After 12 tedious years of underwhelming educational experiences garnished with an impermanent and rather unnecessary pride of graduating 12th grade from D.A.V Boys’ Senior Secondary School, I was in short lived euphoria of never being under the clutches of the education system. I was one of those who could never conform to rigid school systems. I was one of those who dropped out of IIT coaching classes when I saw friends and peers racing towards their IIT ‘dreams’. I was one of those who did not want to study anything that did not interest me. I was one of those who never cultivated interest to lend ears to any of my math and science classes. However, I was very aware of an inherent quality I possessed. I loved teachers. I have always believed they remain true heroes of sculpting your life but I should also add that only very few in my classroom were inspired to be such heroes.
I met Sn. Shiva Rishi when I was introverted, unmotivated and rigid about my perspective in life. Although I took a liking to his classes, I was not ecstatically inspired to do any kind of yoga. I enjoyed it at the classroom level and nothing more. However, he instilled my tryst with yoga when he introduced me to what is known as ‘Sankalpa’ and narrated an intriguing incident that spoke about how the mind has an unimaginable force to attract. I would not like to spoil the intricacies of what it means to anyone but I would like to say that if anyone is interested to know about it, the best way would be to experience it first-hand under Sn. Shiv Rishi.
Back in school I would blame my parents and teachers for everything that went wrong from my perspective but at the juncture when I began my college education, which was not very different when compared to my school. I realized I would still be stuck in the very system I opposed being in but it needed to be my time to man up since it was my own choice. When I was consumed in thought about this I was deeply overcome by anxiety and fear. “What if I fail at this point? What excuse can I make up? What if I get consumed by peer pressure and lose focus and begin to drink or smoke and lose my health and cognition? What if I die before I am able to achieve my goals?” All of these concerns and many more immersed themselves in me and I felt extremely caged because my thoughts and energy were drawn into worrying about these all day. Thankfully to the ultimate and the highest power of this universe, I had an epiphany, to submit my imperfect body and mind to Sn. Shiv Rishi.
It took me 2 years to join Pratama Shibiram after being introduced to yoga at school. Nevertheless, it marked a beginning to a newer dimension of approaching life. Sn. Shiv Rishi gave us techniques and methods which were not only to protect ourselves but also equip ourselves to work from a relaxed and calm perspective. This integrated pieces of my personality and helped me conquer my attitude that I never was able to control in my previous years as a student. The change in my attitude also made way to an understanding and incremental induction of perspective to life. I had an understanding of how the body works and it was necessary to know so since it helped in alleviating ignorance towards my body and mind.
Leaving the Pratama Shibiram course, I felt confident, I developed a sense of extroversion and developed well directed aims. Practices in Pratama Shibiram also lightened the body and diminished a lot of inertia. Apart from physical benefits which are explicit in their results to everyone who attend the course, they also had intrinsic results and this has been the biggest takeaway from the Pratama Shibiram course. As it becomes difficult to express internal changes, ranging from developing compassion to becoming more retentive and focussed, I would like to conclude that Pratama Shibiram has added the foundation for deep learning and experience about myself and has been the best education I have ever received in my life. You might enter Pratama Shibiram a squire but you will definitely leave a knight in shiny armour.