The world’s first Yoga University outside India was recently launched in Los Angeles. It has been named after Swami Vivekananda, one of the most profound thinkers and philosophers from India. The university has been founded on the ideology of Swami Vivekananda of universal welfare.
Named the Vivekananda Yoga University (VaYU), the university aims to offers courses and programs that are combine modern research approaches and scientific theories to Yoga, a holistic practice that engages the mind, body, and soul.
The university was launched by the Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and Chairperson of the Standing Committee on External Affairs P P Chaudhary during a virtual event held at the Consulate General of India in New York recently. The event was jointly hosted by the Consulate General and Jaipur Foot USA Chairperson, and founding director of VaYU, Prem Bhandari.
The first Chairman of the university is renowned Indian yoga guru Dr. H R Nagendra, who is also the Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA). This is the first Yoga university in India and is located in the south Indian city of Bengaluru in Karnataka.
The faculty for VaYU have been recruited from SVYASA.
The university will offer a four semester online Master’s program in Yoga, and the applications for the Fall 2020 season are already open. Classes will be conducted online starting 24th August.
The university will also foster collaborative research and programmes with several other renowned universities across the world such as UC San Francisco, UT Austin, U of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Research Center, and MIT, among others.
VaYU is widely expected to further popularize this practice of Yoga across the United States, where it is practised by around 40 million people.
To know more about the university and its courses, click here.
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