Waterford celebrates International Yoga Day

The 11th International Yoga Day was celebrated recently in Waterford City.

Members of Waterford New Communities Network (WNCN) attended the event, as did outgoing Mayor of Waterford Councillor Jason Murphy, at the Community and Culture Hub on O'Connell Street. 

Mayor Murphy said: "I want to take this opportunity to thank all the members of our new communities for the huge contribution you've made to Waterford society since your arrival on these shores. 

"Let me assure you from myself and Council that you're all very, very welcome here and we're absolutely delighted to have you here in Ireland's oldest city and we're looking forward to having even more of a contribution from you in the future."

Special guest Swami Purnanada of Éire Vedanta Society spoke about the power of yoga and meditation in uniting the body and mind. 

He is the founder and spiritual advisor of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre in Dublin. 

According to Chairperson of Waterford Indian Sangram, Senthil Ramasamy: "[Swami] has significantly contributed to the interfaith movement in Ireland, promoting harmony and understanding among different faiths." 

Swami conducts workshops across the country on yoga, spirituality and meditation. Through his humanitarian work he established an educational bursary for under-served girls in Zimbabwe, as well as a feeding programme for impoverished people. 

Swami began: "A few of you might be wondering: 'What is Gerry Adams doing here?'"

"But I'm not Gerry Adams and I'm not a member of the Orange Order either," he said, pointing to his orange monk robes. 

Swami said that yoga has a 'universal language', a word that means 'union', derived from the Sanskrit word 'yuj', meaning to 'unite'. 

WNCN hold informal drop-in sessions every Tuesday evening from 5pm-7pm, where anyone can come in for a friendly chat and get to meet new people, whether they are new to the parish or life-long locals.