Hari Om !
I just thought of sharing my experience and take away for last one year at Dhrti Yoga Center.
It is exactly a year back I had joined the center. My main intention was my health concerns due to which there was weight gain, and ever since then I started working on it, I have seen the difference. I am experiencing many changes taken place since then in my health. Yes, I have lost few kgs (3kgs) a little slow progress but now I feel more connected on spiritual path rather than a few kg of weight loss.
My friends say, “The Gal who was known for being an Impatient Gal has now turned to be the calmest gal”.
One incidence: This December I had been for vacation to my home town, Goa, for 2 weeks, and as usual after bath I was chanting mantras which I have learnt over the period of one year at the center. My Mother was very happy to see me involved in spiritual practices and started asking me what all I have learnt so far. I started sharing all that we follow; right from starting the class with different prayers on different days, then Suryanamaskara, Asanas and at the end Pranayamas… etc. She was further interested in knowing what are the mantras, asanas, pranayamas etc we do.
Happy to share, I started what all we chant right from Monday to Friday, the prayers, and she was like; “Oh my god! my daughter knows so much” (shocked and surprised). All the while when I was sharing with her about stotrams and mantras, she was busy cooking and I kept on chanting them and then slowly, slowly she became so involved that she left her cooking and sat next to me asking me to share me more and I was very happy that my mother is listening to me 🙂 Usually elders don’t listen to their children, right?
I did my asanas and she watched me doing them. I taught her the series we have learnt – PM 1, PM 2, and Suryanamaskara, I shared with her few knowledge I have gained while my practice at the center and even in the Bhakti yoga sessions. I even shared few of my experiences from yoga class and our session continued for 3 hours. We realized only when my father came from market and rang the door bell 🙂 I was very happy when my mother was asking me for more n more to share with her. She told my father to learn the basics from me, that is – PM1 and PM2. And the next day I taught my father also. 🙂 . It’s a great achievement for me 🙂 and all thanks to grace of the gurus whose parampara we follow, the Satyananda Tradition and the param guru Swami Sivanandajis teachings and not to forget the Bhakti Yoga session, we are now becoming aware of what is Krishna consciousness.
All thanks to the teachers, the prabhujis and matajis to shower their knowledge on us.
Second incidence: As I said I joined yoga last year, same time, reason heath concerns, I also told my friend, Manjusha, to join with me, for she too had health issues and we both started yoga asanas together. My other friends used to curiously ask us what all are being taught today, and we would be happy to share. Since the sequence had to be remembered, on the way to home, we used to revise the sequence, the breathing techniques etc. and this continued. My other group of friends would observe both of us, amazed!
Truly speaking all my friends have joined Dhrti only after seeing changes in me. My friends would say: “kitni impatient thi yaar tu, pata nai yoga ne kya jadu kiyah, sabse jyada patience level ab tereme hai”. “Hum sabko logon ki buraiya dikhti par tu unko ignore karke, sirf acha kaise soch pati hai”
To Summarize: I am very happy to be a part of Dhrti and I get immense pleasure with opening the session everyday by chanting the mantras, which makes the 5.45 pm session very unique. I literally run from HSR signal bus stop for yoga class since the traffic is too high at that time. Thursdays are my favorite sessions. I feel very sad on the days when I am not able to make up on time for the chantings and on the days when I cannot come to yoga class – are my mood off days :(. Since there is lot of work pressure from office, I always try my level best to practice “starting the class with prayers”, as this calms me down the most.
Another funny incidence 😉 was, my marriage plans on the way and my parents are looking for right match for me. And one day I told my mother, search guy from Bangalore and preferably in the vicinity of BTM :). My Mother asked, Why? The reason I gave made both of us laughed for an hour:) I told her I don’t want to leave Dhrti:) Though my office is near Manyata Tech Park, it is too far from BTM 1- 1/2 hour one side journey and only the reason I don’t want to shift my house near to Marathalli is “missing yoga classes”. Best thing that could happen, people from my office also started doing yoga, and it feels nice to know their experiences, as a yoga practitioner.
To end with: I pray to god to keep me grounded for all the good things that have happened to me since I started the journey of Yoga. I wish to spread the light of yoga to all my loved ones, friends for their welfare and may the gurus always guide me.
Hari OM Tat Sat
Harshada, 5:45 pm session