NEWS

“Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The brighter your practice, the brighter the world becomes.”  –  B.K.S. Iyengar

There is a quiet moment many practitioners recognize. You finish a class feeling calmer, more grounded, and then on the way home, you pass someone sleeping in a doorway or think of a friend struggling silently with their mental health. The contrast is impossible to ignore.

What does this practice mean if it stays only on the mat? Yoga teaches that we are deeply interconnected, that our wellbeing is tied to the wellbeing of others. The real measure of our practice is not just how we feel in Savasana, but how our practice influences the way we show up for our communities.

At Himalaya Yoga Valley, this is where our work begins. Inspired by the principle of Seva – selfless service – we see corporate social responsibility as a natural expression of yoga in action. Our commitment to education, community wellbeing, and accessible yoga in Ireland and India grows from a single understanding: when yoga is shared with integrity, it has the power to support both individual transformation and collective healing.

Rooted in Tradition, Connected to Source

The story of Himalaya Yoga Valley begins in Goa, where the Western Ghats meet the sea. Founded on “Honoring the Source,” our organization is built on deep reverence for authentic yoga teachings passed down through generations of Indian masters.

Our Founding Director, Yogacharya Lalit Kumar, studied under legends including Sri K Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar, and Sri Sharath Jois. In 2003, he was initiated into the Himalayan Tradition by Swami Veda Bharti. For over twenty years, Lalit has dedicated himself to sharing these teachings not as commodified wellness practices, but as a complete science of living.

When we honor the source, we acknowledge that yoga belongs to India and its ancestral wisdom keepers. Our teachers – trained through rigorous 200-hour programs – are not merely instructors; they are carriers of a living tradition. They understand that teaching yoga demands ethical conduct, cultural respect, and an unwavering commitment to accessibility and inclusivity.

Every teacher who graduates from Himalaya Yoga Valley carries not just techniques, but a philosophy: yoga exists to help us wake up to our interconnectedness, to recognize that the suffering of others is not separate from our own wellbeing.

Educating Teachers, Transforming Communities

At the heart of our CSR mission is a simple belief: when you train one teacher, you empower entire communities to heal.

Over fifteen years, we have graduated more than 6,000 yoga teachers who now work across the globe – in studios, schools, therapeutic settings, and community centers. But we go further. We actively remove barriers to yoga education, particularly for those historically marginalized.

Empowering Indian Women Through Scholarships: Breaking the Cycle

Here is the paradox that troubles us: yoga was born in India, yet many Indian women cannot access it. Women from wealthy Western countries can easily afford to study with Indian masters and build yoga careers, while Indian women face barriers of poverty and systemic exclusion from these very resources.

At Himalaya Yoga Valley, we refuse to accept this. We offer three fully subsidized 200-hour yoga teacher training places per year to Indian women who lack financial means. These are full scholarships – complete access with zero financial burden.

By investing in Indian women yoga teachers, we ensure yoga education flows back to its source, empowering women to build sustainable careers while deepening yoga’s roots in communities that need it most. Each scholar becomes a beacon of possibility for women in her community, demonstrating that transformation is possible.

Yoga in the Park: When Community Becomes Medicine

On warm summer evenings in Cork, something magical happens. In the city’s green spaces, dozens gather on their mats – experienced practitioners and curious newcomers, children playing, dogs wandering through classes. Boundaries between “official” and “real life” blur.

Every euro raised in those parks goes directly to people in crisis. This is Yoga in the Park – born from a transformative truth: shared purpose creates meaning, and meaning creates resilience.

For over eight years, we have hosted free donation-based yoga classes. Every euro funds two of Cork’s most pressing needs: homelessness and mental health crises.

The Healing Power of Self-Care for Caregivers: The Quiet Revolution

Those who care for vulnerable populations must regulate their own nervous systems, or burnout becomes inevitable. The volunteers at Cork Simon witness trauma daily, carry heavy loads, and do this work not for money but from deep care.

Without support, compassion fatigue sets in. Our free yoga classes offer something rarely provided: a regulated space for nervous system healing. Here, caregivers can:

• Regulate their nervous systems through pranayama techniques
• Release physical tension accumulated through stressful work
• Reconnect with themselves through meditation
• Build community with others doing similar work
• Practice self-compassion

When a volunteer feels their breath slow and their nervous system settle, something shifts neurologically. They remember they deserve care. Taking care of themselves is not a luxury – it’s essential to the sacred work they do.

A Living Lineage, a Sacred Responsibility

When Yogacharya Lalit travels between Ireland and Goa each year, he carries a living lineage passed down from Swami Veda Bharti and the masters of the Himalayan Tradition, back through generations of yogis.

But privilege demands responsibility. We cannot simply teach yoga poses without embodying the deeper teachings – the Yamas and Niyamas (ethical principles), the understanding of interconnectedness, the commitment to non-harm and truthfulness.

Our CSR work is not separate from our business – it is our business. Every decision is guided by yoga’s fundamental principle: we are all connected, and the suffering of others is our suffering too.

Looking Ahead: Our Commitment for the Coming Year

We will continue to expand our Yoga Gives Back programs, exploring partnerships with organizations addressing homelessness, mental health crises, and social inequality.

We will continue investing in our scholarship program for Indian women, ensuring yoga education flows back to its source.

We will continue supporting our teachers with the highest level of training and development.

And most importantly, we will remember why we do this work: true wellbeing is impossible in isolation. We cannot be well while others suffer. We cannot find peace on our mats while ignoring injustice in our communities.

The ancient yogis understood something science now confirms: individual and collective wellbeing are inseparable.

The Practice Continues Beyond the Mat

The transformation yoga offers does not end when we step off our mats. The breath we’ve learned to regulate, the presence we’ve cultivated, the compassion we’ve deepened – these gifts are meant to ripple outward.

At Himalaya Yoga Valley, we invite you to join us in this sacred work. Whether you practice with us, support our fundraising, apply for teacher training, or simply share the vision that yoga belongs to everyone, you become part of a lineage dedicated to healing.

Yoga is for all beings. Not just the wealthy, not just the fit. Yoga is for the person struggling with homelessness, for the volunteer burning out from compassion fatigue, for the young woman in India who dreams of teaching but has no financial path forward.

This is what it truly means to honor the source of yoga – to remember that it was born as a science of liberation, and to live in service of that liberation for all.

Because yoga, at its core, is service in action.

The practice lives on, beyond the mat.