Chandigarh : Over 3,000 people from 300 villages in districts like Ludhiana, Ropar, Patiala, and Mohali participated on day 1 of a 3-day yoga camp, organized by the Roundglass Foundation to celebrate International Yoga Day 2025 and to promote this 5,000-year-old wellness
practice among village communities. This initiative is part of the Foundation’s Yoga Program, an on-the-ground program active in 172 villages and transforming the health of more than 4,000 women and children. The Yoga Program is focused on
engaging, training and then appointing local women as yoga teachers, or Yoga Changemakers, who teach and promote yoga among the women in their community, enabling their physical, mental, and emotional health. Simran Kaur, a Yoga Changemaker from Fatehpur village, personifies the program’s positive outcomes for rural women. Her journey from a homemaker to being unanimously elected as the Sarpanch of her village in 2024 began with yoga. “It has transformed me as a person, given meconfidence, financial agency and respect from my family and community,” says Simran, 25. Each Yoga Changemaker conducts classes five days a week for groups of 20-30 women and children in easy-to-access and safe public spaces like gurudwaras and temple halls. Roundglass Foundation’s Yoga Program also addressesthe long-standing gap between urban and rural access to wellness practices. While yoga has seen exponential growth in India’s cities—shaped by premium studios and celebrity gurus—rural India has often remained disconnected from the immense benefits of this practice. Roundglass Foundation is filling this gap by training rural women as yoga teachers who are integrating the practice into the everyday rhythm of rural life, enabling the physical and mental health of the community. Reena Rani, 32, from Kotala village, has been attending yoga classes for the past year and has experienced its benefits. “Daily meditation for 10 minutes, along with pranayama and poses like shavasana, has helped me feel calmer and mentally rejuvenated.” “The Yoga Changemakers are not only at the heart of our program but are also transforming their own lives through personal growth, financial independence, and social equality,” says Vishal Chowla, Leader, Roundglass Foundation. “They are equipping their communities with the tools and mindset for long-term wellbeing.”
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