By Khalida Sarwari
Yoga is known to be a pretty expensive form of exercise, but one community organization in Saratoga is offering free classes.
The Saratoga Hindu Temple and Community Center also offers meditation and a host of language and religion classes. The classes are taught by people in the community “who have a passion,” founding director Rishi Kumar said.
Since the temple rolled out the weekly classes in May, nearly 150 people have signed up, according to Kumar. While the temple’s intention is to provide educational and community programs for the sizable Indian-American population residing in the West Valley area, the classes are open to everyone, Kumar said.
Interested in learning breathing exercises for de-stressing? Try the pranayama class. Want to watch Bollywood films without subtitles? Sit in on a Hindi class or two.
The program even offers Sanskrit, and a few classes delve into exploring ancient texts, such as the Bhagavad Gita.
The one catch is that the temple doesn’t have a physical venue–yet. The goal is to find a space to rent next year and a permanent home within the next decade, said Kumar. For now, a regular class can take place anywhere from an instructor’s home to a local park or the Saratoga Library.
Visit saratogatemple.org/education for a complete list of classes. The temple will hold an open house to showcase its programs on Aug. 25.
