Mind & Brain Activation

SPORTS WING
INTRODUCTION:

About Brahma Kumaris
Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya is an international, non-governmental, spiritual organization dedicated to the service of humanity since its inception in 1937. The institution has now 9,000 branches in 130 countries. Headquartered at Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India, the organization imparts spiritual knowledge and teaches Rajyoga Meditation and carries out numerous projects, seminars, dialogues, national & international conferences etc. It is an NGO member of the United Nations having consultative status with the ECOSOC & UNICEF and is affiliated to the Department of Public Information (DPI).

About Sports Wing
Its Rajyoga Education & Research Foundation has formed 18 Wings to serve different professions and segments of the society such as Administration, Art & Culture, Business & Industry, Education, Medical, Politics, Security, Sports, Transport, Women and Youth etc.
Sports Wing renders voluntary services to sports personalities such as players, coaches, physical educators, sports administrators and others related to sports world through various programmes. Through out the country various conferences, dialogues, seminars, workshops, rajyoga meditation camps, and other initiatives are also conducted.

These programmes are conducted by this institution as a self-less service free of charge. This organization is a non-profit organization, which operates on the voluntary contributions of individuals who have taken benefit from the classes and programmes.
Rajyoga Education & Research Foundation is a sister body of the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya which has formed 17 different wings to serve all the segments of the society. The different wings of RERF are such as: Administration, Art & Culture, Business & Industry, Education, Jurists, Medical, Media, Politician’s Service, Rural Development, Religion, Scientists & Engineers, Social, Sports, Security, Transport, Women, Youth etc.

BREIF HISTORY:
The Sports Wing organised its first ‘Spiritual Training Camp’ on ‘Inculcating Values in Sports’ for the players from Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, Sonepat (Haryana) from 19th to 23rd May, 1999 on an experiment basis. The utility of the camp was highly appreciated by all the participants. After organizing series of such programmes / camps successfully and on the basis of the feedbacks of the participants, especially players and coaches, it was finally decided to form the Sports Wing. Most of the participants narrated their experiences and emphasized the need of ‘Spirituality and Moral Values in Sports’. As such the the Chief of our Institution Dadi Prakashmani ji decided to form this wing in 2000.

The first formal programme of Sports Wing was held for the sportspersons from ONGC on ‘Enhancing Sports Performance through Spiritual Power’ from 22nd to 26th July, 2000 at Brahma Kumaris Academy for a Better World, Mount Abu. It was organized in the form of National Sports Seminar cum Spiritual Training Camp. The programme got wide publicity through media, the readers on seeing the news of programme being organized by Brahma Kumaris for sportspersons
were surprised to see the initiative taken by this world-wide institution and highly praised the efforts.

PARTICIPANTS:
The Sports Wing reaches out to a wide section of persons related to the world of sports such as Players, Coaches, Fitness Trainers, District Sports Officers, Physical Educators, Sports Administrators, Sports Officers, Referees / Umpires, Sports Managers, Director / Deputy Director of Sports Stadium, Presidents / Secretaries of Federations and Associations of different Sports Disciplines, Sports Psychologists, Physiotherapists, Sports Journalists, Sports Medicine Specialists, Sports Dealers, Members of Gyms / Health Clubs / Fitness Centre and others who are interested in sports related activities.

SUBJECTS COVERED DURING "INNER SKILLS & MEDITATION" TRAINING CAMP:
In our programmes, we take classes on different subjects like: The Power of Mind , Motivational Techniques in Sports, Stress Absorption Techniques, Building Team Spirit and Coach/Captain-Players Relationship, Values in Sports, Holistic Fitness, Nutrition and Sports (Dietary Guidance), Science of Success in Sports, Science of Meditation in Sports, Art of Winning, Inner Game of Life, Leadership Qualities etc, Apart from these topics, there are some others sessions of breathing exercises, workshops etc.

ACTIVITIES:
Sports Wing organizes programmes for players , coaches, physical educators, sports administrators and others in the form of Seminars, Conferences, Workshops, Dialogues, Meditation Skills Training, Rajyoga Shivirs, at its headquarter and also at its regional centres across the country. We also organise such camps at during the coaching camps on request of various sports institutes, sports boards, federations, associations and other sports agencies from time to time. The Meditation Skills Training can be of varying duration such One-day camp, Two-days camp, Three-days camp, Four-days camp and weekly camps. The training has been developed for junior and seniors players by keeping in mind their mental capacity and attitude.

Some of the programmes organized regularly are as follows:
• Every year the Sports Wing organizes conferences / seminars on different themes for sportspersons at Mount Abu and also at its various Zones / Sub Zones / Regional Centres.
• It hosts periodical Rajyoga Meditation Retreats / Shivirs during ongoing National / State coaching camps and competitions of various sports disciplines.
• It holds periodical discussions, dialogues, workshops etc concerning sports performance enhancement and the current problems faced by the players.
• It focuses on Research Projects on ‘High Performance in Sports through Rajyoga Mediation, Naturopathy and Life Style Changes’ and offers facilities for such projects at its ‘International Centre for Higher Learning, Gyan Sarovar, Mount Abu.
• It also publishes useful and relevant literature such as ‘Holistic Sports News’ letter and folders.
• It conducts Sports Personality Development Camps especially for our sub-junior & juniors players.

AIM OF ‘MEDITATION CAMPS FOR SPORTSPERSONS:
The Meditation Skills Training helps the participants in many ways such as:
It develops concentration and judgment power
It helps in enhancing will-power & self-confidence
It helps in overcoming nervousness, inferiority complex & negative habits
To integrate spiritual and ethical values into the lives of sportspersons
It helps in developing positive attitude and self-empowerment
It plays a vital role in managing the stress of the players enabling them to stay relaxed in the moments of pressure.
It helps them to build team spirit and inter-personal relations among coach, captain and players
It helps them to cope up with public and commercial pressures
It helps the players to achieve alpha state of the brain and tap sub-conscious powers to improve their games.



BENEFICIARIES:
We know that we have been giving different kinds of training to our sportspersons like, physical, mental, psychological, intelligent quotient etc to enhance their performance. But this institution is of the opinion that we need to impart them ‘Spiritual Training’ as well, so that our sportsperson can have lot of moral values in their lives, no doubt we need to win medals at international level, but at the same time we need to have players with characteristics. We have invited thousands of players at our international headquarter so far, and also different National Teams. Most of them have done extremely well after attending our Spiritual Camps. Some of them are as follows:
Mumbai Cricket Association, Mumbai
Maharashtra Cricket Association, Pune,
Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association, Hyderabad
National Athletic Team, Sports Authority of India, Gandhinagar.
National Shooting Team and National Volleyball Team at SAI, Bangalore
Indian Women Softball Team at Mount Abu
Indian Women Hockey Team at Hyderabad before their matches during 1st Afro-Asian Games and 5th Women’s Asia Cup – New Delhi in 2004. The team won the Gold Medal in both the competitions.
Indian Women Cricket Team at Mount Abu. They won the series against England in 2005.
He was also instrumental in organizing national level Sports competition in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi in December, 2003 organised by the Sports Wing of Brahma Kumaris
National Badminton Team (Men & Women) at SMS Stadium, Jaipur during Thomas & Uber Cup (Asia Zone) – World Badminton Team Championship – from 14th to 19th Feb, 2006.