There was an unusual gathering at the NKT Boys High School, Triplicane, last week. Late evening a woman came out of the school to get into her car. A group of children studying in the SYMA tuition centre followed her. While one requested her to speak to her father another pleaded with her to help her out of bad habits. But what moved the woman was the statement from a boy who told her coyly, “Madam, you have changed my life today.”
What caused this transformation among the under-privileged children of the tuition centre? It was the way Kirtanya Krishnamurthy, founder-director of MindFresh, touched them at the two-hour workshop. She made students realise the worth of themselves, parents and teachers. The session helped them to share their problems. It made some of them ashamed of their behaviour at school and home. Some even vowed to correct themselves on the spot!
“This is the impact MindFresh wants to create. Change has to come from within and it should not be thrust on the person. Only then can one sense a true change,” says Kirtanya. This programme was jointly held by SYMA and MindFresh to help students excel in studies.
Reaching out
How exactly does MindFresh work?Says its founder Kirtanya, “With our cutting edge combination of behavioural psychology and neuroscience, we will alter the way one thinks! One cell in your brain is more powerful than a computer. You have billions of them! But do you have a trusted methodology to get the best out of yourself? Science strives to unearth powerful tools to get the best out of one’s brain. Yet there is a wide gap between acquiring this knowledge and implementing it. MindFresh training steps in to bridge this gap.
The concept of MindFresh is to train the emotional mind. People are not aware of thoughts that cause depression, relationships that are faulty, low power emotions or persistent attitudinal problems. Even if they recognise the traits, they become immersed in emotion and do not try to change. They need to take charge of the situation and with the help of advance techniques, re-programme the brain. This can be done with neurological programming, transactional analysis and a bit of silver-mind dynamics. These techniques help people to reorient themselves by keeping their mind peaceful to get their best in life.
“Everyone (children and adults) have their own emotional problems to deal with in life. With an aim to reaching out to all age-groups, I, along with my sister, Jaya Malini Venkat, started MindFresh,” says Kirtanya. For teenagers they conduct workshops — Flying Elephants — during school holidays. The concept behind the workshop is to make children understand that an empowered mind can lift any weight and take off. The workshop aims to clear the child’s emotional mind. It also teaches them study skills, concentration skills, enhance grasping power and activate the right-side of the brain. Lust and infatuation problems are also dealt with here.
Parenting workshop
MindFresh’s parenting workshops help those who lack skills to handle children less than 10 years. “People acquire good parenting skills only through trial and error. Mainly one should know to play upon the psychology of the child. Not everyone is aware of this. This is where we extend a helping hand,” says Kirtanya. Her resource persons teach parents to motivate children and help them to excel without harming them.
Couples having troubled relationships are helped through their Relationship Workshops. They are taught to approach a situation differently and handle it in a friendly manner.
MindFresh plans to conduct ‘Life Skills and Study Skills’ programme at Vizhupuram next week. The event will be held with the support of JK Foundation.
The next Flying Elephants workshop will be held from Dec. 27 to 30 at IIT Madras Research Park. Only 60 students will be admitted per batch. For details, contact Jaya at 98409 27660.
