Andy W.
The workshop was fun and practical. I was impressed with the instructors’ ability to create a safe space for participants.
Emily M.
I really liked the focus on building strong group dynamics while having fun and pushing peoples edges to grow. That and the variety of exposure to sensory exercises
Suzanne M.
We balanced plates on bamboo sticks, did the scanning experiences at the beginning and end of each activity, talked about conscious awareness—oh it was delicious. We had great fun and insights.
Alisia M.
What stands out for me personally is the sense of joy and the healing. I’ve used much that I learned in ATB in my [college] classes, especially the art class and writing classes. The students loved it all.
Judy C.
I loved the workshop and the strong sense of connection to myself that it engendered. I felt very centered as well as calm and peaceful and in touch with emotions in a very direct (not mediated by my mind and thoughts) way.
A key part of what was wonderful about the workshop was the presenter: her authenticity, her complete presence, her caring, and her complete absence (or at least this is how it felt) of ego in her work with us. Who she is helped create a safe environment for participants to be fully present themselves. In addition, I thoroughly appreciated the variety of activities that gave us a balance of active and quiet, inward experiences, connection with others and with self all of which contributed to the overall sense of centeredness and self-knowledge
Linda R.
I am an artist and I find the self-exploration and group exploration very stimulating to my own inner-journeys, which produce the work I do. I currently am making a new series of work involving the body – I am anxious to see the impact of ATB on this work. I also have Parkinson’s disease and I know that my balance and physical confidence has been enhanced by the workshop I took.
Francesco C.
The more I do ATB the more I feel that what Aloka and Joan have done makes an integral approach to the being accessible for everyone without boundary of belief or previous training or whatever. It’s done with an ascending complexity, from the very basic and simple to the advanced and complex in a smooth and sequential fashion.
Suchitra P.
ATB is like a fun Vipassana.
Heidi W.
When I am in Auroville I attend a weekly Awareness Through the Body class and I have also participated in several all day workshops. I have been in and out of the schools in Auroville as a teacher advisor for almost twenty years and seen many sessions with children. I even interviewed a group of children with several years of experience -some of their responses are quoted in The Awareness Through the Body book. They testified to the lasting influence it has had on their lives, but, forget children! This work is good for everyone! It’s great for relaxation and relieving stress; it’s great for exercise, stretching and balance; it’s great for breathing and meditation, and yet all these benefits are incidental because what ATB is really about is awareness: learning about yourself, your body, your emotions, how your mind works, and how to be strictly in the present.
Spring 2010
The following quote is an excerpt from a letter from a person who attended the Spring 2010 workshops
“It’s not just about coming alive to myself, to others, and to the elements, ATB is also about those surprise encounters with that still, inner place of joy and connection. Sharing what I learned has already had a noticeable impact on my students’ ability to concentrate and collaborate.”
Spring 2009
At the end of one of the workshops, we asked the participants to write uninterruptedly for five minutes, putting on to the paper thoughts, feelings or perceptions the workshop had triggered in them. We did not ask them to think and then write; in fact we wanted exactly the contrary: whatever was going in to the paper did not need to be logical or reasoned; it had to be only the written expression of whatever was in them at that moment. If nothing was coming in all those minutes, if they were “blank”, they could leave the page white, but if in the middle of the silence a word would be coming up, they would write it down. We called that with the same name as one of our friends calls written feedbacks: the ticket to leave
Here follow some of these tickets
Fun, excitement,
Habits, habits, habits.
Exploring, sensations,
Surprises, differences, accepting, fighting, impatience, mind goes quicker than body, gliding, smooth, enjoying, no breath, blockages, insecure, back to body, back to breath, letting go, letting happen, joy, challenge, no head, just body, flow, shift of flow, sensing, just myself, no others, feel it is imbalanced, all thought, unexpected, nice!
Another person wrote:
With great skill, originality and perception Aloka and Joan let us through a series of simple yet amazing deep exercises that guide us to a greater self-awareness, their nectar-like voices give us extensive details in which to focus our attention and deepen our perceptions. The overall effect is great, opening and quieting the being. We hope to share these gifts with other students.
And yet another type of ticket:
Touched…..
To be so close to my body
And to feel the strong connection with myself
Deep connection with all that is outside
Sometimes a wave of timelessness overflowing
Overwhelming almost.
The wish to move flowingly
Just move with everything around me
Nowhere to go.
And if there was an urge to go somewhere, or tension, I felt it so clear in my body, and felt how to let go.