World-renowned spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar leads meditation session to demonstrate how to alleviate stress

World renowned humanitarian, spiritual leader and Art of Living founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, leads meditation session with Verizon Media’s CEO Guru Gowrappan and CTO Rathi Murthy.

Video Transcript

GURU GOWRAPPAN: Sri Sri, if you don't mind if you want to lead into a quick meditation session.

SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR: Will do it. I'm ready.

GURU GOWRAPPAN: Yeah.

SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR: So let's sit comfortably easily. Let's do a little movement. Let's shake your hands a little bit and stop shaking. And let's gently close our eyes. Let's bring our attention to our body, become aware of your whole body. Our body has billions and trillions of cells that is enormous in our energy in every cell of our body on your own body, the most precious gift to you from nature.

So let us recollect our age whatever that is-- 30 years, 40 years, 50 years-- just remember your age and also remember the age of the city or village you are in-- just guess the age of a city, maybe 200 years, 500 years, 1,000 year. Let's project our mind in the future.

We will continue to live on this planet for another 30, 40, 50, 60 years or 100 years more. Let's take a deep breath in and breathe out. And the city would continue to live to be here whether the 1,000 years, 1,000 or even more years.

Let's take another deep breath in and breathe out. It's a fact that all the objects around us has more shelf life than our body. They may all stay here longer. Our body is such a precious gift to us. Let us honor our body. Let's move on to the second dimension, the breath is the breath that is keeping our body alive.

Let's pay a little more attention to our breath that is here all around us and inside us. Incoming breath energizes the body, while outgoing breath brings relaxation. Let us become familiar with this phenomenon. It's happening all the time. Let's take a couple of deep breaths.

Let's move on to the third dimension, the mind. Our mind is all around our body and inside the body just like the air we are in. With a big smile on our face, let's take a deep breath in, hold the breath and let go. Let us become aware of the walls of the room that we are in or the space around us.

Our mind does expand and contract. When we are happy, your mind expands and contracts we when we are sad. The body relaxes as the mind expands. And body gets-- thins as the mind shrinks. Whatever thoughts are coming in the mind, just let them come-- good thoughts, bad throught-- welcome them all.

Now, let's become aware of our background and let go all our effort. As the body relaxes, the mind expand and relaxes naturally. This moment, there is nothing to do and nothing to know either. So let us just repause, relax with a smile and allow the smile to populate through our whole body, our whole being, let go of all your effort, nothing to do and nothing to know either.

Any thoughts or tension if you find coming up, just let it be. Just embrace every thought and accept every comfortable or uncomfortable sensation. Let go and relax with a smile. To find there is some tension, just let it be. You are at peace. You are at peace. You are [INAUDIBLE] so to become aware of your body and surroundings.

You must take a deep breath in with a smile and breathe out with a smile. And slowly and gradually, you may open your eyes.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Was it good?

GURU GOWRAPPAN: Yes. That's very good. Thank you. Thank you so much, Sri Sri.