Wellbeing (Pranayama) Workshop at Savitribhavan

 The Pranayama workshop in Auroville during the last week of February has special significance for me, being soon after Darshan Day and actually held during the birthday of Auroville (28 Feb). I especially look forward to this time as there is festive atmosphere in Auroville, with so much goodwill and high spirits. I think that this is the Yuletide time of Auroville. The Pranayama (wellbeing) workshop is the foundation of my work and when offered during this week, I feel very happy, grateful and privileged. This year, the venue is Savitri Bhavan and that made it even more wonderful for me. For those of you who don’t know about  Savitri Bhavan, it  is the center dedicated to fostering a living sense of Human Unity through spiritual education based on the vision and teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother . For more details, please see http://www.auroville.org/education/edu_centres/savitribhavan_main.htm
The participation is also normally high during this period because a large number of friends of Auroville visit during this period. This workshop was made even more special for me with the presence and participation of Julian. Julian is a member of the International Advisory Committee of Auroville and I felt very encouraged and happy that he found time to be part of this workshop. It is also great that Ben, an intern from Nantes, France also was part of this workshop because Ben and I started working together on a Knowledge Management Project for Savitri Bhavan.
This is my 49th Pranayama workshop and the next one would be 50th!  Time flies and I feel happier  counting workshops rather than years.
In gratitude to the Mother and Spirit of Auroville,

Stress Management Workshop for GPCL, Chennai

When I agreed to do this workshop in a Power Factory, I was expecting a lot of noise and not an exemplary campus. What I saw was stunning. The campus was just beautiful and given that it is the second largest diesel power plant in the world, the noise was surprisingly low. In fact, when all the doors of the generator room are closed, you hear the water flow form cooling tower. The plant does not consume any water - it purifies sewage water and use it for cooling. The sight of the engines was awesome - biggest engines I ever saw.
The vent was fantastic. The participation was great! The measurable result at the end of the workshop is a stunning 98.8%. Most of the participants have done the Isha Foundation workshop and may be the foundation was very good.
In the excitement , I forgot to take the pictures of this extraordinary event.

Wellbeing workshop

This was a very strange event for me. There was no one , yes no one for the first session. No one.

I felt a huge disappointment  and then let it go. There was some debate about this amongst my friends in Auroville and the general opinion is that people were still grappling with the aftermath of the cyclone.  You can see the picture of my room, the same morning I started the workshop.

Well, the next day a couple of my friends showed up and slowly more people joined. In the end, I enjoyed the event as much as any other event.

It was a good learning experience for me. One of those practical lessons to learn that "It is not over till it is over"

Heal yourself workshop

This is another get together that I had the fortune to attend; with in one month of my college GT. This time it is my Navy Technical Officers Batch of 1970. I have lost touch with most of my class mates but the Navy is a very small and close knit world. And the batch mates are one of the most precious and enduring gifts that I got from the Navy.  We all joined the Navy in July 1970 and went through the trials and tribulations of ragging, adjusting to the service life, wearing uniforms and a vast amount of training - before we could really start breathing as Naval Officers. So, a bond formed more than 40 years ago and the bond became stronger as we worked together, played together, partied together and laughed together. Then, we started getting married and thanks to the wonderful traditions of the Navy, the ladies strengthened the bond and even created new bonds and network connections. So, it is like a strong, well-knit family.
I had the good luck ( and some sense) to suggest a  GT on the occasion of our 40th commissioning anniversary and it was an instant success; thanks to the bonds and the joy of reunion. The annual GT was born out of that unforgettable event and we now recreate such opportunity every year to meet and regale in the joy of getting together with such dear friends.

 This is along introduction to a short workshop that my dear friends asked me to conduct. The venue was the beautiful Vishranti Guest House on top of the hill called Dolphin's Nose, in Vizag. The  view form the hill is just magnificent and you could get lost just looking at the pristine , cobalt blue Bay of Bengal in the glorious sun shine, breathing the ozone charged sea air with which I connected at the biological level of the memory in the cells. The pictures say it all and more.

 So, I was thrilled that my friends gave me this opportunity  to share with them. The opportunity also carried a responsibility with it as Intended to create value for them. After considerable thinking, I chose the topic of self - healing as it could be very beneficial to all my friends who already celebrated their 60th birthday and the ladies are about to so so ( I wont say when, in the best traditions of the Navy).
 This is such a simple, but powerful and magical process that could be beneficial to any one but could be very valuable to people who are above 60 in dealing with  the aches and pains that become part of growing beyond 60.

So, we had this extraordinary event (at least for me) and what a joy it is to share it with my extended family. Not just a joy, it was privilege and moments like this give make me feel so grateful for the opportunity of being the one who shared this with people who are so dear to me.

I look forward to the bigger gift of my friends practicing it and getting benefited.

Stress Management Workshop for GMR, Chennai

 When I agreed to do facilitate this workshop, I was not sure of the suitability of the space as is it meant for the Chennai Outer Ring Road project team. It was fortunate for me that I met Mr. Reddy, GM the earlier evening at Dinner. In fact, he was my host at the Guest House and it was great that he was willing to share some of the stress factors the team was facing. He assured me that the facilities were quite good. But, I was not expecting great facilities at the conference room at the site office and was very pleasantly surprised at the excellent conference room. The LCD screen and projection system were just great!

It was also not sure whether the two day workshop can be condensed into one day but I was willing to try because I understood that they cant have  a two day workshop due to their on-site commitments. I was glad that I willing when I understood the daily work situations they are facing.
The workshop was very interactive , very free-flowing and was one of my best experiences. I am grateful to all the participants for their cooperation in keeping the mobiles off and giving their undivided attention to the workshop.

I feel blessed to share with such willing participants. I really enjoyed the event and would like to know how they are managing their stress after some time.

Good Health Workshop at Pragthi Resort, Hyderbad

In the movie "Gandhi", Kasturba tells Mohandas (in South Africa)
"The others may follow you. But, I knew you you when you were a boy"
I relate to  this very strongly. We know provers in Hindi and Telugu which convey this ( Ghar ka murgi da bara bar; Poruginti pulla koora ruchi ...).

So, I was quite elated, excited and also apprehensive when my dear freinds DSR Raju, M Subbarao, Rama Raju and Chakram asked me to do a workshop on 18th December at Pragathi Resorts. Apart from the listening of the people who knew me as an adolescent (of not a boy), the timing was also added to my apprehension. The occasion was the annual get together of  my engineering batch of Andhra University ( named as AU Ever Green by Trinadh). The gala evening was on 17th December and the workshop is on the morning of 18th December. I suppose you get the very legitimate reason for my apprehension.

I was pleasantly surprised that everybody (or almost every body) assembled at the appointed time of 10AM and a few of the rest joined very soon. I am excited about all vents as each event is an opportunity to fulfill my vision and an opportunity for (passionate) self express. What the listeners are my college friends - my extended family- I don't know how to express my excitement that I felt. With the excitement and apprehension, I started rather slowly and haltingly, but soon the event started flowing. And what a flow it was! It is one of the most fulfilling and satisfying events that I enjoyed s much that it is difficult for me to describe it as my vocabulary limits me.
I am grateful to all my friends  for their listening, participation, time and attention. I am grateful to teh organizer organizers Rama Raju, Chakram and Veerabhadra Rao.  My thanks to  DSR Raju and M Subbaraowho organized the earlier workshop and seeded this event.
This post would be incomplete with out the very inspiring work being done by AU Ever Green. led by Trinadh, Someswara Rao, Rama Raju, Rama Rao and support from many others, a Government Elementary School has been adopted and the education and facilities there have been transformed. I am proud to belong to this group!

Well Being Workshop at Savitri Bhavan

 This is another of the foundation workshops and this time I was experimenting with two aspects.
First, reducing the number of days to 5 from seven.. This entails leaving out some of my favorite parts like introduction to inner harmony.
Secondly, exploring the lower lobby of Savitri Bhavan for this workshop. This space is great and I like the light, ventilation and the sparkling granite floor, maintained to perfection by the staff of Savitri Bhavan. This is a relatively unused space, especially at 7AM (my preferred time for this workshop) and hence scheduling is easy. My main concern was about the number of people as I would like this to be a n open workshop with out any registration and other formalities. I thought that if we run out of the lobby space, we can use the upper lobby , inner lobby and the entrance to the lecture hall. This could not be checked out in this workshop.
On both counts, this was a successful experiment. I would now offer it as 5 day workshop rather than 7 days and this space is the best space I experienced so far. I feel happy and grateful for the opportunity to offer it in this serene surroundings and unimaginably wonedrful energy.