A new scientifically structured programme with a touch of yoga is all about empowering people into effortless living, writes MELISSA DARLYNE CHOW

IT is very holistic and it deals with the four dimensions of what you are right now -- the body, mind, emotions and energy.

The four dimensions are likened to the four wheels of a car.

"They are like four wheels of a car," said Mary Christine Jabr, a volunteer with the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which runs the programme.

"If they are aligned in the right direction, you will be able to go where you want to in life."
It is a scientific way of approaching the human system as a whole.

"You will be able to reach your target in life, whatever it is you want to reach, whether in terms of career development or personal development."

Mary Christine, 31, who is from Lebanon, said aligning the four dimensions were very important for any human being to live to their full human potential.

"Right now, for most human beings, the mind is not really in control. Hence life becomes a struggle and that is where stress comes in."

Controlling the mind has become important to many and they attend classes to deal with anger management and stress management issues.

"But there is no need to manage anger and stress issues because if you become aware and conscious of your thoughts, emotions, your breath and energy, these things will not even come up in life.

"Unfortunately, today people have been made to understand that it is normal to be stressed, that is, if you run a business or have a job, have a family with even two children, it is normal to be stressed."

Mary Christine noted out of this, came the psychosomatic diseases.

"Because the mind is under so much pressure and stress, the body creates its own diseases.

"Doctors today are saying that most chronic illnesses are psychosomatic, meaning the cause is you.

"Whenever there is agitation or stress at the level of the mind, the body is going through its own stressful reactions also.

"This is how it brings about blood pressure, asthma and diabetes."

Doctors today can treat the effects, but they do not address the root cause of the problems, said Mary Christine.

"The root of the problem is tension."

Mary Christine said one of the dimensions in the programme was the intellectual approach.

"Modern man needs to understand what he is going through. It needs to be explained to him.

"Another aspect is the body. By using the kriya (inner energy process), health gets addressed in an indirect way."

Mary Christine said emotions, which is the third dimension, was the juicy part of thought.

"The way you think is the way you emote. By addressing the thoughts you can also address the emotions."

The fourth dimension, the energy, Mary Christine said, was what the whole class is about.

"Fundamentally, this whole thing is about kriya, or yoga.

"Right now today, most people's focus on their well-being was 100 per cent on the outside."

There are too many conditions for well-being, said Mary Christine. What most people did not realise is that well-being came from within.

"Whatever you have outside, it does not make any sense if on the inside you are not stable or steady.

"The whole purpose of doing yoga is to turn the attention a little bit inwards.

"Even if 10 per cent of your focus goes towards the inside, your life becomes easier."

The Inner Engineering programme, which features interactive discussions, guided meditations and Shambhavi Maha Mudra (a set of simple but powerful yoga practices), is like looking at the ABCs of life again.

"Today we take too much for granted. Everything is more of a complaint.

"People have lost the simple ability to enjoy life, to enjoy every aspect of life."

"Through this programme, every aspect of life becomes enriched."

Mary Christine, who has been practising yoga for seven years, spent four years in the Isha Yoga Centre in India, deepening her own understanding so that she could "offer the possibility to other people".

Mary Christine said life for her was very stressful when she worked in a hospital.

"When I started the programme, the first thing I noticed was that the stress went away gradually.

"It gave me a different view of looking at things. When you look at things from a different angle, it changes.

"Even the decisions I had to make at work became clearer. Driving in a traffic jam became a joy."

Dr Nadesh Sithasanan, 41, a pediatrician at the Gleneagles Medical Centre, who joined the programme in February, said:

"One of the first things I noticed was that I was better able to control stress at work.

"Going through the meditation programme had a calming effect on me, which made me better equipped to deal with all kinds of situation and stress."

Dr Nadesh noted that health-wise, there were "amazing benefits" as his allergies, breathing difficulties and blocked nose all went away within the first week.

"I was literally hooked on antihistamines to get to work and be able to sit in the clinic without a runny nose or teary eye, but through this programme, the health problems that I had all went away.

"Even the aches and pains began to disappear."

His wife, who noticed the changes, enrolled in the programme.

"My children must have branded me an insufferable person, bringing all the hospital worries back home and being moody. They would avoid me.

"Now my children are looking forward to attending this programme."

Vijaya Kumar Karuppiah, 51, a group sales manager in an insurance company, said the programme brought impressive results for him.

"The body feels great. I have also become a very disciplined person, in the sense you tell yourself you must do it," said Vijaya Kumar.

"Work becomes very stressful and upsetting, and then you bring this home and become a dull person at home.

"But after going through the sessions I find that I have to accept things. That is what life is all about."

Vijaya Kumar noted that he also learned to appreciate nature and appreciate people working around you."

The Inner Engineering course taught him to take responsibility for what happens around him, said Vijaya Kumar.

The organisation was founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev in India. The programme was designed by Sadhguru 25 years ago and he started his first class with seven people.

Mary Christine said the foundation now has 250,000 volunteers all over the world and there were 120 volunteers in Malaysia.