In New York City there is a center for Ananda Marga meditation yoga--the only such center in the United States. Around the world there are nine other centers. Ananda Marga is a holistic lifestyle approach to wellbeing that began in 1955 in India. It includes meditation, yoga, dance, diet, and spirituality in order to bring health and wellbeing to practitioners.
Aspects of Ananda Marga Meditation Yoga

Ananda Marga was developed by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar as not only a series of yoga poses, but an entire way of life. Ananda Marga includes a series of 42 yoga asanas that are meant to be practiced once, or preferably twice, a day. Paired with several other elements of wellbeing, these asanas can greatly contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

The important elements of the Ananda Marga lifestyle extend far beyond the yoga practice to include community service and education. This particular style and school of yoga is non-commercial and as stated above, places to practice and learn this philosophy are highly limited, but this school of yoga is extremely popular among its practitioners.

The essence of Ananda Marga lies in the use of tantra within a yoga philosophy and lifestyle. The word tantra, when broken down into the two words that make it up, 'tan' and 'tra', means the expansion and the liberation. These roots refer to the fact that tantra is designed to liberate the mind by expanding it; only by expanding the mind can one become truly liberated from one's physical self and the physical world.

The practice of Ananda Marga yoga and meditation is designed to become part of a complete lifestyle. When following a course in either yoga or meditation of the Ananda Marga style, one of the goals of the instructor will undoubtedly be to encourage the students to practice the techniques, asanas, and philosophy of Ananda Marga on a daily basis. By making the practices part of one's daily lifestyle, the power to liberate one's mind can arise.

Beyond the Self

One of the goals of Ananda Marga meditation and yoga is to bring the students and practitioners into a new lifestyle in which they help the general community. In this way, Ananda Marga has the power not only to enrich your own life, but also to enrich the lives of those around you by you helping them, which can further enhance your life. This circle is a key component of the philosophy.

Studying and Practicing Ananda Marga

Ananda Marga meditation yoga is taught and practiced in one main studio in North America in particular, in New York City. However, there are two additional centers in Canada: Quebec and Toronto. These local centers host Ananda Marga events periodically; the frequency of such events depends on the size of the center and the amount of people in the region who stay up to date with this group and philosophy of lifestyle. More details about the New York chapter can be found online on its general website. For those outside New York City, the Ananda Marga Foundation maintains a website where local studios can be found that offer either classes on a regular basis or sporadic workshops.

In the most active of yoga schools that teach Ananda Marga classes and philosophy, weekly or bi-weekly Ananda Marga classes exist. If the local studio where you learn this particular philosophy of yoga does not have classes often enough, simply take up a home practice. Since Ananda Marga is an entire philosophy and lifestyle, creating a home practice can be the best way of practicing this type of yoga of all.

Once you have learned the basics of the Ananda Marga asanas, and how to incorporate pranayama and other elements into your practice in order to complete the spiritual practice, it is within the tradition of style to use the newly liberated mind to help the community. For yoga students looking for a yoga practice that transcends physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits for oneself, this type of holistic yoga practice is a viable choice.