Pranayama and Stress Management workshops at Woodstock, NY

This is also the third successive year I had the pleasure of doing workshops in this charming town. All this thanks to Julian and Wendy. They are not only giving me the opportunity, but also host me at their charming home every year. They very kindly picked me up and dropped me back at my daughter’s home (about two and half hours drive) this year. They have also been continuously encouraging me and helping me to do more workshops in the East Coast. It is really Grace to have their friendship and goodwill.

The last two workshops were held in the library of Matagiri Sri Aurobindo Center. The Center is a serene space in sylvan, pristine nature.  This year, Julian shifted the venue to Woodstock Yoga Center http://www.woodstockyogacenter.com/  to make it easier for more people in Woodstock to participate. The Woodstock Yoga Center is a beautiful space and it was pleasure to meet Barbara, one of the owners and a renowned Yoga teacher, who had he benefit of learning from the great BKS Iyengar http://www.bksiyengar.com/. Along with Julian and Wendy, Barbara also attended my first session of Pranayama workshop with small group of participants. I feel fortunate that she liked the session and found my way of doing the workshops gentle and helpful for people to be motivated in practicing Yoga. She sent out a mail to all her students, recommending that they attend the next session and we had a full house! Wow, how fantastic and fabulous was that!

I word about the group of Barbara’s students. It is the first session ever for me where everybody kept their spine straight and here was no need to correct anyone at any stage. Keeping the spine straight is one of the basic principles of Yoga. This is an indicator of the sustained practice with seriousness of the group. Hey were also fully focused, attentive and receptive. It is indeed a privilege for me to share Pranayama with this group.

I am happy and grateful to Julian, Wendy and Barbara and look forward to being with them next year.  

Pranayama and micro-meditations: Durga Temple Yoga Group, Va, USA

This is the third time I am doing a workshop for this group in consecutive years during my visit to USA. The venue is the beautiful and serene Durga Temple at Fairfax Station, Varginia  www.durgatemple.org. The Yoga group meets over the week-end s with the objective of practicing as a group to bring in regularity, commitment and consistency in the practice with mutual support and encouragement.  Jay Kalathil is passionate about making this group practice available to all and devotes a lot of his time and energy in making the sessions happen and lead them. He also gives opportunity to others to share their practice with the group. I met Jay in 2012 and am inspired by who he is. The meeting took place, thanks to Jacob, who introduced my work to Jay and requested him to consider giving me a chance to do a workshop. I am grateful to Jay and Jacob for creating this opportunity for me.  Jacob was instrumental in making all the three events happen. Apart form coordinating with Jay, Jacob and Susan have been hosting me every year. I am fortunate to enjoy their fabulous hospitality.

I wish to share a few of my impressions about this group. The group is just fabulous – they are focused, sincere and self-motivated in their practice of Yoga and as I know more and more about the group and get to know some of the members, I am developing a deep respect for this group. It is one of the best groups I had the opportunity to meet and it would be pleasure and privilege to keep up this association as I get a lot of inspiration and motivation in being with them.

This event was particularly enjoyable for me because I had the opportunity to introduce micro-meditations to the group. Most of the group had not been introduced to the technique of micro-meditation and many people told me that they find it very interesting and simple to practice.

I have done workshops for this group thrice in the last three years. My younger daughter Madhavi and her husband (Vikram) live n NJ. So, I am likely to keep going there often. I was not clear about how I can continue my association with this group as my friends Jacob and Susan are relocating to India. In the first workshop I did in 2012, my friend Subbu (TM Subramanium, another batch mate of ours in the Navy) was visiting his daughters. He  participated in the event along with his son-in-law Prasanna and they invited us for dinner, where I had the pleasure of meeting his whole family. It was pure joy to meet Nicki and Nina, the lovely grand children.

Prasanna came to this workshop venue with his daughters. That was very wonderful as I adore his kids and there was no time to go over and meet them during this trip. Lo and behold, Prasanna very graciously and generously offered to host me next year! The ease and grace with which all his happened can only be described aptly by the word ‘synchronicity’. I am grateful to Prasanna and Jacob, who said ‘here comes your host for next year’ when we met Prasanna at the end of the event.

I am reminded of what Ekhart Tolle said.  When you are walking in a mist with a flash light, you see only a small path in front of you (which he says is the NOW). As you keep walking, the path keeps unfolding and by being present and surrendering to the NOW, you enjoy the journey.

I find this a very helpful tenet. When you focus on the NOW, you dissolve the psychological time in which regrets and worries arise. It is like playing a game. You can really play to your potential only if you are present in the moment and flow along the NOW. That’s why we enjoy games and I learned that you can take this into the game of life and enjoy every moment. Because, ‘It is never not NOW’

Pranayama Sesssion at SAWCHU

This is another opportunity given by my freind Vardarajan to hsare Pranayama.  Tamil heritage Center  and Arul Vazhi Education Centre jointly conduct workshops for participants from  Tamil Nadu. The objective is to give them an experience of Auroville, which includes meditation at Matri Mandir and sessions on Integral Yoga and the teachings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.  The events are organized about once a quarter. This event was organized on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of teh first meeting between The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. It was made a two day program to enable The participants to go fro Darshan also the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
 I am always amazed at the diversity in teh group in terms of age, back ground etc but they are all united in their enthusiasm and sincerity to get the best out of the events. This event reinforced this amazement and my deep respect for the seekers who come form near and far.  I am blessed to offer them a session on Pranayama.
 I am also doing an event at SAWCHU after along time. This place has definite beauty and an unique, lovely , open ambiance. I enjoyed the crisp morning air, the bright , golden sunshine and the unwaring attention of teh participants.

I am happy and grateful for teh opportunity and tahnks Vardharajan and Syamala.

Well Being Workshop at Savitri Bhavan

After the detour to the Unity Pavilion in February, the workshop is back  to the normal venue. I love this venue for its serene, Divine atmosphere and the kind of support that Suresh provides. Perhaps, it is the most silent venue for this workshop and I am sure it is also the most mosquito-free spaces.
Every workshop has some unique aspects. Some of the things I would remember this workshop for are

• Participation  of a retired professor of psychology of JIPMER along with his wife 

• Return of one of the Aurovilians,who did the very first workshop, to review and restart the practice. She was saying that her voice and singing improved a lot!
• Maurizio form Portugal is participating in back-t-back workshops

The presence of Vardharajan, Syamala and Jido were a source of usual encouragement.
It is interesting to me that the more workshops I do, the more I want to do. This is one of the most beautiful things that happened in my life. I feel happy and grateful and look forward to more and more workshops.

Well being Workshop at Unity Pavilion , Auroville

Though this is the 62nd Pranayama workshop I have done in Auroville, it is a ‘first’ in a couple of ways. It is the first one planned for the delegates of Auroville International meeting. Auroville International (AVI) is a worldwide network set up with the aim of supporting the Auroville International Township in India. Founded in 1983, Auroville International today has member associations and liaison groups in 31 countries around the world. AVI holds an annual meeting with world-wide participation and the meeting is held in Auroville every alternate year. I am very happy and grateful to be connected, in a small way, with the AVI 2014 meeting. In the spirit of Auroville, the workshop was open to one and all - not exclusive for AVI delegates. However, to suit the schedule of the meetings, the workshop is tailored to 3 sessions, instead of the usual 5 sessions. This is the other aspect that makes it different.  I am really happy and grateful for this opportunity because I received lots of affection and kind hospitality form so many people connected with AVI in my tour of USA and Europe in 2013 that it was a privilege to give back something to AVI. I am once again planning to be in USA and Europe this summer and am planning three session Pranayama workshops and this was a good rehearsal form me on the home-turf.  I am thankful to Vani and all the AVI members to have given me this opportunity.
The workshop venue was Unity Pavilion of Auroville. Unity Pavilion has emerged as the hub of activities and programs aimed at actual manifestation of Human Unity. It is wonderful space and it is pleasure to hold the workshop in such a great space. Jerry and Jaya have been very supportive in helping me with the space and logistics, despite the tight and extended programs during this period. Three sessions was a little short and I had to exceed my normal speed limit a couple of times. I need to look into this matter and see how to make the sessions in Europe better, especially when translation is needed.
It was very heartening to reconnect with many of those who offered their hospitality to me so generously, while I was in USA and Europe in the summer of 2013. I loved the experience and I am grateful to everyone who helped in making the event to happen and all those who participated.

Fulfil your dreams workshop at AVIT, Vinayaka Nagar, TN

I had the pleasure of meeting Prof. Vasudevan, Dean, AVIT   in 2011 at IIM, RAK, UAE. He was also part of Global Education Mission, who partnered with IIM,I in the pioneering initiative in conducting the MBA course at RAK, UAE and was overseeing this new initiative. He was interested in the Personal Growth Lab I was teaching and I was very happy that eh chose to attend the morning pranayama sessions and many other sessions whenever he could. We stayed in the same hotel and he was kind to take me around in the new place. I enjoyed his company and friendship sprung between us. We kept in touch and recently, he came over to Auroville along with a couple of his colleagues and invited me to do a workshop for the PG (MCA & MBA) students of AVIT. I was happy and grateful for the opportunity that came my way and thought a lot about an appropriate workshop. I am thankful to the many inputs and helpful guidance Prof. Vasudevan in my efforts.
We settled on “Fulfil your dreams” as the name of the workshop. Its roots are in another workshop I did in Jan 2013 and I am happy with the way it shaped up. The workshop focused on the importance of personal vision and mission in one’s life. I took the example of Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy (Dr. V) of Arvind as it would be easier for the students to connect with his early life and be inspired by what is possible. The workshop emphasized the need to develop the inner resources to fulfil the dreams and the importance of keeping the dreams alive. I chose examples from the lives of Mahatama Gandhi, Dr V etc and also interspersed it with some aspects of my own life to generate inspiration, belief and confidence in fulfilling their dreams. The time was short but I think we made a good beginning and planted the seeds. I am very happy with the participation of the students and grateful to the presence of Prof. Vasudevan and many faculty members of AVIT during the workshop.
I look forward to more such opportunities.

Wellbeing Workshop at Savitri Bhavan

YAWW. Yet Another Wellbeing Workshop. As I shared earlier, each workshop is unique. It is somewhat analogous to rivers. All rivers are rivers but each river is unique. Like each unique river that has its specific contours and flow, each workshop has its unique set of participants and flows in its unique fashion.  Like all rivers reach the sea, all workshops have the goal of sharing Pranayama so that the unique set of participants join the sea of Yoga Practitioners. Yoga is Union with the Devine. Blessed am I to have the opportunity to share Pranayama and be an instrument for more practitioners to find their way to the se of Yoga.  I am happy and immensely grateful for this opportunity and my Sadhana is to be conscious of this privilege and source my being and doing form this consciousness. I am deeply grateful to every participant for creating this opportunity for me.
Thus, each workshop is Yet Another Event for more to join the Sea of Yoga.
As to the workshop itself, I would like to cherish some of the highlights and inspiring moments. There were many who have been practicing and came for a refresher. C is experiencing higher levels of energy. J (please the earlier blog post) was there and he is getting better and better every day. H has found relief form her shoulder and neck conditions. And, Syamala and Varadharajan were there. I feel enthused, encouraged and inspired with the benefits people are generating with the practice of Pranayama.
One of the memories I would cherish is the smile of Devasmita. Devasmita means Devine Smile.  And her smile is so radiant that she is her name! May she be blessed to spread that smile in the hearts of all around her and radiate it into the very atmosphere of Auroville.