Zenrich : A teen’s first spiritual journey (Part II)

Continued from Part I 

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The second workshop’s theme was – ‘ Train the brain!’. It started on December 20th last year (2020) and ended on January 24th this year (2021). As the title suggests, the workshop focused on our brain and basically about our studying habits. In this workshop Sadhvi Vrindaji, Sushree Nisthaji and Ambikaji covered everything in a fun way to be better at our most hated enemy, ‘studies(!)’.

We were taught various techniques to improve memory, focus, concentration and stress that made studies seem so much easier than before. I was also given an ideal timetable by my mentor and was asked to follow it.

They would ask us at our sessions if we are following the time-table and the teachings. You can imagine how good you will feel if you are truthfully able to give your answer to the facilitators. They will be most happy to know that I followed it. With that in mind I tried to adhere to the time-table as much as possible. The best thing is that I am still able to go back to those techniques and apply them in my daily study routines. At the end of this workshop, we had a ‘ creative writing competition’. We had to write about our experiences in school in a word-limit of 150 words. 

The third and final workshop was about – ‘ Joyful Living! – The power of prayer and faith ‘. It started on 11th July, this year and ended on 22nd August. I was most excited about this workshop because from the title I could take a hint that it would be about spiritual well-being which was something I really wanted to improve myself in.

In this series, we looked into ways to gently use the power of prayer and faith to overcome our fears and frustrations. This series was the most impactful for me. The facilitators explained beautifully how faith can transform our lives into unimaginable ways if we give it a chance. With their guided meditations we were given glimpses into living a prayerful life. Now I try to meditate everyday using the Black lotus app. 

Earlier, I never offered prayer to Almighty on a regular basis. But inspired by the teachings of this workshop, now I regularly offer my prayers at our altar in the morning. I can totally agree now that it does make a change in our way of thinking when we are spiritually connected with God. Though I (being 14) still argue with my 7 year old sister Ashmita, my parents admit that it is a wee bit less than before. I don’t know if it is the workshop or that my sister has finally started being less annoying than before( Just kidding!).😊

At the end of the third workshop, there was a poetry competition. We were asked to write a poem that is a prayer, filled with all that we wish to share with whoever we believe in. This was completely new to me. Forget being a poet, I wasn’t even good at holding random talks with my friends. My literary intelligence was definitely not good. We were given four days to complete and submit our poems all together. First, I tried to think about what my poem should be about. I didn’t need to think much though. Those days, I unexpectedly started developing faith towards the monkey god, Hanuman. After watching the Ramayana in T.V. I was enchanted by Hanuman’s deep devotion towards Ram and his great powers. Through my poem I wanted to portray  how he helped me to overcome my fears. I chanted the Hanuman Chalisa whenever I felt scared of anything and (trust me, I am not exaggerating!) I always feel safe when I do that. Chanting it feels like I am calling him and I believe that he will come and scare away everything that’s scaring me. 

It so happened that I managed to get a certificate of appreciation for my poem!😊 That was really encouraging.

My parents  say that they have seen some changes in me here and there! As I said my literary intelligence wasn’t good and the reason behind it might be that I didn’t read many books before (by ‘books’ I don’t mean ‘school textbooks’). I liked to read fiction more than books of wisdom. I didn’t quite understand those before. But now I have started reading books on wisdom, thanks to my mentor who gave me a list of books to read. I am eternally grateful to her. I am enjoying reading those books.  My father loves reading books and we have a mini library in our home. So getting a book to read is easy, and it has become my habit over the past months to complete reading a book in two weeks time.

Instilling the habit of book reading in me is one of the most positive impacts of the Zenrich program.

Now I am trying to take care of my mental, physical, emotional, behavioral and spiritual wellbeing with the help of the teachings from the workshop.

I’ll have to say that this workshop feels like a very important event in my life. I am thankful to my father as he was the one who insisted me to join this workshop or else such an amazing platform would have been left undiscovered.

Finally, I express my deepest gratitude from the core of my heart to Sadhvi Vrindaji, Sushree Nisthaji and Ambikaji for the excellent program and those associated with it. 

All glories to Swamiji! My parents always came out with a beaming face after attending the parenting session!😊

‘Engage, Inspire, Empower’

P.S. – This post wouldn’t  have been possible without my mother who first gave me the idea to write a post on Zenrich. And even when I was extremely reluctant about opening myself and making a debut at  os.me, she was the one who kept on encouraging me to write. And my father played the role of editor! Many thanks to both my parents!