One Brooklyn
September 25, 2014
BROOKLYN, NY, September 25, 2014: Yesterday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams held a massive yoga and spiritual wellness gathering at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza with leading experts in the fields of yoga and meditation, including Andrew Belcher, founder of MassBliss. As part of National Yoga Month, Borough President Adams promoted the importance of yoga and meditation, as well as personal and spiritual growth.
“I recently picked up yoga and meditation and I cannot tell you have much of a difference they have made in dealing with the complexities of how artificial, metal, and concrete our society has become,” said Borough President Adams. “We have moved away from the meadows, the trees, and the natural aspects of the world and have lost our identity along the way. Meditation gives us the opportunity to come back to nature and find the driving purpose that we live for. I’m opening up Borough Hall to the public through this event as a way to reinvigorate ourselves because I want to invest in the wellness of Brooklyn. I don’t want to build buildings, I want to build people, and yoga and meditation are a great way to do this.”
“Meditation and yoga are about the mind, body, and soul, and so we’re working to connect people to all three,” said Deputy Borough President Diana Reyna. “This event is not about teaching yoga to one person; it’s about teaching yoga to the masses.”
“Yoga is the quieting of the mind from where we can see our true selves more clearly; that’s the excitement of self-awareness,” said Andrew Belcher, founder of MassBliss, who lead the event’s yoga activities. “We’re promoting self-awareness and present-moment awareness.”
The festivities also included an outdoor Zumba class and information tables from community partners promoting physical and mental wellness. Borough President Adams hopes to replicate this yoga event and other spiritual wellness programs in public spaces throughout the borough.
Additional featured partners and sponsors of the event included the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA, Bikram Yoga Park Slope, CAMBA, Emblem Health, the Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition, Haitian-American Community Coalition, and Yoga Works.
PHOTOS
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams discusses the importance of meditation and spiritual self-awareness during a press conference for National Yoga Month on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall; he is joined by (from left to right) Andrew Belcher, founder of MassBliss, Deputy Borough President Diana Reyna, Stephen Beasley of CAMBA, Henry Fuljens of the Haitian-American Community Coalition, Sonia Atherly of the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMC, and Roodolph Senecal of Bikram Yoga Park Slope.
Photo Credit: Kathryn Kirk/BP’s Office
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams meditates with Brooklynites on Borough Hall Plaza during a free meditation and yoga event hosted by his office as a part of National Yoga Month.
Photo Credit: Kathryn Kirk/BP’s Office
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