Verona, Italy
by Alexia Martinelli
Ankur Yoga association was founded in 2017 to study neohumanist education in depth through research in practice. It also wishes to spread and promote Shrii P.R. Sarkar’s neohumanist school of thought. The activities we offer are meant both for children and adults.
Our experience with kids has highlighted a constant exploration of kiirtan as the main means to nourish and sustain their spirituality, daily. Musical activities and stories, written by our volunteers, are shaping different materials, books and tools allowing the creation of meaningful learning situations and scaffolding, in the true spirit of neohumanist education. Ideally, we would like to plant small seeds of Shrii P. R. Sarkar’s ideas in each person joining the association, in the hope they will sprout one day. Anyway, this should remain a personal task and commitment, just like meditation is. Each of us has, actually, the right to fully enjoy the responsibility of his or her own path and this is our first aim, with adults too.
If we analyse our culture and society, we can’t help noticing how people consider yogic ideas as Indian only and thus as incompatible with their everyday lives. That’s why we organize projects and courses, so people can understand that Shrii P. R. Sarkar’s teachings are absolutely day-to-day and they are focused on everybody’s endless happiness. Our latest project, involving physical practice, too, has dealt with Ripus and Pashas (bondages and enemies). During the meetings, our participants didn’t only receive information on bondages and enemies, but there were also debates leading everyone to consider these aspects within their lives.
As sustainers of education as a process of “bringing out” what already lies within each of us, we truly believe that neohumanist and tantric philosophies shouldn’t be relegated just to a theoretical level. For this reason, we are exploring the best ways to help people experience them personally, in faithful observance of Shrii P. R. Sarkar’s teachings. This is the same modus operandi underlying the Yogasofia project conceived by Christian Franceschini, Cristina Terribile, Alexia Martinelli and Salvatore Ingargiola, an initiative we’re supporting alongside the Onlus Cosmic Mind (Organization for research and publication in the field of yoga and Neohumanism). Yogasofia aims at introducing the philosophy of yoga into the lives of people of all ages. Daily practice leads them to the exploration of new paths, highlighting acquired patterns or dogmas that need removing. Yogasofia promotes new social forms too. Currently, some projects have already been activated in some schools in the north of Italy and soon there will be courses for couples and families.