Saving the world, one breath at a time

MANILA, Philippines - When Vikram Hazra decided to leave his lucrative job in India to become a teacher for the Art of Living courses, his parents were apparently, and understandably, perplexed.  It didn’t help any when he also told them that what he wanted to do was to go around the world and teach people how to, well, breathe. To breathe.

“What can be more important than breathing?” Hazra, who is also a Mumbai-based concert artist and musician, asked around 30 participants at an Art of Living Part 1 class held recently in Makati City.

While in the Philippines teaching Art of Living corporate workshops to two prominent multinational companies, Hazra found the time to do this public workshop and had conducted the same in Boracay. “You can live without food for a couple of weeks; you can live without water for a few days. But take away the breath for a few minutes? You’re gone!”

Yet no one, he asserts, teaches people how to use our breath in order to make us more effective. Not in schools, not at work nor at home.  And that is one of the many extraordinarily basic ideas the Art of Living courses set out to show people from all walks of life the world over.

Beyond mere inhalation and exhalation to stay alive, proper breathing has been proven to relieve physical discomfort, to de-stress, to relax the body and calm the mind. Alternative health care practitioners will even say that the breath can actually eliminate diseases and toxins. Then of course there are legions of meditators who acknowledge the breath as the key to spiritual awakening, the incontrovertible link between the body and the mind.

“Observe your breath when you are upset, “ Hazra instructs, “and see how different it is when you are happy or sad.” Manage your breath and you manage your life.

The fulcrum of the workshop is the Sudarshan Kriya, a rhythmic breathing technique that energizes, detoxifies and clears the mind of tension, fatigue and worry. In between the breathing processes are group conversations on living life to the fullest, yoga and a lot of self-exploration.

A few days before the workshop, the public was also treated to an exquisite, eclectic concert with Hazra accompanied by Cynthia Alexander, who also happens to be an Art of Living teacher. Alexander is gifted with the uncanny ability to pick up tendrils of unknown melodies and gently improvise.

The over 1,500 graduates of the Art of Living courses in the Philippines join millions worldwide. Founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Sri Sri), the Art of Living Foundation presents itself as one of the world’s largest volunteer-based educational and humanitarian organizations. Many graduates have reported better overall health and more relaxed mental and emotional states. Stress clouds the individual’s true nature of joy and love, and the aim of the courses is to eliminate stress so that people can wholly attend to living their lives to the fullest.

In an interview, radio personality Jaime Licauco asked Hazra what was the purpose of Art of Living.

“To put a smile back on every face on this planet,” replies Hazra, quoting his teacher Sri Sri.

The Art of Living Part 1 course will be held from Aug. 24 to 29 at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel. To register, call Lorna at 216-6139, SMS 0917-8484898 or Ruth at 0917-5275466. For inquiries, e-mail info@artofliving.org.ph or visit www.artofliving.org.ph