On the occasion of #WorldHealthDay (WHD) yesterday, we celebrated the completion of our two week “Embrace Your Spirit” course, blessed by HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji – Muniji, taught and led by visiting instructor Tara Maniar from Canada.

The course included Chakradance with mudra, beej mantra [seed sound] meditations and mandala art. Chakra specific yogasana session was taught by Yogacharya Dr Indu Sharma. Chakra specific sound healing was taught by Sanjay Hall. Regular Ganga Aarti and Satsang took place every evening with Pujya Swamiji and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, when they were in residence. The course had 14 students from 8 countries, including Australia, China, Germany, Italy, Poland, UK, USA and India.

Tara Maniar shared, “The heart chakra serves as a bridge between our lower self and our higher Self and is often associated with the colour green. Hence, Pujya Swamiji being our truly Green Guru teaches us to live, connect and serve with all of creation from our heart. By His green example we learn that giving is living and living is giving. He often shares so beautifully and profoundly that when ‘I’ becomes ‘We’, ‘I’llness becomes ‘We’llness. During the two week course this is what the students experienced by moving through each of their chakras and by being here in this sacred land.”

As the theme of WHD this year was depression, Sadhvi Bhagawatiji shared during satsang, “Depression is essentially thinking that we are a piece of junk at the centre of the universe. Selfless service is one of the greatest and easiest ways to readjust this misconstrued perspective of the world. Allowing us to see how our presence and touch can help others as well as helping us connect with others who may have much greater problems and challenges in their lives, putting our own perceived challenges into perspective.”

It was shared that depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. More than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015.

The instructors shared that cleansing the Heart Chakra, considered our emotional centre, from depression and anxiety allows us to experience love, joy and contentment. It was shared that selfless service, Karma Yoga, is truly the best and easiest ways to cleanse the heart chakra. It was also shared that meditation allows us to connect with our true spirits, to the witness, the one who is not depressed. Through yoga and meditation we can restore balance, remove emotional blockages and renew our connection with our true self.

The students enjoyed a special darshan with Pujya Swamiji in which they pledged to protect and preserve Mother Nature, because by being in the lap of Mother Nature embracing our spirit is greatly facilitated and we are more easily connected to our true self.