ON A HIGHER PLANE

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Don’t be too surprised if you see hip young teenagers at satsangs or meditation centres these days. From singing bhajans and kirtans, to discussing the metaphysical questions of life, teens seem to be traversing the spiritual path like never before. Some of them have become members of various spiritual institutions while many seem to have taken to yoga and reiki.
At 17, Meha Kumar practices yoga daily for an hour after a stressful day at college. She believes it is the best way to beat stress. Initially, she enrolled for yoga classes as it would help her keep fit and healthy but after few months she understood why yoga actually unifies the mind and soul. “It is like fine tuning every cell in the body. Yoga also reverses the effect that stress has on our body and mind,” says Meha.
Teens are also keeping themselves busy with spiritual institutions like The Art of Living and others, apart from yoga. For 19-year-old Srishti Mehta, it is all about finding oneself and discovering the “real you”. She joined the Art of Living six years ago and says she observed a complete transformation in herself after she joined the course. “I was shy and an introvert. I would always end up losing confidence when I needed it the most,” says Srishti, who “discovered her real enthusiastic and confident self after joining the course”.
Siddharth Mehra, 18, who joined the Art of Living a year ago, enjoys the company of new people who come under one roof to discuss various issues. He finds these interactions mentally stimulating. “I addressed a crowd of
1,500 people once and it gave me a real high. I am also really confident about speaking to anyone these days. It helps me a great deal with my college presentations,” says Siddharth.
With stressful lives and crazy college schedules, these teens have a different approach to tackling their myriad problems. For Sonali Rao, who combines yoga and Art of Living, it is about recognising solutions and being aware of oneself as human beings. “Earlier I would get very worked up with small things and would get stressed out,” says Sonali.
Over years of practising different meditation techniques, she feels that problems in life are no longer that worrying and there is a solution to everything if you keep your eyes open. “It has helped me a lot emotionally to cope with things and look at the brighter side of life,” says Sonali.