The mark of a 'new' man

NEW. IMPROVED. Extra. Free. And we're not talking advertisements right now. This is about you - about oneself. How does one become a new person, an improved soul with extra energy and a stress- free mind?

If it were your car that was in bad shape, you send it to a garage. Now, it's you. But it's not going to be long before you discover yourself, promise experts. Welcome aboard the workshops of the mind where experts take you through a crash course on mechanics of the mind, body and soul. This is the age of fast- foods, one-day internationals and instant mixes. Can workshops be far behind?

Personality development workshops have always been around, only that the methodology gets updated from time to time. Now, it's all over in hours and it's not just about personality development. It's about allround development, introspection, self-analysis and solutions. More and more corporates today are organising such workshops for the employees, largely for those prone to stress and pressure of deadlines. The inputs are varied, ranging from yoga to western theories on motivation and self- confidence.

Recently, Bodhi Space for Learning, organised a two-day camp for children at Dhyana Ashram, Santhome. The residential programme had 27 children of various ages ``discovering'' themselves through facilitators Mr. Rajmohan and Ms. Kalavathi.

Prasanna, one of the participants recounts his experience: ``The first lesson we learnt was that of Brain Storming. This exercise is used for solving a common problem. Every participant shoots off his question, which the facilitator writes down. This practice, we learnt, can breed solutions quickly while avoiding grievances. Stomach and Bed storming followed... and we woke up no longer as dorm-mates but as friends. Pranayama, breathing exercise, was followed by breakfast.''

The facilitators then split the group into teams and listed down factors that controlled confidence-levels. The children soon discovered that in a state of happiness, they were able to zoom through their session on extempore speech effortlessly.

With skits and outings packed into the workshop, it was a learning plus fun experience for the children. Bodhi organises such workshops usually for corporates, says Kalavathi, Chief Consultant for People Development, Bodhi (6200425).

There are more such organisations that conduct allround development workshops from time to time. For instance, Transnette (8217740) is organising a summer camp for corporates covering skills such as communication, etiquette, dress co-ordination, body language, interview, telephone manners, attitude and aptitude skills.

Just watch the ad space for more such workshops. And yes, these programmes do cost a bit.

By Sudhish Kamath

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Section  : Southern States
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