at home in the sixteen-day span.

Last year, over 4,300 people from thirty states participated in this unique marathon, and this year it is expected that over 7,000 participants across the country participate in the Surya Namaskar Yagya.This program is open to all free of cost - with no age, gender, nationality, ethnicity or religion bars. Details of this event, training resources, and advertising aids to make this project successful are available on the official HSS SNY website: www.hssus.org/sny.