Varsha Vivek says - Just You

If someone had told me that I would sit through a series of lectures without drifting off into a daydream every ten minutes, I would have replied in the affirmative with sarcasm dripping from my tone. But this was different, these lectures were about something that we are most familiar with and yet something that we think about the least – ourselves. The “Just you” workshop did justice to its name indeed. We reached the venue on the early morning of July 2nd, allowing us sufficient time to take in the rustic beauty of the surroundings with banyan and mango trees forming a roof over our heads, welcomed by the chirping of birds (accompanied by some not-so-welcoming yet harmless reptiles, read: snakes).  We were to spend the next couple of days listening to thought-provoking lectures, intermittent with yoga sessions.

Personally, this workshop could not have happened at a better time for me. What I understood to be the essence of the workshop and the lectures was that, yoga, apart from working on your physical inflexibility, also removes your mental and emotional rigidities. However, the brilliant experience that we had in those couple of days is far from the mundane account of it, as my lack of literary expression puts it. At the very mention of yoga, most people my age would regard it with ridicule and dismiss it as being didactic. This camp was far from being preachy being preachy, on the contrary, it took a very pragmatic approach to expound the wonders that yoga could work on both our body and mind. The message was simple: you can mould your body and mind the way you want them to be, at any point in life. All you need to do is to want to change. 

Overall, it was a remarkable experience. I do not claim to have developed a profound understanding about myself in those couple of days, however, I have definitely realised why I need to start thinking about it and in what ways it would help me. I would like to thank the teachers of SYC for the time and effort that they have invested in developing a truly motivating and yet fun-filled camp. It would a pleasure and a great learning experience if we were to have such camps more frequently.

Madhumithaa says - Just You

Hari om, I am madhumithaa

It was a great experience and really motivating to be a part of the camp.

I got a chance to move with more people of my own age group and make friends with them. Sir's lectures were really is useful and I hope to follow all the guidelines that he said in order to have a long, healthy and successful life.

I really enjoyed staying in the natural environment away from the polluted city.

I hope there will be more frequent camps like this with a longer stay.

Thank you
Hari om

Anandhi Jeyagopal says - Just You

Hari Om !

Blessed Self,

This is my account of the activities and experience during the " Just You " workshop.

When I was first told that a youth program was going to be conducted I didn't give it a second thought. Too many programs take place in my house and the center related activities are very frequent. When I came to Uthandi I did not expect anything from the camp, I just came knowing that however the program was I was going to have fun.

Once we entered the ashram I was struck by the ancient look that it radiated. The piles of leaves collected in mounds at the bases of the trees, the unkempt but natural looking paths and the secluded feel that is resonated in most ashrams was felt here too. 

Soon the mats were rolled out and we got into an asana session. Once again I was struck by fact that even a few asanas done with awareness has the same effect physically as doing asanas for a longer period of time at a fast pace . The pranayama session showed all of us that our breathing capacity was extremely low and that we had a long way to go. The gong struck and we ended the session with the shanti path and went for breakfast to the dining area. After eating we were allotted different seva activities. I was given the job of pulling down all the spider's homes and giving them mukti from their mortal frames😉 .  Then we took a chair each and set up a classroom space under  a clearing of mango trees. 

There a lovely discussion ensued on the purpose of this human life. We painted a picture of life where the puzzle pieces were all present but unrealized. How life is a giant puzzle and how many people have spent their entire lifetime in a futile manner , trying to figure out the whole picture in terms of time, space, and matter .We were prompted and finally arrived at the fact that to see our whole picture we had to start from ourselves. We are the key piece and the only ones who can unfold our life. But if we are the key then our maintenance and enhancement is important . Hence the five layers that is , the annamaya kosha , pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha , vigyanamaya kosha, and anandamaya kosha have to be activated and maintained at their peak levels. For achieving this, regular practice of asanas , pranayama and yoganidra is required. We understood that within each of us are three shaktis, the iccha , gyana, and kriya shaktis which will help us attain our ultimate goals in life. All of us were inspired to learn more about these subjects and activate our full potential. 

After this intense theory session we broke for lunch followed by a break and a long yoga nidra. We woke up refreshed and ready to face another intense discussion , but to our surprise we were given an hour off to play. The game session was amazing and everyone participated enthusiastically. Many of us found the play time to be a wonderful reprieve . Later in the day we went to the ardhanareeshwar temple , and on the occasion of pradosham we got the opportunity to chant the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra a 108 times and sing many kirtans. I was lucky to get the chance to sing along with my friend, Induja a song dedicated to the deity. The day ended after dinner and a discussion on the 5 pranas in our body. We also did a practice called trataka which improved our ability to concentrate and heightened our sense of awareness. A book was given to each of us and we were asked to make our SWAN, each letter corresponding to our strength, weakness, aspiration, and need. 

The next day a similar routine was followed and the day quickly came to an end. None of us wanted to leave so quickly. We had been given a lot of food for thought , to work on ourselves, introspect, and understand the depths of our nature. It was an inspiring program and I look forward to attending more such camps in the near future. I would also like to help to spread the message among more people. We have been informed and now it's our choice to pass on the message so that more people can realise that there is a life beyond the kind that we are leading right now. We can arise and awake to a more profound reason to live a life as a human being. I thank the entire team for providing such a wonderful opportunity to all of us and pray that this work continues to take place through the years. Thank you!