Few weeks ago, I had an intent of contributing to teenagers as they do go through stress that parents and teachers are sometime unable to understand. Since Nirvana® had helped a few teenagers who had taken my class earlier, I thought that taking it to schools could give the kids a tool to equip them to use and feel the space of calm, self confidence and gratitude and most of all love.
I proposed the thought to the Nirvana India team and had many volunteers who felt that we could contribute. I met with the counsellor at
Inventure academy, as that's the school my kids graduated from. They were very encouraging and were very happy that we were looking to contribute in some way to improve kids’ condition. We formed a team of 8
instructors (
Jyothika,
Yukti,
Suvitha,
Meera,
Kruti,
Sunitha,
Vidyashree,
Kamini and
Pooja) we had to work with more than 900 kids distributed into 9 separate batches.
We were given 50 minutes slots to do the Nirvana® sessions. We used the 45 min
choreography and modified it slightly as placing more than 100 kids in the room, giving them instructions on the
pursed lips breathing technique, keeping their attention and focus, doing Nirvana® and feeling the experience was an enormous task. We decided that in the short time we were given, we would focus on breathing and
intentions. Most of the sessions were done with 5 instructors (3 leading the kids and 2 helping and correcting kids with the movements and breathing).
Most sessions started with a lot of chatter, giggles etc. But as we progressed through the Nirvana® session, we found most of the kids were calming down,
being immersed in the experience and participating. When we read some of the feedbacks, we were pleasantly surprised, as we found amidst the noise, chattering, distractions of friends … kids also found themselves more relax and calm.
The feedbacks did blow us away and encouraged us to keep with our intent. As instructors, we found conducting the sessions challenging and yet awesome. It was a good learning as well for all of us as we figured how to present Nirvana® differently to teenagers between 12 and 18 years old to catch their attention. For the 12-15 years old, we focused on
improvement in sports, animal breathing rates and
longevity, Dr Emoto's experiment using intentions. For the older kids, we gave them more details on facts, cell oxygenation, parasympathetic nervous system ...
As a team of instructors, we had excellent synergy. Every NIN got a chance to lead the kids, stand in front, contribute to the
centrepieces and guide children. We all learnt a lot from this experience. We are now looking to approach many more schools and continue our contribution!
Here are some feedbacks from the students. We received over 200 feedbacks so this is a selection ...
"Great experience, felt calm and more relaxed, will definetly try this in the future."
"I felt a lot calmer after the exercise and more awake as well, I wish people were more quiet"
"The session helped me relax and taught me techniques to relieve stress."
"Peaceful, relaxed and calm"
"I liked this very much. I felt like I was home."
"I am relaxed. I am going to use this everyday."
"I felt really Happy."
"It makes me feel calm, peaceful and happy."
"Felt different and Fresh."
"At first I felt tired but slowly it became calm, pleasant and
relaxing. Overall I think my breathing capacity has increased."
"At first I thought it was boring but once I took interest I felt very relaxed and calm."
"The activities were very nice and the music was calm. I enjoyed it."
"Sense of happiness, calm and exhilaration."
"I felt calm and sleepy but not tired."
"It was a very new experience, I feel a new found sense of clarity and tranquility."
"I felt refreshed after Nirvana. I had a headache and it went away."
"Today was great. I can say that I am truly calm. This is definetly something I can use when I am stressed."
"I felt a lot more relaxed and calm. Thank you for making us feel a bit more peaceful."
"It was really good experience. Thank you teachers for spending time
teaching us. It was really refreshing and I wish I get a opportunity
like this again."
"In the beginning, I was confused but now I feel relaxed and kind of sleepy."
"It was a new experience. It was oddly calm and relaxing. I liked it."
"I felt more clarity and complete serenity."
"In the beginning it felt strange, but now I feel calm."
"The
session was very relaxing. The teachers were nice and I felt better
after the session. I was tired but after doing this I feel much better."
"It was a unique approach to relaxation and was very different to what I expected it to be."
"This session was very calming. I might use this again. At the end, I almost fell asleep."
"I was sleepy before I came here. After this I became energetic and sleepy at the same time. Though it was hard I enjoyed it."
"My experience was extremely serene and it taught me to be calm and stay within the present moment."
"Nirvana makes me feel calm and energetic. I will practice this and enjoy."
"This helped me in clearing and calming my stressed brain."
"It felt good. When starting, my count was 15 but at the end I got 55 counts." (Butheyko Body Oxygen Test)
"It was so good, I felt I was on air. Awesome."
Article written by Jyothika Dwarakanth (Nirvana® Instructor, Ambassador, State Ambassador, Mentor and NES).
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