Art of Living YES + Program for I Year Students

YES+ is a fun, dynamic course for college students that can increase and conserve their energy and help them to manage their time well. It teaches them to be productive and dynamic, at the same time staying cool and focused. Besides, the students also learn powerful breathing techniques, yoga, meditation and practical wisdom required to deal with the present day world. The techniques learnt during the course can be incorporated in one’s daily life; with the experience and one can reap in benefits.

YES+ course was conducted for I Semester BCom A section and BCA students from 18^th to 20^th September and the same was conducted for I Semester BCom B section and BBA students from 23^rd to 25^th September 2019.The sessions were conducted by Ms Upasana, Art of Living Volunteer along with the Principal, Dr [Brig] Sandes .

Day One

The session on first day began with ‘warm up’ which helped the students to get to know each other well. For many students, this session gave an opportunity to interact with many of their peers with whom they had not interacted so far!  Students introduced themselves with the word ‘Sanghasatvam’ suffixed to their introduction.

It was followed by an interactive session; wherein, the trainer and students spoke about several aspects of life, for e.g. opportunities which one easily takes but doesn’t give. Ms Upasana said that a person with no goals is one with no soul and hence each one must have a goal; while achieving the goals one mustn’t give up; have belief in oneself. The topic of creativity also came up. Ms Upasana suggested that one must think out of the box, creative ideas may be small or big but it can work wonders and hence each one must speak up what he/she thinks.

Next, students were taught ‘Sudarshan Kriya.’and told the benefits of Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful breathing technique which  is the core of the program .It eliminates stress and improves physical and emotional well-being. After doing Sudarshan Kriya, students recounted how they felt.

Day Two

The session began with a discussion on how in the youth, feelings control and there is no commitment because youth easily changes his/her opinion listening to others. Ms Upasana in her talk emphasized on the way one can balance the feelings with commitment. The major learning for the students on that day was- each one should listen to his /her mind and deepen their roots. In addition, no one should feel shy about what they do, instead give 100% commitment towards what they do.

Students made a team of two and discussed for five minutes about their responsibilities and needs .The teams narrated it one by one. During the course of analyzing, each one understood that one remains unhappy only because the needs and responsibilities are very many. The learning from this team activity was that if both needs and responsibilities are equal, there is a struggle in life but if responsibilities are more than needs, that leads to happiness.

After a ten minute break, students practiced Sudarshan Kriya –the powerful form of meditation that can cleanse the system. It opens up chakras, and bestows innumerable benefits to individuals who complete it following the right method and do it with sincerity.

In the noon, the following activities were conducted:

• Seven Strengths of India- Students were divided into groups of seven. A time limit of seven minutes was given and the students made charts showing strengths of India and the groups had to give a presentation of the same.
• Seven up-Students were divided into three groups. The focus and concentration of the students was tested in presence of disruption. The learning from this activity was -inspite of distractions in life; one must overcome it and focus on set goals.
• TV and remote-In this activity, four students made a team. In reality, the lives of people are like TV and remote. Each one is controlled by the other and one’s life is like a puppet controlled by a puppeteer who plays with his/her emotions. The students learnt that they should control their minds in such a way that their minds don’t change and is not dependant on other’s mindset.

Day Three

The day began with ‘Sudarshan Kriya’. The students were advised to continue doing it every day as doing it can refresh the soul. Next, students were taught ‘Surya Namaskar’-it helps keep mind and soul in control and improves concentration and focus. Besides, it just takes two minutes to complete one cycle of Surya Namaskar.

 ‘Cooking without fire’ was the next event. Students were divided into groups of seven and they had come prepared with their recipes and ingredients that could be cooked without fire .They were allotted a time of 1 ½ hours to make nutritious food items and impress their guests- Dr [Brig] Sandes, Dr Veena K N, Prof Nikitha Sreekantha, Prof Meera Krishnan, the class coordinators-Prof Shilpa, Prof Roopashree and Prof Shrithi.Ms Upasana also joined in. What impressed the food tasters were -some unique presentations, customary food items presented in a novel method and many creative twists to the regular food. Students enjoyed the culinary process of preparing, presenting and devouring. Dr Veena, Prof Nikitha and the other faculty lauded the efforts of the students for their creativity and presentation.

The YES+ Program concluded with a few takeaways for life:

• Live in the present moment
• Opposite values are complement each other
• Do not be a football of other’s opinion
• Accept people and situation as they are
• Do not see intention behind other people’s mistake

 

 

                                                                                                               Mohammad Muiz

                                                                                                                    Pragati Bishal

                                                                                                                       Bindhu V K

                                                                                                                  I Semester BBA