Fufill your dreams

This is an event with synchronicity writ large on it.
Where does it begin? I attended the get together of my Andhra University college of engineering batch (1968) at Vishakhpatnam on 17 November 2012.  I did a short event for my friends during this event. Sri B. Surya Chandra Rao is one of my old friends I lost touch with and reconnected again, thanks to this get together.Sri B. Surya Chandra Rao is making a huge difference in rural Andhra Pradesh by propagating alternate medicine, with special emphasis on Homeopathy. He is also a practitioner of Spirituality and he started a conversation based on this common thread. To cut a long story short, he sent me a mail on 25 January 2013 asking me whether I could do a workshop for an Engineering college near Rajahmundry. It turns out that  I was passing through Rajahmundry on 31st January to attend the 100th Birth Anniversary celebration of my father in our village. It appeared that 31st January does not suit the college and 1 Feb was suitable. However, I could not get suitable travel arrangements for 1 Feb. The only time that was possible on this trip was to do it some between 2:30PM to 5PM on my way back and it happened just so, thanks to Sri B. Surya Chandra Rao, the Principal and the Mnagmnet of BVC College of Engineering. That is synchronicity, isn't it?

I had to do several hours of preparation fr this talk. The first point was that, even though it is called a talk, I wanted the students to have an experiential and interactive event. Not easy when you expect more than 160 people ion the event. I settled down the title of "Fulfil your dreams" more as a title that would interest the students. Having selected that, I need to fulfill the expectations and be in integrity with the title of the talk. The issue was made a little more complex because I was  more used to PG students, with prominently urban percentage. The message I came up with was fairly simple but very interesting. You need clarity of your dream and you need to develop your inner resources to fulfill the dreams. The inner sources are your body(health), mind and spirit. My analogy was to compare it to the seed (dream or vision) , the soil, water and sun shine. I think it went very well and I really enjoyed it. Actually, this event is also fulfillment of my dream. 
A word about the college. The campus, buildings,  facilities and the seminar hall  - all of them pleasantly surprised me. The students were fabulous. I liked their participation and their cooperation - it is not easy to do a a great meditation session for 16o people in hall and it is the first time for most of them.
After the event, we had some fruits in the Principal's room. A refreshing change from the samosas and sandwiches that are normally served. Then, I had a brief but inspiring visit to the clinic of Sri B. Surya Chandra Rao and caught the train to Bangalore.
All in all, an unforgettable day for which I am gratful.

Pranayama for intenrational student group

The beginning of this workshop happened a couple of years ago when I met this wonderful young couple Bade and Satheesh. Bade is Turkish and Satheesh is Indian and their views , approach to education and openness struck me as extraordinary. They attained one of my pranayama workshops and we met a couple of times, though very briefly , after that. I was delighted to receive a mail form Bade in the end of December 2012. The mail was an invitation to share pranayam with a group of international students that they were bringing to Auroville for 4 day learning experience. We could work out the dates  that wee mutually convenient and I had the wonderful opportunity to conduct two sessions of pranayama for the group.

The constitution of the group is very interesting - eight students form Turkey, 4 form Delhi and 4 from the village of Ediyancahavadi, next to Auroville. Bade and Sateesh volunteered at Tamarai educational center when they were in Auroville and the connection with the youth of  Ediyanchavdi is rooted in this earlier work of theirs. The students form the village were not attending the paranayama sessions as they were not residing at the Mango Hill Resort. The report is a beautiful set of esthetically designed, eco-friendly structures, very close to Auroville. The space for the sessions was excellent and eminently sited to pranayama as you can see form the pictures. It was rather cold in the early mornings and even the Delhi-ites were warmly clad to ward off  the chill. The mornings were misty, with the sun streaming through the trees and mist and I enjoyed the drive to venue on both the days.

I enjoyed working with this group even more. They are a group of  teen aged youngsters, a bit upset to be shaken out of bed at an ungodly hour to attend sessions on something they could not even pronounce, let alone have a sens of. But the power of pranayama slowly but surely engulfed them and entered into their being. It was a joy for me to be part of this group and participate in this wonderful program. Some of them told me that they look forward to the next session.
We had a marvelous session for the small group on the next day and it was great to have breakfast with Bade, Sateesh, Ms. Aslan, the teacher in charge of the group from Turkey and Ms. Indira the teacher in charge of the group from Delhi.
I was very happy to receive the lovely gift of Sateesh's recent book "Leading without License' . 
This post must include something about the wonderful person, Mr. Mani.  He is a gentle person, whose professionalism and values command respect from anyone who interacts with him. An elderly but energetic, the proud owner-driver of an Indigo car he hires to earn his living. The unforgettable incident for me was that he was to pick me up at 6AM for 15 minute ride to the venue. He reported ta my place of residence at 5:30AM and his car was cloned that morning, he had bath and did his puja (prayers) for himself and the car! I was stunned to with the glimpse of the value system behind this incident and bowed my head in respect and admiration! I was fortunate to chat with him for few minutes and get to know him a little.
An unexpected bonus of the event - Ms. Aslan invited me to do a workshop for the teachers in her school in Turkey, when I will be in Europe during the summer. I never visited Turkey and look forward to my visit and the event.

Well Being Workshop

 This is the 52nd Pranayama workshop in Auroville. When I was walking to Savitri Bhavan on the first day, I wondered what the workshop holds for us. Auroville is very beautiful at this time of the year, very green even though we did not have much rain this year. The mornings are misty, crisp and cool and the rising sun is a spectacular sight. You see a huge orange ball that slowly changes it color to brilliant while light and seems to shrink in size as it changes color. The Statue of Sri Aurobindo is in Savitri Bhavan is west facing and when I stand in front of it, the rising sun creates an ethereal experience and it is great way to start the day.
We had more participants than any other workshop in Savitri Bhavan, making it the largest ever and we felt constrained for space. We could shift to the ‘L shaped’ inner lobby that can easily hold a larger group. New space always makes the experience interesting and this is a wonderful space. I wondered why I was not using this right from the beginning!
It is wonderful to have a large group and I was fortunate to connect with many of the participants. Martin and Danny form UK is one such delightful connection and it was a pleasure meeting them and start getting to know them. Hamish and Fif form Canada were in a workshop last year and it was wonderful to meet them again and now they are here as new comers! Helen, who was in a workshop a year ago , was participating again and this is very special for me as we work in the same office. There are the regulars – Gido, Margrit, John, Vardharajan and Syamala. Their presence is a source of strength and constant encouragement for me.
One of the practices is that is working well is the sharing by people who have been practicing. It is having many positive aspects. It inspires the new participants to give the practice a good try. This by itself is very valuable because the benefits manifest in practice. No practice = no power of Pranayama. When people share, their benefits become more real for them and enhance the self-motivation in regular practice. I have my own agenda. When people share the benefits, it is not only music to my ears; it also gives me a sense of fulfillment in my mission. Finally, it somehow makes the atmosphere of the workshop more alive with positive energy.

One of the questions some people ask me is “How can you keep doing the same workshop again and again?” I used to find it difficult to convey how it is form me. My experience of facilitating workshops is same as playing a game or going for a walk in a beautiful place. I feel alive, joyous and fully immersed in what I am doing. Time stands still and the world ceases to exist.  In my estimate, it may be the same for performing artists. I find it difficult to convey this to people and nowadays I say “because I like it”.
I am only recently recognizing that I am twice blessed by Pranayama. First, I am getting benefitted. Next, others are getting benefitted. I am happy and grateful for being blessed. Twice.

Integral Being workshop

 A dream start for the New Year. What can I say about an event exclusively conducted for my friends form the college? Yes, 5 of my friends marveled all the way from Hyderabad and Bangalore and three of them were accompanied by their spouses. For me, it is a miracle that these guys who knew me in the college would actually consider doing it, let alone actually do it. This is also the first ever event that I conducted in Auroville for an outstation group. So it makes the event even more extraordinary for me as it offered me growth in many dimensions such as  conducting the retreat with  minimal preparation, planning and organizing the logistics, deviating from my usual practice of total focus only on actual workshop and preparation to spending the evenings with my friends and learning to do this work with friends rather than strangers.  

 The content is very similar to the inner healing workshops I do but we added   a visit to Matri Mandir, Upasana, Sadhana Forest, Solar Bowl and Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondy as part of this three and a half day retreat. That made it fun as well as very integral in the true sense of the word.
The event was also quite unique in having two participants who are serious practitioners of spirituality.   Mrs Vijaya Sahebdas Raju has been practicing spirituality for nearly two decades. So is the case with Mr. Phani Babu. It was a great learning experience for me to have them in this group. In fact, they enriched the very space of the retreat.

 Sahebdas Raju enlivened the retreat and the evenings with his wit and extraordinary sense of humor. He is treasure house of fun and laughter. ESR Parsad was one of the earliest  to encourage me by giving me an opportunity to do a stress managment workshop for his team in Chennai. I am impressed with his commitment and inspired by his application. Meduri Subbba Rao has got this vent going and is the main prime mover. His participation was just great! In my opinion, Mrs Subba Rao and Mrs Prasad created very high value out of their participation and those moments are unforgettable for me.

DSR Raju, my dear friend and room mate (where there are no room mates as the hostel is made up of single rooms) is instrumental in creating not only this event but also those one at Hyderabad as well as the recent one in Vizag. Thank you, dear Raju for all this and more. he is a walking wikipedia and one of the most well read, widely traveled and erudite persons that I know.
There can be no better beginning for the New Year. Thank you, my dear friends for this precious  gift.
Hope you practice and nourish the very roots of your existence to bring forth  new levels of well being, energy, joy and peace.

Wellbeing workshop at Savitri Bhavan

 This would be the last workshop of the year 2012. This workshop was close to 12.12.12 and in Auroville this had a very special significance. 11th,12th and 13th were festive days with many events, celebrations and meetings ...... It was wonderful to just the positive vibrations and just enjoy it. Some people told me that it is very special because it would come only after another 1000 years!
The workshop also saw the much talked about and controversial 21 Dec. In the end, I am not sure whether something really happened or it was another day in the Solar System. This is one of the things about a hyped up event!

A friend told me that we  were in the midst of momentous event , comparable to the meteor strike 65 million years ago, which wiped out the dinosaurs form the earth.  I would prefer to experience every day as a  special day for no specific reason except that it is a unique day by itself and would never comeback. 

Never ever. I would be very joyful if I could do that, every day and every moment.
To come to the workshop. I don't what it was that made this workshop so enjoyable for me but I really enjoyed every moment of it. I cant put my finger on the reason but it is so. We had a relatively small group  and on the first day, I felt disappointed as we put out all the mats and cushions (form the experience of the last workshop). Then I let it go and focused on the joy of offering the workshop and it   was just wonderful after that.
I made some new friends in the workshop and on the last day, Yashwa, a young by of about 6 years came to the session. I enjoyed his presence very much. It was also unfortunate that one of the participants slipped and hurt himself but he joined us back after attending to the minor bleeding. What I would remember this workshop was the gentle flow of it that was like a river meandering through an uninhabited forest.

Introduction to Yoga Nidra

Arulvazhi conducts an annual one day event in Auroville and invite participation form all the Sri Aurobindo centers in Tamilnadu. It is my good fortune that Varadharajan Ji is a good friend and gave me yet another opportunity to be part of this program. The time was  short I tried a brief introduction to Yoga Nidra , followed by a 10 minute practice.  
I am happy to learn from Varadharajan Ji that it was well received.
I lost the pictures of this event too!

Well being workshop at Savitri Bhavan

This event was interesting for me because this had the largest number of participants in any well being workshop that I conducted in Savitri Bhavan. In fact, the space and the number of cushions/mats was just short of the need with the large number of 27 participants. I wonder whether the post of Charles Jothi on Auroville Intranet got more people interested. I made a mental note to thank him when I meet him next.
The workshop was also unique because we had 4 participants from Pondy, one of them the being Shipra Ji, a very senior and highly respected Ashramite. Through her, I also reconnected with Rachana, whom we met in 2006 when we were visiting Auroville with an intent of becoming a New Comer.
I was very happy and grateful for this event with so many people and Savitri Bhavan is a place where I feel some wonedrful vibrations. It is a double privilege for me to offer the workshops in such a wonderful space.
Due to a quirk of fate, I lost the pictures of this great event.