|
Class teaches the art
of breathing, living
By REBECCA BREEDEN
2theadvocate.com staff
writer
12/16/05
A 24-year-old
waitress at a New Orleans cafe learned how to breathe
after Hurricane Katrina blew her fast-paced lifestyle
upside down.
Displaced to
Baton Rouge and overwhelmed, Kelly McGuire searched
for a peaceful retreat, possibly a yoga or meditation
class.
What she stumbled
on was Art of Living, a course on specific breathing
rhythms meant to detoxify and energize every cell
of the body.
The six-day
Art of Living course teaches the Sudarshan Kriya
breathing method to people from all cultures, religions
and spiritual backgrounds.
"It's about
the human experience, the qualities of a stress-free
mind and how it looks at the world," said instructor
Natalie Kaharick, who has flown down from Ohio a
few times to teach the seminar in post-Katrina Baton
Rouge.
"Everyone's
religion and spiritual practice is personal and sacred," she
said. "Art of Living techniques are complementary
to whatever spiritual practice you have. It deepens
your experience and removes that stress from your
system. "
From Catholics
to Hindus, from the wealthy to the needy, ages 17
to 100, Kaharick said participants usually leave
feeling better with a clearer mind.
In Baton Rouge
one class was scheduled in early October, but high
interest led to more classes. A fourth class is scheduled
this month and more will follow in January and February.
Everyone's experience
is unique, depending on how they want to incorporate
Sudarshan Kriya into their lives.
McGuire called
her experience profound, and said she learned not
to take things so personally, especially in traffic.
"Sometimes I
don't have a lot of tolerance if others are lagging
behind," McGuire said.
"It allowed me to have more patience and recognize that everyone's
on their own time schedule."
Sudarshan Kriya,
pronounced
"soo-dar-shun cree-ya," was created almost 25 years ago, after its founder,
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, started a movement of social responsibility and strengthening
the individual. Growing up in a small town in southern India, his message is
that "all religions and spiritual traditions share common goals and values,
and that love, practical wisdom and service encourages harmony and teaches
people to follow their own path,"
according to the Art of Living Foundation.
Shankar's message
of compassion and humanitarian service has spread
to more than 20 million people in 140 nations.
Volunteers have
jump-started development projects in more than 25,300
villages, bringing self-reliance and sustainability
to millions of people, including aid to war-stricken
people in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia and Iraq. Shankar's
trauma relief programs have reached out to those
affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
in New York City, the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka
and India and post-Katrina New Orleans.
Humanitarian
efforts are great, but don't people already know
how to breathe?
"We're breathing
all the time," Kaharick said. "All the processes
are guided. It's not hard to learn. You don't have
to be trained in yoga or meditation."
During Sudarshan
Kriya, every cell in the body is flooded with oxygen,
she explained. Medical studies have shown that the
breathing method helps reduce cholesterol and cortisol,
the "stress" hormone. Other medical benefits claimed
include relief of anxiety and depression, better
antioxidant protection, enhancing brain function
and increasing mental focus and alertness.
Kriya also helps
cancer patients with a better immune system and affects
natural killer cells, Kaharick said.
To aid in the
six-day detoxification process, Kaharick suggests
an alcoholfree vegetarian diet, no recreational drugs,
no smoking before class, and not planning strenuous
activity for the weekend.
"(Sudarshan
Kriya) allowed me to release a lot of stress and
chaos that I was feeling prior to that," said McGuire,
who had trouble describing in words her feelings
after the course. "It just allowed me personally
to go really deep within myself, and it was very
peaceful and serene and relaxing."
Many people
who aren't convinced sign up for the seminar out
of curiosity. Atri Sen was skeptical when his wife,
Annie, suggested the course.
"The first day
it was extremely weird and didn't make sense at all," said
Sen, a transportation consultant who moved here four
years ago from Calcutta, India. "It
turned out to be pretty interesting .... It was good
that it didn't have a religious twist or religious bias."
Sen said even
if people don't gain the spirituality they're seeking,
he recommends the course because of the unique gathering
of diverse people.
"It's like a
retreat, a chance to let go of day-to-day life. Having
no to-do list, no cell phones -- a chance to enjoy
the silence," Kaharick said. "Sometimes, it's just
one little thing, like saying 'Today, someone didn't
steal my smile.' "
The course is
usually $375, but is free to participants in Baton
Rouge, thanks to funds from the Art of Living Foundation
and the volunteer-based International Association
for Human Values, co-founded by Shankar, the Dalai
Lama and other spiritual leaders.
|
