My Marma Practitioner Journey...

The Texas US Ashram welcomed me in its usual manner with the chirping of the hill country birds and the cool meditative breeze. Run Singh ji had made his customary concoction of Spinach Dal and Sabji. As I sat there enjoying the perfect setup that nature had created for me, little did I realize that the journey that I was to embark upon was more magical than I had ever imagined. I was at the Texas US Ashram for the mystical “Marma” course to be taught by Mrs. Revathi Veeraraghavan.

Simply put, Marma can be described as an ancient Indian system of healing – similar to acupressure. Putting gentle pressure on different points on the body opens up energy blocks and balances the system. I had taken a treatment many years ago from Sage Houston (who also gave a guest appearance on our course and left us with a lot of useful tips). I had been through a very traumatic car accident and had trouble sleeping through the night. One treatment from Sage was all that it took to get rid of my shock. Since then, I had taken a few marma treatments for general well-being. I had always been intrigued by this method of healing and when I saw that this course was being offered at our Ashram, I was one of the first ones to sign up.

The course itself was a treat. Seriously, what’s not to like about giving and getting treatments to each other every day of the course? In addition, we also learned a lot about Ayurvedic principles such as prakruti (nature), doshas (imbalances), how to tailor the treatment according to body type to name a few. It was a nice blend of learning about Ayurveda and doing hands-on practice. Learning the whole routine was nothing short of a miracle – definitely His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s (Guruji’s) grace in the works!

The teacher – Mrs. Revathi was absolutely amazing! She was a storehouse of knowledge and made sure each and every one of us got the positions and concepts right.  She also made sure we got our physical workouts done for the day (did I forget to mention the late night dance parties?!) Throughout the course, I tried really hard to find that one word that described Mrs. Revathi – Loving? Methodical? Beautiful? Striking? Composed? Mystical? Bright? Gifted? All of the above.

The Marma practitioner journey continues as we all came back to our cities well trained under the able care of Mrs. Revathi to become certified Marma Practitioners. We all promised ourselves to bring Mrs. Revathi to each of the Texas cities in the near future in an attempt to bring more awareness around healthier and happier living (and continue the dance parties)!

About the Marma treatment:

Each Marma session takes about 45 mins (+ 15-30 mins rest) and the introductory suggested donation of $50 goes to the Art of Living.

Wear comfortable clothes (no undressing is required) and no heavy meal within 2hrs of the appointment.

If you are interested in getting a marma treatment, contact:  

Priya Vijayaraghavan | treeshav@gmail.com | 512.968.2863

Uthra Mohan | uthras@gmail.com

Manisha Soni | manisha.soni@artofliving.org

Shveta Sharma | chawla.shveta@gmail.com

Priya Jai | priyajaitv@gmail.com

Vyom Kumar | vksmbox@gmail.com

Service project with Breath of Life Ministries

It is the time of the year to spread happiness and joy and for kids it is the time mystery Santa is going to get gifts. It is sad but true that there is a considerable size of population who cannot afford gifts for their kids during Christmas.

Art of Living Austin volunteers partnered with Breath of Life ministries to help them distribute Christmas gifts to single moms, Below are some of the pics from the event. The volunteers said, the act was powerful at the same time empowering. In their own words cannot describe the happiness on kids faces when they received the gifts.  

On the same note we do partner with other organizations throughout the year and volunteer. If you are interested either in partnering with us or volunteering with us please contact us.  

Outreach co-ordinator nominations

As the chapter announced during the annual thanksgiving dinner back in November 2015, our present outreach co-ordinator has decided to step down. We are in active look out for new coordinator.

If you know someone or you yourself would like to contribute towards the chapters growth, please send your information to email 

If you have questions about the process or want to know more details like who is eligible and what it entails to be the new coordinator please contact email

Support your Art of Living Austin chapter

Dear Patron

The thanksgiving dinner fundraiser was a wonderful homecoming time! A big thanks to all of you for opening up your hearts and wallets to enable this noble pursuit.

Your contributions (as little as $30 per month) go a long way to help us deliver the quality service that a lot us value so much.

While the dinner might be over, the season for giving is not. If you have not done so yet, make your tax deductible donations now, here!

Thank you for enabling us to serve Austin.

Click Here to Donate!

With gratitude
Teachers and Volunteers

Art of Living retreat at the Ashram

Come celebrate Christmas with us at the Art of Living retreat in the Art of Living Ashram, Raegan wells Texas. What awaits you on this retreat is beautiful Texas hill country with plentiful nature around with hiking trails and nature walks and also a fully functioning organic garden.  Weather and nature permitting you may be able to go tubing in the Freo River and enjoy the fall colors. 

Come join us with family and friends in celebrations between December 24-27. On the other highlights we will have a camp fire with singing and dancing on December 25th. Come one, come all, bring your favorite musical instrument, your dancing shoes and most importantly yourself to the Art of Living Ashram and enjoy the serene pristine nature and our hospitality.

Appeal for Chennai flood relief

The South Indian city of Chennai and neighboring coastal regions have been ravaged by Cyclones and torrential rains for the past few weeks and is still continuing. This downpour is the worst that the area has seen in the past 100 years.

Many parts of Chennai have been hit very hard and people have been marooned in their own houses. Thousands of homes have been completely flooded and several areas are without electricity and basic access to food and water. The Chennai airport and train stations have been shutdown and the Indian Military has been deployed for disaster management.

Volunteers from IAHV and The Art of Living Foundation have been actively involved in relief and rescue efforts. Over 200 volunteers are working on the ground and have helped feed over 20,000 people over the last 3 weeks. They have also distributed over 1000 medical kits and are continuing to rescue stranded citizens everyday. Our local volunteers have also been actively supporting the Indian Coast Guard, Fire Department and Rescue Teams with food and logistics as required.

Your contributions towards this relief effort will go a long way towards bringing Chennai back to normalcy.

IAHV is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All contributions are fully tax-deductible. Please donate generously.

ps:For latest updates and more information click here

pps:IAHV and AOLF have actively responded to natural disasters and other traumatic situations around the globe. In the past, IAHV & Art of Living volunteers offered relief, rehabilitation and trauma relief to the people affected by the natural calamities around the world. To learn more about IAHV's disaster relief program please click here

Bye bye Lamar center

Back in November 2009,  we started our Art of Living center in Austin and fast forward 6 years later and the time has come to say good bye.

Yes we had great run for 6 years which included innumerable weekly follow ups, happiness programs, yoga and meditation programs, knowledge series to name a few along with a few volunteer training sessions, DSN’s and pre-TTC’s.  

As many would know, this was our first effort in maintaining a physical real estate of our own, proud of the fact that we were the first in Texas and amongst the first in nation to have a physical center. The most important one for us was maintaining the finances in order over the last 6 years. Many thanks to all the volunteers for donating and doing donation drives and most importantly to volunteer their spare time in upkeep and maintenance of the center.Yes it is a great achievement.

We did learn a lot from owning and maintaining the center and we have grown leaps and bounds in terms of memberships and the activities we are doing as a chapter. Most of which can be attributed to having a physical space of our own we could use barring the calendar conflicts.  

As with anything long term, we had our ups and downs, I personally like to believe we had more ups than downs. It wouldn’t be fair if I don’t thank our landlord PS business parks with whom we have maintained a very cordial relationship from the beginning to end. 

Now that we have wound up this place, its time to translate the learning to a newer and better center. It is coming and stay tuned for updates on the same.