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By Life Positive

September 2013

The inimitable Life Positive Expo returns to Rishikesh for a three-day residential retreat. Revel in the spiritual ambience of this most holy of places, while participating in some of the country’s best workshops

There is no place quite as special as Rishikesh to the seeker. The very ambience is saturated with spirituality, what with ashrams in every nook and corner, the Himalayas brooding lovingly over it and Mother Ganga frolicking her way to the ocean. Add to it, an event like the Life Positive Expo with its rich blend of discourses and workshops, while enjoying the Ganga aarti and Ganga snan, and it is no surprise that the Rishikesh Expo has already assumed an unforgettable aura among those who participated in it last year. And now you get a chance to be part of it this year. Like last year, this time too, the event is being held in the quintessential yogic ambience of Parmarth Niketan. Nestled at the foothills of the mighty Himalayas, on the tranquil ghats of the gurgling Ganges, the ashram stands ready to welcome Life Positive Expo patrons with open arms. Parmarth Niketan is the largest ashram in Rishikesh with more than thousand rooms. The blend of contemporary amenities with a traditional ambience makes it a perfect host for the ever expanding Life Positive Expo. Start your mornings with yoga sessions by ashram instructors. Experience two days of growth – physical and mental – in workshops by eminent facilitators; listen to the dynamic discourses of revered spiritual personages; be a part of the spiritually charged Ganga aarti amidst the setting sun on the ghat; take a dip in the holy water to purge yourself of all negativity. In short, come and have the time of your life in the ever inviting devbhoomi.

Inaugural address by Swami Chidanand Saraswati

The moving spirit of the sacred Parmarth Niketan, Swami Chidanand Saraswati is as graceful a man as he is a dynamic leader. Swamiji is president and spiritual head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram. He is also the founder/chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation (IHRF), an international, non-profit, humanitarian foundation.

Swami Chidanand Saraswati started on the path of spirituality at the very young age of eight as a seeker as well as a server to humanity. Under the able guidance of his guru, Swami Brahma Swaroop, Swamiji sought and found the answers to the ubiquitous questions eternally plaguing the mind of a yogi. Today, he lives a life devoted to God and in the service of humanity. He is a world renowned spiritual leader, visionary and divine guide. Swamiji’s religion is unity, and he has been a leader in numerous international, inter-faith summits and parliaments, including the Parliament of World Religions, the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the World Council of Religious Leaders at the United Nations, the World Conference of Religions for Peace, the Global Youth Peace Summit at the United Nations, the Hindu-Jewish Summit in Jerusalem and the Hindu-Christian dialogue initiated by the Vatican. He is also a leader of frequent world peace pilgrimages across the world. Swamiji is also leading the massive Clean Ganga Movement. He has dedicated his life to this huge, comprehensive programme spanning Gangotri to Ganga Sagar.

Soul talk by Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati

Sadhvi Bhagwati’s glowing face and bright eyes are a testimony to her spiritual ardour. An American by origin, her sari-clad demeanour, nevertheless, is quintessentially Indian. A graduate of Stanford University with a PhD in psychology, Sadhvi came to Parmarth Niketan from America in 1996 on a holiday, and found herself unable to return. She was raised in a traditional, upper class, American family in Hollywood, California. She took Sanyas diksha in June 2000 from Swami Chidanand Saraswati. Since then she has embraced a life of service, renunciation, purity and devotion. For her, it has been a journey from basic, material enjoyment to true, divine joy.

Sadhvi gives meditation and yoga trainings around the world, when she is not efficiently executing various managerial tasks at Parmarth Niketan. She also speaks to audiences across the world on spirituality and Indian culture.

Four transformational workshops

Dr. Pratap Chauhan: Attaining Health and Happiness through Ayurveda

Ayurveda has one of its biggest patrons in Dr. Pratap Chauhan. A silver medalist in ayurveda from Delhi University, Dr. Chauhan has been practising the methodology since 1992. Author of two bestselling books, Eternal Health and Eternal Beauty, Dr. Partap Chauhan is a TV personality and master ayurvedic physician. He currently serves as the Director of Jiva Ayurveda, an online ayurvedic company founded by him. He is also the winner of UN’s World Summit Award for his Teledoc project on rural medicine. His TV shows on various channels across the country helps him propagate the goodness of ayurveda as the shows garner high ratings. He also set up the first website on ayurveda in the year 1995.

In his workshop in the Expo, Dr. Chauhan will be answering the most basic questions regarding human health which we all have. Everyone wants to be healthy and happy, but in spite of all our efforts we end up in unhappiness and disease. Why? Ayurveda has an answer. “According to ayurveda each person is unique in his constitution but when we don’t know our constitution, we end up eating wrong foods that cause imbalances or disease at physical and mental levels,” he says. In this workshop, participants will determine their personal, physical and mental constitutions according to ayurveda and also learn about the right foods and lifestyles that will help them attain a perfect balance of body and mind. Participants will be introduced to ‘Jivananda’, an ayurvedic daily routine programme that charges the body, mind, sense and soul in just 30 minutes. Home remedies for common problems and head massage for relaxing the mind will also be taught to the participants. Finally, a simple meditation technique, which helps us realise that we are souls and are eternally full of bliss, will also be taught.

Dr. Bimol Rakshit: Mukti Sutra

Dr. Bimol Rakshit is the country head of Silva Method – a mind programming modality. Apart from that, he is a qualified Psychorientologist. With a doctorate in Mind Training, SMCI, Texas (USA.), Dr. Rakshit is also a multi award-winning, world renowned lecturer and author of countless articles and publications on the subject of mind training and personal development. He is the recipient of several distinguished awards including the Seva Ratna award (2000), Siromani Award for Alternative Medicine (2001) and the Rashtra Ratna award (2003). An expert in stress management, he was one of the key players in bringing the New Age self-help movement to India in 1990.

Dr. Rakshit is offering a workshop on Mukti Sutras at the Expo. The term ‘Mukti Sutra’ is his own coinage which literally translates into release techniques. When the whole world is battling with an array of problems in various fronts of life, Dr. Rakshit has come up with effective solutions to counter the situation. These sutras or techniques are the cream of his 25 years of research in mind-programming. In this workshop, participants learn techniques to manage stress, secular scientific meditation, and techniques to develop personal well-being in the areas of health, education, finance and relationships. Dr. Rakshit invites participants to come up with their problems and take away customised solutions to them. His workshop promises to provide effective release from myriad tribulations to a willing seeker. He will also discourse on practices to evolve completely.

Anil Bhatnagar: Choose Bliss, Not Stress

With a civil engineering degree from IIT, Delhi, and two decades of work experience in SAIL, no one would have thought that Anil Bhatnagar would end up as a best-selling author of motivational books and founder of Thrive!, a corporate training organisation to over 70 leading companies in India and the Middle-East. A multi-faceted personality, Anil is also a columnist, poet, painter as well as a reiki teacher, Theta Healer and a personal growth coach. But more than the expertise in various modalities, it is his sincere and dedicated approach of making a difference in all the lives that attend his workshops that distinguishes him from the others. He has made it a personal mission in life.

In his Choose Bliss, Not Stress workshop, Anil spontaneously advises ways to combat stress; customising his techniques according to the participant’s needs. His workshops are introspection- and self-awareness driven programmes that help in transforming habits, and in turn transforming lives. The workshop deals with identifying stress and its physical, behavioural and psychological symptoms, its causes, how not to create it and how to deal with it. The USP of his workshops are the simple techniques which can be incorporated into routine activities in busy lives. The major focus remains on attempting routine tasks in slightly different and stress-free ways, without earmarking any extra time for the same. The workshop aims at providing customised stress-busting routines, strategies to adhere to them with uncompromising zeal, high levels of performance, motivational momentum under pressure of work for the participants. Apart from these, Anil will also share techniques to overcome negativity, resentment, fear and to trigger instant passion.

Chitra Jha: Freedom from Fear and Guilt

Chitra Jha is one of Life Positive magazine’s most popular writers. Her workshop on Freedom from Fear and Guilt marks her foray into the Life Positive Expo. Chitra is a motivational speaker, counsellor, trainer and therapist. She believes that all the events of her life were synchronicities leading her to the path of healing and sharing. It has been a personal journey of empowerment for her. Starting her career as a specialist nursing officer in the Indian army, Chitra dabbled with homeopathy, healthcare, and reiki while also foraying into life skills training, stress management, and parenting coaching.

In Chitra’s words, nothing causes stress more than those little moments of fear like not looking good, getting late, or missing a call. This is when we find ourselves not good enough. These fears are disguised as worries, inadequacies, and unworthiness and lead to stress. They are usually accompanied by guilt. “Guilt is anger directed at one’s own self, and stems from the paradigm of ‘I am not good enough’. In order to achieve freedom from these fears and the accompanying guilt,we need to learn awareness techniques, acceptance techniques, and release techniques,” she says. To be unveiled in the workshop, these techniques are an amalgamation of Chitra’s own insights, years of learning and attending workshops. Through this workshop, she intends to empower the participants with many simple, everyday practicle tools. The participants can learn to identify the root cause of their issues, understand the purpose of their fears, and learn to release them.

Invocation by Shruti Rana

Shruti Rana garnered a huge fan following with her musical evening in the Lonavla Expo. Her mantra rendition in her classical-trained voice cast a magical spell on the participants. Thus, taking the lead, an invocation ceremony by the lady finds a place in the upcoming Expo. Shruti Rana is internationally known as a musician, educationist, scholar, poet and a leading practitioner of traditional knowledge systems, as well as a healer and wellness expert. She is also recognised as a music healer and has worked with indigenous sonic systems for healing and curing various health conditions. She is the pioneer of the vibrational and sound healing ecosystem called Nada Vibronics. Her audio CDs and healing methods and music are now used for curing various health conditions internationally. In Northern Ireland, Shruti founded the Nada Choir and has promoted Inter Faith and Inter-cultural harmony through multiple forums.

With all this goodness waiting to be explored, you could not do better than book your seat for this divine residential retreat right away. We look forward to welcoming you there!