Laserfiche WebLink
Subject: IMP: Int'I Yoga Day Proclamation Request for Tues. 7/1, 5:30 p.m. Santa Ana city council meeting! <br /> To: <aulmer@santa-ana.org>, <pbacerra@santa-ana.org> <br /> Hello Hon. Councilmember Phil Bacerra, Exec. Asst. Anna Ulmer, and all honorable Santa Ana city councilmembers and <br /> Mayor Valerie Amezcua, <br /> Hope you're all doing well. Councilmember Phil Bacerra, it was my absolute pleasure to meet and speak with you once <br /> again this past Saturday at the Filipino Independence Day celebration at IVC; our pictures are attached below for your <br /> reference. <br /> This is my personal, cordial invitation to you, honorable mayor, and all council members from me,Aarti Kaushal Chopra, <br /> and my organization "Be Sanskriti Legacy'. You may know that June 21st has been designated by India and the UN as <br /> International Day of Yoga for the past 11 years, which also falls on the first day of summer and the equinox. Hundreds of <br /> millions of people practice ancient Indian yoga around the world and also thousands right here in the beautiful city of <br /> Santa Ana, especially at the Delhi Center(which has regularly held weekly Indian Bollywood classes since 2020!) and <br /> other community centers; these yoga offerings have yielded countless, invaluable physical and mental health benefits <br /> for all those practicing traditional Indian yoga. <br /> I'm a long time Indian American community leader who proudly speaks fluent Spanish, Hindi, and Punjabi, spent 10 <br /> years as a special ed teacher in wonderful Santa Ana Unified School District(1998-2007), a well-known mental health <br /> advocate, a proud new member of the OCHCC (my podcast interview comes up on Wed. 7/9/25 from 12-1 PM), and a <br /> practitioner and promoter of all things traditional Indian and multi-cultural. With this vast experience, I'm happy <br /> to request Santa Ana city council to agendize an item on the Tues July 1st city council meeting at 5:30 p.m. for <br /> presenting the Santa Ana community with an International Day of Yoga proclamation;this can even be preemptively <br /> issued this month itself dated on June 21, 2025. <br /> My organization Be Sanskriti Legacy and many traditional yoga organizations would humbly receive this proclamation on <br /> behalf of this beautiful city's Indian diaspora residents, Santa Ana's residents, and many spiritual and international <br /> humanitarian leaders. The other global organizations represented that I have close connections with and who would <br /> also be represented at this proclamation presentation would be Isha Foundation founded by Sadhguru, and Art of Living <br /> founded by Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Both are extremely popular global spiritual visionaries, international humanitarian <br /> and peace leaders. I frequently visit and volunteer regularly at both of their LA Centers (in Canoga Park and Downtown <br /> LA/USC, respectively), and have attended many of both of their yoga, meditation, and conscious breathing programs. In <br /> fact, I just saw and met Sadhguru at his new"Death" book release event with over 3000+ people in attendance at the <br /> Dolby Theater, Hollywood this past Tuesday(photo below). <br /> I'm pleased to share that my city of Irvine (with one of the largest Indian diasporas in the entire nation!), under the <br /> initiative and vision of yoga-practicing Councilmember William Go, has already issued this same Int'I Day Of Yoga <br /> proclamation dated June 21, 2025, which will be presented this coming Tuesday June 24th at the Irvine City Council <br /> meeting. I'm also thrilled to share that the city of Redlands has already issued this proclamation; I am attaching the <br /> wording below approved by yoga advocacy organizations for your reference. I'll be happy to work on finalizing the <br /> appropriate city of Santa Ana yoga proclamation wording with you as well. <br /> Finally, my organization is planning a yoga event in Santa Ana on the beautiful patio of Royal Khyber restaurant, owned <br /> by my long-time uncle and aunt Arun and Urmil Puri, right across from South Coast Plaza next to Antonello's. The <br /> current dates and times available would be from 5:30-8:30 PM on either: <br /> Sunday,July 13 <br /> or <br /> Thursday,July 17th (preferred date to allow enough time for event promotion, as it's 4 weeks from today) <br /> 2 <br />