Free work shop on Yoga

A free workshop on Yoga this weekend in Halifax will explore alternative approaches to physical and mental health.

"Right away, Yoga filters out or excludes a lot of people," Dr. Sodhi, a Halifax psychologist and psychotherapist, said Thursday.

"What we want to do is reach those people who would otherwise not be able to attend workshops like this."

For the first workshop, which runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Captain William Spry Centre in Spryfield, Dr. Sodhi has lined up three local experts to talk about the importance of tying together one’s spirit, mind and body with the help of yoga.

Dr. Sodhi’s wife, Satpal Kaur Sodhi, will lead a session on using Kundalini yoga to harmonize your endocrine system.

Dr. Jasmeet Chawla, a kidney specialist at Dalhousie University, will speak on controlling hypertension through yoga and meditation.

Dr. Timothy Walker, a Halifax psychotherapist, will talk about how stress-reduction exercises can integrate the body, mind and spirit by using yoga.

All three Yoga presenters agreed to provide their services free, Dr. Sodhi said.

"It will be very relaxed, very down to earth with simple language, very open," he said of the workshop. "After the three yoga sessions are over, the presenters will be available to answer yoga related questions."

Dr. Sodhi said he is confident that participants will leave the yoga workshop feeling better about themselves and eager to take part in future yoga sessions.

"I firmly believe that in every life there has to be a little bit of mysticism," he said. "Otherwise, what happens is you are automatized, you are caged, you are culturally conditioned, and you miss something that we call fathomlessly strange, the other kind of seeing."

About 20 people have registered for the yoga workshop so far, Dr. Sodhi said. He said any interested adults or teens can just show up at the Spry Centre. All they need to bring is a yoga mat, blanket and pillow. Lunch will be served.

Dr. Sodhi, 73, said the yoga workshop is an opportunity for the Sikh society to give something back to the people of Nova Scotia.