Heartfulness in association with Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and G20 brings holistic transformation of over 1500 youth at Y20 Summit

Hyderabad, July 22, 2023: Heartfulness in association with the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and G20 hosted a Y20 Summit at Kanha Shanti Vanam, the headquarters of Heartfulness in the outskirts of Hyderabad. The summit was attended by over 1200 youth from around the world from graduates to working youth under the age of 35 apart from a delegation of 14 from the Y20 Secretariat.  Anmol Sovit - Y20 Chair; Dr. M Srinivas - Director, AIIMS, New Delhi (who joined the summit virtually) and  Pankaj Singh - Director, NSS, Govt. of India were the key dignitaries along with Rev. Daaji – Spiritual Guide of Heartfulness, President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, and Padma Bhushan Awardee.

 
The summit also included noted panelists Neeti Goel - Renowned Restaurateur / philanthropist / social activist; Swayam Srivastava - Renowned Motivational poet;  Himadrish Suwan - Chairperson confederation of young leaders, Winner of Global young achiever’s award. Founder of “Mission -E-Safai” a youth-led public campaign inspired by Swachh Bharat Abhiyan; Vikrant Gharat - Motivational Speaker, Author; Kunal Tilak - Track Chair, Y20 Secretariat and Great-great-grandson of Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak; Ayonika Paul  OLY, Olympian, Commonwealth Games World Cup Medalist  in Sport of Rifle Shooting; and Manasi Girishchandra Joshi, Para Badminton Olympian in the women's singles SL3 category. The summit saw a closure through a musical finale by triple Grammy winner Ricky Kej.

 
M. Srinivas – Director, AIIMS, New Delhi who joined the summit virtually said, “Unlocking the inner potential is key to better future. Self-awareness, focus, resilience are some of the many outcomes of meditation. Today the youth are facing distractions, demands, stress, social media addiction, peer pressure etc. Meditation empowers, unlocks inner potential, brings greater resilience, enhanced knowledge and retention, attention span, memory, better sleep, relieves stress, brings compassion, improves psychological state and intuition; and alters negative mentality. Evidence based meditation has seen an explosion of medical data and helping the youth in a reaction that is opposite to flight and fight response. There is a favourable heart rate, oxygen metabolism, galvanic skin resistance among other biological changes. Students perform well in academics and sports as well.”
 

Manasi Girishchandra Joshi, Para Badminton Olympian and former world champion in the women's singles SL3 category said, "I am extremely grateful to be alive and speaking here. There is a possibility to change things in life – including the surroundings – there is nothing to regret. We can deal with whatever happens in our life. In life we might face circumstances we are not prepared for, but time allows you to understand the situation and strength. Everything will be fine with hundred percent effort. It’s very simple to lead which we can show in simple things in life as helping the person beside you. Find your own passion.”
 

Anmol Sovit - Y20 Chair said, “In this golden era of India, it is the youth who will contribute to the development of the country. Our purpose will be served with the youth transforming themselves by exchange of ideas, panel discussions and the holistic wellness training at Kanha Shanti Vanam. When they go back to their homes, they will have come back with bigger views on life with much more balance and focus. We are very happy that The Ministry of Culture’s unrelenting support and Heartfulness for hosting and training our youth for the larger good.”
 
 
Ayonika Paul OLY, Olympian, Commonwealth Games and World Cup Medalist in Sport of Rifle Shooting said, "Rev. Daaji has set so many milestones which we forget we should achieve within us. Many times, physical goals are visible, internal goals are not. In the long run it is the inner goals that need to be addressed. I always think that I must put in my best efforts. Find your own purpose in life. Give your cent percent in all that you do. The people around us will feel the same positivity that you radiate.”
 
 

Rev. Daaji – Spiritual Guide of Heartfulness, President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, and Padma Bhushan Awardee said, “Youth are the backbone of the future of our country. They are the harbinger of bringing peace and equanimity. India is the spiritual centre of the world, and Heartfulness is making the means very accessible through simple methods. It is interesting to note the passion the youth are showing towards holistic wellness and trying to be one step ahead when it comes to being better and balanced individuals. I am very happy that the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and G20 have joined hands with us in bringing about this event and uniting our youth in the same spirit. Intuition is a faculty that has not been understood well so far. But meditation helps us in becoming intuitive. We are also very happy that AIIMS, New Delhi is working on identifying the region of the brain that brings intuitive awareness and certainly that will be helpful to us as evidence-based mechanism.”
 

The event had panel discussions on physical, emotional/ mental and spiritual wellness. Every panel member began with his/her success story in a few lines. Panel 1 themed on physical well-being was centered around Nutrition, Diet, Eating Habits and Body clock; Physical Exercise, Fitness, Sports, Yoga; motivating youth to focus on physical health and well-being; facing failures and success; and Yoga and Meditation to achieve excellence. Panel 2 (Mental/Emotional Well-Being) emphasizes on Managing pressure, stress, anxiety, burnouts; Importance of Meditation, Discipline and Routine; Interpersonal skills, Working as a team, relationship with colleagues; How to develop Will power and grit, perseverance; How to handle Peer pressure and society expectations; Suicide Prevention. Panel 3 on Holistic Approach aimed at Character Formation, Designing Destiny, Preventive measures for substance abuse and addictions; and the role of Yoga and Meditation on holistic wellbeing.