Classrooms were designed decades ago for 45-50 minutes because the attention span was that long. Today, it is 30 seconds. When a speaker talks for ten minutes, the listener mentally takes three cappuccino breaks. You must have experienced talking to someone who looks blank – they are not listening. That is why I keep asking, “Are you there?”
Anxiety and restlessness are rising. In one school in Washington DC, they replaced chairs with big balls because children couldn’t sit still. They bounce through the whole class. That may be fine for a gym, but how will they learn anything like that?
Attention is a major issue today. Earlier generations had fewer needs and fewer obligations. Today, everything has multiplied. When you have too much to do, too little time, and no energy, that is the perfect recipe for stress.
Time cannot change. The number of things to do rarely decreases. The only variable is energy. And energy can be increased through breathing, meditation, and Kriya. Sudarshan Kriya increases energy, and more than 700 research papers document its benefits.
During COVID, I conducted meditation sessions twice a day – doctors and nurses, more than a million people participated daily. Many wrote about how much it helped them.
Increasing energy, meditation, breathing techniques, and a broader perspective on life are essential.
Meditation is not an escape, it is a return to clarity.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
