AUBURN - The lights in the Auburn Public Theater were turned down low, world music pulsed softly in the background, and instructor Luc Watelet quietly coached the people spread across the floor.
Glenn Gaston / The Citizen
From left, Maralee Hare, Luc Watelet and Bonita Shear lead a group in meditation and prayer at the Auburn Public Theater Thursday night.
From left, Maralee Hare, Luc Watelet and Bonita Shear lead a group in meditation and prayer at the Auburn Public Theater Thursday night.
“Think of the energy inside you as a form of weather,” he half-whispered. “Remember, some form of struggle is necessary to achieve completeness.”
Watelet, a yoga instructor from Rochester, was here along with 35 others to celebrate the International Day of Peace, held every year on Sept. 21, by conducting a group meditation in the theater.
“We're welcoming everyone here tonight to celebrate peace,” said Bonita Shear, a yoga instructor from Skaneateles, who helped organize the event.
According to the International Day of Peace website, www.internationaldayofpeace.org, in 1981 the United Nations decreed that one day of each year be set aside to “promote the ideals of peace and.... give positive evidence of people's commitment to peace in all viable ways.”
In 2002, to mark the 20th anniversary of the holiday, the U.N. declared that Sept. 21 be the permanent International Day of Peace.
The event's participants practiced the Kundalini form of yoga and meditation, Shear said.The Kundalini has been around for centuries, but has previously been practiced only by nobility and the very rich, she continued.
“Kundalini was brought (to the U.S.) by Yogi Bhajan in 1969,” she said.
An immigrant from India, Bhajan began spreading his teachings of the ancient art, which combines meditation, prayer, physical practices, and breathing exercises, Shear said.
“Kundalini yoga is very special, because it works on energy,” Watelet said.
The owner of a studio/food store in Rochester, Watelet has been teaching yoga since 1996, he said.
Along with Shear, who teaches classes at Stella Maris Retreat Center in Skaneateles, the affair was organized by Maralee Hare, an instructor who teaches Kundalini yoga at her studio, Floors & Walls, at 152 State St. in Auburn.
One of the participants was Lori Bertonica, from Auburn, who said that after a friend told her about the Day of Peace, she thought she'd give the meditation a try.
“I haven't done (meditation) in a while, so it might be a change for me,” she said.
For more information on the International Day of Peace, visit www.internationaldayofpeace.org.
Watelet, a yoga instructor from Rochester, was here along with 35 others to celebrate the International Day of Peace, held every year on Sept. 21, by conducting a group meditation in the theater.
“We're welcoming everyone here tonight to celebrate peace,” said Bonita Shear, a yoga instructor from Skaneateles, who helped organize the event.
According to the International Day of Peace website, www.internationaldayofpeace.org, in 1981 the United Nations decreed that one day of each year be set aside to “promote the ideals of peace and.... give positive evidence of people's commitment to peace in all viable ways.”
In 2002, to mark the 20th anniversary of the holiday, the U.N. declared that Sept. 21 be the permanent International Day of Peace.
The event's participants practiced the Kundalini form of yoga and meditation, Shear said.The Kundalini has been around for centuries, but has previously been practiced only by nobility and the very rich, she continued.
“Kundalini was brought (to the U.S.) by Yogi Bhajan in 1969,” she said.
An immigrant from India, Bhajan began spreading his teachings of the ancient art, which combines meditation, prayer, physical practices, and breathing exercises, Shear said.
“Kundalini yoga is very special, because it works on energy,” Watelet said.
The owner of a studio/food store in Rochester, Watelet has been teaching yoga since 1996, he said.
Along with Shear, who teaches classes at Stella Maris Retreat Center in Skaneateles, the affair was organized by Maralee Hare, an instructor who teaches Kundalini yoga at her studio, Floors & Walls, at 152 State St. in Auburn.
One of the participants was Lori Bertonica, from Auburn, who said that after a friend told her about the Day of Peace, she thought she'd give the meditation a try.
“I haven't done (meditation) in a while, so it might be a change for me,” she said.
For more information on the International Day of Peace, visit www.internationaldayofpeace.org.
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