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Summer Solstice – The Yogis of Times Square

Photos: Times Square Alliance/Hiram Duran

New York is the city for reinvention, for doing old things in new places, unexpected things in unexpected places and so here was I, right in the middle of Times Square with about a million other unknown people standing and doing surya namaskar in the middle of traffic – honking cars, buses and an unending tidal wave of pedestrians.

The event was Summer Solstice – a day of yoga in Times Square, a popular annual feature organized by the Times Square Alliance for 20 years which had been shelved due to the pandemic. Now it was back with over 400,000 people streaming into Times Square, many participating and others watching. “In the 20 years since this event began, both New York and the world at large have been through several cycles of darkness and light,” said Tim Tompkins, Solstice in Times Square Co-founder. “Let us peacefully celebrate light and love through the solstice ritual on what is, in this part of the planet, the brightest day of year.”

Yoga – Summer Solstice

It’s an experience which I’ve had once before and I wanted to enjoy it again with the sunshine pouring down on the canyons of Times Square. The world’s most frenetic, bustling place and yet people were standing so calmly in the midst of mayhem  and reaching out to their inner selves. And so there was I, by no means a Yogi or an  expert, trying my amateur yoga moves. Most people followed the expert instructors in the seven free classes for hundreds and seemed to know what they were doing. It was fun to be there with complete strangers,  each trying to become a better person in the course of that day. And get the gift of a beautiful free yoga mat!

This may have been Summer Solstice, the longest day in summer, but it also marked The 8^th International Day of Yoga (IDY) which is always celebrated in a big way by India. This year this celebration was part of  Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav – 75 years of India’s independence. The Consul General of India, Randhir Jaiswal, was right at Times Square  highlighting the continued popularity of yoga and its physical and spiritual benefits. Spiritual Guru Swami Avdheshanand emphasized this year’s theme – Yoga for Humanity – by discussing yoga’s contributions to the world.  The lead Yoga session was conducted by Ruchika Lal of the Art of  Living Foundation.

The Indian Consulate also introduced the American public to a rich array of holistic health and wellness products from India including organic turmeric, ginger, cardamom tea and even millet pasta. Also from Sikkim were products like ginger flakes and organic turmeric. A fun sidebar to  the day was the  Yoga Village where those who had registered for the  yoga and meditation classes were were invited to try out new products and take them home.

Throughout the day were seven yoga sessions preceded by meditation talks by experts, organized by The Times Square Alliance. As I sat on the mat, surrounded by hundreds of American yogis – grandpas, working women, young kids –  it was an eerie feeling to be in the middle of the material world with signs flashing promos about wealth, possessions and entertainment – and think about the self and the real material wealth – inner peace and happiness.

As Amanda Huggins, who spoke to the yogis-for-a-day about meditation,  noted she had been practicing and studying yoga for 20 years. ” I just can’t believe I’m here right now. So just take a look around and just appreciate how cool it is to be here right now practicing yoga all together!  Look at all the people around you  – yoga is bringing us together. The sun is uniting us here. Everything  is possible if we are aligned with the flow of nature.  Summer is about growth, it’s about transformation. We’re just going to move and honor the sun and honor this yoga practice which is International Yoga Day today, where we use the tools to really cope with life and be happier and healthier human beings.”