Over the next several years, the Integral Yoga Institute of New York expanded its activities, began training teachers to begin to take over classes from Swami Satchidananda so he could travel and also conduct programs in and around New York, as well as abroad.
In January of 1969, students arranged a lecture for Swamiji at Carnegie Hall. Within a short time of tickets going on sale it was sold out.
“Swami Satchidananda has more than his share of charisma. The Swami is just back from an around-the-world trip that he made with a group of his students. He is giving a lecture at Carnegie Hall on January 31.” —New York Magazine
August 1969: They didn’t know they were creating history as they gathered in Max Yasgur’s cow pasture for the Woodstock Festival-Aquarian Exposition—three days of free music, free food, and free entertainment. Almost all of the most famous contemporary musicians had volunteered to perform at the Festival—for free. The promoters had expected a few thousand people, and as they watched many more than that pouring into the farm for the festivities, they became concerned. Such large numbers gathered in much less than perfect conditions usually made for trouble. Michael Lang, the main festival organizer, was terrified and had to act fast. He began looking for someone to set a peaceful tone to what was quickly becoming a frightening ordeal. Lang called his friend, Peter Max and asked who he thought should open the Festival “I answered without hesitation, ‘My Swami, Swami Satchidananda,’” Max recalls. In a recent interview he noted, “I truly believe that the Swami’s words set the tone for that generational event when he said, ‘Through the music, we can work wonders…The entire world is going to watch this. The entire world is going to know that what the American youth can do to humanity.’”
With his opening of the Woodstock Festival, more and more people came to know about Swamiji. After the Festival, Columbia Records reached out to ask if the Swami would record an album. That album entitled “Swami Satchidananda,” included a kirtan and questions and answers posed by his students who joined him in the studio. That original album became a CD (and digital download) that was renamed: “Swami Satchidananda: The Woodstock Years.”
In December 1969, Swami Satchidananda founded Integral Yoga Magazine, the first magazine in the United States dedicated to Yoga. This magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019 and today publishes weekly as an eMagazine.
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