MEDIA RELEASE (11 November 2013)
Yogathon 2013 break records
New Zealand completes 104,337 Surya Namaskars
‘Health for Humanity’ Yogathon 2013 that was recently organized by Yogathon NZ had a big community support. It broke the
previous records and crossed 100,000 Surya Namaskar (sun salutations) repetitions for the first time.
Yogathon NZ is a division of Hindu Council of New Zealand. It has been organising annual Yogathon since 2011. This year
it took place from 12th to 26th October at various cities and towns.
Participants throughout the country performed Surya Namaskars according to their abilities, kept a count and reported
their totals to Yogathon New Zealand team.
The aim was to complete 108 000 Surya Namaskar (sun salutations) repetitions by participants from all over New Zealand
over a two week period.
“This is the first time since the launch of ‘Health for Humanity Yogathon’ in New Zealand two years ago that the
national target has been so close. It was indeed a great achievement that the participants took the count beyond the
100,000 mark”, said Ms Komal Shah, National coordinator for Yogathon 2013.
“On behalf of this team, I thank all participant organisations and individuals in making Yogathon 2013 a success,” added
Ms Shah.
Three organisations that completed over 10,000 were:
Wellpark College of Natural Therapies (Auckland) 23 894 Sun Salutations
Yogi Divine Society (Auckland) 18 857 Sun Salutations
Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh (National) 18 334 Sun Salutations
Individuals who performed over 1000 Sun salutations were:
Mrs Kavitha Magesan from Rotorua 1 500 Sun Salutations
Ms Sarada from Auckland 1 200 Sun Salutations
Wellpark College of Natural Therapies was incredible in their enthusiasm. Their Alumni themselves teach yoga at their
own centres, some also at hospitals & work places. Their current students as well as Alumni took the challenge of Yogathon to achieve this incredibly high
number, same as Yogi Divine Society & Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh which reached 100’s of people to create awareness of yoga and its benefits.
The ages of participants in Yogathon NZ 2013 varied from late 70s to teens and children.
Kushagra, a five year old from HSS Pakuranga, performed 379 Surya Namaskars which was remarkable.
Yogathon aims to create awareness of the practice of Yoga and its health benefits. During Yogathon, the organising
committee tries their best to connect interested New Zealander to a yoga teacher or centre that can teach Sun
Salutations and basic yoga at no cost. This is the third year of the Yogathon event, and the team is incredibly humbled
by the overwhelming public support.
“Yogathon has taken place annually since 2011 and our team is making improvements each year. From 2014 onwards, we will
start Yogathon on the 2nd Saturday of September. We hope that setting a definite date will help volunteers and
participants diarise the event in advance and plan better. I invite all New Zealanders to participate in Yogathon 2014,
starting on 13th September 2014,” concluded Ms Komal Shah.
For more information, and to learn about Surya Namaskar, please see: http://yogathon-nz.org/
ENDS