AOL Austin fundraiser event with Omkara

March 26th 2011 was a big day in the history of Art of living foundation’s Austin chapter, for one we hosted the biggest fund raiser event in the chapters history and second we did the event with our long time friends Omkara. A gathering of over 600 people who were totally entertained and enthralled by Omkara.

It started with a simple intention of Sridhar Adapalli (volunteer with Art of living Austin foundation) to host a fund raiser event for Art of Living Austin center with Omkara. Over the last couple of months, volunteers from the foundation made time in their busy schedule to show up at all the possible cultural and social gatherings to spread the word about the event. Some of the volunteers worked towards getting sponsorships for the events while others were busy with e-marketing for the event.  The fruits of all the efforts was evident on the event day when the auditorium was filled to the brim (~600 people) and we were scrambling for chairs to accommodate the last few people who showed up a tad late (what a wonderful problem to have).

Thanks to good leadership shown by the team leads and great efforts by the volunteers, the big day went very smooth barring a couple of minor glitches. To issue concert tickets for over 600 people and provide food and drinks to over 350 people isn’t a small thing after all. The setup team had the hall ready by the scheduled time, the ticketing team was very professionally managed, the food team packed and distributed the food as though they had been trained in the art and the ushering team which managed the seating of all the people. All in all it was a job well done and executed beyond excellence. 

The band itself did a wonderful job in keeping the attention of the people for the whole 3 hours of the event duration. The addition of Bollywood Shake provided the much needed color to the melody. The band had picked the right set of numbers to sing, the songs varied from the oldies to present day hits and the compilation had both Hindi and Tamil languages. It was evident that we had a great show when the entire dance area in front of the stage was occupied with audience dancing away and the band had to stretch their time in honoring the “once more” requests.

I do not know the financial aspect of the event, how much money the foundation raised or the final head count of the audience or the number of food boxes sold. I am sure I will have these numbers pretty soon and will share it once I have the same.

Light and Darkness

Here's a recent quote from His Holiness, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation.

"Light doesn't fight with darkness. Darkness has no existence, it is just the absence of Light. Even if a room has been dark for 20 years, it doesn't take Light 20 years to get rid of the darkness... Light comes and Darkness is defeated just like that."

We tend to give the negatives of life too much importance and power over us. It is easy to get caught up with this negativity, and fall prey to inaction and apathy. It is a common tendency of the mind to see a glass as half empty, but inaction is a really heavy price to pay.

With wisdom and commitment, we can shift our perception to the reality - that every negative is simply the absence of a corresponding positive. With this attitude, strength and confidence, it is possible to make a genuine difference in the world.

Once we do set our eyes on such a goal, we need a strong foundation in order to face such apparent negativity. It is crucial to empower ourselves with tools and methods to manage our bodies, minds and spirits and navigate the challenges of life.

YES for juveniles - A success story

Recently, Art of Living Austin volunteers had the privilege of teaching our first ever YES course at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center.

It all started during Christmas 2009 when some of the volunteers decided to celebrate the season of giving at the correctional facility. What caught their eyes was how much the kids there could benefit from yoga and meditation. Thus started the free yoga once a month at the facility. They consistently conducted yoga throughout the year 2010. As and when new volunteers started signing up to lead yoga sessions, the frequency increased to once a week. The kids at the center loved yoga, and the supervisors realized the benefits too.

So, when Usha told the supervisor that they can conduct a YES workshop that would benefit the kids way more than the yoga, the supervisor readily agreed. After a few weeks of negotiations on the course timing and other logistics, the course was scheduled for February 18-21st. There were a lot of first things in this course:, it was the first course under the banner “Prison Smart” for Art of Living Austin; it was the first ever YES course taught in a detention center for our teachers too.

For Usha, the biggest hurdle was not getting volunteers lined up for the yoga sessions or finding teachers for the course, it was getting time on the superintendent’s calendar. Thanks to the persistent efforts by volunteers like Katie, Sanjeev, Lakshmi, Sridhar and their “never say no” attitude leader Usha, the course became a reality. It probably is a tiny step for the Art of Living Foundation and a big first step for Art of Living Austin but I am sure it was a giant leap for the 16 kids who participated in the 4 day program.

This time around the course was taught for the male population of the facility. We hope to conduct a similar workshop to the rest of the facility very soon. We will report back on this blog when that happens

Wisdom is beyond all arguments

It is said that logic has no loyalty. Any kind of logic can be concocted to be for or against an issue. Remember those debating contests in school? Pick a topic and tell one person to debate for that topic and the other to debate against it. True wisdom is beyond such logic.

There is no shortage of such controversial topics - in fact, it is the easiest way to divide a group. The topic could be something as simple as the humble apple or as complex as off-shore drilling. It is impossible to know everything and by that metric, any opinion is at best a guess. When our own position is a guess, what are the odds of comprehending another person's point of view?

Nature reflects this wisdom. There isn't only one type of apple, there's hundreds of varieties. There isn't even just one type of fruit, or even one category of food. Nature is comfortable with millions of opinions on everything - birds, leaves, stones and seas. And that is the wisdom beyond arguments. It's all already there to see, no arguments can change that.

Once that wisdom dawns, there are no winners or losers anymore, just the universal truth.

Reflections on 2010

2011 is here and as we celebrate new beginnings, let's pause a moment and reflect on our achievements this past year. Our Art of Living Center turned 1 on December 2010! and we have a lot to be proud of, thanks to the dedication of our volunteers. Here is this year's the main highlights:-

• Increased  teacher headcount from 4 to 8
• Started the Art of Living Austin Facebook page, and a very successful blog
• Taught/Hosted the following courses:
  • 14 Art of Living Courses
  • 5 YES+ workshops (3 of which were conducted by Austin teachers)
  • 3 Sri Sri Yoga workshops
  • 2 Know your Child Workshops
  • 2 Sahaj Samadhi meditation classes
  • 2 Refugee Empowerment workshops - one for adults, and one for teens
  • 1 Art Excel course for kids
  • 1 Know your Child Teacher Training
  • 1 Know your Teen Workshop
• Successfully completed a Health and Happiness Seminar Series, and launched a second one.
• Revived weekly knowledge sessions with ongoing sessions of the following series :
  • Ashtavakra gita
  • Patanjali Yoga Sutras
  • Bhakti Sutras.

• Hosted Swami Pragyapad. He taught the Art of Living, and Sahaj courses, and gave a public talk.
• Spent an evening in divine satsang with Swami Suryapada
• Spear-headed and led Sri Sri ashram activities and all ashram renovation work.
• Conducted weekly yoga sessions, and taught relaxation techniques to juvenile delinquents between age group of 11-17 years at Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center.
• Conducted free weekly yoga sessions for students at the University of Texas at Austin
• Organized a retreat for University of Texas at Austin Business School students at the Sri Sri ashram.
• Started Hindi workshops for kids and teens as part of center activities.

The 40min investment

For the last ~2 weeks my work life has gone crazy, average working hours are from 9:30AM-9:00PM with a lunch break of half hour and most times it boils down to grab something and eat in the lab. There was no break over the weekend either. Due to this, I was going home tired and drained every day. Because of the time I reach home, dinner was late and hence sleeping late and all such bad habits added to the agony.

In my previous life where I was doing simulations, I could take breaks while computer was crunching numbers and head to the gym or go for a run or do something physical to keep my spirits up, but the current situation is being stuck in the lab and there is more work for me and less work for the computer. In short no physical exercise is possible. 

Last night I got tired of this routine and decided to do something about this, of course there were several solutions ranging from taking time off for a day (if possible) or so and sleep through or go to the gym early in the morning before getting to work and so on. After a short analysis I figured, I do not lack sleep and hence sleeping longer wasn’t going to help; exercising early in the morning is good but somehow it doesn’t fit me (I have tried this in the past and concluded that evening is the best time for this).  

The answer to my problem was in the seven letter word “Sadhana”, the definition of which could vary depending upon whom you talk to; From my definition it is the routine that gets completed in 40mins or so and has to be done first thing in the morning. So, I set the alarm and made up my mind to wake up when the alarm goes off and slept a peaceful sleep.

Today morning I completed the 40min event and went on to do my other daily activities, I could see a remarkable difference in my energy levels through out the day. As usual I had a couple of meetings late in the evening and action items to catch up after the meeting and by the time I went home I was less than half as tired as I would have been otherwise.

I could have invested this 40mins every day and felt the same way everyday but I am not that disciplined (read lazy).

ps: if you want to know the what I am talking about do the YES+ or the Art of Living Course.     

NPR Article Highlights Research on the Power of Breath

As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has commented for many years, science is slowly catching up to the power of breath and meditation. Studies continue to emerge proving the physiological and psychological benefits of regular meditation and pranayam practice.

On Monday, NPR aired an article about new research confirming the impact of breath work on blood pH and blood pressure, the body's reaction to stressful situations and even the expression of genes. Physician Mladen Golubic of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Integrative Medicine, Esther Sternberg, a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health and Harvard researcher Herbert Benson are all quoted in the article. You can check it out here.

Enjoy and keep up your breathing practice to continue experiencing these great benefits firsthand!