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The Art of Living Course helps many Sri Lankans beat stress through simple yet effective breathing techniques
A breath of life
By Esther Williams
Ever since Tara Cooray completed the Art of Living Course she has been waking up a little earlier each day. In the quiet of the morning, she spends about 45 minutes practising breathing techniques after some light stretching exercises. "It calms me and makes my system feel lighter," says Tara who feels more focused and better able to cope with the pressures of work each day.

The breathing techniques she practises follow a certain pattern that oxygenates the entire body, part by part. The exercises can even be done sitting on the floor or on a chair. "We are taught to live for the moment. There is no point worrying about the past that is gone but we have the future which can be planned without being anxious," says Tara, explaining the philosophy behind the course.

Army Officer Darshana Hettiarachchi encounters many stressful situations in his work. Having enjoyed the course tremendously he now makes time each day to practise the breathing exercises.

"We have learnt techniques that you can practise on your own to achieve good health," says he. Besides, they were taught sound human values - to be kind and helpful to others which he feels was an added blessing.

The Art of Living Course evolved by Sri Sri Ravishankar (founder of the Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore) has been taught in Colombo several times over the past two years with a teacher coming down from India for this purpose. Encouraged by the positive response, they have now opened an office in Colombo.

"We believe that unless and until stress is removed from the mind and body an individual cannot truly be happy," says Sri Lanka's coordinator Suraj Nair, explaining their aim of bringing peace, joy and happiness into the lives of people. Only if an individual is happy, content and confident will society become peaceful, he stresses.

The main component of the Art of Living course is the unique breathing technique called the Sudarshan Kriya, (SK) meaning 'to create a good vision of ourselves and the universe at large'. Suraj claims that it helps one be mentally calm, emotionally stable and physically strong. To date, several million people in over 140 countries have learnt this ancient Indian yogic breathing technique, he says.

Explains senior teacher Padmini Unni, "Among all creatures, man is the only one who is unhappy. This is because he has a mind which is the source of all problems. Our joys, sorrows, wellbeing and illness comes from our mind. When the mind is calm, there are no major problems as the mind can tackle any problem it comes across."

"Although you cannot control the mind you can control the breath," Suraj continues using the following analogy to emphasize his point. "Our mind is like a kite drifting about. The kite string is our breath. We can control the kite by pulling on the string."

"Sudarshan Kriya is based on the mind - body - breath complex," reiterates Ms. Unni. Simply said, negative emotions affect our breathing and our breathing affects the body.

Hence, mind and body are linked through the breath. When we go through any emotion it has a corresponding effect on the rhythm of our breathing. When we are angry or afraid, our breathing is short and fast. The emotions we feel trigger chemical reactions in the body that release certain toxins.

The breath, Suraj says is the fourth source of energy along with proper nutrition, the right amount of sleep, and a meditative state of mind. Inhaling breath energises the body and exhaling purifies the body.

The mind is in conflict when it wanders into the past and the future, thereby depleting itself of energy. Hence, when breathing is short owing to negative emotions, much less energy is supplied to the body and fewer toxins are eliminated.

Sudharshan Kriya can help bring our mind to the present moment. Unfortunately an average human being uses only one-third of his/her lung capacity, says Ms. Unni. This brings us to another technique called the Pranayama which regulates the life forces of energy through breathing so that we use our lung capacity to the maximum. "By doing this, toxins from every cell get flushed out and the body gets healed of all diseases, the mind becomes calm and you feel uplifted."

Don't our bodies go through various biological rhythms, asks Ms. Unni. We get accustomed to certain patterns with regard to sleeping, digestion, food intake, etc. Elements in nature also work according to a certain rhythm and never change. But because of his lifestyle man maintains a chaotic rhythm, often breaking out of set patterns. His emotions change his breathing pattern contributing to disharmony.

When there is disharmony between a person's cosmic rhythm and his biological rhythm, depression and health problems occur. Sudarshan Kriya thus helps restore harmony between individual and nature. Ms. Unni stresses that their Foundation is not a cult neither is it associated with any particular religion. It merely enhances one's existing practices, she says.

Healing and relief from common colds, bronchitis, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease and cancer is possible through the Sudarshan Kriya technique. Stress apparently creates cortizol (a stress hormone) and cortizol creates stress. Sudarshan Kriya exercises decrease the level of cortizol. Further, one’s body has its own natural killer cells which strengthen the immune system. While lifestyle, bad diet and pollution kill these cells, Sudarshan Kriya helps builds them up.

The practical programme of knowledge and awareness allows you to live life fully, says Ms Unni. "Life becomes sacred and you appreciate its beauty, making each moment a celebration.”

Six-day workshop
The Art of Living basic course comprises of the Sudarshan Kriya technique, Pranayama, an awareness programme giving knowledge of the mind - its nature and patterns, mild toning for the body, an interactive session to enhance inter-personal relations and meditation. The course, conducted as a six-day workshop is open to people from all walks of life from 18 to 80.

More details could be obtained by contacting the Art of Living Foundation headquarters, 27/1, Kinross Avenue, Colombo 4, tel: 2507876, 0777 794102 or 0777 701226

Prison Programme
The Art Of Living Foundation last month conducted a programme in the Juvenile Offenders Correction Centre at Dalupotha, Negombo in which 250 out of 450 prisoners, aged between 16-24 took part.

"If prisons and hospitals are full, it is not a sign of a healthy society. Our motto is to empty the prisons and hospitals," says Ms. Unni. "Prisoners are also human beings. Stress has made them commit mistakes. We want to bring about an 'inner change' or self realisation." In India over 100,000 prisoners have benefited from the programme.

"Although we will not be able to change over to a vegetarian diet that the Art of Living philosophy promotes we shall certainly encourage the breathing techniques," says Superintendent of the Correction Centre for Youthful Offenders Dalupotha, Mr. S.J.D.S. Weerasinghe. He could see some effect on the youth soon after the course. "If they follow the programme regularly, all their anger and bad emotions will disappear,” he says.

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