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Yes - We Can! Community Leadership ProgramFor a stress-free and Violence-free society

InsPIRaTIOn

5 sri sri Ravi shankar, founder, art of Living Foundation, IaHV

InTRODUCTIOn

7 “Yes - We Can!”10 Holly Warren interveiws Christoph Glaser

THOUGHTs

13 Thoughts of the teachers and leaders 14 Thoughts of the participants

TRaInInG

17 It all starts...

LeaRnInG

25 Learning from outstanding personalities & leaders30 Connecting deeper to the source31 Learning to share34 showtime in no time!

In THe FIeLD

37 Out in the field: Yes - We DID IT!38 The Birds flying the nest40 Opening up to Oppenau!42 Bravery on the field44 Yes - We Can! tours europe!48 City activities

CURRenT PROJeCTs

59 ORGanIZInG and PROMOTInG the MDGs60 International Business and Leadership symposium61 a new Dimension to Leadership62 What is One Young World?63 Music Without Borders

exPeRIenCes

65 Hosts experiences68 Trainers experiences73 Yes!+ participants experiences84 experiences YWC participants

seCReT CORneR

101 Un-easy moments104 LeTTeR OF InsPIRaTIOn by steven

106 LeTTeRs OF sUPPORT

THanK YOU!

111 Last but not least we would like to sat THanK YOU!

COnTenT

Table of contents

InTRODUCTIOn

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The inspiration behind the Yes – We Can! CLP is revered in-ternational humanitarian and spiritual leader H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar. His mission of uniting the world into a violence-free global family has inspired mil-lions to work towards sustain-able peace, community develop-ment, and harmony in diversity among peoples and cultures. His programs have reached an es-timated 300 million people worldwide, spanning over 140 countries.

In India, H.H. sri sri Ravi shan-kar designed a Youth Leader-ship Training Program that has brought about positive social change in more than 30,000 vil-lages in asia, Latin america and africa.

In europe, H.H. sri sri Ravi shan-kar designed the Yes – We Can! CLP to work towards harmony in diversity and a stress-free and violence-free society. 122 participants from 30 countries will take part in this 6 month training.

He is the founder of the Art of Living Foundation (IAOLF, 1981), an international non-

Inspiration...sri sri Ravi shankar, founder, art of Living Foundation, IaHV

InTRODUCTIOn

Q: What is your focus for the Yes - we can! and why?

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My focus is to see more and more youngsters take responsibility for their planet. I want them to find a new direction in their life which is evolutionary, not self destructive. I want the young people to get them-selves free from tobacco or alcoholism and violence, get-ting more creative, creating a happy family, happy environ-ment.

Q: What inspired you to make Yes - we can !?

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just the youth themselves.

Q: What is you vision for youth?

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To see that our youths have deeper roots and broader vi-sion. You know deeper roots make them well grounded. So “Deepen your roots and broaden your vision” is a slo-gan for youths.

Q: How to break down the bar-riers of prejudice?

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Education and intermingling with people from other back-ground, religion, race, nation-ality. Getting to know them will break down all those bar-riers. Prejudice is because we keep people away from us. Once you get to know them, the prejudice simply drops. We have to start feeling the whole world is one family with many differences.

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profit educational and humanitarian organization. The Foundation, now active in more than 140 countries, offers educational and self-development programs designed to eliminate stress and foster a sense of well-being. In europe and the United states, the Founda-tion's programs are helping inner city youth turn away from gang violence, drugs and alcohol. sri sri's Prison Programs have helped transform the lives of an estimated 150,000 inmates around the world.

In 1997, sri sri founded the International Association for Human Values, a humanitarian nonprofit organization that advances human values in political, economic, industrial, and social spheres. In south asia, south africa, and Latin america, the association's sustainable development programs have reached more than 30,000 rural com-munities.

sri sri travels to more than 40 countries a year to share his message of social responsibility, and that all great spiritual traditions share common goals and values. His teachings of love, practical wisdom, and service promote harmony among people, and encourage indi-viduals to follow their chosen spiritual path, while honoring other paths.

On the very beginning of the Yes - We Can! one of the participants Holly Warren interviewed H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar about the story behind the project. We are bringing you some of the questions from the interview.

Q: How can we create stress free, violence free society?

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: By engaging people to the pro-grams like Yes - we can!, by creating more multidimen-sional, multicultural, multi religious, multilingual pro-grams. Interfaith prayers, cul-tural programs will all bring people together

Q: What does success mean to you?

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A smile that doesn’t die away. Confidence that doesn’t wither away, and a personality that doesn’t get shaken. That’s a sign of success.

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In one month’s time, the participants gained the knowledge and skills needed to become exceptional leaders in europe, standing for the single mission of bringing energy, enthusiasm, solidarity and hu-man values to the entire continent and to the world.

“Yes - We Can! - Community Leadership Program” was inspired by H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar. It is a joint initiative of the International art of Living Foundation and IaHV. In the words of His Holiness: “It is upon us… to create a time without wars.”

InTRODUCTIOn

Yes - We Can! - Community Leadership Program

“YES - WE CAN!”“Community Leadership Program - Developing Leaders, Transforming society” creates young leaders to guide europe to a better future

One hundred and twenty two people between the ages of 20 - 40 years, gathered in one place sharing the same dream, to transform themselves and lead others on their path to a better life….

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“Yes - We Can!” is designed to do just that, create a violence free society. Taking place at the International Center of the art of Living Foundation in Bad antogast, Germany, people from thirty one coun-tries trained for one month and subsequently travelled for another five months all over europe, with the intention of putting all their dreams into action.

The program consisted of learning skills in leadership, communica-tion, presentation and public speaking skills, in addition to stress relief techniques: dance choreography, music, theatre, ayurvedic cooking, photography, film making and more!! The participants learnt directly from experts, including fifteen trainers and five guest speakers. The regular day began at 6.00 aM and ended at 10.00 PM. The program started on March 3rd and since then five hundred man hours of training have passed, out of which two hundred and fifty hours of volunteer work have already been achieved.

The course participants are enthusiastic, energetic and determined; with a clear vision to create a stress free and violence free europe and world. For one month they lived together, worked together, learned together, laughed together, but above all they reached a state of mind that many people in the world merely wish for…. a peaceful, centered, unshakable state of mind that creates intercultural har-mony. no obstacle was big enough to stop them from reaching their personal goals and reaching the hearts and the minds of others in europe.

europe has seen considerable change in just 6 months!

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InTRODUCTIOn

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InTRODUCTIOn

excerpt’s from interview

Holly Warren interveiws Christoph Glaser about the vision behind YES - WE CAN!

What can we expect from the coming six months, we asked Christoph Glaser, one of the initiative’s organisers of the Community Leadership Program

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InTRODUCTIOnH.: “What is the whole idea behind this pro-gram, what is your vision and what can these one hundred and twenty young people do actually?”

Ch.G:“ as we know, peo-ple are pretty stressed and confused. a few days ago just 100 km from here a boy killed many children in one school. such types of ac-tion happen all the time all over the world. What we want to achieve with our program is to give the people a choice to stop, to take a look first inside their hearts and to find themselves. after that they can start to think about the world outside and about others.”

Holly: “OK, but could you tell us more about how this idea will work out? What steps do the participants take?”

Ch.G.:“as you may already know 120 young people from europe are being taught yoga, cooking, dancing etc. Taught by the best teachers and they are also seeing presentations by many scientists and politicians. 10 days of the 30 day program have already passed, and everyday I see the increasing enthusi-asm in each and every one of the participants.”

Ch.G. “They are supposed to be leaders at the end of the program. actually I feel that they are already leaders in their hearts and ready to go outside and to rock europe with their songs, dances and smiles. Pretty soon actually they will have performances in Berlin, Paris and other cit-ies.”

H.:“This is amazing!

Ch.G: “We would like to see one smiling and celebrating europe. This will be our message!”

a loud clap from the people present from the whole of europe welcomes Christoph’s message.

“The goal of educa-tion is to increase awareness not infor-mation. …Watching our inner-responses, knowing that they are there, increases our self-awareness”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

THOUGHTs

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THOUGHTs

Thoughts of the teachers and leaders of the programme

Christoph Glaser: “This is a dream come true project!”

Kamlesh Patel: “The Com-munity Leadership Program shall transform not just the graduates of this training but also Europe!”

Emily Peck: “I have always felt inspired to uplift the youth and serve the society. CLP is a pro-gram that does both!”

Misha Granin: “Today, the world is changing faster than ever before. For me to be here is to be that change. Here we are creating a better tomorrow for Europe and whole world.”

Tatiana Jakob: “I feel so much life within me. When I am with the youth I feel the same. I am al-ways asking myself how to keep this energy alive in the youth. To do something good with this. YES – We Can! gives youth a pos-itive direction to do something for others and uplift the society. We can make a difference when we take responsibility.”

Kira Titaeva: “This program is the most practical way to show the youth an alternative and broader way to live their lives!”

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Thoughts of the participants

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Andrej, Slovenia. “I felt a call to come here. Let’s discover ourselves.”

Eve, Germany. “I would like to do something meaning-ful in life, which is good for me and the society“.

Khani, Germany. “This will be big“.

Celina, Germany. “YES WE CAN is to open up to field of our own possibilities.”

Zlatko, Croatia. “I am here to move the world.”

Holly, England. “Yes WE Can is the fu-ture, a way to bring about a change from within.”

Ivana, Croatia. “I just want to see smiles on other people faces“.

Marcus, Germany. “Laughing is a virus and we will infect the world with it.”

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Rita, Portugal. “I believe, I can be bet-ter and therefore also so can the world“!

Neringa, Lithuania. “I am here to grow, to learn, to laugh, to let go, to give, to share, to play… I am here to uncover my goals and make it happen“.

Tadej, Slovenia. “Wake up and see: THIS WORLD IS SOOO BEAUTIFUL.”

Plakor, Croatia. “Life is fun when serv-ing and celebrating.”

Jasna, Croatia. “I am here to explore the new things and spread enthusiasm.”

Camille, France. “CLP is teaching us both human values and great leadership skills to make us ethi-cal leaders.”

Alejo Chapero. “Give people what they need. Some need a roof, other education, other need wisdom, other love and all of them need breathe”.

Rune, Norway. “Service to society is service to oneself!”

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In order to accomplish the challenging mission of creating intercultural harmony and working to-wards a more stress and violence-free society, the art of Living Foundation and the International as-sociation for Human Values designed an unique two months training program for the “young and dedicated” of europe. The program teaches valu-able life and leadership skills. It teaches how to handle the mind and negative emotions.

The art of Living teachers and organizers bundled all their professional know-how, expertise and ex-periences together to create a sustainable basis for the participants to reach their full potentials. The program was built on a full-time schedule, working up to 15 hours a day, 7 days a week in order to improve their clarity of mind and thinking, dynamism in action and personal evolution. Through interactive training, experiential group processes, service learn-ing and inspirational talks from prominent speakers active in different fields of society, the participants gained the confidence, knowledge and awareness necessary to successfully uplift society. In the next chapters you will find an extensive report that focuses on the content of the program and experiences of the participants as well as the teachers.

Getting in touch with your True nature Yes - We Can! began its journey with one of the most vital ingredients of the program: connect-ing with oneself, getting in touch with one’s true nature. Connecting with our true nature means connecting with the human values that lies within each and everyone of us. Human values like a deep caring for all life, commitment, responsibility, non-

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Training at the art of Living academy

It all starts...It’s the 3rd of March 2009. slowly and gradually the 120 young and excited participants from more than 30 countries are gathered at the art of Living academy in the Black Forest where a challenging training is awaiting them. a little bit nervous but with hearts full of faith they are about to take a dive into the unknown….

“Physically I gained endurance; I felt really awake and alert and could approach all the daily activities with a lot of energy. Mentally and emotionally I felt very calm, centred. I can say that my overall potential really increased doing these practices every morning, not to forget my discipline!”

Ivana, 26 yrs, Croatia

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violence, love, compassion and integrity are the very foundation of social order, peace, justice and progress. Only if we connect with these values, we can move forward.

Yes - We Can! participants started to live and be the change they wanted to see happening in europe by first connecting and reposing in themselves during the initial two months of training program. every morning all the 120 participants began with a 1.5 hour session of yoga, meditation and a powerful breathing technique called the sudarshan kriya, all designed to harmonize the body, mind and spirit.

Developing leadership skills

The Yes - We Can! project is designed to develop leaders and transform society. It focuses on participants gaining the best learning experience. Many tasks were given and participants were divided into groups to optimise there learning.

Public speaking

The public speaking group creatively produced their speeches, talking about philosophical sub-jects such as the essence of our existence and what it means to connect to oneself. During vari-ous group performances that were held, the public speaking group would host the shows and keep the audience informed and entertained during the breaks. Public speaking was an incredibly important skill for everyone to develop, for they would be introducing the workshops to the public throughout europe.

Goal achieving & Team Building

Thanks to Rajita Kulkarni Yes We-Can! studied the functioning of a team.

How to support the team you are committed to. How to coach it: being a coach and a student at the same time. How to be it: the vision in a happy, nat-ural and beautiful way, through tips of encourage-ment to thinking out of the box, through to taking

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1 sets an example

2 Cares for those who follow him/her

3 a good leader creates new leaders

4 Does not depend on authority

5 Does not worry about position

6 alert and undisturbed in challenges

7 stretches himself/herself beyond the comfort zone

8 Does not mix head and heart

9 Multidimensional and appreciates others point of view

10 evaluates both sides of the situation before taking a decision

11 Uses a direct approach

12 Does not judge himself/herself

leadership. Rajita shared with Yes We-Can! beautiful knowledge on how to make a team more efficient and how to inspire it towards the common vision. Through practical exercises to highlight “win-win situ-ations” or “drop the ego to achieve higher goals”. Rajita’s sessions were amongst the most practical on leadership training.

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Leadership

H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar shared with participants 12 principles that a true leader implements

“We admire sri sri Ravi shankar, as he is literally living these 12 principles daily. a new word should be invented to express him (like “megaverysuperbusy”). However he took 3 weeks of his time to personally train Yes We-Can! The amount of Love and the quality of Knowledge he shared with us is out of words. In inspiring the YWC he gave us the opportunity to grow so much in our lives. Dear sri sri, we keep you forever in our hearts.”

YES We-Can! participants

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Writing

The writing group gave birth to the YWC news letter: The source. after this first edition, writers immediately took responsibility to start a regular news letter, releasing one edition per week about the training, the guest speakers, and their experiences. all the source editions can be found on the YWC website (www.yeswecan-clp.org). It was not always as easy for the writers to make the tight deadlines, but they did a fantastic job! When they were outside, they would have conference calls with Babeeta to discuss the content of the next source. The source was one of the most important forms of me-dia they had to share their experiences and achievements with the world.

Unleashing creativity and stepping out of the comfort zone

Throughout the CLP training, skills and abilities were put to the test, time and time again. Performances and goals had to be achieved within tight deadlines, which gave very creative results. also, it was good to develop the ability to lead and to follow. after all, a good leader is also a good follower; a group cannot function properly when a lot of people want to take charge and do things their way. so they had to learn to trust whoever took charge, supporting that person. and the leader would have to learn when to step down and let someone else take over.

Many different subjects were available to conduct activities in, var-ying from being out in the field promoting yoga classes, to acting, dancing, cooking, making music, and making movies. It was very nice that everyone got the chance to get a taste of something they had never done before. also, this was a good way of getting out of the comfort zone.

Music

The music group was led by our maestros Marcel and Massimo, tal-ented musicians who were teaching us how to play the strings of the guitar. shortly after the first sessions, they decided to make a YWC album. Within 3 weeks, YWC they recorded a wonderful CD featur-ing 9 songs which have very different styles. The songs vary from pop to rap and reggae, featuring wonderful guitar play by teachers and participants, deep lyrics, and stunning vocals. The album was

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produced by Keerti who did an amazing job in such a short time. In fact, all of the musicians had to record their parts in just a few takes because of the deadlines. add to that the simple studio that they had to work with, and you can say that the outcome is simply miraculous! The music group also orchestrated a concert that took place in Oppenau; it was an impressive performance in which everyone was dressed up in their own country’s traditional costumes. It was very nice to see so much harmony in diversity!

acting & Dancing

The acting and dancing groups would create nice screenplays and choreographies with the help of Ba-beeta, expressing themselves in the specific roles they would take on. Letting their bodies express and move with the music and the surroundings.

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Filmmaking

The film team, consisting of 12 people, made a film in only 1 hour! That meant coming up with an idea, filming it and editting it. Those who were experienced in the field of filmmaking took the lead and because of the great co-operation they managed to fin-ish a little film with the theme: connecting to the source, in just 1 hour! The idea of doing more with film during this program was born. a special and smaller film team of 3 members was created and started to document and in-

terview the participants. Beside a donation film, 2 other promo-tion films were made. One about the program itself. One film for promotion of the Yes - We can! CD. The film making group was responsible for making clips, in-terviews, and even a talk show with sri sri himself; to show what we were doing for the out-side world.

CookingLast but not least, the cooking group learned cooking from our kitchen magician Wayne, who taught the basic principles of ay-urvedic cooking. The training highlighted how a proper diet can prevent and treat disease, especially when prepared with love and care. This teaching fostered a deep understanding of how good food is instrumental to health and happiness... and left the participants inspired to cook!

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“Working as a camera jour-nalist as a professional, I got the opportunity to take lead in creating different genre films under time pressure that required a lot of creative in-put on the spot. Because of the great synergy we were able to establish several promotion films with success.”

Juliette, 28, the Netherlands.

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Learning from outstanding personalities & leaders

To foster leadership skills YWC participants experienced differ-ent workshops and learned from leaders of society – politicians, businessmen, scientists. It is our honour to present all our guests speakers who shared their wis-dom with project participants.

Mr. Thomas d’ansembourg

International Trainer & Lecturer in Non-violent Communica-tion, Belgium

In order to contribute to justice and conflict resolution, Mr. d’ansembourg first worked as a lawyer for 15 years. Dedicating his free time to an association for teenagers from the street, he gained a better understanding of the mechanisms leading to violence, addic-tion, prostitution and criminality. In order to deepen his understand-ing of people, he became a psychotherapist.

since 1994, he worked as an international trainer and lecturer in Belgium, France, switzerland, Quebec and Morocco, giving work-shops on leading to personal transformation, heart-opening, and spiritual awareness.

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“Thanks to Cristoph Glaser we had the opportunity to meet and be inspired by great per-sonalities”

YES - We Can! participants

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Mr. nirj Deva

Member of European Parliament

President, Europe India Chamber of Commerce

nirj Deva was born in sri Lanka and holds a sri Lankan and British citizenship. He became Chairman of the Bow Group (leading British political think-tank) in 1981. He was Chairman of the Department of Transport/national Consumer Council Committee on De-regulation of air Transport, which resulted in low-fare airlines in europe. In 1992, he was elected as Member of the House of Commons, and in 1999 as Conservative Member of the european Parliament, where he is a member of the Committee on Overseas Development and Coop-eration and the Foreign affairs Committee. He is a Fellow of Britain’s Royal society of arts, Chairman of the eU-India Chamber of Com-merce and patron of the International Monarchist League. In april 2005, he was chairman of the european Parliament’s delegation to the Un Commission on sustainable Development in new York.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Hans-Peter Durr

Founder, Global Challenges Network, Germany

Mr Hans-Peter Durr, Prof. PhD, Dr. h.c., Dir.em.

Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Munich, Germany. nuclear physicist:Ms 1953 Univ. stuttgart, PhD 1956 Univ. California, Berke-ley, scM 1962 Max-Planck-society, Munich, Prof. 1969 Univ. Munich, emeritus 1997; Visit. Prof.: UoC Berkeley 1961, 1968, Matscience Madras(India) 1962, nagoya(Japan) 2007; Dir. MPI for Physics 1971-1997. Publications: elementary particle physics, Unified quantum field theory, Gravitation, epistemology (ca. 100); scientists’ Respon-sibility, Disarmament, Peace, security, Development, Justice, Culture, ecology, trans-disciplinary Issues (ca. 300); 22 books. International Organizations (founder, board member, advisor): scientists’ Initia-

tive for Peace 1983, acad. Leopoldina 1975, Council Pugwash 1983 (nobel Peace Prize 1995), Greenpeace 1986, Global Challenges network 1987, International Foundation for the survival and Development of Humanity (Moscow) 1988, Vienna International academy for Future Problems 1990, economic Devel-opment of Hainan (PR China) 1990, Club of Rome 1991, state of the World Forum 1995, Int. advisory Group Un HabitatII 1996, Global Forum of spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders 1999, Bavarian academy of Fine arts 2000, Friends of Health 2000 Wash.DC), Commission on Globalization 2001. awards: Right Livelihood award (alternative nobel Prize) 1987, natura Obligat 1991, e.&W. Haas Int. award 1993, Cul-ture Golden Medal Munich 1996, Great Cross of’ service Medal of FR Germany 2004., Honorary Citizen Munich 2007.

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Thomas Grieser

Mayor in Oppenau

Mr. Thomas Grieser since 1986 is the Mayor of Oppenau/Germany, the city in which the european art of Living Center is situated.

Mr. Rutger Koopmans

President, Netherlands-India Chamber of Commerce and Trade

Former Senior Executive Vice President, ING Bank, The Nether-lands

Rutger Koopmans studied Political science and Law at the University of Leiden, writing his thesis on future opportunities for the modern welfare state. He then joined Bank Mees & Hope, a medium sized bank and the oldest financial institution in The netherlands. Here he worked in corporate and investment banking in amsterdam/ Rotter-dam, as well as abroad in London and new York. In 1996, Koopmans joined InG Group, one of the first ‘banca ssurance’ institutions in the world, which had the challenging ambition to become a first-class corporate bank in The netherlands and abroad. Within this organi-zation, he took his first steps as a manager and a leader.

During his years at InG, he aimed to be himself as a leader which taught him a lot about personal effectiveness, as well as his impact on other people. It earned him the nickname of the ‘non-bankerish banker’ when he left InG in september 2008. His ultimate aim is to have a career in the public domain where he can combine his 25 years of knowledge and experience as a banker and a leader, with his vision to add sustainable leadership value to society and create ‘a better world’ for our children.

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Ms. erika Mann

Former member of the European Parliament, Germany

erika Mann served three terms in the european Parliament, and is a member of the social Democratic Party of Germany. she is chair-woman of the Delegation to the eU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Com-mittee, as well as a member of both the Committee on International Trade, and the Delegation for Relations with the United states. she is senator of the Max Planck society and Board Vice Chair of ‘Frauen für Technik neue Impulse’ (women promoting technology), a Ger-man association based in Berlin. she is the Chair and Co-Founder of the european Internet Foundation, and european Chairwoman of the Transatlantic Policy network. In 2006, she received an award for Outstanding Transatlantic Commitment from the european ameri-can Business Council. she is a qualified teacher, and was a researcher at the University of Hanover before becoming an IT business con-sultant. she is a member of the International Information academy of the United nations.

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Prof. Fahri saatcioglu

Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Oslo, Nor-way

Fahri saatcioglu is a professor in molecular and cell biology at the Department of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Oslo, nor-way. His research focuses on basic molecular and cell biological mechanisms of how hormones work in the normal physiology as well as disease states, especially cancer. He has been practicing yoga for over 25 years and is a part-time yoga teacher. He also conducts research on the biological effects and physiological mechanisms of yogic breathing exercises.

Mr. Chowdhury

Owner of new Sri Sri Ayurveda Centre in Dortmund

Mr. Chowdhury is a successful businessman who decided to invest in the cosmetic and wellness industry. He recently opened a new magnificent sri sri ayurveda centre in Holtum, West Germany, giv-ing people access to premium ayurvedic treatments. The interior of the centre is beautifully crafted and filled with delicate furniture’s imported from India.

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The participants got the opportunity to participate in several art of Living courses to deepen their con-nection with themselves and their surroundings. One of these was sahaj samadhi Meditation: a natural, effortless system of meditation allows the conscious mind to settle deeply into the self, thus giving it a much needed deep rest. When the mind settles down, it lets go of all tensions and stress, improving health and focus. Regular daily practice of the technique can totally transform the quality of one’s life, by culturing the system to maintain the peace, energy, and expanded awareness meditation brings through-out the day.

after one month of being in the academy participants experienced for the first or second time The art of Living Part II course, designed to provide the precise conditions for enhancing self-discovery, deep rest for the mind and body and reviving energy and enthusiasm. The practice of silence has been known throughout the ages, in many different traditions and cultures, as a great tool for elevating conscious-ness.

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Connecting deeper to the Source

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shortly after their initial CLP training and Part II course, teacher training began. Immediately on the first day of TTC 1 participants noticed that the game had changed. The daily schedule was much tighter; waking at 4.30 in the morning and finish-ing at 11.00 in the evening.

The rules were strict and a tight schedule meant good teamwork and communication was very nec-essary. The training really developed how to man-age time efficiently! Despite this it was touching how each of the participants took the time to take

care of one another. Daily group mediation kept everyone’s energy high. TTC 1 took about 3 weeks, it was a very intense program that left everyone smiling and enlivened.

about our TTC 1 teacher Kamlesh Patel: “ ...he truly led us by setting an example. We are all impressed by his dedication to us and Love.”

YES-We Can! participants

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Learning to shareTeacher Training Course 1 (TTC 1)

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Teacher Training Course 2 (TTC 2)

TTC 2 was one of the most special courses YWC ex-perienced. Do you remember from school that very often the most interesting subjects were the ones with the most interesting teachers? This was no different in this situation, TTC 2 teacher was Ra-jshree!

she actually came all the way from new York to teach us a unique aOL course, unaware at that moment that she would stay with us for TTC2. The course is very unique and incredibly special which makes it very hard to put down into words.

This particular TTC 2 was not only special because of the teacher, but also because of the length of the course. normally this course takes 3 weeks; YWC did it in 6 days. so how can it be possible to cram everything of an extremely intense 3 week pro-gram into a 6 day format? It depends on the teach-er and the enthusiasm of the group. Because of all the love felt for Rajshree from the first session there was a special bond. she knew exactly how to be strict and loving at the same time! The things that she was teaching us were definitely very im-portant lessons to take to heart and when she left everyone was deeply moved.

so what was TTC 2-in-6-days about? Of course all the course material was gone through really fast, but what Rajshree found more important were personal sticking points. What was needed in or-der for us to grow, what was needed to become teachers not only while teaching, but also in their daily lives.

Rajshree stressed the point of doing the practices many times; it is so important to let emotions and feelings flow and be released instead of keeping them locked somewhere where they will create stress. It is not just the practices, also the attitude that is important to be free from the storms of emotions and feelings; it is commitment that gives strength, and not indulging in emotions and feelings. Being committed also means being button proof; having this attitude of “no matter what, I will do this”.

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“As a teacher it was so special to see a group of young adults go through such amazing life trans-formation. When I met the “group” on the first day I met “individuals”. Individuals with limited identity to gender, nationality, religion etc. creat-ing division and isolation. People who were mov-ing through life in their “small” world of right and wrong. In just a few short days they transformed into humanitarians with an expanded sense of identity, first as part of one life and then to part of one world family, full of strength, support and deep love. This connection created individual lead-ers who took charge not only of their life but each other as well as the community and the world at large. Their dedication and commitment to live a life full of joy and to leave behind greener Pasteur is inspiring and needed in the world today. With a full proud heart I am so happy to have shared this journey with you all. ...... YES you can .... All is possible.”

Rajshree Patel

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Conclusion

In just two months, art of Living transformed 122 budding enthusiasts into world class leaders. The training relayed a firm yet kind approach allowing the participants to be the change they want to see in the world, stretching their comfort zones and extracting their creativity to the maximum! From this time on, leadership in action prevailed, unleashing positive changes throughout europe! The journey to a stress and violence free europe had begun!

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nerves were running a lot higher than normal in the european Center during the weekend. On Fri-day the participants were asked to deliver a big Yes - we can! event, showcasing all the talents they’ve groomed over the first intense weeks.

Great idea, the only thing was… the event was scheduled for sunday night!

Working under a seemingly impossible deadline the entire team pulled together and delivered a night to Remember. Many times the different groups – among them music, dancing and public

speaking – had to remind themselves of H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar’s words of wisdom stating that “...even though the process is a mess, the product will be mesmerizing”.

and this was the exact case on sunday night.

The speaking team had the job of hosting the event, and they guided the audience through the night with humor and warmth.

Presenting the five elements through dance, the dancing team brought to life water, fire, earth, air

Showtime in no time!What do you do when you are asked to deliver a big event in front of a Dutch TV, an esteemed audience and a world-renowned spiritual leader? and you only have two days to put it together! The Yes We Can! participants learned this the hard way...

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LeaRnInGand space through a powerful and memorable performance. The music group that amazingly wrote all the music together in only two days accompanied them. The audience also enjoyed the world pre-miere of the song “Glitter I Like”, a beautiful song written especially for the Yes - we can! program.

The theme was “Harmony In Diversity” and impressively Yes - we can! participants took the stage and told of how – over the week-end - they had just conducted an entire Yes+ course themselves! The conclusion of the evening was: “Make the impossible possible? Yes We Can!”

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This journey was not without obstacles, we had to face varying group dynamics, logistical hassles, but despite that, we were still able to move as a team and keep a focus on the goal. This was when we could really feel the benefits of the initial training phase.

Here is an overview of the results for the first 7 months from March to september 2009.

We distributed around 100,000 flyers, displayed 370 posters. We con-ducted 27 Yes!+ courses, 16 basic courses, 1 art excel. We organised 6 music events and spoke with thousands of people about creating

a stress-free, violence-free soci-ety as well as raising awareness about Millennium Development Goals (MDG) among hundreds of people.

We visited 19 countries and 42 cities.

Countries : Germany, Tur-key, UK, France, Croatia, Bel-gium, Bulgaria, Austria, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Nether-lands, Denmark, Poland, Ire-land, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway

Cities: Hamburg, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Unna, Holtum, Berlin, London, Aachen, Saar-brücken, Leipzig, Pakrac, Paris, Metz, Maastricht, Den Haag, Amsterdam, Zagreb, Fürsten-wald, Lipik, Daruvar, Holzwick-ede, Lviv, Kiev, Zadar, Karlovac, Eisenhüttenstadt, Frankfurt Oder, Copenhagen, Marburg, Malmö, Rättvik, Göteborg, Stockholm, Reykjavik, Osn-abrück, Oslo, Dublin, Oppenau, Hamm, Sloviansk

MODULe 2

Out in the field: YES - WE DID IT!

an overview of the results for the first 6 months from March to september 2009

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Yes - We Can! in their first european tour!

The Birds flying the nest In the beginning of the third week of the program, six groups of enthusiastic Yes We Can participants started their first eu-ropean tour to promote art of Living and bring health and hap-piness to people’s lives. Destinations were Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin in Germany, netherlands, romantic Paris and far-away wonderland Iceland.

each group had a unique adventure with different goals and challenges. Intense days spent in unfamiliar environment were a great opportunity to implement the teamwork and leader-ship skills we have learned so far.

The team traveling to France had a stop in Metz, where they met city government representatives, participated in youth events and introduced art of Living in an anti-racism festival, sharing a stand with UnICeF and different human rights associations. Presentation in the festival was a great chance to be creative - the team con-ducted yoga session, played music and invited people to Health and Happiness workshops.

The day spent in Paris gave a valuable lesson and future ideas for fundraising, allowing us to understand that doing our homework and preparation is a key to success.

One of the goals of the netherlands Health and Happiness team was to invite people to the congress in the presence of H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar, which took place on May 1-3 in Baarlo. The team promoted the congress in different ways and on Yes - We Can evening events - they handed out flyers on the train,

Camille, France

“We were walking on the streets and there came a stu-dent who felt very inspired about the Yes We Can! project. In his eyes I could see sparkled with curiosity and enthusi-asm about what we are doing here. Such a meeting charges our batteries for the next 100 negative answers.”

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talked to people in churches and even drew positive messages on

the pavement with chalk. all this field work was a truly required go-ing beyond the comfort zone. The Berlin team was very organized in planning and dividing tasks, as well as creative and active in pro-moting yoga and healthy lifestyle. They organized a satsang in a se-nior-Café and did presentations on Yoga and ayurveda on a stage of a shopping mall, making people from all ages do yoga right there in the middle of the mall. Working in a diverse team can be challeng-ing, so the team learned to respect different personalities, relax in uncomfortable situations and go on no matter what – with full en-thusiasm!

The Hamburg team used the slogan “Just do it!” and approached dif-ferent companies, governmental institutions, universities, press and people on the streets to establish new contacts and get them involved in the program. Their efforts were fruitful and the spirits were high. On Friday they had a long meeting with Mr. Uwe Ram, Head of the De-partment for International Cooperation in senate Chancellery. The experiences were different, but groups on the road had many things in common too. Teams were disciplined and continued with daily yoga and breathing practices even when the schedule was tight and used the challenges and uncomfortable situ-

ations to learn about themselves and empower the team. every-one’s favorite technique to teach was sports yoga, a fun practice H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar person-ally taught us.

Renate, norway

“Introducing Yes We Can! to the people was fun for me! Most of them were curious and interested. No one of them had heard about Art of Living before. We have to do it again, and we will! . We had good fun together and took home many lessons. It was a good “flight”.”

natalia, Russia

“I learned to be open to new situations, be flexible and lis-ten more”.

steven, Holland

„The moment you let go, you get what you want”.

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Opening up to Oppenau!Once again Yes – We Can prepared a night of entertainment with an impossibly short deadline, but this time on a bigger scale: in the Oppenau Hall, in front of the local citizens!

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It was a night of beautiful meditation and music. While the Yes We Can guitar beginners “Bambinos” practiced hard to play their gui-tars in public for the first time, the rest of the music group spent their hectic days learning songs from many different countries as Bulgaria, Belarus, Lithuania, Germany, Croatia, slovenia, Bosnia and serbia.

When sunday came, a beautiful sight awaited – it was an array of beautiful participants dressed in their national dresses. The evening began with a grand entrance where the performers walked down the aisle to the stage, engaging the audience and singing an african song - “siyahamba”.

Video clips highlighting the Yes – We Can program and the humani-tarian work of The art of Living Foundation, in addition to an ener-gizing breathing technique and meditation, left the audience with a feeling of satisfaction and inspiration.

The “Bambinos” did a fine job despite their nerves and the evening came to an energetic high when the “Yes- We Can” rap-song was performed. arms were in the air and smiles were all around. How do you think we concluded the event? With the sweet taste of the ayurvedic cakes and sweets that the cooking team had pre-pared. What a delightful ending of another exciting event!

Karolina, Poland:

“Seeing these people from so many countries singing to-gether expressing themselves, their own culture, freedom and positive attitude towards life and the whole event - that was something wonderful, which will inspire me in my further life. I myself was in the audience and the people on stage seemed very focused on the present moment. ”

Zan, slovenia:

“I enjoyed this event very much to improve my public speak-ing abilities and I stretched a bit beyond my comfort zone, so to say.”

steven, Holland:

“I liked that in such a short time, only 2 days, we set up an amazing musical event and everyone was in the same magical flow. That was very nice. I do think that the au-dience feels the enthusiasm with which we do things and it inspires them. It is also what this program is all about - ex-pressing ourselves. We learn things that we share with the world.”

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Bravery on the fieldWednesday night was a night that will go down in history. Two soccer games were played that were a true testament to the intense determination and team spirit that is Yes - We Can!

The scenery appeared as the perfect setting for a horror movie: smoke rose from the dark moun-tains, rain was pouring down, the air was cold, and the day grew darker every minute.

arriving at the soccer field, time stood still among the Yes – We Can players. Looking at the muddy, pebbly surface of the field, they glanced nervously at each other and said … well, not much. However, as they started their warm up laps, rescue came in the form of the Yes – We Can cheerleaders – aka everyone from Yes – We Can, who was not in any team.

The odds were all stacked against the two Yes – We Can teams – one all female, one all male. They had had only two days of training, they were not appropriately dressed (not even close) and most importantly: they were facing an enemy of great strength and resolution: the local Oppenau soccer teams.

Unstoppable girls

With bravery almost unimaginable, the all girls team started their game. By now the darkness had completely engulfed the mountains that were no longer visible. all that was to be seen was mud, rain and the daring heroism of the girls’ team.

The match started out as predicted… the fierce Oppenau girls made several goals against the otherwise incredibly talented Yes – We Can goalkeeper. Yet spirits soared. The cheerleaders, armed with tam-bourines, drums and voices loud as the schwarzwald mountaintops, were unstoppable in their energetic support. “Yes We Can” was shouted; bhajans were sung, and the girls’ team fought on.

Cigdem, Turkey:

“I played on the girls’ team and we had an awesome will power that helped us to play with our 100 %. We were working so well together, the girls on the opposing team felt our enthusiasm, and they were cheering us on, saying “you got it!”

Ihjaz, norway:

“The cheerleaders were doing an amazing job, supporting us till the end of their last breath, I felt like I was playing for Barcelona.”

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The first part of the game left the girls with one single, magnificent goal. The second half, though, turned out to be nothing short of mi-raculous. It seemed that the teammates had found the connection to each other, and they began positioning themselves, passing the ball to each other and showcasing amazing teamwork.

The cheerleaders screamed and cheered, as the team scored not one, not two, but three goals in the second half! The girls never lost their hopes, and the last goal was scored in the very last minute of the game! amazingly, the Yes – We Can girls had achieved exactly what they came for: a lot of goals; and the game ended 4-5 with the Op-penau team as the official winners.

The macho match

The rain started pouring heavily and the puddles of water were get-ting deeper. It was time for the match of the males. The broad, mus-cular, determined young men of Yes – We Can and the likewise local Oppenau team go ready. The Oppenau team members all seemed very broad and very daunting and a chill went through many a Yes – We Can bone as the referee blew the whistle to start the game.

and yes, the game became more serious as the males entered the field. There were moments of despair, as what can only be described as “the Oppenau Monsters” scored several goals. But the Yes – We Can guys never gave up!! They rolled in the mud; soiling their new, white Yes – We Can sweatshirts. They fought so bravely and gave it their all, backed intensely by the cheerleaders who made up songs to support each player. One Yes – We Can player, not wearing proper soccer shoes – even lost his shoe twice, while kicking the ball. Imagine the determination it took for him to run bare footed to fetch his muddy shoe time and again!

The boys had a tough time against the magnificently talented Oppenau goalkeeper, yet managed to end the game 5-3, again with the Oppenau team as winners.

Yet with the incredible jubilation that happened throughout and certainly also after the game, the entire Yes – We Can team felt like true winners: they had battled the cold, the rain, the lack of proper soccer clothing, a lack of normal training time and they had faced two talented teams – and the amazing total of Yes – We Can goals was seven! seven goals that will help raise money towards creating a stress-free, violence-free europe.

The night ended with dirty, wet, hungry and blissful Yes – We Can participants singing the whole way home.

What a night, what an incredible achievement.

anne-Marie, Denmark:

”To be honest, I really did not believe the girls’ team could score! But then, a miracle happened. We started play-ing okay and passing the ball to each other. When we were playing I was so out of breath, but being in the game made me feel like a child again.”

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YES - WE CAN! tours Europe!

PaRIs

One thing we can say about Paris is that it is a city of romance, poetry, tenderness & love! You can just lose yourself in the streets and dream for hours.....

all the training we go through in Bad antogast akademie is almost like a holiday compared to the intensity we experienced during our trip in France. We learned practically how to lead a team in the midst of the Paris art of Living Centre, which is an exciting place, as there you are constantly connect-ed to the source, literally as the whole centre has a little electricity fault.

Challenges were fast flowing and intense, we were stretched beyond our comfort zones far more than we thought it’s possible. Responsibilities fell like rain drops on our heads, yet thanks to all our train-ers back at the akademie we had techniques and knowledge to overcome our obstacles.

so many things happened during our staying, first-ly our meeting with Metz city councilor and local nGO ‘Together”. Dancing in the popular Montmarte area & selling flowers on Champs elysees to raise funds. also organizing and distributing flyers for intro talks at universities.

somehow we found ourselves at the semi-final of a local debate contest on politics. We also sold exotic and glamorous perfumes in the market donated by our very own Parisian Camille! It was tough to find a balance between enjoyment and giving 100% to achieve the team’s mission.

stephane ayrault gave us a great tip about how to approach seva: ”Consider your seva as your free time. so that you can always create awareness among people and talk knowledge with them, as though you are having fun and feeling relaxed.”

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BeRLIn

a group of enthusiastic Yes We Can participants travelled to Berlin to spread their knowledge and light with the sole intention of creating a health and happi-ness workshops in Berlin!

In the beginning of april YWC group attended Berlin Vital fair. as soon as they arrived at the fair they were told that they are having a performance on the stage in 15 minutes. It was a big challenge but they adjusted the situation immediately and did a great performance talking about Yes We Can project, showing some Yoga asanas – exercises and Bhastrika – a breathing technique. Beside performances on the stage there was an art of Living stand at the fair where the group was giving information about Yes We Can and art of Living organization.

During the three day fair, the group performed six times on the stage which was a big success because visitors gave positive feedback and were very interested in the whole project.

The next day the group had an appointment in Geschwister scholl schule in the city of Fürstenwalde about conducting a two hour workshop with pupils who attend the school. Together they did some games to explain importance of the mind in the present moment, yoga asanas, bhastrika and a bee meditation for better clarity in the mind. at the end the group had a meeting with the principle of the school who invited them to come back to do more these kinds of workshops.

Tuesday was the most fulfilling day for the group as they went to Grundschule in Görzig to do the two hour workshop with pu-pils from 6 to 13 years old. It was an extraordinary experience to teach 80 kids all these helpful techniques. They were complete-ly engaged in the program and their smiles and eyes showed that they enjoyed the program very much. They learned animal yoga and bhastrika and did plen-

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ty of games as well as a bee meditation in the end. after the workshop the group gathered sat together for an hour of singing.

It was magical to see how beautiful satsangs were organised with newcomers and the local art of Living family in such a short time...

The whole experience inspired the team to work together and learn from each other especially the im-portance of cooperation and time management.

HaMBURG

When spending 24-7 with a diverse set of shiny people from Poland, Greece, siberia, netherlands, Ger-many, norway and spain... you will learn and you will be inspired. Different characters, extrovert & in-trovert, leaders & followers, all with their wise heads when turned in the same direction to reach the big goal of raising some money.

Day in day out we were disci-plined, we worked hard and in the meanwhile Konstantinos entertained us with his Greek accent and pure & happy child-like way of joking and teasing. We got a Copy shop to print 1000 business cards for free, we planted trees for mission green earth and we got the newspaper to write an article about us as well as getting Mercedes-Benz to support us for 500 euro. Little by little we got there. a good Yes we can start for this year.

We learned, we gained and we laughed!

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DResDen

The Dresden team had an exciting time spreading love, happiness and good vibes all over the town. They visited the Mayor`s office, university organi-zations, student residences and all the while met with students, distributed flyers with joy and en-thusiasm. such enthusiasm caught the attention of the local media including the regional TV station DDTV, a few radio stations and local newspapers.

every evening they hosted a blissful satsang in stu-dent mensas, city clubs, city squares and the aOL centre.

an event took place on one of the old city bridges, called “smile for Dresden”. They organized two YWC evenings in the very pleasant environment of sivananda yoga centre and two evenings at a cul-tural centre of the Russian community in Dresden, with dancing, singing, intro talks. accommodation was more than a seven star hotel in the aOL center with our lovely teacher eva as a host. They managed to have early morning sadhana every day, self-prepared food and lots of fun and adventure.

It was an experience of learning along the way and breaking boundaries.

neTHeRLanDs

We had a dream and we went for it! It was to do Bhastrika in a catholic church, in Venlo, south Holland. We met with a new age catholic pastor, who is doing amazing work at the Youth Church. We were invited to do our workshop in this conventional church building, together with Indian dancers, people selling fair trade products and delicious Indian food. Our mission was complete. since then we named our team “Yes, We did it!”

We visited a nearby city, where a yearly market took place. We spoke with many people and con-nected with them using a face to face approach and also singing and playing drums on the street. We really stretched our comfort zones, and at the end of the day, we could feel for ourselves the benefits associated with this “Just do it” way of acting. We learned that action is much more important.

In May 2009 YWC group did a super fun free work-shop for children in Maastricht.

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City activitiesIntercultural Concert aachen

With our continued enthusiasm YWC participants, would go to local parks and play music creating a celebrative atmosphere. That was all that was required to ignite the curiosity of people passing by and even resulted in registrations for the Yes!+ course.

"summer Cake Party"

It was organized through flyers being given to the local neighborhood. People were invited to bring a cake for a “ most beautiful cake” contest. In total around twenty five locals came and enjoyed them selves in the art of Living centre. also regular Long sudarshan Kriya sessions were conducted. Free yoga sessions in aachen parks and by the sea-side were given.

environmental activities

TurkeyOur participants from Turkey worked alongside the Doga Foundation. This foundation is focused on organic farming and employs children with disabilities to work there with volunteers. YWC helped volunteering to plant to plant vegetables and spent time with the kids. It was a wonderful experience, giving us the opportunity to share our joy with these children.

Dresden: Happy tree

In Dresden the YWC team was active in a Park clean up, removing litter. In addition, the team deco-rated trees in the park and gave them the generic name “happy tree”. The highlight of the day was a

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In THe FIeLDfree Yoga session under a happy tree in a nice and clean environment welcome to all those who wished to join. Distributing Flowers and smiles

sMILe FOR DResDen – HaMBURG - Unna - MaInZ

How to bring a smile on a face? This was the question of the Yes - We Can! Team when the participants saw all the serious faces in the streets of Germany. The team came up with the idea of giving beautiful flowers to people. as soon they passed them over smile were beaming on all the people’s faces

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Concert in Iceland

Despite the stifling cold, Iceland rocked the streets with an amazing concert. With only a few days to organize the event, the dynamic volunteers rounded up a fifty person attendanc.

as the wall of beautiful music hit the faces of the people, there was no turning back and the Viking dance of glory had begun. The secretary of the Indian embassy is to be thanked for his initiative and for his open mindedness, body and spirit to the music.

Russia

Many activities were organised by the Russian YWC par-ticipants:

a Day of joy which consisted of music and dance improvi-sation that was organised in one of the main city squares. There was a “Free Hugs Campaign” with distribution of sweets, a competition and an astrologer, who asked chil-dren to make wishes. after each wish she would get out of the magic box a piece of paper on each which was written ”Your wish will come true! and a lot more :)”.

an urban anti-alcohol program was set called “Project Healthy nation” as well as Project team smile PICTURe. The Internet project www.youideas.ru was created to col-

lect ideas for the Concert in so-chi called “under the same sky“.

Master classes were regularly given on traditional folk danc-es, with many people attending sometimes up to three hundred people. Outdoor events were or-ganized for the local community such as an outdoor screening of the movie “House“.

Russian participants organized and assisted in the Yes Fest in Moscow from the twenty fifth of June to the first of september.

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In THe FIeLDFifty people attended and an incredible time was had by all, each person smiling and experiencing happiness together. also a huge Yes plus course was organized for Kamlesh to come and teach with the assistance of YWC participants which 45 peo-ple attended. Co-teaching Yes plus courses took place in Bratsk with Denis Tugovikov from the sev-enteenth to twenty third of august.

Croatia

Painting of AOL centre in Croatia

Pakrac was damaged during the war 10-15 years ago, and still a lot of buildings in the center are broken. The government did a lot but only people themselves can bring new changes and come up with fresh ideas. This wind of changes was brought to the city by volunteers of the art of Living Foundation and “Yes-we can!” participant.

- When I just came to the town, it was a night, - shared natalia, a volunteer from Russia. – I walked around the city and saw all these dark and grey walls of broken buildings in the center. a lot of young people were sitting in cafes around and looking at this like it is normal. But honestly it was not. so at that moment I realized that I really wanted to change this, and we had to find the way how to do it.

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In THe FIeLDVolunteers inspired youth to draw sketches, so in a few days there was a team of young peo-ple drawing sketches for one of the walls. They met the mayor of the town and shared the idea with him. He liked it so much and supported the project with paints and instruments. The team found a wall in the centre which the owners seemed open to the idea and helped to pre-

pare the wall for painting. It took more than two weeks from beginning to end which involved six days of non-stop painting. The project created a wide response in the city, which the participants didn’t expect at all. a lot of people came to help to paint the wall, brushes were held even by children. every car slowed down that was passing the wall, and all the people walking around stopped, everyone was smiling.

Participants inspired people after a refresher course to become in-volved with a project to help a school for children with disabilities in Zagreb as well as to make service projects like planting tress and wildlife. Regular satsangs each week were organized with the locals who had taken the art of Living course and watching weekly knowl-edge occurred.

Italy

The Italians volunteered in style, conducting morning yoga sessions at the beach and giving out flyers to local people about up-coming art of Living events. evening activities included satsangs with the local guitar maestro Massimo and meditation, session that were open to all.

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Werl, Germany

Open intro talks were given regularly, including satsangs and sports events.

Governmental and corporate members were contacted for support and cooperation.

The team was transforming a total construction into a beauitful ayurveda center in only 4 days... to be ready for the opening day. a fantastic new web page was created to coincide with the opening ceremony of Werl ayurveda Centre.

Lots of Proceedings towards setting up the “Worlds Largest Orches-tra” cultural event took place. Outreaching to many schools and music shops also entertainment and arts events centres/ were contacted.

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Ireland is mystical land; it certainly was when the Yes – We Can! were there. The adventure began with greeting each other at the airport where the air was filled with excitement and anticipation. Then entering the small garden apartment: a little underground “hobbit home” with a beautiful back garden. Here they began by changing their external environment, creating a home where they could work their magic from. Then onto the internal envi-ronment, where through the daily practice of yoga and mediation they united in the vision of reaching every individual in Ireland with their experience of freedom and peace.

Daily knowledge from sri sri Ravi shankar was the key; it filled them with wisdom and softened their minds. Their main priority in the beginning was organizing a basic course. Well this just happened, through listening to knowledge in the morning and going inwards, messages were left on mobiles say-ing “I would like to register for the course”. When they would call back asking would they like more information. The reply would be “no, I would just like to register”. Going to have dinner with others their energy would just infuse the people in the room and new friends were quickly made.

almost straight away they became aware that eve-rything was just happening around them. every-one who they came into contact with, was so will-ing to listen to what they had been doing and how they want to change to world we live in. Moment after moment they were meeting new people who felt the same way.

Three Part 1 courses were conducted, the first had twenty five people attending, the second similar and the third had thirty participants. satsang and weekly sudarshan Kriya numbers grew as the con-nections and sense of community expanded. The team really spread the joy and enthusiasm that art of Living has to offer. all the courses were a blos-

Dublin, IReLanD

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soming for each person, such a mix of people; a mother, a designer, a physicist, students, a finance guy – to name just a few. all came together to dive deep into themselves, knowingly or unknowingly. It was an unbelievable experience to see that at the end of just five days they were like a family. every-one was smiling from ear to ear; open and able to be them selves fully without judgment.

all these new friends gave them so much. They ate

more cake than you can imagine, went to many tea parties, ‘slack-line walking’ on a wobbly tightrope was a regular event, doing yoga in the park and Kite surfing… Yep that’s right!!

such a sense of abundance filled their lives. They are so grateful for everything and even though there were hard moments, the team were able to carry each other through.

amsterdam, neTHeRLanDs

The “Yes - We Can!” CLP team in amsterdam initi-ated a project called “ empowerment as a way out of poverty”, for the teenage mothers of amsterdam. The goal of the project was to gather twenty five teenage mothers living in amsterdam and bring them to the aOL Basic Course conducted by H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar, in Baarlo, netherlands, on the 1st - 3rd of May 2009.

Poverty in amsterdam is becoming a major prob-lem in society. Many families are struggling for a living and the pressure lies on the youngsters to help their families out of the poverty. Therefore many young people are working for a living at a very low wage, instead of getting a proper educa-tion and continuing on a proper job and creating a decent life. a problem that is also arising is teen-age pregnancies. Many girls are getting pregnant at a very early age and are therefore feeling iso-lated with their babies, many of them are dropping out of school. They do not have the support from their families and are left to survive on the streets alone.

The aim of this project is to give teenage moth-ers an opportunity to unwind from their every day struggles, to relax and take a break from their stressful life’s. an opportunity to become more centered in their lives and therefore more focused on their future. The course allows the young moth-ers to familiarize themselves with the breathing

techniques, which will help them in coping with every day stress. Most importantly the course will contribute to the empowerment of their lives and give them a broader and more positive perspective for their future.

The project is not merely an excellent opportunity to share the beautiful wisdom of H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar, but above all to bring perspective to the lives of teenage mothers. Furthermore, this unique opportunity will allow the mothers to live a life they deserve, human beings, getting a proper edu-cation and a sustainable job.

The team reached out within the community look-ing for sponsorship to subsidize the for the course fee. Through their determination they found a sponsor, willing to provide full financial support to the mothers.

The next step was to reach out to the teenage mothers. The team got in contact with social work-

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ers, politicians, businessmen, artists, yoga teach-ers, therapists, cultural workers and humanitarian workers. after ten days, the team managed to reg-ister there first young mothers with the help of the “Young Parents association”.

During this time, the team spread the word of the Yes We Can – Community Leadership Program” through many activities: reaching out to people in

the streets, presenting the program to the Minister of Internal affairs in the netherlands. They reached out to youngsters by visiting them in community centers; also they presented the teenage mothers’ project during a photography exhibition of young mothers and scheduling introductory talks in dif-ferent social circles.

The team itself gained many experiences in the process: initiating the project, managing the project, getting support from outside and inform-ing people of their work. attracting interest, at-tracting sponsors, networking, searching for the right contacts, being creative, thinking outside the box, thinking big, staying focused and centered, remaining comfortable within uncomfortable situ-ations. They stretched their comfort zones, let go of their ego’s, listened, learnt and followed by ex-ample. all this and much more was in which they got this project running. The impossible became possible with their mere enthusiasm and energy to do something for the others. “Yes, We Can!” is no more just a quote, it is becoming reality.

Gdansk (POLanD) - Berlin (GeRManY)

DO IT! – European Youth Conference about Democracy

On september 27th - October 4th three YWC par-ticipants; Ivana Mihalinec, Kahni ewanga-nde and

Camille abgrall participated in the “Do it – europe-an Youth Conference about Democracy”. The first four days the conference took place in Gdansk, Poland while the final three concluded the confer-ence in Berlin, Germany.

The event was a joint initiative of the young peo-ple from 6th Grammar school in Gdansk and Felix - Mendelsohn - Bartholdy – Gymnasium in Berlin. In cooperation with the european solidarity Cen-tre in Poland and Gesellschaft fur europabildung, Germany.

The aim of the conference was to educate partici-pants on Modern european Democracy and the

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places where it was born, as well as discussions on the topic between different groups from ethnic and national backgrounds.

There were eighty participants from several dif-ferent countries and organizations; among them was a group of students from Washington DC high school, United nations volunteers from sweden. Many members of european Volunteer service who are in different countries for a minimum period of six months, as well as participants from the euro-pean Commission Youth Programs.

The conferences program was very diverse and in-teractive, above all it was educational. In these sev-en days participants visited many historical places that have taken an important role in the history of Communism and the birth of Democracy. Gdansk

is home to the solidarity movement and home to the people who cared enough to create and begin Round Table negotiations. In Berlin lies the ulti-mate symbol of Communism, the Berlin Wall, which came down in 1989.

It was incredibly inspiring and encouraging to see so many young people not only thinking, but also moving in same direction. Coming together to in-spire one another to create less conflict between individuals, countries, nations and religions, giv-ing each human being their right to freedom and to make this world a stress-free, violence-free place.

We congratulate the organizers of this admirable initiative and hope it will serve as inspiration for many others to get involved in similar projects.

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CURRenT PROJeCTs

In september 2000, world leaders came together at the United nations headquarters in new York to adopt the United nations Millennium Declaration committing their nations to a new global partner-ship to reduce extreme poverty and set out a se-ries of time-bound targets with a deadline of 2015 - known as the Millennium Development Goals.

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - which range from halving extreme Poverty to halting the spread of HIV/aIDs and Providing Uni-versal Primary education, all by the target date of 2015 - form a blueprint agreed by the internation-al community.

each YWC participant is bringing in its respective country to speed up and create awareness about the MDGs.

The art of Living Foundation has continued its support for the Millennium Development goals since 2007, when it mobilized 6.5 million people to stand up and take the pledge against poverty. In 2008, the art of Living not only mobilized 10.6 million people to stand Up in support of the MDGs, but also took action and planted 9.6 million saplings all over the world, contributing to the 7th millennium development goal of ensuring environment sustainability.

For the year 2009, The art of Living has committed yet again to working towards the achievement of the Millennium development goals by mobilizing stand up events worldwide along with taking action in sup-port of three of the MDGs:

end poverty & hunger - directly linked to corruption•Universal primary education•ensuring environmental sustainability.•

The 8 millennium development goals

eradicate extreme Poverty and Hungerachieve Universal Primary educationPromote Gender equality & empower WomenReduce Child MortalityImprove Maternal HealthCombat HIV/aids, Malaria and Other Diseasesensure environmental sustainabilityGlobal Partnerships for Development

Below are the events that YWC is organizing and participating in:

ORGANIZING and PROMOTING the MDGs

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CURRenT PROJeCTs

ORGanIZInG and PROMOTInG:

The 6th ethics in Business Conference - Corporate culture and spirituality

International Business and Leadership Symposium european Parliament, Brussels, Belgium

The International Business & Leadership symposium is an annual event which brings together leaders from business, politics, academia, civil society and faith-based organizations to dialogue on new leader-ship styles that are sustainable and ensure profitability for businesses. It provides a platform for leading minds to share their experiences and expertise on the value of an ethics-based approach to deal with today’s challenges in the global markets. It also examines the impact of this approach on the bottom line.

The Conference from 5th – 6th november 2009 on ethics in Business – Corporate Culture & spirituali-ty, will be the fourth to be held at the european Parliament. The Conference is part of the International Business & Leadership symposium and is an initiative of the International association for Human Values, a volunteer-based, charitable nGO dedicated to the development and promotion of human values in so-ciety.

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CURRenT PROJeCTsethics in Business – CCs World Youth Forum

A New Dimension to LeadershipHotel Mercure, Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium

The ethics in Business – CCs World Youth Forum (WYF) creates an open platform for the youth (aged 18 to 30) to voice their message to the world’s top decision make in today’s global economic and political environment, and to the world community at large!

an initiative of the International association for Human Values, the WYF is part of the International Busi-ness & Leadership symposium, an annual event which brings together prominent leaders in business, politics, religion and academia to consider ways and means of strengthening human values and ethics in business, and highlight new leadership styles that are profitable, yet sustainable.

The five pillars of the WYF are:

Identify and discuss urgent challenges in the global scenario, and •define possible solutions.

Develop and strengthen the skills and capacities of the youth to •take strong leadership in the world.

Provide opportunities to learn through interactive sessions with •top business and successful political leaders.

Present “a Call of the Youth” at the Conference on ethics in Busi-•ness – Corporate Culture & spirituality (CCs) at the european Parlia-ment.

Develop an international network between young leader.•

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PaRTICIPaTIOn in One Young World

What is One Young World?• a global initiative to bring together 1500 young leaders from 192 countries• a gathering of the brightest and best of the next generation• Gives young people a place to engage and have their voices heard about their future• supported by Kofi annan, archbishop Desmond Tutu and Bob Geldof among others as counsellors

1500 leaders of tomorrow. One young world is the first event with 2 delegates from every country in the world and the remaining delegates in line with the spread of the world’s population. It is also the first time in world history that countries such as China and India have their population fully repre-sented at any global event.

When is it happening?The Inaugural summit will be held from 8-10 Feb-ruary 2010 in London - the Opening Ceremony will be held at Old Billingsgate and the Plenary sessions will be held at the excel Centre, which re-cently hosted the G20 summit. The Opening Cer-emony will be hosted by Mayor Boris Johnson with an address by archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Who will be there?as well as 1500 of the world’s most talented young leaders there will be a group of counselors. These global leaders will provide delegates with support and inspiration as they become the leaders of tomor-row. The counselors include Kofi annan, archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bob Geldof, nick Haysom - Un Direc-tor of Political affairs, elio Leoni sceti - CeO of eMI and several others.

What impact will One Young World have?One Young World simply aims to give the leaders of tomorrow a global platform to be heard today. •The entire summit will be live-streamed to the internet, and various segments will be carried on the websites of BBC Worldwide and Cnn.

Draft resolutions are being created by Oxford University and will be distributed internationally •to global institutions such as the Un, The World economic Forum, TeD, etc. One Young World should become a unified voice of the next generation for every sector, almost like a ‘Youth Kyoto’ or a ‘Young Un’.

The One Young World delegates will address six key issues at the summit in 2010:

• Developing Political Leadership for a positive future• Global Business and its role in shaping society through the economy• Inter-faith dialogue • The environment and its protection• The Media, its changing identity and its power• Global Health, its polarities and impact

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ORGanIZInG and PROMOTInG Dortmund 2010

Music Without BordersMusic Without Borders intends to be the largest guitar ensemble in history with more than 2,000 musicians from all over the world. It also aims to be the largest orchestra with 6,500 musicians. everyone who plays a musical instrument is invited to take part in the event.

Under the direction of renowned conductor Mr. Gotthilf Fischer, amateur and professional musicians alike will share the stage with stars in a celebration of world peace and intercultural harmony.

Music Without Borders is a celebration of world peace and intercultural harmony. Music transcends cultural borders and political boundaries. In the same way, hu-man values transcend borders and boundaries. The hu-man values of peace, harmony and understanding unite people of all backgrounds, cultures and traditions.

sri sri Ravi shankar is a world renowned humanitar-ian and spiritual leader from Bangalore, India, who has dedicated his life towards the promotion of human val-ues in society. He is the founder of the International as-sociation for Human Values and the art of Living Foun-dation. He encourages people from all backgrounds, cultures and traditions to come together in celebration of life and service to humanity.

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TURKeY

It was a pleasure to have guests. They were always smiling, cheerful and positive. even at times that I know they were very tired or a little bit discour-aged; they never wore a sad face but always kept themselves happy and strong and found a way to be constructive. This attitude affected my mood too. I found that I did not want to be sad when they were around.

aIt's so enriching to meet aOL people other than the ones in my own country, it motivated me to keep up with whatever I learned in the training.

Gonca Sensozen, psychologist

sWeDen

Two of the Yes We Can! leaders contributed to our work in Gothenburg for one month this summer. I appreciated their skills, enthusiasm and the energy boost that happened when they arrived. We had a lot of fun and I especially appreciate their amazing cooking skills. Through good food we were able to reach out to alot of people .

Jack Johansson, Göteborg (Gothenburg in Eng-lish), Sweden

nORWaY

Being a host for Khonia, while she was arrang-ing a Yes!+ course in Oslo, was a good experience. she seemed to work long hours but was still able to focus on healthy eating patterns and inspired me to do the same. I would not hesitate to have her as a guest in my house again, at any time. With regards

Ted Valentinsen

I confirm that I hosted andreas Birkeland from 16th May to 7th august 2009, while he was on art of Living`s program “Yes We-Can!”. Within this pe-riod he was shortly stationed elsewhere for other missions with the organization. While living here, andreas used the apartment for various arrange-ments, including people involved in art of Living. He arranged group sadhana in the morning. an-dreas cooked dinners for volunteers, who came to eat here on several occasions.

andreas arranged introductory talks and other meetings locally in stavanger. anyone who was interested was invited to participate in the meet-ings.

While andreas was living here I got an insight as to how art of Living and Yes We-Can! was structured, and what the participants do.

Yours sincerely,

Miss Siri Vasshus

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Hosts Experiences

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GeRManY DUesseLDORF

My Experiences with the YES We-Can! Storm.

Hosting the Yes We-Can! Volunteers is one of the best things I have ever done. The last 2 months were like a dream and I have learnt so much in Life. The discipline which went missing temporarily from my life is back, the smile is back on my face and on top of that I had a chance to experience how it feels when you put aside all your prejudices and accept different people as they are.

I have also had the opportunity to interact with many people from diverse backgrounds and cul-tures. each day gave me new experiences both spiritual and materialistic. some days I felt so hap-py after a meditation, some other days were strange especially eating strawberry pasta a strange taste. some evenings were rocking with late night jogging in the rain and days were thoughtful with small gentle talks about each others experiences.

all the volunteers had a “Yes” mind. Their enthusi-asm and positive attitude really rubbed off on me. One more highlight were the satsangs, almost ev-ery night I went to sleep after a melodious satsang. This really cleared my mind after a days work and gave a peaceful and thoughtless sleep.

I made some really good friends for life.

- a Yes We-Can! er from Düsseldorf .

Challa , Ravi Varma

VIenna

Celina came in June or it was even end of May I am not too sure and stayed here until the second week of July. all this time she was doing a tremendous job, helping out Indian teachers. Meeting people and organising necessary meetings. Her knowl-edge of the German language was a huge support for them. she used to go around informing and talking to different people, from professors in the schools to the very simple people in the park with the same bursting enthusiasm.

she used to get up early in the morning before ev-eryone else and do her sadhana so that she was able to have most of the days free for going out and talking to people. During the period that she was here, a lot of people experienced what art of Living is. at the courses she assisted by covering some of the topics and taking the yoga sessions.

Her visits to other places such as Budapest and some other places around Vienna were also successful, be-cause she was a big help over there too. she used to have introductory talks there and in Budapest she even cov-ered some parts of Yes+ all by herself. To sum up, Celina was indeed a big helping hand in Vienna and around. she definitely served the purpose of CLP Yes We-Can!

Igor Sarkanovic

Dear YES We-Can! Team,

Whilst doing seva in the european Centre of the art of Living Foundation, and having one of the YWC participants living in my house in Vienna, I had the chance to be in contact with some of the YWC par-ticipants, and was also lucky enough to hear some experiences. Hearing your experiences and seeing the enthusiasm with which you shared it was great. I got very inspired by your courage, strength, and the immense love and passion that you have for making a positive difference.

all the best and thank you,

Sarah Yarjani

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OsnaBRÜCK

It was a pleasure and a big challenge at the same time to host the young and energetic individuals from the YWC training for several months.

The enthusiasm, energy, smiles and life force they brought along can change the world. This is a life experience; many of them will become great lead-ers and think back to this training.

Balder Camby, Osnabrück/Germany (Engineer and Managing Director)

MaRBURG

Dear Yes We-Can! Team!

It was very nice and energizing, having had the YWC Team as guests in our house. The changing groups were always committed and mostly very enthusiastic. We learned to be spontaneous and to go with whatever group and task came. Most of the time there was a very nice atmosphere with sat-sangs and efforts of seva from lovely people. all together it was an amazing time and you’re always welcome to come again.

Anita and Lars

neTHeRLanDs HOensBROeK

Yes We-Canners! in Hoensbroek, The netherlands.

Being a host family it was a feeling of a blessing that sri sri Ravi shankar sent us this lovely group of young committed people. although we had not much to offer financially, because I lost my job be-cause of the financial crisis, there was such a feel-ing of celebration.

every day, when I brought them to aachen we sung bhajans in the car, which gave us a lot of power. When they turned back in the evening for dinner there were wonderful meals cooked by Koo-Hee and very much appreciated by the group. Most of the time we had satsang in the evening in our home and after this we went for a walk.

It was hard to let them go, because there was so much love and joy we experienced in these weeks.

Marcel Verhoog-Park and Koo-Hee

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Trainers Experiences

Kamlesh Patel

“Over 100 young people arrived at the european Training Centre with the intention to serve society. at the completion of the 6 month program they have done this and more… they have contributed to society but also they have contributed to each others growth and perhaps grown so much more at the personal level: one can see it in the way they interact with other, they are more confident and natural. The communication is not a one way street as they also listen to better understand. This type of growth if it happens does so over a long period but on the Yes We Can program the participants gained this experi-ence in a few short months and

this skill will be valuable for a life time in what ever they do in life! The participants have become insightful and conscious leaders.

On a more personal note, eating, drinking, even brushing teeth in the same space pushes everyone’s buttons including mine but when there is willingness to serve and contribute our time together was fun and even accelerated growth. We had lots of opportunities to ap-ply lessons learned in the classroom.”

Marcel Verbay

“It was an incredible experience to have these guitar sessions with the entire CLP group! It was such an enthusiasm to learn from them all. I was thrilled and was looking forward for every session. after few days even with the beginners we played in the satsang with sri sri Ravi shankar.”

exPeRIenCes

“Kamlesh took care of us out-standingly. He was present at every stage of our YWC ex-perience, particularly during our Teacher Training phase one. His room was next to ours and we shared everything with him. He was so caring; he truly led us by setting an example. We are all impressed by his dedication and love to us.” YES-We Can! participants

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Christoph Glaser

“The Yes We- Can! Community Leadership Program has been a true adventure for me, our team and the participants. I want to thank H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar from my heart for making this program possible. His very personal care and attention made this program a unique success. Today, after 6 months time, I can see a tremendous growth, strength and joy in each of the participants. and hearing the success stories of their work in the field I feel, that this program was certain-ly what it wanted to be; a small, but for those whose life was touched most meaningful step towards a stress-free and violent-free society.

I also want to thank all our trainers for sharing and caring from their depth of their hearts, I thank the participants of the program for their amazing commitment and joy and last but not least I thank the Kunst des Lebens e.V. Germany and the International association for Human Values, Germany for making this program possible.”

Roberto sanlorenzo

The biggest challenge one has to deal with are the powerful ups and downs of a group and to help the most inspired part of the group not to be dragged by the “slow” part of the group...

What I appreciated most, was the readiness of the guys to take any challenge. The capability to take responsibility and the abil-ity to care for others around them,to engage in a big vision of a social transformation and the sincerity of the commitment to the personal and spiritual prog-ress. The world of tomorrow is in good hands!

exPeRIenCes

“Wherever you see Roberto, you can be sure that there is an attentive, alert look in his eyes. His creativity has many outlets – at satsang he is the funky drummer, however act-ing is his greatest passion. And however much he likes to create music and action, he is always a great listener and a caring soul. Whatever Rober-to does, it is always done with humor, wit and passion.”

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emily Peck

The CLP was an amazing experience. The spirit of community was so strong. It was very inspiring to see so many people - from all walks of life - come together with a common commitment to uplifting hu-manity. It was very inspiring to be with so many young people giving so much of themselves to make the world a better place.

It was incredible to see the power of peace within each in-dividual, and to see how that peace makes an impact on the society through service.

What I learned from participat-ing in CLP and working with the youth leaders in the community is that nothing is more power-

ful that human values in action. True strength comes from peace, friendliness, kindness, caring, love, and generosity - all the beautiful human values. When you strengthen a human being by revitalizing these human values, it creates a force strong enough to transform the society, the nation and the world.

exPeRIenCes

“The most important thing what we learned from Em-ily – smile come what may! Nothing can take our smile away! With Emily we smiled, we laughed; we cried and smiled at the same time. We also could never forget her most inspiring stories, deter-mination and strength, vivid expression, liveliness and nev-er ending enthusiasm. After-all she was the one who took care of each and everyone of us working day and night. She is an example for us how to serve and be there for others unconditionally.”

Where Massimo goes, music and beauty is sure to follow. Actually he is so in love with music that he does extensive research, providing extraor-dinary documentation of the beneficial frequencies of its vibrations. However, we need no scientific proof of the ben-efits of music once Massimo strings the guitar and lets out love and beauty, earning him the much deserved nickname ”The Romantic”.

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Babeeta Chhabra

For me, CLP training was an experience of empowerment. all of us were given the opportunity to use our existing skills to the maximum and develop skills that we didn’t even know we had. Taking the role of dance choreographer and editor for `The source`, was an experience where i could see creativity come alive when working together and a production of inspiring

outcomes in a very short period of time.

It was an honour to have been part of the training and to witness how love, commitment, and effective teamwork can bring long lasting transformation in society.

Rajita Kulkarni

Being a trainer for the Yes We- Can! initiative, has been a life defin-ing experience for me. I was involved in the program, right from its conceptualisation & design and in its execution.

Just the very thought that the youth of today are willing to devote the prime of their life for the betterment of their communities and society at large, is extremely inspiring and energising for me.

The program itself was a miracle unfolding everyday. To see the blossoming of every young mind, to witness their passion, creativity, commitment and enthusiasm was so special.

everyday, I would watch the impossible happen. Movies got made in few hours, newsletters got designed and printed overnight, the quite & shy gave public talks perfectly without a problem, those with two left feet put up dance performances, those who hadn’t touched a musi-cal instrument in their life became front row players of a guitar performance!!!

Personal barriers were broken while lifelong relationships were formed. Differences became smaller, goals became bigger. Conflicts dropped and energies rose. Distances narrowed and visions expanded.

This has been possible only because of spirituality - the practices of pranayama, sudarshan kriya, medi-tation and yoga. The knowledge of the spirit, and the understanding of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam- a One World Family.

exPeRIenCes

“Babeeta is a sweet and caring person who manages to keep an almost perfect balance be-tween the spiritual and physi-cal life. Guiding us not only in the art of movement but also statuating an example of how we can incorporate spiritual-ity in daily life. Her help with the newsletter was invaluable and the dedication and com-mitment she brought was a great lesson and inspiration to everyone involved.”

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exPeRIenCes

Wayne is legendary YES We Can! Chef. He was cooking for us and filling our stomachs with the healthiest and most tasteful Ayurvedic food. Most valuable were his classes where he was sharing Ayurvedic cooking secrets. He taught not only how to blend creamy pumpkin soup, but also how to blend love, care, compassion and firmness, strictness (specially cooking in Ayurvedic kitchen), how to have life full of all six tastes and how to keep a balance. Wayne also added some spices and charm to our leadership trainings and it was quite a discovery to see him not only in the kitchen but also in the class surrounded by big crowd of Yes We Canners bubbling with joy and enthusiasm.

Misha was always there yet strangely anonymous. Not taking much space in the front he definately made sure everything back stage worked smootly. One of the leadership points we learned during CLP was that a good leader does not care about position and Misha must have been the living example of this. Certainly, taking the lead when needed, displaying great knowledge and humility, he proved time and time again that service is not about getting credit for your work or being recognized. It is purely about selfless service to oth-ers, whether it be on stage with the spotlights pointed at you or standing behind the lights making sure the lights point in the right direction.

Tapio eerikäinen

“For me CLP was a great experience as a trainer. It was amazing to see how the participants were progressing and what has happened from the day one to this point. It was a privilege for me to be there and I‘m really looking forward to see more of the results of CLP and the bright and enthusiastic people of CLP and Yes We Can!”

Lots of Love!!

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Mirko, Pakrac

I experienced after taking the course that I’m feeling very good. I’m so energetic, relaxed and peaceful. The most beneficial is that I can use my time much more productively and I’m giving 100 % in every job I do.

I would recommend this course to my friends and relatives.

I was not skeptical before taking the course and I’m very happy that I did it. I do Kriya at home every day, and at the centre in my home town I did it only once.

after doing this course I eat much less meat. I eat much healthier

most of the time. I have noticed I drink more water and eat more fruits and vegetables. I have ob-served specific changes in my lifestyle. For example I’m very energetic, I drink less coffee as well as less alcoholic drinks.

Yes – We Can! is a very good project. also it shows that young people can have a good time without using alcohol, ciga-rettes etc. Meeting people from other countries helps us to un-derstand that although we speak different languages, we are not so different. I was inspired by participants so much. Yes, I think I’d like to join such a program. I think "Yes - We Can" is relevant to society today because there is

so many people suffering from lack of self esteem, lack of self confidence and stress.

I was inspired by meeting the Yes – We Can! team

Davor, Pakrac

I did the course from 23-27.07.09. It was very nice, posi-tive and special experience. I would recommend this to my friends and mom, but they are pretty sceptical. I think this is great for open-minded or more alternative oriented people. I wasn’t sceptical, I was just in-sured what we will do. and yes, I am happy that I did it! ;) To be honest, I didn’t do Kriya for two days, but I will do it frequently, I promise.

I’ll certainly go next week to fol-low-up.

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YES!+ Participants Experiences23. - 27.07.2009. Pakrac, Croatia

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The food... I think I eat less food, but I’m not sure. I have to com-mend that now is the 7th day after the course and I didn’t eat meat! nice! Related to fatty food... as much as I can I’m try-ing to avoid it, especially now when I’m planning to get rid of some needless kilograms. I noticed that the cigarette both-ers me more. after course I con-tinued to drink (less) beer and coffee (as before). I don’t like the drugs.

Tilman Vogel , Germany, Freiburg

When I was addressed in the uni-versity canteen by two likable young girls that invited me to participate in the Yes+ seminar, I didn’t think I would really learn anything essential. Until then, I had little experience with medi-tation and none with breathing

techniques. I read much, and it doesn’t happen very often that I get important intellec-tual insights from people and not books. In fact, I wasn’t even thinking that I could learn any-thing interesting other then in-tellectual knowledge without at least travelling to some exotic country, but that turned out to be wrong: Yes+ is not about the-ories of life, but about practice.

My expectation had been to get in contact with young, open-minded people from different countries, This hope was ful-filled. Furthermore, I was led to understand the vital role of con-sciousness in breathing. These things alone would have made it worth while to attend the semi-nar, but there was still more to it. apart from breathing and medi-tation techniques that helped me to be more myself , the par-ticipants all together grew into

an intense feeling of community that I now try to establish in my daily life, with whom and wher-ever possible. I have gained an openness I didn’t have before, the openness that comes with the understanding that all efforts to do good depend on the person making the effort. Only people caring for themselves, people that learn to listen to their body and mind and thus lead a con-scious and harmonic life, achieve the openness and energy to re-ally connect to others in order to create something new, in or-der to make things change to a better. Throughout the dynamic process of the whole seminar, the Yes+ instructors and partici-pants enabled me to take a huge step in this direction.

Balázsi Kata, Hungary

Kat

I really liked the course. It was nice to play so many games where my shyness was broken

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down and I felt so much more confidence with the other people of the group. It was weird to tell my secrets to strangers, but felt good afterwards .With the breathing exercises I felt some kind of energy change or growth occurring. I like things where the human itself is important, not only his circum-stances.

Thanks and wish you great success.

Gaspar

With the help of these experiences I was able to solve one of my biggest problems. also I have gained a lot of courage and strength to be able to move forward in life and handle the situations which used to bother me.

TinaThe main breathing technique gave me a strong experience that I have never had with any other technique I have practiced. The practical parts I liked very much, they were very straight forward and useful, however the theoretical parts were not always this clear .all in all, I experienced it as a very useful 5 days and I will implement this knowledge in the future as well.

Yes!+ in Berlin from June 18-23, 2009

Teacher: Puja Handa. assistants: Katrin Veskimäe, Rui Miguel Matos, Mette Marie Bisgaard, erika Centellas, John Bermingham, Ivars Zukulis.

Valeria, student, 25 years old

“What I have experienced after taking the course, is that I can change my mood, even when I’m down. I was sceptical before taking the course because I was trying something new and I had never heard of someone doing the course before.

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My favourite part of the course was meeting new friends. I saw that different people can have fun together and connect. I would recommend this course to people that may seem to need some change in their life.

Meeting the Yes – We Can! team inspired me, be-cause I liked the way that they brought people to-gether. Yes – We Can! is relevant in society today because they have the abililty to bring people to-gether and work for a stress-free society. Yes – We Can! was nice for europe, it is very important at this time we live in at the moment!

Cornelia, student, 21 years old

“When I first heard about the course, I was scepti-cal and feared I would waste my time being told things I already knew. However, realizing things are much harder, than just hearing them. There were a few heavy moments where I was forced to face my fears as well as the feeling of relief, fun, relaxation and awareness as reward.

The art of Living Centre was like an oasis in the middle of the town where you could forget the stress and the duties of every day life, enjoy the friendly, relaxing atmosphere and get to know many interesting and very different people. The end of the course was the first step for me to be-come aware of my amount of inner tension.

and after all the yoga needn’t be slow and boring, it can be very fast, exhausting and fun, and it can also be combined with music and dancing.

The Yes – We Can! project is very good, because it’s good for the people in europe to have less stress. I think it works, because the prison programs work and why should it not work in europe? The prison programs impressed me very much. It will take time before people accept it; they’re too stressed and afraid to try something new. However, it can help!!!”

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sahar, student and tourist guide, 26 years old

“after taking the course I have more energy, I’m more active and I can do more. I feel more in har-mony and am more connected to other people. I experienced that we can come together, even if we have never met before.

During the course I overcame my personal bor-ders and got out of my comfort zone by connecting and getting close to strangers. The breathing tech-niques gave and the rest of the course content gave me a chance to reflect upon my own life. It helped me make complicated things simpler.

I am recommending this course to friends and fam-ily. and my boyfriend – and also ex-boyfriend! Yes, I was sceptical before taking the course, I wasn’t sure that it was worth my time, and money was a factor. But, yes! – it was definitely worth my time and money.

The Yes We -Can! project is a very good idea, I hope it can be realized. I was inspired by meeting the Yes We -Can! Team, to see that people go for it, and do what they can to change society. It gives me more motivation. Many people I talk to are scepti-cal, but I am positive. Just go for the goal, even if it seems impossible. It’s mirroring my own ideas.

I would definitely consider joining a program like Yes – We Can! It is relevant in society today: Many people only care for themselves – but now it’s time to think about others, give them social conscious-ness.”

sandra, social worker, 31 years old

after taking the course I felt lots of energy, a feeling of happiness, full of power and very, very good. I realized that I use a lot of excuses not to do certain things. now I am aware and do the things now and not tomorrow. Just do it! I also observed specific changes in my lifestyle and I drink less alcohol. Ba-sically I won’t drink again.

I would recommend this course to friends, younger people. I do Kriya mostly every day. Yes – We-Can! project is very, very cool, I like it a lot. Its hard work, but you are doing very good work. You made the course look so easy.

I was inspired by meeting the Yes – We Can! Team who does such great work and is full of positive en-ergy. I am impressed and I would like to join such a program, myself, but it’s difficult when you have a job. It must be a great experience. Yes – We-Can! is very relevant in society today. People need to put energy in good vibrations. There’s so much war and even in the U-Bahn people are fighting and not looking out for each other. This program will make it a better place.

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Yes+ course in Bratsk (east Russia) 17—22d of august, 2009

Teachers: Denis Tugovikov (Krasnoyarsk), Olga Dedyaeva (angarsk, Yes – We Can!)

Dahona Tamara, 23 years

“This week passed away in such rhythm, that I couldn’t look back! I have had time for everything, I’ve opened new possibilities in myself, I have begun to look at this world in a different way!”

Dalnichenko Katia

“In general I liked this course, es-pecially that I have met many new and interesting people. They’ve taught us different practical exer-cises, which help us in daily life. We have discussed interesting topics, and also our unbelievably progressive projects! Thanks very much to everybody!”

anuchin Vladimir

“a mere sUPeR course! It is something that has not been before! I like it very much! The teachers are great and all pro-cesses and games were 100 % cool! The course has shown me how to spend my time perfectly, and I have so much confidence in myself! The knowledge in Ye!+ is fascinating. I’ve met nice people, very, very good ones! It’s great, I

can’t put it into words!... But you know! Thank you very much!”

Bakar Olga

“now everything turns out well and with ease! I liked the teach-ers very much – they are kind and interesting. Because of this course I want to continue to behave as myself as I am now - FRee!

Kopylova Olga, 24 years

“after this course I’ve finally found answers to my questions, answers that I couldn’t have found in any other way!! THanK YOU VeRY MUCH!!!

sirenova alena, 27 years

“I liked the Yes+ course very much; it’s a sea of positive en-ergy, contacts, fun, games and homework! I liked to sing to-

gether and have fun; it is such an incredible way to receive knowl-edge! sUPeR! I have begun to take difficulties more easy and not pay attention to trifles. I have become more liberated! every-thing is sUPeR!”

Gainutdinov Ruslan

“It’s a MeGa-COURse! Great teachers! We’ve changed in one week, so much more than many people can change in a whole life! Thank you for the course!”

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Fillipova Irina, 21 years

“There are no words to describe how super everything is!!! I am so grateful that I did the course!! It makes me so happy that a course like this exists. Life has become more wonderful. The main thing is that the course really helped me to get rid of fears, which dis-turbed me. I live in the present moment, I give my 100%, I love life!”

Yes+ course sputnik (Black sea, Russia), 23.07.09-29.07.09

Teachers: Kamlesh Patel, Misha Granin

assistants: Katya Teterina, Maria Raimova

artem, 21 years. Moscow state University, Physical Faculty

“Having no previous yoga experi-ence, but knowing about breath-ing and smiling, I was pleasantly amazed that so many things in the course have a lot in common with other techniques. In general I liked the experience, but I would like to hear more things like “football” and “do your 100%”. Thank to the team for positivity and openness!”

nastya, 19 years, Moscow state University, science Material Faculty

“During the course I did not sleep enough, I was ill, but my attitude was not changing. Being in the course gave me the energy to go through it.

What can I say? It is happiness! I was looking for a way to drop the heaviness from my soul, to find lightness! To fly! To fly! I want to fly! Perhaps I can be a pilot? actually, for positive people it’s difficult to find something that raises their mood even higher, up to the highest level. But it happened! 100%!

now I want to finish all the things I’ve started, because the best idea is to make ideas a reality. Here is a living proof! In short, I have relaxed my thoughts and body totally and looked at myself from the inside. There is a lot of emotions, power and positivity. Thanks!”

nicolay, 28 years, post-graduate student of Moscow state University

“The course helped me to be-come more steady and to feel calmness. Kamlesh presented several interesting philosoph-ic thoughts; some of them can make a deep change in attitude

if they are accepted as a guide to action. I didn’t try all of them, but the result was promising. Maybe I will change to a vegetarian diet as Kamlesh recommended.”

andrey, 22 years, Moscow state University

“Immediate results! sport ball-room dances are improved, my partner and I have greatly ad-vanced our synchronism in our actions. The course is funny, use-ful, fit to everybody and interest-ing. It can help everyone become balanced, comprehend actions in depth, tighten the body and meet new friends.”

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Ulia, 21 year, economic faculty of Moscow state University

“Thank you very much for the course! now I know first-hand how breathing techniques work. I especially I liked some of the knowledge in the course, that seems to be well known, but when you hear it in this form you can learn it really well!”

Düsseldorf, Germany: Yes!+ June 26 – June 30, 2009.

Ravi Challa

“The five days were a surreal ex-perience, I never had so much fun. I had a sense of belonging-ness with complete strangers after the course and was able to strike up conversations and make new friends. Immediately after the course you get straight back to your routines but the practices we have learnt in the course have been helpful in giv-ing relative calmness and have increased my patience levels overall.

I was absolutely sceptical, all I wanted was five days of fun, but it has now become a part of my life and I am very happy. I have recommended this course to my family and friends. Two of them, Raj Jain and arpita, took part in the second Yes + in Düsseldorf. The Yes+ volunteers also in-

spired me to take the advanced Course which was another great experience.

I have reduced my drinking and just have an occasional sip now and then as compared to previ-ous weekend binge drinking. I have more energy that’s for sure and am able to handle job related stress much more efficiently.”

Keerthika

“The Yes+ was a wonderful expe-rience. The sense of belonging-ness, the lightness in being and living in the present moment has brought out so much love from within. I would say the whole at-mosphere and the way the course is given is so special and has a great impact. The combination of physical exercise (sun saluta-tions) and then the sudarshan Kriya is awesome. I have recom-mended this workshop already

to my friends, family, colleagues and whomever I meet.”

Yes!+ course in Bratsk a17 on august 23, 2009

Dahona Tamara

“This one week swept by at such a pace that I had not had time to look back. I opened myself to new opportunities and have a different look at the world!”

Dalnichenko Katya

“In general I liked the course, namely the fact that here I was able to meet many new and in-teresting people that taught us a variety of practical exercises that can help in everyday life,. also we were discussing interesting topics, as well as our incredibly progressive projects.

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after the course I finally found the answer to questions, which I could not find before! Thank you very much!”

anuchin Vladimir

“so cool, just no words to de-scribe! ... Thank you so much!”

Baccarat Olga

“I can’t find the words to de-scribe how super the course is! I am very grateful that the course helped me get here!”

Firippova Irina

“Luckily from the training, life be-came even more beautiful. Most importantly, the course helped me to really get rid of from fears that I have had. Thank you, I live by this. now I do everything at 100%, I love life!”

Olga Kopylova, 24 years

“Just офигительный course!” This has not happened! I liked the course very much. all the games and processes have been 100% cool! I had a great time, establishing knowledge, I gained a lot of confidence and became acquainted with great people, very very good!”

Clara Herrera 17-21.07.2009, Duesseldorf

“I experienced after taking the course that I felt very good and had a lot energy. The most benefi-cial thing for me were the breath-ing techniques. It also reminded me that you must live 100%.

I was not sceptical before tak-ing the course. I am happy I did it. I’m doing Kriya every morn-ing and long Kriya at least once a week. I did not eat so much meat and fatty foods before the course. now, I am eating less meat. I have observed so many changes in my lifestyle for example, fewer alco-

holic drinks. and I have stopped drinking coke and coffee.

I think that YWC is a good idea. The young people really like the things that they are doing, you can see the passion the have for their work. I was inspired by meeting the Yes – We Can! Team, they really touched me.”

Germany, Mannheim

steffen

“This Yes!+ course came as an unexpected gift into my life. I like how the course put things into perspective and showed me how many things that I am afraid of are in fact only products of that unreasonable part of my brain. This, in combination with the breathing techniques and the many other things that we have learned, helped me not only to identify the important things in my life, but also to give them 100 %. On top of that, I’ve got to

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know so many wonderful people. I can highly rec-ommend this course to everyone.”

Kouadjo

“I cannot believe the changes in my body, I have be-come more and more relaxed and powerful. I can sleep more deeply than ever before. Let me say: it’s magic!

People are dying from ignorance that is all I can say. They are being taught everything, but not things of importance for their improvement. everything is being taught about God, but nothing about our-selves.

Thank you to the art of Living, to all my Yes!+ teach-ers, to all the other participants. Thank you to His Holiness sri sri Ravi shankar. Thank you to God.”

Midhun, did two Yes+ courses with the Yes - We Can! team

“The Yes!+ course was very useful for me. I liked the whole way it was managed by the team, with the right amount of games, sudarshan Kriya and discussions. I have been practicing some of the techniques in my day-today-life and they are prov-ing to be very useful.

Thank you so much for opening me up in my life.”

siddharth, did two Yes+ courses with the Yes - We Can! team

“My experience in the first course was more in-tense, but in the second course I think I learned more theory about the different breathing tech-niques and exercises. so now I understand why I am doing what I am doing.

Having said that I think you guys did a good job of putting this together. Congratulations.”

Volker, did two Yes+ courses with the Yes - We Can! team

“I am relaxed since having taken the course. Thank you very much. I do the exercises daily with a big smile - even the sun salutations. My meditation has become deeper than before.”

Dagmar Doerk, Werl-Holtum, Germany

“since I first got to know art of Living and Yes – We Can! (YWC), there are many changes in my life. since our first course in February again and again I got to know new young people from different countries. They helped us in the schützenhalle (shooting hall), where our first three seminars happened. and also in aGZ, where one week before the opening there was a lot to do. They helped with the preparation in schützenhalle, carried tables, chairs and furniture, planted grass, laid down the garden path, took care of the house and the seminar room.

Communication was not so easy. Regardless of which country they came from, they all spoke eng-lish – but not me. But somehow we understood each other. sometimes two or three YWC people were in the village; this meant them living 10 me-ters away from the aGZ and offering programs of Yoga, wellness evenings, satsang, Info days and or-ganising courses. It’s still not perfect with the com-munication, but we are working on this and in the

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end things are not always perfect but satisfying. Thank you.”

Olesya, Dresden, Germany

“I got to know about the Yes!+ course from a friend of mine. First I was not enthusiastic at all and thought it would be a common thing. But then I did the course, in my own university. I was there every day and this was so necessary. I experienced how every day our group grew closer and closer.

In the course we learnt about Yoga, breathing techniques and interaction with other people. We learned playfully how to be more free and relaxed in our life. It is almost not possible to describe how much the course changed me. I try to continue living with this sense of belongingness from the course and to be friendly to every single person that I know or don’t know. It sounds so natural but in reality in our cultural environment it is not easy and common to really be aware of other people and to stretch out your hand first. It is a big contribu-tion to peace.

I have integrated the sudarshan Kriya and the easi-ly absorbed packet of breathing and yoga practices into my daily life and realize I sleep deeper and I am much more relaxed. It is strange that after wak-ing up and doing the practices I am no longer tired as before.

I have the feeling that my problems have become less relevant.

I ReCOMMenD this course very highly to every-body!”

Katarina, 26 - 30 June, Düsseldorf, Germany

“My experiences after the course were posi-tive. I have more self-confidence and inner calm-ness. I had good memories from the course, I also reflected a lot and observed my actions.

The most important aspect in the course for me was the sudarshan Kriya. This technique helps to delete my inner nervousness and reduce stress. I do the techniques daily and I also continue to read knowledge that comes from wise people. This is something has interested me for a long time and there is so much to learn from these people in the world.”

natalie, Dresden/Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

I experience that the methods and ways of teach-ing which were used during the course were very pleasant. everyone who was part of YWC formed a really good group. actually I had the feeling, that we were much more than just a group training to-gether, it was more like a family.

The breathing techniques were very helpful. I feel so positive and healthy. a lot of changes were hap-pening in my body throughout my time on YWC. I learnt to feel completely at rest, I felt the silence. I am not yet always able to go deep inside, I can still sometimes experience some stresses, but I find that the breathing techniques bring me back to my centre. I am very enthusiastic about YWC, I can feel that my life has changed and I will continue with the breathing techniques.

I am extremely grateful to all those who recom-mended the training, to those who did the course with me, to all the friendly people and volunteers from “Yes we can”.

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YWC participants Experiences

Tõnn Võsu, estonia

The biggest thing that i have learnt is that I create all my experiences and that the state of my mind creates situations around me. so when I had positive mind and attitude –usually- things went very easily and smoothly. negative mindset took me down and in that moment I really did’t want to take responsibility. What helped me to come out of this was group supporting me and also taking actions to help the group and just going out and speaking with people.

I am experiencing more awareness and sensitivity – where is my mind at and also other people’s feelings and their state of mind. I made many new friends in the course and we had great time at parties or trekking in the mountains. I know now that when I have clear focus, plan and will, then I can success in every kind of activity.

Thank you for this beautiful life school full of possibilities, experiences, learn-ing, mistakes, fun, travelling, organising.

Pernille Kristensen, Denmark

I am so thankful deep within my heart and in all the cells of my body I am thankful. Before I had a feeling of being insecure but now I take a deep breath in and out and I become centred again.

every single day of the Yes-we can! Program is unpredictable and every single day is an adventure. In Osnabruck after many weeks without course, when I decided I will make it happen, I will take full responsibility and will go for it 100%...We finally had part 1 course. To do is different than just to say. There is a risk in all what we do. There is a risk that we will fail in the eyes of others. But I realised the point that when I do my 100% I can drop the result. sud-denly the goal is only there as a reference point to help me to give 100%.

I also learned that some of the most beautiful moments in life are to let go and be with the flow. We still don’t know why we are here and how to win this game called life.

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Janina Gabalyte:

Organizing and teaching courses were a great experience, it really helped my personal growth. It is a gift that cannot be described so easily on a piece of paper. art of Living course opens up the hearts of people, let them be natural, enthusiastic, relaxed and at the same time more centered. It is a beautiful gift to see how the faces of people change. and those who were repeating the course were much more focused this time and were able to experience the course on a deeper level. some improved their health. Those who were using some narcotics don’t want to do that anymore, because they got to experience something that made them think about their lives, something that made them more free.

That was wonderful and I felt like I was bathing in a sea of love, a sea which is full of enthusiasm, joy and something that is not possible to put into words. There are no words to describe it, you can only feel it, experience it, live it…

People are so eager to stay in touch and communicate after the course. They enjoy it when you call them and invite to do something together. I fell in love with each and every one who did the course. all of them were very important to me.

esteban Penuela, Columbia - Poland

I think that I have never worked before as intense as we did in aachen for the Intercultural event. It has been one of the most enriching experiences in my life; of course there were days of frustration and low motivation, but at the end I could see, it has been an amazing opportunity for me to grow and to extend my capacities. Those days in aachen and selfkant have crossed every cell of me, leaving on the shore of my memory beautiful moments of sharing and working together. I can see, it has been worth to serve and I re-alize that every service we do is for our own growth. service has brought me in contact with people and circumstances where I have been surprised by my capacity to give and expect nothing in return. I wonder how can I thank life for having me given this chance to grow so much in one month… I personally like to thank Iris Dohmen for her infinit support to the Yes We Can! team in aachen and Christoph Glaser for being such an inspiration and example for all of us.

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Olga Dediaeva, Russia

The project Yes – We Can! is a whole phase of my life. Impressions are very discrepant. Training program was rich in courses and, the main thing, in the presence of sri sri! I liked guitar lessons; there was a structure of study, groups. There are results.

There was much work in the cities, and it gave more power and confidence. In the cities clear groups were formed, feasible and realistic plans and projects were created, then they were implemented.

Tom nalichowski, Poland

My biggest lesson about the CLP is that if I don‘t get what I want right now that means there is something more wonderful waiting for me. even the worst possible moment in my life I can change it for bliss by changing my at-titude (thoughts) towards it. It doesn‘t matter what is the result of this work. It doesn‘t matter I like it or not. For the person I love I do it with the pleasure and dedication. In every person I know (like) or not, in every enemy there‘s the best friend who takes care of me and wants the best for me.

natalia Buczkowska, Poland

My experience with Yes We Can program is incredible. These 6 months were full of magic and adventures. You cannot say how much we got as participants, how many unique people we met on our way and how much we have learnt…This program was a huge challenge and an exciting journey within ourselves. There were beautiful and tough moments, we were laughing and crying. It is wonderful to walk the way of the envoy of good. 10 years would be too short to meet so many outstanding teachers in a normal life. sri sri Ravi shankar is one of them and I wish everyone to get a chance to meet him. What a honor and pleasure to witness people’s transformation, to watch growing smiles on their faces , to feel deepening breathe and to see tears of gratitude into course’s participants’ eyes. aOL is my way of living. I had million opportunities to see wonderful transformation that aOL brings to the world. although my time in a program comes to an end I’m sure that it will last forever. If we’ll continue our programs across the world our societies will be healthier and happier. If you’ll have chance to join any of our programs, just get into it and you’ll experience magic….Word are nothing compared to an ocean of experience

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Juste naujokaityte, Lithuania

My experience… Last course in Italy was, oh, so great! I let go of some of my problems as well. When you’re organizing with love, it couldn’t be any differ-ent! When you see that people want to be with you, they seek knowledge, all you have to do is to spread it.

natalia Latzukina, Russia

“I am natalia and I am from Russia…”

For sure, every participant got his own and unique experience from the pro-gram. so many times I thought that I never had so tough situations before in my life. But everything changes, and that also changed. I feel how much stronger I become every day and how precious the experience which I get. I feel an amazing power from within and confidence of success. Like I can achieve any goal, like everything is possible in life! I learned how to talk to any people about anything, from kids to mayors, even if our languages are differ-ent. I learned how to open any door and approach any person whom I need. I learned that it is possible to form a team in any place, and find people who will support you and your ideas everywhere.

I learned not to be stuck on mistakes which I made, and accept them as life lessons. Learn your lesson - stand up and go forward! I learned how to find my own way and my own entrance and exit from any situation. I learned to give my 100% without definite expectations, because we never know which result and when we can get. Unfortunately, I can’t help all the people whom I meet, and I can’t present all of them. some of them will get nothing, but some of them will come and say that I changed their lives. so what can I do? Do whatever I can do and just let it go. I learned… I learned a lot. some of my experiences I can’t even put into words, so deep it was for me. But the most important thing that I learned for myself that everything changes, everything will fly way. Only something very precious inside me will never change. something that I will carry through all my life. something, which will forever save in me these feel-ing: “everything is possible! Yes - I can!”

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Victor Påhlsson, sweden

CLP has been an incredible journey of inner transformation. not only has it permanently changed its participants but also the lives of so many people that have come into contact with the resulting activities that have spawned all over europe. There have been highlights during the actual training and highlights out in the field. The training phase had so many great courses and lessons to offer, great people, great food, and great everything. In the field the highlights have been seeing people go through a course. That six day transfor-mation is just so motivating that you want to jump right in there organizing the next one.

It is hard to say what are some of the most amazing things I have learned.

There are too many things to list. One thing that has made a big change in me is that I have learned to deal with my greatest adversary - laziness. since early grade school I’ve developed a habit of postponing and often not doing things, like home work or taking tests. This later spilled out in the rest of my life affecting every aspect. now, I get much more done and done on time. not everything quite yet, but a lot more than previously!

emanuele Righes, Italy

I just experienced fully this times, before CLP! That I was not really living my life... Tiredness, lack of initiative, fear of a failure and the lethargy were af-fecting all my life and made me only more closed and stiff! Just improving my energy and confidence, now I‘m ready for all my next experiences!! CLP gave to me so much confidence, centeredness and the concrete opportunity to be natural and relax in every situation and with inspiring people!

Most of the people, in our times, are completely absorbed in their daily rou-tines, they come back home very tired from their job, they cannot really rest properly, and it is very challenging for them to find some precious quality time for themselves! To give to people easy and practical tools to improve their ca-pacity and to manage energy and stress in life is the most amazing experience of my life!

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Çiğdem Güreli, Turkey

CLP was the best time of my 26 years life. It was full of discoveries and chal-lenges. I was meeting my inner strength as well as the inner weaknesses which are so hard to admit. now I have the golden key for the fulltime self-confidence, trust and happiness.

I have worked as a waitress, sales coordinator, news reporter, editor and more. During all of these experiences I was always looking for something that could make me feel that I can fulfill the reason why I am here in life. I have it right now in my hand with art of Living and from now on whatever job that I will do, I will do it as it is my reason to be here.

I go through the course myself with the participants as well. I realize the knowledge points as I am sharing. When you are in the course even though you feel tired and de-motivated it’s so easy to switch and energize yourself. The changes in the participants in only 6 days is incredible. The attitudes, the awareness, the look in the eyes and the potential that is lying inside is acti-vated and ready to show itself. seeing all these miracles makes me inspired and I strongly hold on organizing and teaching courses. It is a short cut to

Celina Conrad, Germany

In Vienna I went to people sitting in the parks and introduced them into our great program. One person, who came to the part 1 course later, said that this was like a miracle. It never happened to him that a person came to him and asked if he had some time and whether he was fine. I had the feeling he would be quiet unhappy. What I definitely experienced is that whenever I felt insecure or unsure about within the course I just thought of my Yes We Can family supporting me from all across europe. The results were always positive. Have a smile and be open, whatever comes. Just before the course ended people came to me telling how courageous it would be to just go to foreigners and start introducing them. now I can say, no, it‘s not difficult it‘s the most natural thing people can do, but we forgot our naturalness and this is something we have to come back to, again like a child. as children we just go to people and ask them any kind of questions, because we don‘t have an ego yet and our sense of belongingness is much bigger than later in life as we grow up. This is what people and I can feel when they do the breathing, they come back to their own freedom they had when they were little.

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Rui Matos, Portugal

Highlights for me were: meeting so many people from different nationalities, being in BeRLIn, a city very much open to new ideas about entertainment. In the level of superficial contact all people seems nice and friendly. Then when you move forward you discover who this person is really with the needs, thoughts, wishes, feelings, and that they are different from yours, then you be-gin to see the side of that person which is not so attractive. I learnt and experi-enced that it’s very difficult to see both positive and negative sides of a person at the same time. so the key is acceptance to let’ go and move forward.

The most interesting experience teaching was at the end when they gave me a flower. It was amazing for me because this was what I did for my own teachers.

Joanna Goldberg, Poland

all my fears turned into amazement, joy and even happiness while my expe-rience was getting richer day after day, lesson after lesson. I learned really a lot though it took a while to realise the value of this experience. I appreciate it right now. I had psychological fears of talking to strangers in a foreign lan-guage, all sorts of uncertainties surrounded me in the beginning. and now? I don’t know these fears anymore. I can talk to people without any fears of their judgment. This is a particular success I owe it to Yes we-can!

The wonderful people I have met, have enriched my life and made me really happy. They have changed my life. now I feel there is nothing impossible for me anymore. I am not afraid of the future. now I can see lots of possibilities in front of me because the experiences and all I have learned with YWC I will use in all my life and will share it with everyone.

Maria Lorenz, Germany

Really, the biggest highlight was the people I met in the CLP. We went through so many ups and downs; we were laughing, crying, fighting, sharing, agreeing, and ManY times disagreeing… BUT none of my friends back home, that I have known for many years have I got to know so personally and closely as the people I have shared the last six months with.

Of course another highlight was meeting Rajshree in the blessing course and TTC 2. This woman just swept me off my feet like nobody else before. The focus in her eyes, her centeredness and the love she gave to us were amazing. I love her so much. I learned that with love you achieve much more than with ambition.

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Ivana Mihalinec, Croatia

Being a part of YWC is a lifetime experience for me. Wanting to make a change in the society can be quite a big task for a single person, but for 120 enthusi-astic, joyful, creative young people it is a “piece of cake”.

We have gone through so many peaks and valleys, challenges and obstacles, learning and growing. all the time still managing to touch the lives of many people, seeing the smiles and gratitude in their eyes after teaching the course is one of the most precious gifts one can get.

I am so grateful to each one of YWC participants, all the trainers and H. H. sri sri Ravi shankar for giving me an opportunity to be a part of this unique pro-gram through which my life was given completely different value.

steven de Bruijn , Holland

First off, the whole experience so far of YWC has taught me so much. It’s hard to conceive how much I’ve learned over the last 6 months. I do not overstate myself when I say I feel completely reborn. The next 6 months will be just as amazing no doubt. since I’ve been to many different cities, I will challenge myself to make this report both over viewable and at the same time represen-tative of my personal experience.

When I chose to join the program “Yes – We Can!” it could not have come at a better time. I was uncertain about the value of my studies and was completely unaware of my capacities. I was slowly going in the direction where I wanted my life to go, but boarding the train to Bad antogast was like stepping into a jet; my life accelerated so much and the best thing is that I know that I’ve seen nothing yet!

Over the past months, I’ve received a lot of training from excellent teachers and leaders around the world, and I’ve visited many different places to put my acquired skills into practice. I’ve been to Hamburg, Dortmund, Dresden, Maas-tricht, The Hague, amsterdam, Osnabruck, Freiburg, Mainz, and Frankfurt.

Looking back at these last months of organizing and teaching, I’ve learned a lot; I made many mistakes along the way, but that allowed me to learn some-thing new. I’m very excited to see what will happen in the next 6 months; I got really inspired to take on more responsibilities and do more service for those around me. The whole project of YWC so far, has changed me more than I could have ever imagined, and this is only the beginning!

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adam Bukovinszki, Hungary

Highlights of my experience in CLP! were our beautiful teacher Rajshree, the uncountable amount of meeting lovely people and the uncountable amount of knowledge in action.

I was very good in theory and knowledge; the most valuable thing I gained is the action potential, the motivation that fuels the mechanism.

For this, an important thing is to detach of any bad feelings of an action and trust that it will transform rapidly anyway. If you want to get up just kick off your blanket in the morning before you have time to thin it can be too cold outside.

Interesting experiences and knowledge during teaching courses: Dare to “hit them where it hurts” - The point is to make them grow mentally and physi-cally. For that they have to stretch sometimes, a pinch of “aristocracy” - know the value of the course , and act accordingly, the more you master what you are teaching, the more flexible ways you can let things happen, empathy, Love, smile, Inner strength is all to be radiated.

stefano sabatini, Italy

Highlights of my experience of CLP! are learning how to work also under pres-sure and with extra pitta (ayurvedic quality : means restlessness in the mind and body), and our teacher trainer Rajshree

I was used to get completely out of my centre. This attitude changed during the first trip and the following Part 2 course.

Kahni ewa-ngande, Germany

The challenge in art excel (courses for kids) was to keep the kids busy on one hand and not to lose their awareness on the other hand. You cannot just talk to them about knowledge; you have to let them experience that. You have to be aware of them all the time, because they are kids. It was nice, good, great to see how they really applied the knowledge, understood it. You don’t really have to teach them, just to remind them what they already know. I also had to improve my intuition of what is going on in them. sometimes they are shy, but if they are, they don’t approach you. You have to sense it if they don’t feel good and get it out of them. You need a lot of patience and kindness, so that they could open up. You also need a lot of awareness. It starts when they wake up in the morning and ends when they go to bed. But teaching children is the greatest gift you can get. Because when you see the change on their faces, it’s out of description.

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Juliette stevens, Holland

I really get energy from teaching and intro talks. It’s really getting out of my comfort zone, but during TTC and all the beautiful trainings I learned that I don’t like staying in my comfort zone anymore. Because that’s how you grow – getting out of your comfort zone. The course in Berlin was beautiful, to see my friends experiencing the course, because I knew exactly how they felt. It was really nice to teach the course. There was this guy, Pablo. I’ve never seen anybody so enthusiastic about Yes!+. all the time he was saying: ‘Juliette, have you got any idea what you are giving us?!’ and there was this girl… you could see that she came from a really bad history. she was really shining in the end of the course. she said: ‘Years of therapy couldn’t beat the week of experience that I got in this course. ’I get so much energy from seeing people change so much in just a few days. I have no words for some of the experiences that I’ve had and the people that I met.

eve Marie, Germany

When I look back at the past 6 months of YWC there happened so much that it could fit into some years! I signed up for it to do something useful. But when I came to the Black Forest, to be honest, I became very sceptical about the YWC: a very full timetable, a crowd of 120 people from different countries and the communication in english! and I was quite shy and had only a more or less good school english to share. so many challenges! I asked myself how something like this could work?

now I can say that it not only works, it is great! Yes, I was thrown into un-known situations and had to go out of my comfort zone quite often! But what I experienced is that through the challenging situations there is so much to discover! It is so beautiful to see that it is possible to live and work together as persons from so totally different backgrounds, cultures and professions. and to experience how 120 strangers became a group and then friends, it is just amazing. The belongingness I feel now is so strong and beautiful. I am thankful for the time where I discovered so much about myself, and got tools for dealing with situations that seemed to be an unsolvable problem before. This is very precious to know. another special thing about the program is to experience my own growth and also to see the others growing so fast. Yes, all this could fit into some years! and all the experiences are like a treasure that will be with me for the whole life. now I can deal better with my emotions and do not get lost in them any more. Teaching the course was a very good experi-ence. There were some of my friends on a course. It was so beautiful to see the change in them, to see them blossoming up during the course!

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egle Tiskeviciute, Lithuania

I was leading a trust roll process when I was assisting an art excel course. I was soooo scared. I had to demonstrate how to do it being the first child, to roll on the kids. I thought I was way too heavy for that! But I was amazed how it went.

art excel is wonderful!!! It was incredible to see so much creativity opening up in all the kids and in me. I was supposed to take care of the kids, and I did, but sometimes I also experienced that they were also taking such a good care of me. There was such a precious sense of belongingness.

What have I learned? I think I learned quite a lot. One of the most precious lessons was the lesson to be flexible and able to change the plan in one minute. everything was changing so quickly in CLP. One day you are told to get ready to go to one city, the other day the city is changed and on the third day you get one hour to pack and go to a different place. I learned to live with different people and to recognize love and care in most different forms. It may appear in the form of shouting or making you do things that are uncomfortable, but it makes you grow. I learned to be grateful for people who are pushing my but-tons. I learned to trust more and that not getting what you want sometimes is so much better than getting it.

egle Galeckiene, Lithuania

When I was assisting an art excel course in Lithuania, I noticed how the chil-dren open up. Those who were closed and didn’t want to participate in group activities began to speak more, to share their experiences. It was visible how their creativity opens up, they become more focused in things they do. It’s very good to work in the groups, because they complement each other and inspire each other saying: ‚”oh, yes, you can do it, you really have talent”! after some time they look so much more relaxed, even the expression of their faces change, the feeling of belongingness becomes so much stronger. as for myself my confidence has grown. It became clear that I am an authority for them and they were listening attentively to what I was saying. It’s very important always to be in the present moment, so that you see what’s happening among the kids. You have to feel what each of the kids needs. There are moments when you have to take a role of a loving mother.

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neringa antanaityte, Lithuania

First 6 months on Yes We Can project was just an amazing experience for me. Most impressive of all was to teach aOL courses. It is beyond words how much teaching gave to me. First, it was unbelievable to see the dramatic change on people‘s faces after just few days of the course – peaceful smiles, eyes full of gratitude, bubbling enthusiasm and joy. I realized how simple and beautiful the knowledge we are teaching is, how practical and empowering breathing techniques are and how deep it touches everyone. all these stress management tools are so needed and wanted amongst youngsters today – it is so meaningful what we do. While teaching I’ve learned a lot – to serve, care and be there for people; I have gained more self confidence, strength, became more aware of my own mind and more attentive to what is happening around. now I have no other choice than to just to live what I teach more and more everyday – and already I can see a change in my life! This is so beautiful! I feel really happy and grateful for all the opportunities to share and contribute to other people’s growth.

Tomas skrebutenas, Lituania:

The first month of Yes – We Can! training seemed so long to me. I was count-ing the days and thinking how to hold out till the end. now I cannot believe that half a year has already passed. There was a little bit of everything: I didn’t speak english, I was silent, I was shouting, fighting with others, laughing, feel-ing sad, feeling happy, having great time, learning. Learning from the teach-ers, colleagues, other people who were around me and in the environment. It’s incredibly nice to see, how people change, how they grow. I grew together with them. It’s hard to put down in words this love and gratitude that I feel for everybody that I met in these six months. I don’t feel like parting with them, because they all are my new family. First of all, being here I learned to love myself, to be myself. I learned to accept and to love others and all the nature much more easily. I realized that every second the nature takes care of us, all we have to do is to notice that. In Yes – We Can! some of my biggest wishes came true: I learned some english, started playing the guitar and became an art of Living teacher. no doubt this was the most meaningful half a year in my life. There was everything in it: work, free time, pleasure, growth, communica-tion, travel, art of Living courses, new experiences, millions of smiles, lots of warmth and love. It’s impossible to measure and put in numbers everything that I got in this program. THanK YOU.

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Cezar Mihaila, Romania

Many times I used to reflect about my Yes We Can experience, about how I’ve changed since the beginning. I used to picture this program as a high speed train, a mystical train that runs forever out there in life, a “Life Train” I can call it. something like the invisible train in Harry Potter that takes the students from the normal world to the school of Magic. This train however goes for-ever and is called “the spiritual Path”. Once you’re on it, once it stops at your station and you get in it, you get swept away into another dimension.

Like most of the Yes We Can participants I was living a quiet life at home, liv-ing a normal routine, playing on the computer, going to university, hanging out with friends. But I cannot say that I was “living”, in the true sense of the word. When I heard about the Yes We Can Programme I knew that it was going to be big and that it would not be easy, that I would have to move myself. I was not mistaken from the first day, waking up at five thirty in the morning and having session that ran till ten thirty, eleven o’clock at night.

It started in March and now it’s July, all this time has been nothing but an amazing ride. You can see from each station that you go through, that it is like a step forward, with each station that you pass through, you grow, you get stronger, you see yourself becoming more stable, more centered. With each station you evolve and for every person the station comes at different times. It is amazing how patient this train is, it takes everyone to their needed destina-tion exactly at the moment they are ready.

The beauty about this train is that you don’t know when it stops, you don’t know exactly what the last station is, yet with each station that you pass, you get a glimpse of what is in the end. It’s worth staying on until the last breath. Hold on even with their teeth to it and don’t get off, no matter what storms may come in the night.

as you are reading all these wonderful things that the Yes We participants have achieved and gone through. You too can also be part of it, you can also get on board because the train didn’t start just once, in March, but it starts in every moment. In everyone’s life, it’s there, running inside you, waiting for you to discover it and get on board. so you just need to do one simple thing: ask yourself “What can I do? How can I be of help to the people around me, and to the whole world” Then you will see the Yes We Can train is knocking at your door, waiting for you to hop in.

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Plakor, Croatia

I was amazed to discover what the Yes!+ course has in it for the teachers! Dur-ing the first Yes!+ course in Istanbul, the power of the knowledge lifted me up so much, I felt strong and free during those days, even though often exhausted at the same time. It is wonderful to see smiling faces of the participants and remember that once upon the time I was also having my first course experi-ence. The big lesson from teaching the course for me is: no matter how tough delivering the course may seem to the teachers, letting it go and being re-laxed is the foremost thing, no need to be tense about anything related to the course‘s flow. It just happens.

Marcus , Germany

service means to give something without expecting something back. For lots of the Yes We Can participants this was a new experience to serve for two hours a day in the ashram. But after a short period of time, 120 young people had lots of fun cleaning the house in small groups. singing, we helped in the kitchen to cut vegetables, to wash dishes and to clean the washrooms. In win-ter we built up a lot of muscle by removing snow and in the summer working with dirty hands in the garden.

Whoever was good in working with tools found themselves in the construc-tion team to make the ashram shine with a smile.

I personally for half a year did seva and learned during this period of time that while doing seva the ego disappears and that this is something very good for one’s self. and I experienced that to integrate the knowledge of seva in your life is a very good idea, because everything you do in any point of life comes back to you

Konstantinos Tournas , Greece

The whole YWC for me is about becoming aware of yourself. Becoming aware of your limits and how to overcome them, being aware of your obstacles that you alone put into your life and overcoming them. I experience that doing yoga and meditation and living the knowledge keeps your awareness high, keeps you elevated. stretching yourself beyond the comfort zone increases your capacity, your responsibility and as a result you become more power-ful! My communication skills have become better! I have learned that when anger comes I can do some breathing techniques meditation and I feel better. Observing the sensations in the body is a skill that can transform the quality of your life. I have learned to put the ego in the pocket and to welcome all the challenges life brings me. Then everything just happens.

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Camille abgrall, France

Through CLP! I cannot believe I have grown so much in only six months. It is truly amazing. I feel the strength inside. not the strength to beat someone, but the force inside that makes one’s self unshakable. I am not thrown out of my centre as easily as I used to do 6 months back. I can see emotions and thoughts coming up in my mind. That allows me to act towards emotions and thoughts rather than being carried away by them.

There is a proverb telling ‘’Take care of Life and Life will take care of you’’. YWC is a service project, in which one is invited to take care of people. I feel being taken care of by Life in return. My life has become happier. I complain far less and appreciate the simple aspects of existence. I learned that whatever we do in life, it is to attain pure Love. Through the YWC, I have learned a direct ap-proach to attain this goal. Before I used to look for Love in running after plea-sures such as alcohol, parties, sex, fame, success, etc...The past 6 months have shown me that service to others and care for others are doors that lead to Love. My benefit from organising & conducting Yes!+ is that after each course I feel increased Love.

The course is starting soon, is everything ready? Quickly with my CLP mates I check the name tags, water, glasses, tissues…everything is there great! The first participants come in the hall and my heart is beating faster than usual. Hope it will go well. I really want to give participants a nice experience. I can feel the stress coming up…Oh!Oh! so I better apply the techniques I am about to share with participants...I take a deep breath in and relax. Conducting a Yes!+ course is fantastic! Magic! To do it with other Yes We-Can! people adds even another dimension. each one of us has brought his or her particular touch to the course. We were up to 7 conducting it at times, so many different way of talking, describing, sharing, took place. It is really fun and inspiring. a process I especially like is the warm up with participants when we dance and do suryanamaskar until everyone sweats from head to toe, all that on the lat-est hits of MTV. I cannot describe here the overall of the Yes!+ program, but what I witness is the change it brings to people. It is amazing to see how we all open up. How close to unknown people we can get in only six days. We feel a strong belongingness for each other. My experience is that day by day the Love is increasing in the course.

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John Bermingham, Ireland

CLP! was an amazing adventure...Through out the last 6 months there were so many experiences to remember. First of all getting together with over 120 people from all those different countries was a once in a life time opportunity. I met and connected with people that I never thought I would of and had one of the most life changing experience ever!!! Getting to take part in so many courses in the first two months that would normally take a person a few years to complete was a true gift. There were so many challenges also, like keeping up with the time schedule and working together as a group. Of course getting to see so much of another country was one of my biggest experiences. It was amazing for me to really get to live in these cities and truly connect with the area and its people!! Berlin was my biggest highlight; a city that I always had some kind of attraction to although I had never been there. It held some kind of mystery to me and I was not disappointed .The people, the lifestyle, the open-mindedness and the never end-ing variety of things to do!!! now that the program has come to an end, the actual scale of what I have experienced and the areas of growth in my own life, can not altogether be put into words. I know that this is not the end but just the beginning of a life to be experienced.

My biggest accomplishment would have to be playing the guitar. a life long dream to play an instrument has finally come true! I may not be the most talented player-YeT....but it gives me great satisfaction being able to play a few songs and even teach some people what i have already learned...

Through out the last 4 months in Berlin I have also been the cook of the group along wit Rui. I really started to incorporate the ayurvedic way of cooking and have gained so much more knowledge on preparing food that I now feel my future lies in the food industry...

among other things that I have learned; Better ways of organising myself and my surroundings, being able to communicate with confidence to a group through co-teaching the workshops and realising that no matter who or where a person stands in society we all have that common desire to grow and belong...I especially remember all of those personal clashes and power struggles through out the 6 months which really highlighted human nature to me......

about the workshop, I remember this one girl who I had approached at a univer-sity and she was really shy and kind of introverted. she was very hesitant at even listening to me as she said that she was already in some Yoga practice. Well this girl came to an intro talk and signed up there and then! now during the course she became the most enthusiastic of the participant. By the end you could really see a change in her and her ability to communicate and express herself with other people had improved so much. On the next Yes!+ course she got her boyfriend to take part and she even repeated it herself. This really showed me the power that this course can have on changing people’s lives for the better and releasing there fears and anxiety towards people!!!

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Un-easy moments• We sleep five in a small room,

• We buy the cheapest food: full of chemistry and conservatives “Bye! Bye! organic world”

• In Yes!WeCan each and every step has to be agreed among each other:

Person I = “Lets get carrot juice’’.

Person II = “no lets get orange pineapple juice.”

Person III = “no lets get soya milk.”

Person IV = “no lets get cow milk”;

Person V = “no lets get 3% fat goat milk”

all : ‘’ Ok we buy still water, as usual‘’

• We have to face the not-so-very-nice-to-face qualities of each other from very close

• some of us are tenors of laziness; the more superficial and uncommitted, the happier they are

• some of us are kings of pessimism; the more complaints the better they feel

• some of us are Maharajas of selfishness: the more for them, the more at ease

• some of us are emperors of bad manners: the less they care the more they shine

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FUnnY sTORY

There is an art of Living center in Berlin. It has been run by susanne for 5 years. a light and cosy place. a YWC team of 5-6 people came there. susanne gave them some strict rules, but with this loving touch that made her so charm-ing. The rule was : no dirty dishes in the sink of the kitchen. The center is a common place; lots of people come in and out. It should be kept clean. Moreover, we are in Germany. Order and cleaniness are not a joke overhere. The German standard is “My house is so clean you can eat in the toilet”. (Bon appetit!)

Unfortunately, some of the YWC team had other standards, especially the boys. It seems one of them could not register this rule about the sink. Poor dear he forgot about the proverb “What you resist, persits”. after remembering him sev-eral times without success, susanne decided to act. One night our guy comes late to his room, gets ready for sleep, undress, lie under his bed-sheets and feels something is wrong...Indeed, dirty saucy plates and forks are lying with him in the bed.

surprised he stands up quickly and thinks : “ Would I have taken lunch in my bed?”

TeaM WORK

It was very useful to work in team also fascinat-ing. each one of us has at least one special skill. some in designing , some in website creation, some in cooking, some in bringing new ways of doing the same old thing, some in implement-ing ideas.

That makes our Yes We - Can! so rich. not only are we of different ages but also of different cultures and ways of thinking. The work takes shape eas-ily as we can cover all areas. When focused Yes We - Can! teams do great and fast job!

Volunteering in the Yes We Can is as to surf on a wave, a wave of Light, the higher the wave, the faster the surf. sri sri sent us a huge wave. so imagine the surfing we are having; full of sensa-tions and emotions.

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In the way we see things; we can see our mind re-flected. The whole world is in fact just a mirror for ourselves. as we change, our world changes, be-cause everything is connected.

My world has changed a lot since I joined CLP. It has changed so much, that even if I were to go back in time and tell my old self what I’m going to do and what I’m going to experience, I would have called myself nuts most likely. When I realize this, a chill of excitement is going through my spine, for I know that I have made a truly right choice this time in my life.

When I came to CLP, I was a lazy student. I remem-ber that when I saw the schedule I was freaking out because they were going to keeping us busy from 6 in the morning to 10 at night! I did and experi-enced so much doing those hours; we did our prac-tices, got training from excellent teachers in which we developed our leadership skills and teamwork abilities, and we did wonderful group processes. It was amazing that only within a few days everyone

started feeling belongingness to one another. Just to emphasize: We were a group of over 120 people from over 30 different countries; imagine the cul-tural diversity! We all joined the training as strang-ers, but we ended it as friends.

and this training was a huge eye opener for ev-eryone. We were challenged all the time, we were confronted with our weaknesses and were pulled out of our comfort zones. as time was passing, I began to see big changes in people’s attitudes and behavior; everyone was growing so fast! Of course, I was no exception; I did things that I would’ve never thought to be possible. Things like writing and recording great songs in record times, and per-forming them at concerts in front of many people. I gained so much confidence from CLP, and my vision on my life got so much clearer. I now have a clear goal of what I want to do with my life, and I got the strength to push myself towards it, overcoming any obstacle or problem I might face.

If you thought Yes!+ was good, wait until you expe-rience being a Yes!+ teacher in the making! You will surprise yourself when you push your limits and start becoming aware of your true potential. The knowledge starts to get a deeper meaning and you become so much more aware of yourself.

But, the training is just the first phase of CLP; being send out into the world and applying your newly acquired skills and techniques is where the learn-ing and growing continues. It’s an even tougher challenge to do it when it really counts, and to be

Letter OF INSPIRATION by Steven

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able to work together with your team. For everyone this was a struggle at first, but after some time ev-erything just starts to move into the right direction. For me personally the second module of CLP was the hardest, but I learned so much from it. When I came back to the european centre in Germany to meet up with the others, people said that I had a much clearer look in my eyes. and that’s exactly how I feel; strong, confident, and with a clear idea of what I want.

The best thing is that I’m only at the beginning of this path. I can feel the endless opportunities that life will offer me, like an ocean of possibilities that stretches far beyond what I can see. To realize what has been giving to me in these six months, is to real-ize how fortunate I am; it makes me feel very grate-ful. I want to share myself with the world, because I have something beautiful to give to everyone. and everyone has something beautiful to share with the world. Human beings are the real diamonds of

this planet. not all realize it though. When I see the shining faces of people after the courses, I realize the truth behind the practice and the knowledge.

Looking back now, I remember the moments I was telling my friends that I was going to join YWC. When they asked me why I would always say that I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing, but that I would definitely be very happy with the decision of signing myself up.

I was completely right, I’m very happy with the decision of signing up; it’s just that I’m far happier with it than I could’ve ever imagined beforehand!

What can I say?

You get rewarded for taking chances, such as de-voting 1 year of your life to voluntarily work for a stress and violence free europe!

Thank You

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Dear Yes We Can Team,

I congratulate the International Association for Human Values and the Art of Living for implimenting the Yes We Can community leadership program, which works towards a stressfree and violancefree society. With great commitement, 120 young people from all over Europe have dedicated to foster human values especially for young people.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has reversed the whole system.He has made business not an ending in itself but a means to an end to reach out to the community to help thelocal people around their businesses. This is what, in my eyes, the Yes We Can team realizes even stronger and more intensively. This is amazing.If I imagine that the youth of today is deciding our future. Therefore I think the Yes We Can project is a very positive step in this direction. Keep going, like you started and your goals will come true.

Best regards,

Nirj Deva,Conservative Member of the European ParliamentSouth East England

Mr. Chowdhury, Owner of Sri Sri Ayurveda Center in Werl-Holtum

Mr. Nirj Deva, Conservative Member of the European Parliament South East England - President, Europe In-dia Chamber of Commerce

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Ms. Erika Mann, Former Member of the European Parliament

Prof. Fahri Saatcioglu, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, Univer-sity of Oslo, Norway

Dear Yes We Can Team,

It has been an honor for me to have worked with you in the European Centre of the Art of Living Foundation, Bad Antogast.

The ‘Yes We Can’ project it’s not just a great idea but it changes the way you, and all of us who participated, see the world. Everything becomes possible once our hearts and mind are behind it.

Yes, you can change the world! Yes, we can change the world! This motive should not just become another slogan but should become a leitmotif for our desire to make positive changes a reality!

I wish you all the very best for your future and I was truly very impressed by your passion and honesty.

All the best, remain strong and committed.

Erika Mann, Former Member of the European Parliament

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MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR PHYSIK WERNER-HEISENBERG-INSTITUT

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Peter Dürr, Em.

Föhringer Ring 6 D-80805 München Postfach 401212 D-80712 München Telefon: 089/32354-280 Telefax: 089/32354-304 e-mail: [email protected]

YES WE CAN team

Bad Antogast / Schwarzwald

Dear Yes We Can team,

the lively spirit of all of you has impressed me deeply. Your curiosity, your willingness to learn and your growing ability of Facing andChanging Society's Challenges is a very ambitious model for many young people around the world, encouraging them to cooperate in their own creative ways. The impulse you spread is a wave of motivation to better understand ourselves, the sources of our present worldwide conflicts and to become more aware of the vital importance of the grand nature in which we are embedded. Let many young people be inspired by you.

Thank you for the inspiration you have given me, as well.

Warm regards,

Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Dürr

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Peter Dürr, Em. Founder, Global Challenges Network, Germany and H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

LeTTeRs OF sUPPORT

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Last but not least we would like to say THANK YOU! We wish to thank H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for initiating the Yes! We Can – Community Leadership Pro-gram, and for the inspiration he has been continually giving to us.

also we would like to thank the International Association for Human Values and the Art of Living Foundation for implementing the Yes We Can community leadership program for 120 young people, which works towards a stress-free and violence-free society to foster human values, by empowering young people.

Thanks to H.H. sri sri Ravi shankar, our teachers and honoured guest speakers. They touched us by sharing their knowledge and life experiences with us.

Our great guest speakers:

Mr. Thomas Grieser, Career Mayor in Oppenau

Mr. Thomas d’Ansembourg, International Trainer & Lecturer in non-violent Communication, Belgium

Prof. Fahri Saatcioglu, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Oslo, norway

Ms. Erika Mann, Former Member of the european Parliament

Mr. Nirj Deva, Conservative Member of the european Parliament south east england - President, europe India Chamber of Commerce

Mr. Hans-Martin Schempp CEO, schempp Group of Companies President, International association for Human Values

Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Peter Dürr, em. Founder, Global Challenges network, Germany

Mr. Rutger Koopmans, President, netherlands-India Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Former senior executive Vice President, InG Bank, The netherlands

Mr. Chowdhury, Owner of sri sri ayurveda Center in Werl-Holtum

Mr. Narasimhan

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Without our teachers and coordinators there would have not been a CLP because they brought this project from an idea to practical implementation.

Our coordinators and teachers:

Kamlesh Patel & Christoph Glaser, Principal trainers & coordinators,

Rajshree Patel, TTC2 trainer

Emily Peck, Organisation trainer

Misha Granin, Web trainer

Rajita Kulkarni, Leadership trainer

Tapio Eerikäinen, Public speech trainer

Tatiana Jakob, Yoga trainer

Stephane Ayrault, Group Interaction trainer

Roberto Sanlorenzo, art trainer

Massimo Ormea, Guitar trainer

Marcel Verbay, Musical Director

Keerti Mathur, Musical co-director

Babeeta Chabra, Dance/choreography trainer

Wayne Featherstone, ayurvedic cooking chief trainer

Stephan Muenster, Facility manager

Ivis Linette Botello Othero, event office

Kira Titaeva, event office

Werner Luedemann, Overall enthusiasm supporter

Juliane Fuger, Most appreciated “chef de la cuisine”

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as well as we want to say thank you to our partners:

ELSA – EUROPEAN LAW ASSOCIATION: Marina Sokolova, president of elsa Duesseldorf

Mr. Gotthilf Fischer

Mr. & Mme Lugani

During the CLP training we needed lots of support. and there was help from many corners. sponsors supported us with funding or other resources, so that our basic needs were taken care of.

During the field experience we extend many thanks to our many hosts. They were hosting us with open hearts, patience, and gave us not only a place to rest, but also a lot of needed material and personal sup-port.

Furthermore, thanks to all the wonderful shop keepers and private persons who supported volunteers with food and other goods.

also we want to thank our families and friends who were without us for many months and supported us from far away.

and a big thank you goes to the Yes We Can group itself! Thank you all for the great and unforgettable times that we spent together! The sharing, fun, going together through ups and downs, and the personal growth of each and every one of us made a huge difference in all our lives!

Only with the support and commitment of so many people has been possible to implement the idea of the Yes We Can – Community Leadership Program. There were so many helping hands and friendly hearts that it is not possible to mention every single name. nevertheless we are very thankful for all our sup-porters!

THanK YOU

yes we can book

Documents

sri sri ravi shankar

young people

deeper roots

violencefree global

art of living foundation

participants training17

selves free

international noninspiration