Class Teaches the Art of Breathing, Living

By REBECCA BREEDEN

Class teaches the art of breathing, living

A 24-year-old waitress at a New Orleans caf learned how to breathe after Hurricane Katrina blew her fastpaced 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.

Its 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 this month with more in January and February.

Everyone’s experience is unique, depending on how they want to incorporate Sudarshan Kriya.

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. 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 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 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 benefits claimed include relief of anxiety and depression, better antioxidant protection, enhancing brain function and increasing mental focus and alertness.

Kriya 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 alcohol-free vegetarian diet, no recreational drugs, no smoking before class, and no strenuous activity for the weekend.

“(Sudarshan Kriya) allowed me to release a lot of stress and chaos that I was feeling,” said McGuire, who had trouble describing 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 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 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.

The course is usually $375 but is free to participants in Baton Rouge, because of funds from the Art of Living Foundation and the volunteerbased International Association for Human Values, co- founded by Shankar, the Dalai Lama and others.

Art of Living classes

WHEN: Dec. 8-13, times vary.

WHERE: The Red Shoes, a nonprofit center for personal and spiritual growth, 2303 Government St.

REGISTRATION: Visit http://www.artof livingohio.org, click on Course Registration, Part I. For more information, e-mail Natalie Kaharick, natalie@ iahv.org.

COST: Free. The International Association for Human Values and Art of Living Foundation is funding the $375 tuition.