In today’s world of social media overload, the 24-hour news cycle, and high tension politics, it can be difficult for individuals to maintain a ‘sense of self’ or to hear their own inner-voices among the noise - to remain self-aware in the face of today’s intersectional culture.
Uma Mullapudi is regional administrator for Heartfulness, an international network of wellness and meditation centers operating in 150 countries. She says it's important to find silence in the noisy world of today.
"Even in our sacred places our mind is going 'husband, wife, children, problem, anger, hatred, this person said this, that person said that. So even to take care of your spirit and tap into the silence, you need to maintain the mind."
Mullapudi says the our mental state needs the same kind of care and attention we pay to other facets of our lives.
"Our cars need maintence, houses need maintence, bodies need maintence, our mind need maintence," she says. "Medtation is reprogramming the mind that's got into the habit of thinking different things. You bring the mind into the hearts positive energy field.
The Heartfulness Center operates as a non-profit and offers a variety of wellness workshops and meditation services at no cost to public, although they do accept donations to help with daily operations. They also work in tandem with local organizations including House of Aum Yoga Studio in Yellow Springs, University of Dayton, Wright State, Montgomery County Employees, Xenia Y, and Tree of Life Community Church, among others.
The center will also hold a book launch for the Heartfulness Way, written by Kamlesh D. Patel and Joshua Pollack. In the book, Heartfulness Guru, Patel, "traces a seeker’s journey as he examines the nature of spiritual search, and reveals the principles of the Heartfulness practice and philosophy to Pollock, a Heartfulness practitioner and trainer."
In this WYSO Weekend excerpt, Mullapudi talks about the Heartfulness tradition, cleansing the mind, and offers some details of the book launch. Her talk is a meditation in itself.