Fearlessness

Step 1 : “Firstly, sit in a comfortable position on your chairs, or cross legged on the floor. Make sure your back is straight and head is upright. Take a deep breath and relax as you breathe out. Take another deep breath… and another…”

Step 2 : “Now relax any tensions in the body. Stretch your toes, then relax them. Tighten and tense the calf muscles, then relax them. Tense the muscles in your upper legs and thighs, and relax them. Pull in your stomach muscles, then relax them. Pull the shoulders back, then relax them. Shrug the shoulders up and down. Look left, look forward, look right, look forward. Now screw up the face muscles and relax them. Feel your whole body relaxed – all tensions have gone. You feel good.”

Step 3 : Now imagine something that troubles you… As you look at whatever troubles you, imagine you are safe inside a golden bubble of light… Imagine what your bubble is like… It is big enough for you to stretch comfortably without touching its side… It is very strong and nothing bad can come inside it… You feel very safe… The thing that troubles you is getting smaller and smaller as you look at it… You feel stronger and stronger… See what you need to do about this thing… Perhaps you need to tell someone… The thing that has been troubling you disappears as you look at it… You know it has gone, but if it comes back, it will never frighten you as much again.

Step 4 : “Now bring your attention back to the classroom, open your eyes and stretch, as the exercise has finished. Smile at the person next to you and tell them the date and time.”

(After these silent sitting exercises students may wish to share their experiences and this should be encouraged, especially asking how they feel. It is a good time to do some creative work such as drawing a picture of their experience.)

Adapted from ‘Sathya Sai Education in Human Values’, Published by BISSE Limited