September 23, 2010
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore
 

All first-year students at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham learn the Integrated Amrita Meditation Technique or IAM®. This year, classes were conducted in the month of September for several thousand first-year students at the Amritapuri and Coimbatore campuses.
 

“Thank you so much for incorporating activities like this in our hectic schedule,” wrote Arun Babu, a first-year student of MBA at the Coimbatore campus, while providing feedback. “This really rejuvenated us. Looking forward to more such sessions.”
 

S. Swapnam, first-year student at the same campus, studying for a B.Tech. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, also joined her classmates to learn the meditation technique.
 

“The class was really useful,” she wrote, after the session. “I can see a difference in myself. I will definitely try to practice this regularly.”
 

Classes in IAM® are conducted all over the world. The meditation technique is taught, totally free of charge, to anyone who is desirous of learning it. Corporations in India including Infosys, TCS, Wipro and BSNL have imparted this training to their employees.
 

Br. Mukesh who taught at both the Amrita campuses, together with other instructors, recently also traveled to Defense Management Institute in Hyderabad to conduct the training.
 

“The fast-paced modern age has ushered in unique challenges for society – stress, overload, depression, new age diseases like diabetes, hypertension, BP, tumors, ulcers, etc.,” he shared. “It is estimated that around 90% of all diseases are either caused or deeply aggravated by stress. It is in this context that people across the world are feeling the need for stress relief avenues.”
 

“Even the top brass of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force have undergone this training,” he added.
 

India’s paramilitary troops numbering 1.3 million were imparted the meditation training; the Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police all participated.
 

Chancellor Amma often reminds us that meditation is as precious as gold. She also says that an education for life is needed alongside an education for living (or making a livelihood). Accordingly, students in the institution are provided the opportunity to learn this technique.
 

A simple combination of yoga, pranayama and meditation that takes just twenty minutes to practice, IAM® is the synthesis of traditional methods adapted for needs of the modern age.
 

“IAM has helped me concentrate more and be happy,” shared Nakul S. Varma of the Amritapuri campus. Added classmate Akhil, “We expect more such sessions in future for our physical and mental betterment.”
 

Classes for first-year students will be conducted next month in Amrita’s Bengaluru, Kochi and Mysore campuses.