Press Release (15 March 2011)

2nd Regional Hindu Conference – Wellington

Hindu Council of New Zealand and Waiwhetu Marae are jointly organising the 2nd regional Hindu Conference in Lower Hutt, Wellington on Saturday, 9th of April 2011. Theme of the conference is “Hindu-Maori Perspectives on Holistic Health: from Individual and Whanau to Community”.

The conference will discuss Hindu and Maori perspectives on the interdependence of individual, family and community for building a healthy society.

Workshop and plenary sessions at the conference will deliberate on two main areas:
(i) Individual health – will discuss how the practices of yoga, meditation, ayurveda and Maori medicine can contribute to enhancing the general, physical, mental and social wellbeing of communities in New Zealand.
(ii) Healthy families and communities – will discuss the Maori concept of Whanau (family) complemented by the Hindu concept of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam (world is one global family). The session will also draw from the experiences of the volunteers from the Hindu Community to build a stronger community.

The conference will hear history of the Waiwhetu marae, the people who make up this community and their perspectives on whanau wellbeing.

Dr. Nagendra, the President of Hindu University of America and Vice-Chancellor of SVYASA Yoga University (India), will be the keynote speaker at the conference. Dr Nagendra holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and has been a research associate at NASA.

The speakers in this session consist of local practitioners of Maori, Ayurveda and Western Medicine. A quick glimpse at the line up of local speakers:
• Dr. Raj Vinod Anand, General Practitioner at Wellington hospital and President of Art of Living Foundation in New Zealand;
• Dr. Vijay Senan, practicing psychiatrist in the Wellington region
• Prajakta Joshi, an Ayurveda doctor.

The conference will also feature
• Yoga for kids – Carpet Ride and Yoga Safari for 5 to 10 year olds
• Pre-exam yoga – “how to be an effective test taker” workshop for youth, featuring Yoga postures, breathing and visualisation techniques to improve the ability to focus. Conducted by Shri. Sou. Riri Trivedi ji who runs her own yoga school in Singapore with specialised yoga programs for kids.

The conference will be suitable to health practitioners who are interested in holistic view of health, community development practitioners, government agencies that work with families and communities, community volunteers; researchers and academics; students and any members of the public who have an interest in the above stated topics.

Early bird registrations for conference will close on 1st April 2011.

AROGYA (Aotearoa Research Organisation for Generic Yoga and Ayurveda), the health division of Hindu Council of New Zealand, in partnership with SVYASA Yoga University, is conducting a Yoga Instructor’s course in Wellington from 10th to 22nd April. Mohan Tewani and Subhadra Tewani of SVYASA University will travel to Wellington to conduct some of the key sessions of the course in Wellington. They will also conduct a Stress Management program in Wellington.

Highlights of the Stress Management program are:
• 35 minutes of practice equivalent to 6 hrs of good sleep.
• Helps reduce stress and treatment of ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma etc (stress related).

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