In the early morning at 5:30 am we went to the Om meditation. From 6 to 7am we saw the kriya cleansing techniques, then a short chanting session, followed by a morning lecture by Dr. Nagendra, who is both the spiritual and scientific head at the SVYASA Yoga University.
The challenge for us when visiting universities and educational institutions is to meet the right people. And for this you need contacts. We must say a big thank you to Dr. Tiwari from Kaivalyadhama who had established the connections for us to meet Dr. Nagendra. From 9am onwards we had some valuable time with Dr. Nagendra for a nearly one hour-long interview and photos.
Dr. Nagendra used to be a NASA scientist, before he decided to return to India in 1975 to follow a spiritual as well as scientific path. He established the now-famous research part of the university, which has since published over 180 scientific papers on the health benefits of yoga and meditation.
Afterwards, we visited some therapeutic asana classes, which incorporate this knowledge. Asana classes for back problems, for hypertension, for arthritis, for diabetes, etc.
Due to a 10-day children yoga camp, the Yoga Instructors Course (YIC), a 1-month course in which 30% of the students are from overseas, was not running at the time of our visit. In general, all activities on the campus, including the bed inpatient treatment, are also open to foreigners, which is an invaluable chance, knowing that students have a 100% placement guarantee when they hold a yoga degree from SVYASA… What other educational degrees can offer you such career perspectives?
