WEBZINE ACC

Learning about culture of a different country

What would come up in the mind of people all over the world when asked what they know about Korea these days? Probably Korean culture, especially K-Pop, bands like BTS, and fandom culture, will cross many of their minds. “Do you know kimchi?” now became a humorous phrase, which makes us think about how Korean food culture has spread and evolved. Now, a lot of people are interested in Korean food culture and, especially, its diverse recipes, departing from the past when it was busy just to make people know what kimchi is.

As Korean drama series got popular, Korean games and snacks like dalgona became a worldwide phenomenon, and even some people started to show interest in beauty of hanbok apparel and different styles of traditional Korean hats that tell the class of a wearer by watching Korean historical dramas. It took a long time for the world to recognize Korean culture, along with many difficulties and hard work. However, it’s still an ongoing process done by different agencies while some try to depreciate and damage unique culture of Korea.

That is because culture has huge influence, taking persistent dedication and sacrifices for it to stand firm. In celebration of the International Day of Yoga, the ACC held the ACC Yoga Festival on Jun. 24 to reflect on how yoga has taken its place all around the world. Yoga is something which always comes across our minds when we think of India. The ACC Yoga Festival delves into the charm of yoga that made it so internationally popular and an undeniably important part of the Indian culture.

Time to enjoy relaxation in the city

The festival started in the morning along with many events including flea market from Munhori River Market. Munhori River Market is a flea market in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do where you can have special experiences created by artists and farmers. Munhori River Market was selling diverse products from healthy food to the clothes the sellers designed, and other organizations, including the Gwangju Tourism Organization, Gwangju Dong-gu Office, and Korean Red Cross, celebrated the day by holding events and operating booths.

The Indian culture booth run by the Indian Culture Centre garnered considerable attention at the festival since the festival was held in commemoration of the International Day of Yoga and the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and India. The booth had an event where one can learn how to write down their name in Hindi. The government of India estimated that there are 29 languages that are used by more than 1 million speakers and 121 languages used by more than 10,000 speakers. Hindi has the biggest number of speakers among the Indian population.

There was also an event to experience the relaxation yoga could give along with the events to learn the culture of India. To have time to relax is important more than anything for people today who live a hectic life in a rush. The tea and meditation class by Jeju Chuidasun Resort Tea & Meditation focused on mental relaxation as well as physical relaxation through yoga. The class gave guided meditation to calmly learn oneself while drinking tea and concentrating on the taste and smell of tea through the tongue and nose.

While the class was open for only 30 participants, the afternoon meditation event with ambient music at the main stage was an event to genuinely experience the relaxation and stress relief only yoga can give. In India, yoga is a meditation practice to harmonize mind and spirit, more than just learning the poses. It's more about a discipline of learning oneself to reach unity in one’s existence. It was very moving to witness about 300 people doing this meditative practice together at one place.

A journey to relaxation through yoga

What yogi (yoga practitioners) were truly anticipating more than anything despite other intriguing events and programs, would be an event to practice traditional yoga, Vinyasa yoga, and Inside Flow. A total of 300 participants who had signed up for the event in advance sat down at the ACC square and practiced yoga together. It was a large scale event at the huge ACC square located lower than the ground floor, detached from the distracting noises of the city, making it even more fitting to relax oneself.

Yoga I experienced on that day was about a journey to reach the state of mind suitable for a different circumstance of each individual. The event was run by the Indian Culture Centre at the square, distanced from noises of the city. The participants practiced a tree pose, camel pose, cobra pose, plow pose, grasshopper pose, and other poses with names from the elements in nature and accomplished each of them as far as one could. They found the relaxation their own body and mind needed naturally.

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, as he appealed for the International Yoga Day in 2014 at the United Nations General Assembly, said, “Yoga embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.”

To accomplish one pose in yoga does not mean to make a perfect pose but to make a journey as far as one can go. Yoga poses may seem static outside; however, it is a continuous movement of a practitioner to get closer to the goal in one’s own way. Yoga can be as diverse as the languages and gods in India and has no single “right” answer. The reason diverse population across the world have been mesmerized by yoga may lie in its aim to reach unification by accomplishing the unity of existence while recognizing the differences of each existence.

The participants of the ACC Yoga Festival were the ones who actively pursued their own definition of health and happiness more than anyone by finding relaxation in the middle of a city in their own way through yoga, since yoga is “a holistic approach to health and well-being” according to the Prime Minister Modi. Yoga and meditation are the process that shows no dramatic movements but involves constant efforts not to lose control of one’s body and mind in order to complete something beyond. I hope people found the true relaxation they needed at the ACC Yoga Festival.