It is a known fact that India has deep roots in the practice of yoga and meditation, which dating for thousands of years. However, we are also aware of how it has taken the world. But when yoga has exploded in popularity, often seen through the lens of fitness and flexibility, its deep essence, according to the spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Ravi Shankar, is getting diluted.

Next to the 11th International Yoga Day, he shows that yoga is more than just the movement; It is an entrance to calm the interior, and without attention, it is incomplete.

“Many people think it is just physical fitness and stretching. But yoga is never complete without meditation. So if you do proper yoga and add attention to it, you have found it,” the founder of the Art of Living Foundation told Sneha Mordani in a special interview with India today.

He credits the increasing global awareness of yoga, led by India.

“This is the 11th International Yoga Day, and our Honorable Prime Minister has taken this step and ensured that he himself sat and did yoga. Since then, it has inspired many people to join. It has become a mainstream story, not only in India, but in the whole world.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also emphasized how meditation is not about forcing the mind to close – it is about conscious relaxation.

“Meditation is not an exercise to focus or control your brain. Most people think that meditation is concentration, and so they try to control the mind. But concentration is a by -product of attention,” they explain.

He accepts hesitation when they start.

“Many people think that they cannot meditate, they say that they still cannot sit or that their mind is full of much thoughts. But it is natural. Meditation does not mean having a clean slate in your mind. It is a myth.”

Where to start from where? There is breath bridge, they say.

“You can’t deal with the mind directly – it’s abstract. But the breath is something in the middle. When you are happy, you breathe differently. When you agitate, you breathe differently. So start with breathing, breathing in optional nostrils, sits, and then sit and relax. The situation will take care of your mind and even you will take care of your mind.

Science, he tells, goes back to it.

“There are hundreds of studies that show how meditation reduces anxiety, reduces cortisol levels, and reduces stress. So I have made more than 300 directed meditation, these devices are now accessible to all, through apps and teachers,” they say.