Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration and Workshop

Ganesh Chaturthi is the celebration of the Hindu Lord Ganesha. Ganesha is the elephant headed God, son of Parvati and Shiva. Ganesha is known as 'the remover of obstacles' and is honoured by many yoga practitioners. Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the fourth day of the waxing moon in what in India is known as the month of Bhadrapada.

This year we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi at Mysore Yoga in Arnhem. We celebrate by making offerings to Ganesha and sharing love, blessings and joy with each other. We also celebrate by hosting a chanting workshop. One of the most sacred texts from ancient India is the Ganesha Upanishad. In this Sanskrit text the lord Ganesha is described and honoured. The chanting of this text is not only a good practice in focus and meditation. It is said that chanting the Ganesha Upanishad brings blessings and helps to remove obstacles. We will chant the Ganesha Upanishad together. Step by step in call and response. You don't need to have any chanting experience, beginners are welcome.

Your chanting workshop leader is Maud Gemeke, academically schooled in psychology and psychotherapy, religious studies and western philosophy.  One morning she stepped out of her mind into her body with her bare feet on a yoga mat. Just five minutes into the class she knew that she had just found one of the great loves in her life. It didn’t take long for her to dedicate herself to a daily ‘mysore style’ ashtanga yoga practice. Through yoga she embarked on a journey into the worlds of Ayurveda and different Hindu philosophies and practices. She travelled to Mysore and studied with Sharath Jois and learned to chant the Ganesha Upanishads. Maud is an astrologer, tarot reader and counselor and is owner of www.haktiremedies.com

Maud is offering this workshop for free to help support the shala.

We kindly ask you to make a donation for the workshop and bring an offering for Ganesha. Suitable offerings are: vegetarian (sweet) foods and/or flowers. After the ritual and chanting we will share the foods and celebrate together. The flowers stay in the yoga shala.