Andiappan Yoga Community

Expands Its Mission in Hong Kong and Asia

By Foster Barnes

MONDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2014. Andiappan Yoga Community (AYC) is bringing yoga to more people who might never have enjoyed its benefits. A non-profit, fully volunteer organization of International Yoga Academy (IYA) certified yoga instructors – trained in the tradition of Thirumuloor’s therapeutic yoga – Andiappan Yoga Community offers yoga classes to those who have special needs or circumstances.

World-renowned yoga master and founder of AYC, Yogananth Andiappan leads the Community in it’s endeavor to propagate the knowledge and teachings of yoga as taught by his father Guruji Dr. Asana Andiappan. As the founder of the College of Yoga and Research Centre in Chennai, India, GuruJi Dr. Andiappan has dedicated his life to studying and teaching the curative and therapeutic benefits of yoga based on the teachings of Sage Thirmuloor. In fact, the college of Yoga and Research Centre is one of few remaining centers dedicated to promoting authentic yoga traditions and values without any commercial motives.

This year Community involvement has increased. More than 50 active, certified volunteer instructors now teach more than a dozen yoga classes. We partner with a number of Hong Kong organizations, including Changing Young Lives Foundation, Mother’s Choice, Youth Outreach, St. Anne’s Filipino Catholic Group, Tuen Mun Hospital, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Jockey Club Tai Koko Tsui Integrated Services Centre, the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation, the Early Psychosis Foundation, and Anahata Yoga. We also offer free yoga classes to the overseas worker community in Hong Kong.

AYC volunteer teachers are sharing their yoga experience with others as a service to the community. Their mission is to teach yoga — on a volunteer basis — to anyone and everyone, especially those who can not afford classes.

Inspired by the teachings and compassion of master instructor, Yogananth Andiappan, AYC was founded as Yogananth Andiappan Community in 2010 by a group of his students from the International Yoga Academy, Anahata Yoga, in Central, Hong Kong. Recently, we changed our name to honor our beloved Guruji Dr. Andiappan, who is celebrating his 85th birthday on December 6.

“We changed the name of the Community to honor the teachings and yoga tradition of my father, Guruji Dr. Andiappan, and to celebrate his 85th Birthday. Following the tradition of my father’s teachings and practice, the Andiappan Yoga Community has been established as a non-profit organization committed to sharing the physical and spiritual benefits of yoga with everyone, especially if they can not afford classes, or if they have special needs,” said Master Yogananth Andiappan, founder, Andiappan Yoga Community.

Taking advantage of increased Community enthusiasm, AYC leaders decided it was time to extend our mission to a wider community. We launched a new website at www.yogacommunity.org, and registered Andiappan Yoga Community with the Hong Kong government as a non-profit organization. This official change gives AYC new standing in Hong Kong and Asia.

“Our yoga students may live with limited resources or difficult circumstances. As well as free lessons, we try to make available the yoga mats, blocks, and straps — and even transportation to the class,” said Yogananth.

We look to donors to provide mats, subsidize venues, and fund charities. The registration as a non-profit organization makes it clear to our partners that we are working together for the common good. The new designation as a non-profit will further our efforts to raise funds for others, as we have for causes such as Animals Asia, breast cancer awareness, and the victims of the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines.

Be sure to watch Andiappan Yoga Community as we work to advance the practice and benefits of yoga throughout Hong Kong and Asia. Visit www.yogacommunity.org to keep up with AYC news, projects, and events. And please join us in our mission to enrich lives with yoga either as a volunteer, partner, or contributor.

Namaste, Hong Kong.