Art of Living & More

Yagnas Performed during Navratri

2018-09-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

Read more about significane of yagnas here.

Path of liberation explained in Bhagavad Gita

2017-07-28T02:46:00.000-07:00

If you have the habit of drinking coffee/tea in the morning and if you do not drink it one day, you feel uncomfortable or restless. Though the habit of drinking coffee/tea is not giving you an ecstasy, you feel bound. When you feel bound by something or someone, the immediate thought that arises is – ‘How can I be free?’ This is a natural tendency of all the human beings.

If you feel bound because of a disease or an ailment at the body level, you go to a doctor, take medicines, and feel relieved. When you feel bound by your own emotions and mind, you feel clueless. That is when you feel the need of a Guru because we never learnt how to handle our own mind.

The word liberation explained in the context of spirituality is nothing but the freedom all the distortions of love. The distortions of love are – attachment, entanglement, lust, obsession, greed, jealousy, anger, and arrogance. When we are troubled by these distortions, we feel bound. We seek liberation. In Bhagavad Gita, lord Krishna explained the path to liberation through the following yogas:

· Karma Yoga: Often when we are tensed, we worry. If at all, we get into action and do needful, we can be free from worries. For example, if you are an employee and you are overloaded with work and stringent timelines, rather than working and doing whatever is possible through you, you tend to worry about the future. Your mind starts thinking –

Will I ever be able to finish this work?
If I don’t finish this work on time, what will be the consequences?
Will I continue to have my job?

Your mind is bombarded with questions and you end up wasting time in worrying. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna inspires Arjuna to get into action without worrying about the results. Krishna asks Arjuna to act spontaneously and do needful. This is very relevant even today for everyone – professionals, homemakers, students, and so on.

Bhakti Yoga: Life without love is very dull and boring. We all experience love but with an expectation. However, when you are in love with God or nature, you simply rejoice and stay happy. On the funnier side, you can’t be expecting God to come with you for a movie or party, answer your messages immediately and so on. So, love for God is hassle free.

Bhakti is synonymous to gratitude. Whatever you receive from the God or nature, you start nourishing it. Behind every pleasant/unpleasant event, you start seeing the love of God. All your complaints simply vanish in Bhakti. Grumbling is taken over by gratitude. That is Bhakti. Lord Krishna explained the different flavors of Bhakti in Bhakti Yoga. He asks Arjuna to surrender only to Him and have one pointed devotion towards Him.

·Gyana Yoga: Bhakti or love for God is very beautiful to experience. However, love which is devoid of wisdom causes all problems. So, Krishna emphasized the importance of Gyana or Wisdom in Gyana Yoga. Wisdom is nothing but seeing the origin of all happenings, thoughts, and feeling. Knowing more and more about the consciousness which is present all over and the reason behind all happenings. When wisdom dawns, the duality or dwaita disappears. For example, a goldsmith sees gold in all the ornaments. Rather than differentiating the ornament as necklace, bangles, ear ring and so on, goldsmith says this is all gold. In the same when you dwell in wisdom, you transcend all the opposites and start seeing everything as a part of one consciousness. Krishna explained this beautifully in Bhagavad Gita and said – though a devotee is very dear to me, a gyani (person with wisdom) is even more dear to me. In fact, there is no difference between me and a gyani because a gyani is never away from me.

Pondering the knowledge given in the Karma, Bhakti, and Gyan yogas, one can easily experience that there is no bondage in reality. It is advisable to read this knowledge in the presence of a Guru or an enlightened one who can interpret to you correctly.

How to lead a happy life?

2017-07-19T22:22:00.001-07:00

Life is much more than whatever you can capture or define. It is so vast, so big, it can’t be encapsulated in a few words. When defining life you are limiting the scope of life. Happiness is a factor that we have to consciously pursue. Unconsciously we all are happy, but somewhere in the pursuit of happiness we get stuck and miss the goal. That is what spirituality is all about - bringing that one smile.

Once you are able to see the light, you see the entire past as a dream, move on. Wake up and see the present, you will find happiness is there, unconditional happiness. Then you are happy and not dependant on others for your happiness. Happiness depends only on your mind. When the mind is free of past impressions and future cravings, happiness is there.

There is Mullah Nasrudin story. He used to grumble all the time. He was a farmer, so he would grumble, “Oh, there is no rain.” There was no rain in California for so many years. He’d say, “Oh, there is no rain, no crops are coming, it’s so difficult and…” He was grumbling.

And that year, there was very good rainfall, and he had great crops in his fields. People thought, this year Nasrudin will not grumble, because his crops have come on so nicely, so good, and so high.

There’s no problem. They said, “He must at least be happy.” So people went to greet him, “Oh, Mullah, how are you? You seem to be doing very well, lots of crops. Your field is simply flourishing and so attractive.” But Mullah had the same long face. He said, “Yes, now we have so much work to do. All these years I didn’t have to do anything, with no crops. But now so many crops and I have to do this, go to market and sell them. It’s a big headache!” He was still grumbling. Whether there were crops or not, his grumbling continued.

It is the same way in your life. You are unhappy about things you have and you are unhappy about things you don’t have.

Develop the habit of being happy. You have to do it. Nothing else can give you that.

Nobody else can do it. If anybody else or anything else does it, it will only be very temporary. You take a step!

WCF- Kumbh Mela of Arts and Culture

2017-07-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

Over 37,000 artists from around the world performed on the 7-acre stage, exhibiting their talent to echo the message of unity in diversity on the Art of Livings world cultural festival.

The World Culture Festival is a celebration of The Art of Living’s 35 years of ‘service, humanity, spirituality and human values’.Though the festival has come under fire for its ecologically-sensitive venue, it was given the go-ahead by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) saying that the Art of Living Foundation hasn’t done anything wrong.

The festival strives itself on creating a ‘stress-free, violence free-society, promoting peace, putting smiles on everyone’s faces and walking the path together’.

It aims to foster a deep understanding between different people and backgrounds, by showcasing rich cultural traditions of dance, music and the arts from around the world.

Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightfully mentioned in his speech at the World Culture Festival that festival of such scale is like the 'Kumbh Mela' of Culture. And just like Indians believe that anything holy and noble is performed on the banks of a holy river similarly the World Culture Festival. A vision of noted humanitarian and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the World Culture festival was perceived and implemented as a peace mission to bring the world closer.

Tips for Skin Glow Naturally

2017-05-15T23:24:00.001-07:00

Here are few tips and tricks to follow with no burden on your pocket and achieve glow and fairness instantly

Clean your face: No matter even if you travelled just a walkable distance outside your home, ensure that you give your face a nice and clean wash because you have stepped outside to bear the brunt of pollution on your skin! Use a nice and trustworthy face wash product that will not wear your skin off moisture and natural shine.
Stay away from makeup as much as possible: A natural lip gloss and a thin coat of sunscreen with foundation has become a basic need today and are not counted under makeup these days. Therefore, using the most natural product for these needs and keeping it to a minimal will do your skin good. If you are dressed up for an occasion and had to load yourself with makeup, ensure that you get rid of it as early as possible. Once you have removed makeup, ensure that you moisturise your skin properly to bring back that suppleness and keep away from the harmful effect of those chemicals!
Hydrate yourself: More than the cream or pack you use on your face, it is essential to concentrate on what you feed yourself with for that natural glow to show up on your face. Drink plenty of water as frequently as possible. Shedding off extra cals from your body and keeping yourself fit with the help of exercises and yoga will do huge amount of goodness to you. Keep your body fit and fine to see your skin glow and shine!
Watch what you eat: If you lose in defeat in front of those tempting unhealthy dishes, it will be impossible to flaunt your glow and complexion. What more than self-control and determination to keep you off those extra energy foods! Keep them at bay and stick on the healthy fruits and veggies, which over a period of time will bring laurels for your beauty. Go ahead and try it with determination!
Scrub your face naturally: When you want to scrub off those dead cells from your facial skin, use natural scrubbers like oats powder or besan powder. These natural scrubs will not dry off your skin in the process of scrubbing and will prove to be natural and good for your skin.
Use those wonder ingredients from the kitchen: Make use of naturally superb ingredients like yogurt, rose water, honey, milk cream, fruits and veggies, besan powder, turmeric powder, egg etc. as face packs on your skin. Keeping away from those instant face packs loaded with chemicals will harm your skin badly. Using face packs made out of naturally available ingredients is easy to make in a jiffy and will last long for its glow and fairness.

Naturals oils and juices: When it comes to skin massage, use natural products such as almond oil, olive oil etc. to keep your skin naturally supple and beautiful. Drink a lot of natural juices without sugar and use citric fruits like lemons and oranges in your face packs to bring about that freshness and shine in your skin.
With all these handy tips which are not definitely rocket science, maintaining your skin will be as easy as a child’s play! Follow these natural tips and let us know how they worked on you!

Source: Vopecpharma.com

Art of Living Testimonials

2017-04-10T02:59:00.000-07:00

Share some of the experiences people encountered from Art of Living courses.

Source : Art of Living facebook

The Art of Living just brought living to my life.It has transformed my life and thanks to Guruji and all the people associated with The Art of Living.I am a happy being and I radiate love happiness and joy.Sudarshan Kriya has changed my life and I have been practicing it daily since last 5 yrs.It has affected all the areas of my life and I have blossomed into a new being.I dont think A mere Thank you can express what it has done to my life.

Thank You so much ��

Vaibhavi Nautiyal

Art of Living Programs have changed my Life. Sudarshan Kriya "Breathing Technique" reduces stress level which results in better health and better life style. One learns how to tackle Mind, reduce thoughts, fall in deep meditation and finding the Freedom and being Happy despite of chaos around one's life. One must must attend the Happiness Program and Learn Sudarshan Kriya !!

Seema Jain

One of the amazing place in the world to be in, where you can experience the peace and bliss that you are.

Dinesh Choudhary

Art of Living changed my life. <3 Sudarshan Kriya and the advance course gave me the one thing i was searching for here and there my entire life - Happiness. Anybody who wants to succeed in life must do the Happiness Program. Jai Gurudev!

Varun Vijaykumar

AOL has wonderful programmes to provide and has proven to be the best. I love practising the techniques i learned from Art Of Living, i would strongly recommend to experience these programmes without any doubts or fear, everyone will definitely enjoy and i assure you will never ever regret instead will thank everyday.

Sreeja Ramachandran

The much needed way to lead a healthy and happy life. Helps you to lead a balanced life both professionally and personally. Teaches you a way to eliminate stress, enjoy increased levels of energy, enthusiasm and dynamism; and care for & share with people around us.
Simply adds fizz to your life.

Rajagopal Venkatachalam

Showcase ethical business: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

2015-02-03T02:03:00.001-08:00

The Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said it's necessary to create visible role models of those engaging in ethical business and still making a profit, thus demonstrating how ethics can become an important competitive advantage. Sri Sri — which aims to promote peace and harmony. Over a lakh from city are expected to attend the event.

Corporate culture & spirituality

"Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji's aim is to spread peace and happiness in every corner of the world. He travels to reach out to people with his message," added Hathi. The belief here is that positive vibrations and serenity in the environment will be an antidote to the large-scale violence and terror the world has been witnessing, most recently in Iraq and France.

"We have seen many dotcoms and Satyams going the unethical way and crashing down. It has become a lesson to our young people. But it's appalling to see how smartness got linked to unethical ways of doing business. When I was talking to young business people, entrepreneurs thought ethics is something naive. They felt if you want to be successful, you need to be smart. We need to showcase to the world those doing ethical business," said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

He was speaking at the Corporate Culture and Spirituality conference organized by The Art of Living in association with the World Forum for Ethics in Business in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Ravi Shankar said ethical behaviour makes good business sense. "It's smart to be ethical and service-oriented. One thing with ethics is you can have a good sleep and smile from your heart."

Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, Juan Carlos Losada, youngest member of Parliament, Columbia, South African high commissioner to India F K Morule, Daljit Singh, president of Fortis Healthcare, Soumitra Bhattacharya, joint MD of Bosch India, and other corporate bigwigs participated in the event.

Losada said following ethics in business not only increases profits, but also weans youth away from violence. The event will be held between 6pm and 8pm and will be part of a worldwide marathon-chanting effort in which about 3 million people in 100 countries will be participating simultaneously. Held across several time zones, they will chant Sanskrit mantras, including Om Namah Shivaya, said Darshak Hathi, international director at the Art of Living.

This will be followed by a music event 'Venunaad – Music for Peace' on Monday at 6pm on the banks of river Godavari in Nashik. As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, "Spirituality and music together can uplift people, get them out of depression and help them start a new life with enthusiasm. For a stress-free life, you have to embrace both these facets — spirituality and music."

Schools Of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

2014-11-07T03:34:00.001-08:00

The Art of Living’s free schools are located in various rural, tribal and slum areas across India. Each school has its own set of challenges based on the geographical and cultural set-up of the land and its people.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Schools

Some areas are extremely remote, surrounded by forests and no roads or electricity. In some of the places, the children are more familiar with guns than soap! The need to impress education and schooling, as a means towards a future is imperative.

In rural areas which are more accessible parents prefer to send their children as domestic helpers onto the farms to earn a few rupees, rather than opportune them with an education. This is even more so for a girl child. It is common practice that when she turns 14 she gets married, by 20 has 5 children, has no education behind her, no money and further more no self-confidence and no self-esteem.

Slums have their own set of challenges. Located in the hearts of cities, the disparity between the urban and slum dwellers is a constant impression on the young minds. Lack of availability of free education forces them to look for other means to earn the quick buck. Drugs, violence, alcohol, tobacco are easier to come by than books.

These facts have made it pertinent to broaden our vision and deepen our roots by bringing education to each child in need.

The Art of Living volunteers, inspired by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have laid the foundation and created structures to facilitate this vision of free education to children in such areas. Starting from awareness campaigns to providing free transportation, uniforms, mid-day meals, books and accessories, building free schools in the remotest of areas a revolution has begun, - a revolution in school education!

Our Vision

Our schools provide free, value based education in a stress-free student friendly environment that:-

-> Enables the students to discover their inner talents and to blossom them to the fullest potential.

-> Broadens the vision and deepens the roots by enabling them to appreciate the cultural heritage of their own country and yet have a global vision.

Art of Living : Blood Donation Camp

2013-12-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Art of Living : Oman Blood Donation Camp

On the 6th of December, 2013 Art of Living, Oman had organised a Blood Donation Camp at Hatat Polyclinic, Wadi Adai R/A, Muscat which was supported by Hatat Polyclinic and Central Blood Bank, Oman. With the help of all the volunteers everything ran out very smoothly. Around 88 people had turned up of whom 76 could donate their blood. Efforts of all the volunteers has turned the event to a huge success.

Art of Living's Volunteer for a Better India

2013-12-10T03:44:00.002-08:00

A talk given by H H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during the Curtain raiser event of Volunteer for a Better India.

As I was lighting the lamp, it took a little time. I said,'It takes a little time for the oil lamp to catch fire, but once it catches fire, it burns.'
The same goes with the people of this country. They are a little slow in the beginning, but once they begin, they don’t stop.

You know corruption begins where the sense of belongingness ends.
Nobody is corrupt within the purview of their friends and families, or with people whom they feel belong to them.

When the sense of belongingness ends, from that boundar
y, corruption begins.

In The Art of Living, that is what all of the volunteers, teachers and others are trying to do, i.e., expand the sense of belongingness -The whole world belongs to us.
Every community, every faith, people of all age groups, rural or urban - they are all part of us and they all belong to us.
The sense of the entire humanity being one family, of belonging to each other, is essential for us to have an ethical and just society.

Though it may sound like utopia, but we should never leave this dream. We should dream about it and move in that direction.
Even a tiny step in this right direction will take us a long way, and we have seen this happening.

Society, when it is ridden with crime and corruption, does not become safe for anyone to live in. And we don’t want India to turn into such a field of fear and unjust practices, where people don’t feel safe. This is not India. Here people would always be fearless. Every religion, every culture, every language enjoyed patronage in this land. But today we see a different picture where people have to move with different types of fear. Crime against women and crime against children are on the rise.

So we need to take this step now, to bring people together and make them feel safe and secure.

Yesterday I was addressing about 756 offenders. They are called goondas, dacoits or rowdy-sheeters.
We gave them a different name yesterday - Karnadhars, which means torch-bearer for a new light, a new hope in society.
When we heard from them how their lives changed in just a week’s time (after attending The Art of Living YLTP Program), our hopes have really touched the sky.
These people who do petty to big crimes in slums, if their minds and hearts can be changed, then we have a lot of hope. And not only hope, but this puts a lot of responsibility on us.
When we know that we can do something, we have to do it. We can’t just keep quiet.

Volunteer For A Better India is a beautiful initiative. I am sure each one of you here will multiply yourself into groups of thousands of volunteers, to bring the message of a crime-free, corruption-free and just India.
What do you say?! (All in the audience say, 'Yes').

On 1 March 2009, I remember it was you volunteers and Yes+ students who first started India Against Terrorism, because in the year 2008 India saw 13 terror attacks in 12 months, and hundreds of people had lost their lives in these attacks.

About Bhanu Didi

2013-05-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Bhanumathi Narasimhan has played a keyrole in The Art of Living Foundation, since its inception. Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The Art of Living Foundation is a not-for-profit, educational and humanitarian NGO. The organization operates globally in 151 countries. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, her brother and guide, has been a constant source of support and direction for her.

Bhanumathi has been instrumental in instituting the "Care-for-Children" program, which provides education for underprivileged rural children, free of cost. The first school to be supported by this program started in 1981 with 30 children in rural Bangalore. Now, 30 years later, there are 210 schools in 18 states of India educating over 24,000 children. She is especially focused on education for girls and empowerment of women.

In 1997, Bhanumathi Narasimhan was one of the founding members of VISTA India (Value Integrated Services To All), an initiative that aims to provide economic and social self-sufficiency for disadvantaged women. The project was launched under the aegis of the Art of Living Foundation, and it has provided vocational training, entrepreneurship, and self-development workshops to more than 8,000 women in India. As part of their training, women are also introduced to programs that promote hygiene and women's health in rural areas.

Sri Sri Women's Empowerment Program is another initiative on similar lines of VISTA and caters to underprivileged women in rural areas. There are two centers currently operating - one in rural Tamil Nadu and another in the outskirts of Bangalore.

Bhanu Didi started the HARA (HIV/AIDS Awareness in Rural Areas) project to create awareness on HIV/AIDS in rural areas. The youth volunteers trained under a qualified medical doctor receive training in this field and disseminate information in the rural areas. Since 2009, 40000 individuals across India have benefitted from this initiative.

In support of traditional art and culture, Bhanu Didi as initiated the Weaver-to-Wearer project. The project identifies skilled craftsmen in the traditional arts from rural areas and connects them with consumers around the world.

Bhanu Didi has convened and chaired four international women's leadership conferences since 2005. These conferences seek to provide a platform for women leaders to share their successes, and inspire one-another to succeed against formidable odds. She has been instrumental in bringing together people from different countries for various forums and guiding them on humanitarian projects.

Bhanu Didi teaches Sahaj Samadhi Meditation and has initiated thousands of individuals around the world. A gifted singer, Bhanu Didi as several albums to her credit comprising devotional bhajans and shlokas heard by people across the globe irrespective of their nationalities.

She holds a Masters Degree in Sanskrit Literature from Bangalore University. She is married with two sons, and lives in Bangalore, India.

More about Bhanu Didi

There is that instant when all 53 billion cells in your body, all of them communicate in one go.

2013-05-09T05:04:00.002-07:00

Ramsay Taum (Director of External Relations & Community Partnerships, University of Hawaii at Manoa and Chairman of the Board of Sustain Hawaii) started the evening by reciting an Hawaiian chant. He then spoke about the connections between Hawaii and Indian culture.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Thank you very much. Mahalo! ( A Hawaiian word meaning Thanks). It is nice to hear the same thing from a different perspective. It's so interesting how all cultures in the world have common threads. Like Ramsay spoke about the word "Eee" (in the Hawaiian language) similarly in Sanskrit each letter symbolizes a particular element. There are five elements in nature: earth, water, fire, air and ether. Then there is the mind, intellect and ego or the identity. Then comes the non-changing, unifying spirit called maha.

When we greet each other mahalo, that is a step beyond the ego and we find unification. Ma represents that which you know. Children's first word in life is ma. A child sees beyond the identity of me to a larger identity. It is interesting that there is an underlying unity in all the cultures around the world.

Life is both a secret and sacred. In ancient civilizations, anything that was sacred was considered secret. But in today's modern civilization there is shame in the secret. Secret and shame are associated with one another. In ancient civilizations, humility was associated with pride. Today, violence is associated with pride. Aggression is associated with pride. There is a big contrast.

So to know something very deep about ourselves or to understand something very close to our heart we need to be in a cordial and informal environment. You know, we often greet people but our greeting doesn't carry the vibrations. It's almost like an air hostess greeting you when you leave an aircraft with “have a nice day.” It doesn't mean anything. There is something that is beyond the words. There is something deep inside us which we use sometimes to communicate. In that instant all 53 billion cells in your body, all of them communicate in one go.

You know when someone is drowning, at that moment they are totally alive; because the whole body, every cell is so alive, because at that moment they want to live. There is something deep within us that when turned on takes us to a different dimension. At that moment observe what the quality of our breath, our mind, our heart is. If there is a fire in the building, then what happens? Something wakes up in the whole system. Correct? And similarly when we are in deep love with something, the nature, creation, the creator we are in wonder. Then there is a quality to our consciousness.

As a baby you had this quality. You lived almost sixteen or seventeen hours in that state of awe. That’s why babies laugh a lot, smile a lot. But as we grow older we get stuck in memory cycles. We learned and we got stuck, and we learned more and got stuck again. Then by the time you are in your twenties you can’t learn anything anymore. You are in state where you are far away from learning about anything.

Now the question is, is it possible for us to revert back to that state of awe, wonder and learning and still age? Anything that takes us in this direction is the spiritual path. A spiritual pattern should keep you enthusiastic, alive, happy and living moment to moment with a lot of energy.

One thing is to know that we are all connected another is to feel we are connected. Now, there is a danger in feeling we are all connected. Somewhere somebody has a problem. In the world most people have problems. There are very few people without problems. Just imagine, you will be in a constant state of botheration because every time someone is bothered you are bothered. You need skill, the skill of being compassionate yet not getting affected. For example, a doctor treats sick people all the time but doesn’t get sick himself/herself. A doctor is not supposed to. At least for that period when he is sick, he is not a doctor. He’s a patient. So a doctor has to remain a doctor and not turn into a patient.

Even here the solution is following a spiritual path. Certain practices insulate you, yet retain your sensitivity at the same time. This needs training and education. We all have ten fingers and though everyone has the ability, only a few can play the guitar. Only those few who have learned how to play the guitar or the flute or the trombone can play it.

Nature does not reveal itself until there is a certain maturity in our hearts. Until the time our mind is totally in the present moment, our vision about the future and the past gets limited. When the mind starts being in the present moment more and more it gains the ability to search through all the rough, pleasant and unpleasant impressions. This gives a certain level of equanimity and nature reveals more of its secrets. This is such a beautiful thing.

Our breath is a connecting factor to the whole creation. Breath in Sanskrit equals prana. Prana is not exactly breath but the life-force energy connected with the breath. We are all floating in an ocean of prana, an ocean of life-force. Now this changes all the time. The quality of prana changes all the time.

When our breath through the left nostril is dominant, the right brain is more active. When our breath through the right nostril is dominant, the left brain is more active. So now if your breath is going through the left then you grasp whatever intellectual discussions are going on. When it shifts to the right and the left brain starts functioning, you will rather just sit and sing or enjoy music.

Many times you may walk into a place that plays music and you notice that your breath shifts. Similarly, if you go to a meditation place or sit in a place where people have meditated you find both nostrils are functioning. Only when both nostrils are functioning equally then meditation can happen. So the ancient people studied a lot about the breath.

Putting your attention wherever you want to, you can know what is happening there. There’s a lot of knowledge in this. Every time you know more you find there is so much more to know about life. That’s why life is an unending secret, something so sacred.

Sri Sri then led the audience through sukshma yoga(a subtle form of yoga that has a very relaxing effect) for those who were tired after a long day at work . After the relaxing yoga session he led the audience through a meditation