During a normal work week, Sharan Asundi, assistant professor in ODU's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, teaches classes in aerospace/mechanical engineering and builds satellites for space missions.
However, he is also a certified wellness coach from the Art of Living Foundation and teaches SKY Breath Meditation during his free time. SKY is short for Sudarshan Kriya - a practice to overcome stress, anxiety, and fatigue.
Although Asundi has practiced yoga for many years, he decided to become a certified SKY Breath Meditation instructor during the pandemic. He wanted to help others experience the joy that he found in his own SKY practice. Through the Center for Faculty Development and other outlets at ODU, he has hosted several wellness workshops focused on breathwork and guided meditation. The focus of these workshops has been to understand the connection between emotions and breath, and to use breathwork along with meditation to have a say over the mind.
"I felt once we came out of this whole pandemic, the stress and anxiety would linger for some time," he said. "I felt I could really help our ODU community by teaching breathwork and meditation as tools to manage stress, anxiety, and fatigue."
To learn more about SKY, visit . A Yale research study on combatting student burnout with SKY techniques can be found here: .