PM Modi and Annelies Richmond lead Yoga Day session at UN HQ: Who is the New York ballerina-turned-yogini?

It was undoubtedly a moment to watch. Hundreds descended upon the North Lawn of the headquarters of the United Nations in New York to twist and bend into various asanas to celebrate the ninth International Day of Yoga. And leading delegates, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in New York on Tuesday night. Ahead of his ‘special class’, Modi shared a video message, saying that India has always nurtured traditions that unite, adopt and embrace and made a fervent appeal to eliminate contradictions, hurdles and resistances through yoga. “We have to eliminate our contradictions, blockages and resistances through Yoga. We have to present the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ as an example to the world,” the PM said. Accompanying Modi in this special yoga session that India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj called a “unique occasion” was New York City professional ballerina Annelies Richmond. The 47-year-old ballerina, who is also a yoga trainer and a faculty member at several prestigious universities in the United States, Richmond led the yoga session for 25 minutes at the outdoor area of the UN Headquarters, reported The Indian Express. “I will be heading a group of six American children – in the age group of 8-12 years – who have been practising ‘asanas’,” she was quoted as telling the newspaper, “It is a great honour for me to be leading the yoga session for PM Modi.” When asked how she was approached for the big-ticket event, she told The Indian Express that the opportunity came to her through Indian representatives at the UN, through her local teacher in New York City. But who exactly is Annelies Richmond? What are her yoga credentials? Ballerina-turned-yogi Annelies Richmond has spent 15 years in New York City as a professional ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera. Her first brush with yoga came when she was just 18 and at the time she wasn’t a fan of it, believing it to be just stretching. However, five years later, when she turned 23, she came into contact with yoga through Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living (AOL) once again and it was then that the love story began. Richmond says that initially the yoga asanas helped in her physical healing, from her injuries and stiffness. [caption id=“attachment_12769582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Annelies Richmond as a ballerina working at the Metropolitan Opera. Richmond enjoyed a career in the classical dance form for 15 years. Image Courtesy: @anneliesrichmond/Instagram[/caption] Suffering from nervousness before hitting the dance stage, she realised that pranayama and sudarshan kriya – breathing practices – helped her and made her calmer and more centred. Moved by the benefits of yoga, she then founded the SKY Campus Happiness Program, which is a well-being programme for university students. The program is utilised by students in over 100 universities across America. Richmond also serves as a faculty member at the University of Southern Maine, and conducts lectures at top-tier institutes such as Yale University, MIT, UPENN, and Columbia University. According to a report published by The Quint, she has also taught youngsters at correctional facilities across the country.

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Richmond, India and AOL Richmond’s yoga connection is through Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living and she attributes her love for the ancient Indian practice to the centre. In 2006, Richmond travelled to Bengaluru to the AOL campus to learn yoga and since then she has enjoyed an Indian connect. She has travelled to the country on several occasions and has praised the country and yoga for her outlook to life. [caption id=“attachment_12769702” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Annelies Richmond’s love for yoga comes from her contact with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living. She said that yoga, especially pranayama and sudarshan kriya changed her life. Image Courtesy: @anneliesrichmond/Instagram[/caption] In one of her blog posts, she writes about yoga, “My first experience with Art of Living and the teachings of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar completely blew me away. I started noticing the trees when I would walk to the subway. I started feeling happier at work. Anything bothersome that would happen would just roll off my back, as long as I was practicing the techniques I’d learned. But the most astounding thing for me, and for my career, was that after I started practicing meditation daily, the nervousness just disappeared. Performance felt natural and normal, like I was in my living room. I remember walking on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in front of four thousand people and not feeling nervous at all.” She adds it was this feeling that led her to begin teaching for Art of Living, and learning about how confidence and compassion are intertwined. Today, Richmond has the honour of having trained over 1,200 certified meditation instructors across five countries as the director of Teacher Training for Art of Living-USA. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.