Art of living

To begin from the beginning , my first encounter with yoga, yogic asanas and meditation was at the behest of a friend at Gorakhpur . 

We , being in the services, were posted to that part of the country , then . This was probably , 2010 or 2011 . 

My friend was "into" Art of Living and she insisted that I try doing the  "Happiness Course " . She had a car , complete with a driver, at her disposal . So , I , tagged along . It was autumn , a few random showers , interspersed with days of stifling humid heat . However, the classes were held , in the cooler evenings , in a large hall , in the backyard of an IPS officer's bungalow . It was dimly lit and sheltered with leafy trees.

We were taught various yogic postures , breathing exercises and certain mind  cleansing  practices. 

All these years later, I still remember the stark effect of "disha pranayam " , which exhorts you to forgive people and instances . Incidents and memories which one has carried inside one's own self , which unresolved , leads to several mental unrests and undesirable physical manifestations . I remember copiously , and ( in my opinion) needlessly crying while doing this . I wonder if it made me a better person , but it certainly lightened the burden on my shoulders . For this , I am eternally grateful to AOL . 

Another , remarkable Yogic practice was Sudarshan kriya . A breathing exercise that is known to have amazing health benefits , including lowering of blood pressure, regulation of breath rate and  slowing down of  heart beat . It has been scientifically proven to have precipitated these positive effects on regular practitioners . 

There are lot of flip side reports in the media about art of living . I guess it is like everything else in life . It depends on what is your take away lesson . 

My personal take away lesson  from the happiness course was to control one's own breath . That is a tiny  action with profound impact on one's life. It takes the edge off anger and other negative emotions . It nullifies stress and promotes harmony .

In the end, I am grateful for the happiness course for having opened my eyes to several basic truths about forgiveness, letting go of one's own ego, and  cultivation of compassion for fellow beings. 

Personally I would recommend happiness course(s) , to growing up kids as well as grown up adults.