Battling it with a smile and yoga

BANGALORE: They pledged pledged to defeat heart disease with smile and yoga. At the Art of Living ashram on Monday, hundreds of followers of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar urged citizens to take care of their hearts and be a part of the 'Billion Hearts Beating’ campaign by Apollo Hospitals and The Times of India.

The mood at the satsang was full of life, people dancing and signing to their favorite bhajans. Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Dr P C Reddy handed over the pledge form to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Dr Reddy said it was an 'electrifying experience’ to launch the campaign at the AOL ashram. "By 2050, India is likely to be the heart disease capital. The diseases which were seen in 60-year-olds is now seen in 30-year-olds. The incidence is five to seven times more than that of the western world. Read More from Times of India

Art of Living in Malaysian Tamil Newspaper.

Shri.K.K. Ganesji is the first Art of Living Course Faculty and Mentor of Tamilnadu. As a senior faculty he was responsible to conduct the courses in each and every district of Tamilnadu. Besides he has been an international faculty and handled corporate courses.

Guruji has blessed a team of Teachers in Tamilnadu lead by Shri.Ganesji to conduct courses, particularly, for the Tamil community in Malaysia. A copy of his interview published in Makkal Osai, one of the popular Tamil Daily in Malaysia is attached below. His team is making significant progress in this project.

Click on the image to make it readable.

What's your fitness mantra?

Veda Nagpurkar, a 24-year-old graphic designer from Mumbai has been practicing yoga and a satvik diet for a while now. She says, “This is the best way to attain the divine trinity of mind, body and soul. I have personally experienced this as I follow the preachings of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The energy it generates helps me achieve the best. No amount of money or fame can provide you with the satisfaction of a healthy body and a calm state of mind. It has helped me develop a strong mind to not get influenced by TV shows and make my own decisions.” Read more experiences

Guruji in India’s Most Powerful People, Forbes 2010

Sonia Gandhi, Nandan Nilekani, Dr Manmohan Singh, Ratan Tata, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Aamir Khan among the seven most powerful Indians by Forbes.

Read More

Art of Living’s heritage school holds its first convocation

The Art of Living’s heritage school (Sri Sri Gurukul) held its first convocation where 34 students received the oriental honor of ‘Shivagama Vidya Nidhi’.

Sri Sri Dayananda Saraswathi Swamiji, founder Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Rishikesh was the Chief Guest. Speaking on the occasion Shri Dayananda Saraswati said, “This is the first time in the Vedic history that such recognition has been given. All of them should go to smaller temples and teach the people the right tone of chanting mantras and the methods of performing temple rituals. ”

Saraswathiji, along with His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder, Art of Living, felicitated the students with the degree. “We need more such institutions which impart such ancient knowledge,” said Sri Sri. Read more

Message from Smt. Akila Srinivasan State President

Dear Ones,

Jai Gurudev

Poojya Gurdev has convened a meeting for the Teachers and Volunteers of Tamil Nadu between 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. on 20th June’10 (Sunday) at The Bangalore Ashram. You are requested to attend the meeting without fail. Please assemble by 10 a.m.

Guruji expects more than 1000 devotees and volunteers to attend this meeting. He will be talking about the latest incident that took place as the Ashram and will clear all our doubts.

We look forward to having you all at The Ashram on 20th June’10.

Jai Gurudev

Akhila Srinivasan

State President

Maoist drop guns, take deep breath at Sri Sri ashram

Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has mesmerised millions in India and abroad, now has some unexpected followers — the Maoists.

Seventeen rebels visited his ashram near Bangalore on Friday to seek his help in removing negative emotions and shunning violence, the founder of the Art of Living Foundation said on Saturday. Read More from Hindustan Times

Ex-cricketer Strang heals with yoga, Gita

In 2009, Strang found the guru who he says changed his life forever. It was Sri Sri Ravishankar.

“I started reading the Bhagavad Gita and the words made so much sense to me, for this was exactly what I was craving for all my life,” he says, adding, from the scripture, “Words can heal and words can wound.”

As his crumpled spirits lifted, Strang was able to take control of his mind. He became a teacher of yoga and spirituality at an Indian community in Westridge, Harare. And then, as he recovered, he was able every now and then to take time out to heal his other damaged love, cricket.

“Cricket is life, no other sport displays truer emotions. I’ve come back to spread the message of love and heal wounds.” Wearing a backpack, he mingles with the crowds at the Queens Sports Club, healing a few wounds along the way. Healing after being healed, life has come full circle for Bryan Strang. Read More