Al-Arab Al-Youm (Amman), 10 May 2010 - In these stressful, uncertain times, we feel the necessity to learn techniques that can help us live happily. That is what The Art of Living, Jordan, provides through breathing techniques that stem from the ancient practice of Yoga.
Al Arab Al Youm Newspaper met The Art of Living professional instructor, Patricia Montella, during her visit to Jordan to participate in the workshop Health and Happiness. This workshop specifically aims at youth in order to encourage them to imbibe values that connect humans to one another. These courses help youth to experience a sense of belonging and become responsible members of society. The course inspires volunteers to participate in service projects that are implemented in Jordan and all over the world.
The Art of Living Foundation is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) which offers many programs that meet all age categories and strata of society, such as: Part 1, Part II, Yes+ and Art Excel. Studies have proven that the practitioners of Surdarshan Kriya, a key breathing technique, enjoy peace of mind and mental focus.
Montella highlighted that ‘The reason for conflicts and problems in the world are based on partial identities based on religion, gender and geography; instead of being part of one human family. Through a spiritual journey that starts from the mind and ends in the heart these techniques will bring peace and release stress.
The instructor explained that her constant struggle with time had been a losing battle due to her hurried rhythm of life, full of tension and stress. When one of her clients told her about the Surdarshan Kriya course (Part I) she joined it. The course had a big impact on her as she had come with a lot of stress, tension, and burdens from the past. She felt liberated after the course.
She continued: "And as a result of this experience and its deep impact on all the participants I had a strong will to learn more about meditation so I met the founder, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, in order to join the foundation. I thought I will end my membership a year later but it has not stopped, even now, after 12 years".
She added, " I used to look up work through which I can help people reach happiness and bring back their smiles, and I finally found it in this field which I consider the best thing to do and the best way to spend an interesting and useful time".
As life is filled with turning points that may make you feel optimistic and depressed, what happens according to Montella, is that we do not know how to deal with life’s circumstances and overcome its difficulties in order to save the positive energy which lead to losing control over our social relationships. Thus, problems arise and stress appears without warning most of the times. This could be avoided if we observe our lives quietly and become aware of the subconscious mind going through tsunamis that we can get rid of through breathing and calming down the nervous system.
Breathing techniques used in the The Art of Living help us become aware of the negative thoughts so we can get rid of them and reach happiness. These techniques in general do not contradict with any meditative methods such as Yoga; on the contrary they complete them. They are distinguished by deeply affecting the self in a shorter time than other meditation methods can do.
Anyone can be successful and distinguished in his profession, but the most important thing is to be a good person, this is the art of living. The focus is on youth because they are energetic, courageous and creative.
The foundation targets all strata of society. It also trains employees, patients who suffer from cancer and Parkinson’s, doctors, nurses, soldiers returning from wars, decision-makers and politicians, as we believe in their major role in the international peace keeping. Supervisors of these special programs sensed a new inner peace in participants which enhanced their capability to make decisions that serve society. The foundation also provides courses to countries living in peace as well to remove any potential seeds of hatred and violence.
Montella concluded with the goal of The Art of Living is to keep smiling regardless of the circumstances. Let's make our smile cheap and our anger expensive.
