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When it comes to wellness gurus, few are bigger and better known than Deepak Chopra, a prominent and controversial alternative medicine advocate who wrote the incredibly successful book Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old.
On September 11, Chopra is joining iconic yogi Sarah Platt-Finger to host a giant, free yoga asana session in Bryant Park.
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The communal, once-in-a-lifetime yoga session will start at 5:30pm and will begin with a seated breath work meditation to foster peace and healing, followed by a 40-minute yoga asana session led by Platt-Finger.
"The IIN-Chopra Yoga Certification is a culmination of my life's work,” Deepak Chopra said. “Together with Sarah, we have created a simple, spiritual, and profound practice based on The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga and grounded in the belief that yoga is the perfect prescription for self-realization and freedom from suffering. I am honored to lead and guide the country’s largest free outdoor yoga class, which is part of Bryant Park's summer-long yoga series. This event, held in the heart of New York City, focuses on healing and hope for the city's yoga community."
It's worth noting that Chopra has been a controversial figure for his approach to wellness and his career as an alternative medicine advocate. He's a major part of the New Age movement and believes that we have the capacity to slow down and even reverse aging. Although the scientific community has criticized Chopra for his beliefs in the past, he has amassed a cult following that most notably included the late Michael Jackson.
The appearance by Chopra and Platt-Finger is part of a series called Bryant Park Yoga presented by the fitness brand CALIA, which offers free yoga classes with renowned yoga instructors all summer long. If you want to check them out, they host their free sessions every Tuesday at 10am at the park's Upper Terrace and Wednesdays at 6pm on the lawn. Starting in September, the Wednesday evening classes will begin at 5:30pm, and the series will continue until September 25.