Date: 8th Nov 2006
The stress and strain were quite interesting when I was studying about the Poisson’s ratio in school and college. Little did I know then that these very same words that I used to so proudly talk about in my Physics class would turn out to be one of the most dreaded ones halfway through my stint in the B-school!!! I often used to wonder as to what I would do once I am out there in the corporate jungle as I had heard horror stories about the work pressure that one has to face day in and day out. But you see, being in Amrita has one advantage – that of meeting people who know how to handle it all and be successful. One such person, we (the Management students) had a chance to meet that rainy evening of 7th November, 2006. She is Swamini Lakshmi Ananda from Shivananda Ashram in Australia. She, on a personal visit to the Amrita campus, volunteered to teach the students some “Techniques for Stress Relief”.
The session, held in the Sri Krishna Hall of Amrita School of Business, began with some loosening-up exercises. The aim of the session was to teach us breathing. Yes agreed that even a one day old infant knows how to breathe, but how many of us really “breathe”? She observed that if one’s breathing is proper and without any agitation and hurry, the body will relax and be relieved of stress. The subsequent exercises were all aimed at achieving this objective – to breathe in the correct manner. The main mantra of achieving this was simple – observation!!! All she asked us present there to do was to observe how the body was breathing and what subtle changes took place when the body did certain movements and how the breathing was an enabler for the movements and vice- versa. The essential thing according to her is not to try but to let it happen. The moment one tries to breathe correctly, the body loses the plot and then the purpose is not served, she said. The many minutes of silent breathing, lying down on our backs, had such a relaxing influence on the mind and the body that there was not a single soul in the hall who didn’t feel a strange sense of calm descend upon him/her. When she uttered “poouusssee” (pause), in her Western Australian accent, we all could feel the stillness in between the inhalation and the exhalation and this actually delighted me. I took a sneak peak at the others and noticed that almost all persons in the room were very relaxed while doing these compact exercises. When we finished we all had a smile on our faces and the usual chatter box me was also wanting to remain silent and just nod my head in answer to Swamini’s questions (The marketing student that I am, I was reminded of the ‘Alpenliebe’ chocolate candy advertisement on TV where experiencing the taste of the candy, the child is in a state of ‘bliss’)
The session which was attended mainly by the management students on the first day along with the faculty, drew a sizeable number of engineering students the next day, which goes to show how the word had spread about the effectiveness of the session. Sadly we had Swaminiji only for two days. The techniques that were taught were simple and can be practiced even while one is at the office desk and feeling agitated or stressed, while on the way to the examination hall etc. The easy way of doing the breathing is our biggest gain from this two day session on stress relief. I hope to practice the same and start making my friends turned foes - stress and strain, into irrelevant things that can be easily dealt with.
Anup Menon
MBA 2007 Batch
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