Sixty minutes of deep meditation

CHENNAI:The ambience at 136.1 Yoga Studio, TTK Road, was serene, as 60 people spent an hour deep in meditation, recently. The session was dedicated to Shirdi Sai Baba, and was initiated by Vandana Agarwal, a staunch devotee who runs a temple on Cathedral Road. It was blissful for participants, some, who had come after a long day at work; and they re-energised and meditated to a resonating sound of ‘Om’.

The session was designed by Yashwanth Saran, a yoga instructor, who combined Buddhist sounds and techniques with traditional meditative practices.  He instructed the participants, asking us to be aware of our inhibitions and thoughts. He said, “I went with the flow, and designed the session spontaneously. Different people connect to Shirdi Sai Baba differently, and my intent was to take us all on a journey of self-purification through meditation.”

Yashwanth and Vandana met a month back, and shared a common interest to conduct this session. Once it seemed feasible, she advertised the event and many interested participants registered free of cost. “This is the first time I’m organising such an event. And since the response has been positive, I plan on doing it more often. I’d maybe even take it a step further, and organise a trip to Shirdi sometime soon,” shared Vandana.

The participants spent the hour, with their backs straight, in deep concentration. At the end of the session, the air was calm and content. They collected their prasad, and a few of them stopped by to share their experience with Vandana. Anandi Bhat, a homemaker from Sowcarpet, who attended the session with her daughter, said, “She was scrolling through Instagram, and found out about this event. We immediately decided to come, and for both of us, this was a calming inward journey.”