Date: Sep 7–8, 2014 Place: Society House, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry
Anahita, a teacher at a leading Mumbai school, an accomplished yoga trainer, and conductor of Sri Aurobindo’s SAVITRI sessions in Mumbai, led a team 36 students of Yoga for sessions in Puducherry. These sessions aimed at a holistic spiritual awakening and experiences, apart from dedicated yoga sessions.
The group arrived on September 6th and left on 9th noon. A few sessions were conducted at Society House by experts and resource persons in various fields. On September 7, Dr Sampadananda Mishra conducted a session of two hours on ‘Mantrayoga’ for the group. In this session the theory of Mantrayoga was explained to the participants and a set of ‘Beejamantras’ were taught to them for purifying and activating the different chakras or energy centers in human body.
Also, on September 7, Harvinder conducted a session to awaken senses and sensory experiences. The group was helped to undergo a creative listening exercise. A brief understanding was shared about the difference of listening to a sound and experiencing it. Eased into a listening mode through some warm-up exercises first, the group was then led into a state of relaxation where there were to ABSORB (not merely listen) to a piece of music (western classical, instrumental, Bach) that was played. The exercise asked them to perceive music as a capsule to energy, rather than a product. Through sheer sensitivity, openness and a changed paradigm perception, the participants were led into a different experience of a seemingly ordinary exercise. They then were asked to ‘free write’ without stopping for a period of ten minutes. The exercise was then repeated with a very different style of music for stimulus (ghazal, sufi, artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan). The participants then shared their experience, writing, queries, and were led into a discussion. This exercise was designed to tap into the subtle aspects of the right brain.