Posts made in May, 2012

Strikes happen all over the world for different reasons. Today was a Bandh, or strike, here in Bangalore, to protest the rise in fuel prices. No buses means no transportation for me to get to classes. As I realized this yesterday, I already ensured that the research class at Tamahar would be rescheduled for later in June. Though I feel sad to miss the children, I really have no choice. There are many peaces, and one of them is about fuel prices! In the meanwhile, I’m asking the parents to continue regular practice at home. This is what actually helps individuals make changes in their health concerns. When something is done regularly, it becomes a habit and then, as Gandhi said, you can “be the change you wish to see”. Already, in just a few...

You can do yoga anywhere. Technically speaking, you don’t even need a place to sit or stand or lie down. However, what works best is to have an open and airy room, uncluttered, because it helps your mind become uncluttered too, thus providing the right conditions for a peaceful practice. In offices, this means making sure the room is set up without tables and chairs everywhere, so that your mat can go somewhere. I am currently teaching at Microsoft here in Bangalore, and this is the major issue. Finding a proper location is one obstacle to cross. There are tables and chairs everywhere, and they are bolted in. Now, I have not worked or even visited a corporate office in over a decade until I came to Microsoft. Though I knew to expect cubicles and conference...

Wow, is this the greatest gift ever! Children with autism respond to it so positively. Such children often have a hard time understanding words. This bowl, which comes in different sizes and metal combinations, and thus has different sounds, doesn’t speak words– it just sings. Sometimes it sings slow and deep, other times, it’s faster, higher, or just different. Many children are attracted to the sound, which is said to be the same frequency as the earth, similar to the sound “OM”. Children who have a hard time focusing for even 1 second can watch me play for a minute, or even more. Today, it worked wonders on one child who has a tendency to cry. Everytime she started, I would ring the bell or play it and her mouth would soften and...

Today, I arrived a few minutes early to the session at Tamahar, where I have 6 students with mental or physical disabilities learning yoga as a form of therapy. Except today, at 11, only 1 student had turned up. A few minutes later, the next student rolled in, and then by 11:15, i could honestly say “three’s a crowd”. Five minutes later, a student I had not yet met turned up with his mom; at 11:30, there were 5 out of 6 present. It was a difficult day for me as a teacher, because I had to focus on students with all sorts of needs, new students, old students, and crying students. Yes, crying. Peace work is not easy. You come up against resistance from members, factions, and outsiders in the community. And as a peace worker, you can’t...

By now, if you’ve been following my posts on Yoga for Peace and how Yoga is related to Peace, you won’t find this information new. Rather, it will be a condensed version of what I’ve been talking about all along…. Bringing Yoga philosophies to Peace Studies in order to create inner peace, communities in peace, and world peace. This is what I taught at the University of Jaume, in Castellon de la Plana, Spain, a region south of Barcelona, east of Madrid, and north of Valencia. I was pleasantly surprised that many of the students had taken yoga lessons, even yoga teacher training before. One mentioned she planned to use it in her Master’s thesis! Our discussions traveled further than the 5000+ mile- journey from India to Spain. We used...