Benefits of Sudarshan Kriya

Sudarshan Kriya, pranayama, and meditation are techniques which channelize prana or subtle life force energy through the breath to relax your mind and bring you back to the source of your being. 

We must take out quality time for the people we love, that’s why spending time with ourselves is most essential. The Sudarshan Kriya gives you an opportunity to spend time with yourself and to experience your true, peaceful nature away from the chaos of everyday life. 

Your mind needs a break from thinking all day long. Meditation not only relaxes you but is scientifically proven to be beneficial for the human system. An eight-week study conducted by Harvard researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) showed how regular meditationincreased grey-matter in the brain, known to be important for learning and memory, self-awareness, compassion and introspection. It’s great to stop for some time and just be with your breath, which is instrumental to life. We usually take our breath for granted, just as we take ourselves for granted and run after the world.

I have been practicing the Sudarshan Kriya for a few years and I have experienced the difference. It’s been scientifically proven that the level of Prolactin,a well- being hormone, increases significantly after the first session of Sudarshan Kriya. The Kriya harmonizes your whole system by clearing out accumulated stress. Scholars have known for centuries that the breath is the link between the mind and the body, that each emotion has a corresponding breathing pattern. The reverse is also true, breathing in a particular pattern can induce a corresponding emotion. So instead of being overwhelmed by our emotions, we can transform them using specific breathing techniques. Throughthe Sudarshan Kriya we can learn to skillfully use the breath to change the way we feel, hence releasing negative emotions that cause stress, anger, anxiety, depression and worry. The Kriya then leaves the mind completely happy, relaxed, and energized. 

What is important in life? What should be given importance? What are we doing on this planet? Why are we alive? What is the purpose of it all? Life is a race and as Prof Viru Sahastrabudhi stated in 3 Idiots, if you don’t run fast you would be destroyed. That is what we follow nowadays. Run! Keep running if you want to become something, if you want to be successful in life and if success means fame, power and money. 

And so we run. We study the subjects we are told to, we compete to try to prove ourselves better than others, we forget that we are all unique. We do not pay heed to what we truly like and what we truly want to do in our lives and most importantly, we fail to realise that all of this is transitory, that nothing is going to stay.

There will be change and change will be the only constant. I followed the former philosophy. Now and then I used to question myself about all this but never found a clear answer. I still don’t have a clear answer to all of it. But when I did my first course four years back, I realized that there was something beyond the material world and going back to the source for just 30 minutes brings a terrific change in the remaining 23.5 hours of my day. I was calmer, more efficient and more focused. Each time I do the Kriya, I am reminded that I am not alone, I am protected, I am powerful and all that is happening is just a dream and I have to do my role to my best and enjoy the rest of the play. In those 30 mins, I am with myself, I am with my breath, and I am at peace. 

Meditation and pranayama are important to lead a good life. We might think it unnecessary to take out those 30 minutes from our busy schedules, but it is what is most important to make our lives work for us.

- Nupur Anand 

( We are sharing a series of articles contributed by upcoming writers on this blog.  Many are experiences of people on the various programs of the Art of Living. Opinions expressed are their own.)

Come Celebrate with us at the World Culture Festival, a celebration of 35 years of service to Humanity.  
March 11-13, 2016 at Delhi. 
http://www.artofliving.org/world-culture-festival

Breath : Healing Effects

To begin with, I invite you to take a moment and check your breath. Stop reading, close your eyes for 30 seconds and notice your breath. What did you notice? Was it short and choppy? Long and smooth? Could you feel it in your belly or mostly in your chest? Do you breathe through your nose, your mouth or may be a little of both? 

What poor breathing does

Noticing the way you breathe gives you a peep into how your nervous system is responding to physical, emotional or mental stress. It is also a key for unlocking the secret to managing your reaction to stress. When we breathe short and shallow breaths and have a difficult time in breathing out completely, we are triggering the flight/fight response which is the sympathetic branch of ANS (autonomic nervous system). This creates anxiety and other stress related feeling, raising our adrenaline and cortisol levels while decreasing blood flow to our digestive and excretory organs. Higher levels of cortisol are related to higher dosage of belly fat and inability to looseweight. 

Breathing right

As Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says ‘Every emotion is associated with breath, so if we 
control our breath we can control our emotions.’ When we train ourselves to breathe 
smoothly and evenly, it triggers the parasympathetic nervous system to a dominant state,stimulating the digestive and immune systems, lowering our cortisol levels and balancing the adrenal and thyroid glands. Sudarshan Kriya is a powerful tool as it effectively corrects our breathing pattern.

Most people keep their lungs and chest in contraction, using only 25per cent of their breathing capacity. When you train your lungs to function at 80-90 per cent, this becomes 
a very powerful workout. The breath can alone generate heat andcause you to break into a sweat while in training. Your entire body is nourished and oxygenated while toxic wastes like CO2 are eliminated. Daily breathing practices contribute tobetter sleep, improved 

posture, toned abdomen, better circulation and brain function which in turn boost the 
immune system and increases energy. The time is worth the effort. 

My personal experience 

According to Ayurveda our life duration is the count of our breaths, so if we increase the depth of breath, we could increase our life span. Earlier, I used to have short andshallow breaths, full of quivers. With regular practice of Sudarshan Kriya my breath has become 
smooth and long. It is now a shudder free breath. 

Short and shallow breaths often accompany negative characters like lack of energy, 
laziness, hopelessness, lack of enthusiasm, jealousy and so on. Sudarshan Kriya detoxifies 

our body and with its regular practice you start feeling abounding energy in your body, 

enthusiasm and positivity. I have experienced my immune levels being elevated after its regular practice. More important my sleep quality has improved tremendously. Earlier I used to struggle with my sleep and wake cycle, now it is balanced with nature. My instincts have developed too. 

Correct breathing is not just exchange of gases but a powerful tool and a way to 
happiness. So stay committed to personal growth and transformation by attending to your breath. 

- Keshav Sharma 

( We are sharing a series of articles contributed by upcoming writers on this blog.  Many are experiences of people on the various programs of the Art of Living. Opinions expressed are their own.)

Come Celebrate with us at the World Culture Festival, a celebration of 35 years of service to Humanity.  
March 11-13, 2016 at Delhi. 
http://www.artofliving.org/world-culture-festival

Stress Management with the Happiness Program

Stress is one of the most challenging opponents to effectiveness, efficiency and productivity in this age that sees neck-to-neck competitions even for the slightest of things, demanding high levels of performance all the time. Managing stress is another stressful task that often seems to leave us simply too tired. We end up staying for too long with low levels of all that we require — productivity, performance, happiness, fun, concentration and joy. 

The Art of Living Happiness Program is a journey into some of the most memorable experiences on the planet. A workshop aimed at all-round personal development and upliftment, it takes one through the realms of ancient knowledge, offering techniques and practices that work remarkably well in boosting all-round performance while working to relieve stress and bring joy.

The Art of Living Happiness Program offers ancient knowledge through the techniques of meditation and relaxation. The various sutras taught in the program render remarkable performance and standards of productivity and are incredibly easy to apply in daily life. At the cornerstone of all Art of Living programs lies a breathing technique discovered by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar — the Sudarshan Kriya which has seen remarkable results throughout the world in stress management. Basing itself essentially on the working of the rhythms of the breath, it works to eliminate stress while making thesystem fit to effectively, almost effortlessly deal with stress.

My experience goes all the way back to June 2009 when my father, right after completing The Art of Living Happiness Program told me to attend a session that was about to take place near my house. Like many others, I had preconceived notions about and I resisted. But finally I had to give in and now I stand out proud of what my dad did.

My days as a student used to be spent dealing with various pressures from career to peer pressure. I had, for too long, remained overpowered by frustration, anxiety, headache, fever and other symptomsthat arrive concomitantly with skyrocketing levels of stress. While being considerably talented, I had forgotten what I was capable of doing and it was a nightmare. But the workshop flipped it all.

I was taken aback on the very first day of my workshop. The knowledge shared answered all the queries that I had ever had. My first experience of the various techniques of meditation and relaxation especially the Sudarshan Kriya was one thing that changed my life completely. I moved from a a disturbed, angry and agitated state of mind to a mind filled with energy, positivity, enthusiasm and happiness. I moved from a ‘NO!’ mind to a ‘YES!’ mind. The daily practice ensured days filled with energy and productivity. I was completely stress-free. I was so thrilled that from that day, way back six years ago, I have been practicing the Sudarshan Kriya everyday. It also brought me closer to spirituality and I consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet to have been a part of this workshop.


- Anshay Chopra 

( We are sharing a series of articles contributed by upcoming writers on this blog.  Many are experiences of people on the various programs of the Art of Living. Opinions expressed are their own. )

Join us for the World Culture Festival - March 11-13, 2016 at Delhi. 
http://www.artofliving.org/world-culture-festival

Yoga brings Cheer and New Hope to Young Refugee Children in Greece

 

The project started in 2012 with an idea to teach refugee boys at a center for minors.  Not having a clue what to do we wrote to Brit Kim, a great ART Excel teacher and expert in children’s yoga in Denmark and she sent us a wonderful program outline.  With great enthusiasm Anna and Judi set off for their first yoga class, program in hand. 

 

What followed was complete chaos! 

 

The instructions said clearly - ‘sit in a circle for bhastrika with relaxed happy faces and show the children what to do’. The reality was a circle of boys laughing, rolling over, hitting each other and generally going crazy.

 

But classes continued and slowly the boys grew more enthusiastic about yoga asanas, breathing and the games that were part of each session.  And more importantly they became more involved in the Art of Living family in Athens and the whole thing grew from a project to a love affair.

Then came the bright idea of raising funds for an ART Excel course on a Greek island. We invited a lovely German teacher called Anita Forster and this great lady also raised money for the project plus we combined refugee boys with children from AOL Athens. The whole course was a huge success and the youth wing of AOL Athens was born.

 

The following year we organized the first Yoga Rave to raise money for an island course and ‘our boys’ ran the donations at the door and the juice bar plus performing a wonderful rap dance as we’d organized for them to attend dance classes and a martial arts course which they loved. Their dance performance brought the house down.

 

So the project grew and when we opened an AOL center in Athens the boys were very involved in setting it up and offered invaluable assistance. Their yoga classes worked much better in the center which they had come to regard as their own and they took a real interest in the place and enjoyed going there.

As the years pass other interests have taken over but they continue with their yoga although Judi is very used to them arriving on a Friday and saying ‘I won’t be able to relax or do anything this week - too much going on. I only came to make you happy but please don’t expect anything from me’. 

‘Fine, fine’ she says, ‘just come in and let’s see’. Yoga starts, bhastrika, breathing and Yoga Nidra. Judi then tiptoes around the class putting blankets over sleeping boys and very often it’s an hour before someone stirs and tea and biscuits are handed out.

The list of achievements of these wonderful boys is endless: two Art Excel courses, one Yes course, great proficiency in yoga, seva projects including helping newly arrived refugees, translating, sorting donations and raising money for several of our projects plus helping organize the Christmas party.  One of the older boys, Ramin was recently reunited with his family in Germany and they will shortly move to Hamburg.  He is currently teaching yoga and looks forward to involvement with AOL Hamburg when the family settles there.

It’s true to say that these boys have a place in the heart of AOL Athens. The dream is that one day they will have the necessary papers to be able to go to the ashram in Germany and meet Sri Sri Ravi Shankar himself who they have known for so long and so come to love and admire.  They are part of this wonderful AOL family and will be forever.

(From Art of Living Greece Chapter)

 

Join the Art of Living Family in Celebrating 35 years of Service to Humanity in Delhi - March 11-13th
log on to http://www.artofliving.org/world-culture-festival

 

Sri Sri Honored by Peruvian and Andean Parliament

Andean Parliament honored Sri Sri with the award titled "Medalla  de la Integracion en el Grado de Gran Oficial" for His Humanitarian work in bringing peace. 

While accepting the award Sri Sri said, "We all need to work together to see this entire continent free from violence and stress." He began his speech in Spanish, thanking the President of the Congress and its members, and ended it with "Namaste" which he said means "I am all yours". He also said we need to establish communication on three levels--communication with oneself, communication with the society and communication with nature.

Sri Sri concludes his Peru visit with a huge public event where more than 4000 people are expected to participate . 

Picture 1 - Lusia Maria Cuculiza Torre, Representative of the president of the Congress of Peru conferred Sri Sri with Diploma de Honor. She said, "It is so good to see so many smiling faces in the congress. God Bless Sri Sri for keeping up the good work he is doing." 

Picture 2 - Diploma de Honor" for Sri Sri's permanent humanitarian work in favor of peace by Congress of Peru 

Picture 3 - Gathering at Peru Congress 

Picture 4 - Hildebrando Tapia Samaniego conferring the Andean Parliament award on Sri Sri in Lima, Peru 

Picture 5 - Sri Sri with Lusia Maria Cuculiza Torre and Hildebrando Tapia Samaniego at the award ceremony 

"Some of the Congressman have done the programs that The Art of Living provides, after completing the course and filled with inner peace that they felt that Sri Sri must come to Perú and deliver his message to more people," said Alejandro Martinez Meijide, director of the Art of Living in Peru.

In the backdrop of Peru facing violence, corruption and stress, Mr. Brando Tapia, Congress man in Peru and  member of the Andean Parliament shared, "Everyone should have the opportunity to  know this worldwide spiritual leader, who helps us to have a better quality of life, who encourages us to do service and create a better society filled  with respect, union and happiness.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has recieved  this award for his constant social work and mission to deliver peace to everyone, his foundation and programs have help thousands of people in Perú.

On this visit, Sri Sri will have a private meeting with Brando Tapia, Congressman in Perú and Member, Andean Parliament; Ana María Solórzano, President of the Peruvian National Congress and with Luis Castañeda Lossio, Mayor of the City of Lima

Information on Art of Living's Activities in Peru.

#Art of living Service Initiatives in Peru
1. The objective of The Art of Living in Perú involves promoting human values,fostering interfaith harmony, building communal unity, encouraging social responsibility and spearheading humanitarian causes.

2. The Art of Living started its activities in the South American country of Perú in 2007 and about

​thousands​

  have benefitted from the Art of Living programs, public talks and workshops in schools, universities, companies and jails.

3. For International Day of Yoga, along with India’s Embassy, The Art of Living organized a public workshop of yoga and a brief introduction to meditation in 6 districts of Lima and about 1000 people participated.

#There are many social service projects by The Art of Living in Perú.

• Prison SMART (For trauma relief)
• Breath Water and Sound
• Mission Green Earth
•  “Limpia tu playa, limpia tu mente” - service project in which volunteers
• develop campaigns for a clean beach while promoting meditation
•  “Las Manos que Ayudan” - major service initiative held by The Art of Living volunteers launched in November 2013. Every Monday dozens of volunteers gather and prepare food for 150 people in need.

#Sri Sri's earlier visit to Peru
1. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, The Art of Living first visited the country in September 2012.
2. On Sri Sri’s last visit to Perú, he received one of the highest awards by theMajor of Lima, Susana Villarán, he had an important meeting with the Congress, he gave a public talk for 2000 people, and lead a meditation on Macchu Picchu for 300 people from all over the world.

(Press Release Coming soon) 
For more info mail at : media.coordinator@artofliving.org