Spirituality has started appealing to young people as well these days because of the rising amount of pressure and responsibility that comes with growing up. Some teenagers have anger issues that they need to resolve while others are confused on what to study or what career path to choose. Meditation seems to have helped many youngsters in Kathmandu, changing some people’s personality completely.[break]
“Ever since I took up meditation and yoga, I feel like I’ve changed drastically,” says 20-year-old Kundan Pathak, student of political science and music at Tribhuvan University. “I feel more confident, more creative and more focused now. Indulging in meditation and yoga definitely makes you stronger, physically and mentally. You don’t feel lethargic or lazy, you feel so rejuvenated that you feel like you can tackle everything head-on,” he adds.
The Art of Living, a course facilitated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, works on the principles of the Vedic Sudarshan Kriya that involve rhythmic breathing techniques. VipassanÄ, another Buddhist practice of meditation, works on self-isolation and self-discovery. In it, participants are not allowed to interact with each other nor with any form of art. VipassanÄ is a journey into one’s self.
“We offer many Yes+ courses and the normal group has 20-30 participants where as mega groups consist of 100 or more people,” says Bhawesh Khanal, 25, a fulltime Art of Living instructor. “I think young people come to our programs because we make it as fun and interesting as possible. Young people are used to being taught in a classroom but here we have games that help relieve their daily stress. But there are some people who leave as well because this course requires its participants to stop eating meat, smoking or drinking, and sometimes this commitment is a little bit too much for some people. But once young people get into the way of living and attend more than a few sessions, they don’t quit,” he informs.
Meditation and yoga in different forms have been readily accepted by young people these days and have helped them find insight into their lives. Even the philosophy that comes with these mediation practices help young people put meaning to their lives. But these mediation practices offer a complete different way of living that young urban youth starting out find it difficult to adapt. People need to put in considerable amount of efforts to adapt to a completely new way of living.
“I started attending these spiritual programs like the Art of Living courses after graduating from high school because my father used to go and he made me come as well,” says Sukriti Ghimire, 21, student of pharmacy at Nepal Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), adding, “but after that one session, I got so hooked that I attended the second one by myself and I’m really amazed at the changes. I used to be really shy and had a very tough time talking to people. But after attending these programs, I’m more confident now and much calmer.”
With a very turbulent time of one’s life, teenagers have a lot of energy to spend but usually tend to be very lost and confused with their newfound freedom. They also seem to be very interested in philosophy because of their need to define their lives. And these spiritual programs usually come with their own set of philosophical beliefs that these young people can accept or challenge.
“Teenagers are at a very important phase of their life where they have the freedom to define their limits, where they have the freedom to define things in their life, and this comes only with philosophy and meditation,” says Aayush Shrestha, 20, an A-Level graduate on his year off. “Many young people are into drugs because they haven’t defined their lives well and I think with meditation and yoga, people learn what they truly want and acquire the confidence to go ahead with it. Young people need to think for themselves, need to understand themselves before challenging the world, and one of the best places to do this thinking is when you’re meditating,” he says.
Young people have a lot of pent-up emotions that drive their lifestyle, and a way of release seems to be meditation and yoga. These spiritual programs also help them define their lives and tame raging emotions. But maybe young people have a lot more to deal with these days, maybe they have more relationships to handle, and perhaps finding solace in meditation leads them to their happy state.
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