Sincere thanks to the Embassy of India in Dublin and the Dublin City Council – what a privilege it was to be part of the celebration of International Yoga Day and Summer Solstice on the 21st June in City Hall Dublin.
The historic ‘round room’ of City Hall provided a most beautiful backdrop for the celebration of International Yoga Day and Summer Solstice. The venue was open to the public between 1pm and 3pm for yoga practise and there was a steady flow of practitioners during that time. The hall was closed then to further decorate the space for the arrival of Her Excellency, Mrs Vijay Thakur Singh and members of the City Council, Government and Diplomatic corps. As in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a beautiful flowers mandala, created by Meena, was destroyed and swept away at the end of the day to symbolize the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.
Teachers from YTI collaborated over several months to create a special yoga dance for the occasion and in keeping with the idea of Cultivating Peace, we chose music from Jack Harrison’s Sarvesham (used with his kind permission) to accompany the wonderful choreography from Tara O’Neill. What a proud moment for YTI when the whole performance came together in perfect harmony and unity. Wonderful!! Generous applause to Tara O’Neill, Ruthe Burke, June Crawley, Marie Clabby, Susan Farrell, Sheila Garvey, Patricia Gilroy, Vicky McKeon and Jane Cassidy for all their dedicated practise to perfect the yoga dance, and to Peter Walsh and Lesley Hughes who managed the YTI stand in City Hall and made sure that there were lots of photographic memories.
The 17th June saw over 700 people attend Dartmouth Square Park in wall to wall sunshine to practise the especially dedicated yoga protocol for the occasion.
Louise Horgan led the yoga practise, and once again, YTI was really well represented. Sincere thanks to Sally Dunne, Vicky McKeon, Marie Clabby, Maria Wilde, Susan Farrell, Rukhsana Kauser and Ann Macken, all of whom were fantastic ambassadors for YTI. Sincere thanks too to Caitriona Leavey and Bennery Rickard who competently and confidently represented YTI on Ireland AM early on IYD to promote the events.
