A Great Way To Start A Day!

5:30 am I reach the auditorium of IIPM, the prestigious Indian Institute of Petroleum Management, the corporate training centre for Indian Oil Corporation Limited. My yoga guru, Mani, has been teaching hundreds and thousands of their employees the art of yoga, and today has invited me to observe the class. Mani has been blessed by the name Shivachittam by his guru, Guru Paramhamsa Swami Niranjananda Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga.

The room is already set up for a large class, and I count about 50 mats on the floor, plus one on the stage for the guru. The walls are a cheerful orange, and even at this early hour, the room has a positive energy and vibe to it. Fresh green potted plants complete the picture, and now the stage is set for the guru and his students to arrive!

5:45 am Shivachittam arrives first, surprised to find me already there. He walks through the hall, fixing a mat here, a mat there, and slowly the first early birds begin to trickle in. There is no talk, no noisy good mornings, just the serious business of going inwards and being calm and meditative for the practice the world is turning to, yoga. Shivachittam assumes bhujangasana on one of the mats, some student starts stretching his toes, and one starts practicing full butterfly. As one participant starts the rocking and rolling asana, some people smile and Shivachittam looks on indulgently. People keep walking in and taking their places. I am amazed at the discipline of immediately trying to withdraw inwards, and no conversation!

6:00 am Shivachittam adjusts his chaadar around his shoulders and leads the group through the Om chanting. There is a pleasant hum and vibe to the room as the 25 participants prepare their bodies and minds for yoga, a great way to start the day!

Shivachittam leads the class in Pawan Muktasana series, Part III, the energy releasing asanas, carefully explaining the benefits for the participants. These are 40 day long workshops, and Shivachittam knows he has just that much time to make a change in the participant's mind, to help them internalise and experience the benefits of his method of yoga and meditation so that they can take some of their practice back home with them... today is about Day 29 of the 40 day workshop, and the people are engaged, ready and committed to learning and practising.

6:30 am I walk around taking photographs. One person strikes me to be the most engaged, he looks North Eastern, and is able to follow Shivachittam's instructions well... his name is Ranjit Borcohain from Assam, and I later found out that this was his first exposure to yoga. One person who was fidgety in the Om chanting is now off and doing his own thing... and you can tell that his mind is not yet ready to embrace this gentle, effective yoga that Shivachittam effortlessly teaches - his own blend predominantly influenced by his swamis of the Bihar School of Yoga.

6:45 am Pranayam Time. Shivachittam leads the group in Nadi Shodhana, Bhramari and Ujjayi pranayamas, deliberately leaving out kapalbhati and bhastrika pranayamas, as they are heating pranayamas and the weather is so very warm. Ujjayi appears to be new for them, and he walks among the participants, helping correct mistakes as he hears or sees them.

Even Nagarajan, whose very non yogic messaged T-shirt (Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Beer!) is completely immersed in pranayams and meditation... his work is sedentary and behind a desk most of the time. He comes from Mumbai and I ask later whether they practice chair yoga when they feel stiff, and they have not heard of chair yoga! He says they just take a walk every hour or so when they get stiff, and that is also good. He mentions that in every 10 years of working at IIPM, an employee gets the chance of a life changing workshop like this one, and says he is really enjoying himself, and will take some of his practice home.

6:50 I can already see a large group of people collecting outside the door—these are the people for the 7 am class. Punctuality and discipline is definitely the buzzword! As the class completes its last pranayam, Shivachittam helps them come back to being grounded and ready for the day. A little light hearted banter marks the end of the class, you can see the pride that many of them display at having practiced so well and with all their being.

6:57 The class is over, with Hari Oms, it's back to work for these IIPM workshop attendees, and another large group of people for Shivachittam to influence. All in all, a great way to start a day!