Response to Aurora, Colorado Theater Shooting: Creating a Violence-Free, Stress-Free One World Family

July 22, 2012, Bangalore, India:  The global Art of Living family deeply regrets this unfortunate event.  Our prayers are with those affected by the violence. Until stress and emotional illness no longer affect individuals, a society cannot be completely safe.  This incident has reinforced our commitment to serve society in creating a “Violence-free, Stress-free, One World Family” and helping individuals achieve mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. 

The Art of Living Foundation, founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, offers holistic programs that combine the science of the breath to release stress and manage negative emotions with wisdom to nurture human values such as; compassion, friendliness, peace, love and a sense of belonging. The foundation is offering its Part I program as a service to individuals impacted by this tragic event.

The breathing and meditation techniques taught in these programs are shown to be effective in holistically preventing and alleviating symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) among victims of man-made and natural disasters and veterans of war.  The cornerstone of the program is the Sudarshan Kriya breathing practice shown to reduce anxiety, depression and stress and to increase self-reported optimism and well-being. (Brown and Gerbarg, 2005; Kjellgren, Bood, Axelsson, Norlander, & Saatcioglu, 2007; Janakiramaiah, 2000)

INDIA MEDIA CONTACT: Karthik Krishna, Bangalore, India • +919342582375 •
media.coordinator@artofliving.org

Denver Art of Living Office: Lata Shirname-More •(720) 722-AOLF (2653) • denver@us.artofliving.org

USA Office of H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Ajay Tejasvi, •(202) 492-5522 • ajay@srisri.org

International Office of H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Jaina Desai +91998662022 • secretariat@artofliving.org