In the spirit of President Obama’s United We Serve initiative and the President’s Active Lifestyle Challenge, Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) led the first nationwide Yogathon on Sunday, August 29, 2010 at temples, ashrams, and spiritual centers. HASC, along with many volunteers, mobilized the Hindu faith based organizations to respond to the President’s call-to-service. As part of United We Serve: Let's Read. Let's Move. SEVA Charities have used yoga as a tool to promote physical activity, healthy living and peace of mind.

More than 100 sites – temples, ashrams, spiritual centers - in 23 states held free yoga classes for youth accompanied by adults. Thousands of participants came to the classes held across the nation. Yoga teachers from large organizations like Art of Living, Patanjali Yoga Peeth as well as many renowned independent teachers volunteered to conduct the classes as their way of contributing to the idea of service. Teachers traveled long distances, as needed, to offer their services at the host institutions. Stories of the Yogathon/YogaSeva events will be featured on the HASC website.

The Yogathon introduced youth to yoga as a means to reduce obesity and to promote healthy life style for all – adults and youth - while bridging cultures in an interfaith environment. Our experience with the national Yogathon revealed that there is no need to build bridges between cultures. Simply coming together and in the sharing of ourselves, we realize that we do not inhabit separate shores, but live a land that is itself a bridge. We only map what is already there.

Yoga is the life force of the Hindu philosophy, uniting spirituality with awareness of mind and body. “The essence of Hindu culture is based on yoga,” says Anju Bhargava, co-founder of HASC and a member of President’s Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. “Yoga helps us to get in touch with our selves and what’s healthy for us. Through this event we shared some of our cultural aspects and our community’s insights on health and peace of mind while making it accessible for all Americans. By introducing yoga to children we hope it will help them in acquiring healthy habits at an early age.”

In New Orleans, the 5^th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina coincided with the Yogathon. It was mentioned by those present that they chose to attend the Yogathon as part of their personal observance of this significant date. These individuals saw the connection between healing oneself through yoga and healing one’s community through service.

The overall positive response of both the participants and the host temples, and their enjoyment of the event, is encouraging the community to continue this initiative as YogaSeva (Yoga community service). The hope is to continue to promote healthy living and peace of mind. Many plan to hold yoga classes through the month of September and hope to offer yoga and other health oriented programs on a regular basis.

Anju Bhargava is a co-founder of Hindu American Seva Charities.

It’s time for us to rally around our parks and playgrounds. Every child has the right to a safe, well-maintained, inspiring place to play, and with a little elbow grease and community energy, we can improve our play spaces, strengthen our neighborhoods, and ensure the happiness and health of our children. A simple enhancement project can go a long way.
 

We challenged YOU to get moving this summer and to take the Let’s Read. Let’s Move. Summer Fitness Challenge - it’s not too late to sign up! Why not use the remaining days of sunny weather as an opportunity to challenge yourself and the kids in your life physically?
 

Summer Advantage USA is celebrating a successful summer of activity, encouraging over 3000 children in grades K-8 to replace lazy summer days with:
 

Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter believes in the power of service to address real community needs. “As summer school and many other summer opportunities draw to a close at the end of July, it is more important than ever to leverage volunteers in ways that meet the academic, social and physical needs of our young people straight through to the first day of school,” said Mayor Nutter in the days leading up to the launch of Philadelphia’s first ever summer service challenge.
 

Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia is a part of an international organization dedicated to educating and preparing girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living through running. Girls on the Run offers a curriculum-based youth development program for girls in grades 3-8. The curriculum is delivered in 10-week sessions by trained volunteer coaches and culminates in a celebratory 5K running event.
 

What are you up to this summer? Are you movin’ and shakin’? It’s easy to let the summer heat keep you from playing outside – maybe one of the reasons I took up figure skating was to stay cool in the summer. OK, that might not be 100% true, but having dedicated such a large part of my life to my sport, I know how important physical activity is for your body, mind, and spirit.
 

Summer time is the best time to stay active and get fit - turn lazy summer days into playtime adventures by taking the Let's Read. Let's Move. Summer Fitness Challenge!
 

Work it out, Girl Scouts! Taking a lead from United We Serve: Let’s Read. Let’s Move, a Girl Scout troop from Waldorf, Maryland decided to cartwheel their way to better health and literacy. Brownie Troop 6202 joined forces with the Charles County Public Library, holding their first annual “Cartwheel-a-thon for a Cause” last month at White Plains Regional Park in White Plains, Maryland.
 

The new Let's Move! website is live and has some great tools to help you get healthier and more active this summer. Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama sent an email that announces some of the new features for the LetsMove.gov website.
 

One year ago, First Lady Michelle Obama volunteered at one of our KaBOOM!-led builds at Bret Harte Elementary School in San Francisco. For six hours, she joined California First Lady Maria Shriver and 329 members of Shriver’s CaliforniaVolunteers, as well as volunteers from the Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service National Conference on Volunteering & Service. Together, they transformed the school’s vacant play lot into an intergenerational playground and garden.
 

Summer is a great opportunity for communities to address two of the challenges facing kids nationwide when school lets out: unhealthy eating habits and the summer reading gap. That’s why First Lady Michelle Obama has launched the Administration-wide Let’s Read. Let’s Move. initiative to combat childhood obesity and summer reading loss by encouraging youth to read and participate in physical activity, as well as providing access to healthy food. As part of that initiative, I joined a group of students today in upper Manhattan who are leading the charge against childhood obesity. They are the Mighty Milers of PS 128 and they have collectively run over 42,000 miles this year!
 

Both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of the Interior are partners in helping kids exercise this summer. Youth need 60 minutes of active play time each day. Through the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS), Let's Read. Let's Move. will get more youth physically active. HHS hopes that thousands of young people across the country will take part in the President’s Active Lifestyle program and log their activity online. Toolkits provide parents, educators and groups information on ways to participate in the President's Challenge and the program’s rules.
 

The best part about volunteering for Saturday Academy is, of course, the kids. Dragging myself out of bed at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning seems like a chore, until I arrive at 930 a.m. and hear the team leaders describe the activities for the day: indoor kickball, human knots and the favorite old stand-by of kid science projects everywhere: the baking soda and vinegar volcano. Then the kids show up, and the BIG fun starts! My favorite station, to my own surprise –I’ve gotten a bit soft these last few years – is Strong Body. A great problem with childhood obesity exists in Anchorage, so much so that city officials called a town meeting to address the problem. I find great satisfaction in believing that through our program, kids can have the hope of a healthy body in the future. Greg and Dan really work us, and we can't expect the kids to do something we ourselves won't do! So, as I crab-walk, jog, monkey crawl and side-step around the gym, huffing and puffing and sweating, a sense of joy comes over me, knowing that me looking and feeling a bit silly serves a greater purpose.