"It's as easy as breathing." I thought, and placed myself down on the mat in a basement gym near Paddington. I felt a little impatient as the Art of Living teachers began to run through stories and anecdotes on spiritual living and good practice, and I felt conscious that I hadn't signed up for a course of motivational speaking. I worried that this week long commitment of 3 hours each evening would perhaps be a waste of time and that my energies might be better spent elsewhere.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankur (- remember him? The sitar player of the Beatles' fame? Nora Jones' dad?) set up the Art of Living in 1985 and it has become one of the fastest growing NGOs in the world with over 20 million people being involved in it's work worldwide. It is run almost entirely by volunteers who are dedicated to "creating peace and fostering human values". It receives money from the United Nations and it's proponants straddle all sectors of society from business people, entertainers and sports stars, to ordinary people like me. My teacher, as I would later find out, had turned down the Indian Cricket team that week so that she could continue to teach our rag-bag class. The Team had specifically requested her prior to their qualifying games at Lords cricket ground; yet she honoured her committment to our development. Okay, I conceded, maybe these people really do walk their talk.
We were taught a distinctive and very intense breathing technique called the Sudarshan Kriya®, which is used - in a different form - in yoga. This technique caused me a lot of pain but the results were noticeable. During the week I got headaches, dizziness and a range of uncommon emotions (anger, sadness) which I felt dated back to certain issues I had at school in my late teens - which I began to project upon my unknowing Art of Living teachers. They persevered with me however and explained this was all part of the process of clearing and healing that the Kriya is renouned for. It certainly seemed to allow issues to surface which would have taken longer than if other therapeutic methods had been used (e.g. counselling).
I came out of the week understanding the power of breath. However, the Art of Living Sudarshan Kriya technique is supposed to be practised for approximately 1/2 hour each morning, preferably at dawn. I experienced the power of this rigorous technique first hand, but I haven't replaced my 10 minutes daily silent sitting meditation. That, followed a nice cup of tea, is a much gentler start to the day - and one I can get used to.
Art of Living courses take place year round, at different locations in the UK and abroad. For more information visit: http://uk.artofliving.org/
London Psychic 2009
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