(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners were invited to conduct an introductory session for nearly 80 social workers associated with a reputable school in the city of Pune, India, on April 21, 2023. After experiencing Falun Dafa’s calming energy while doing the exercises, the group showed a keen interest in continuing to learn the practice.

Nearly 80 social workers try the Falun Dafa exercises. (Photo provided by Jnana Prabodhini Prashala High School)

The high school Jnana Prabodhini Prashala—or “awakener of knowledge” in Sanskrit—is a multidisciplinary institute located in Pune and selects roughly 80 students each year for grades 5 to 10. The social worker's group, Sanvadini, works under the school head and comprises volunteers and some of the parents of the school students. During their monthly meetings, the group organizes sessions that could be beneficial to the participants. In the month of April, they invited Falun Dafa practitioners to come and teach the exercises

Mrs. Samata Zaware, one of the social workers, became aware of Falun Dafa during the COVID-19 pandemic. After her positive experience of learning the exercises, she reached out to local practitioners and expressed her wish to introduce the practice to her entire group.

“The exercises of Dafa are really beneficial and helped [me] to remain calm during the COVID times,” she said. “I always wanted to share this good thing with my colleagues and hence arranged this session for our Sanvadini group.”

Falun Dafa practitioners demonstrate the second exercise in Jnana Prabodhini Prashala High School.

Social workers learn the second exercise of Falun Dafa (Photo provided by Jnana Prabodhini Prashala High School)

The 1.5-hour session was conducted in the school auditorium by four local practitioners. They demonstrated all five exercises of Falun Dafa. One of the practitioners, Anand Pophale, an IT professional from Pune, used a detailed PowerPoint presentation to introduce the practice and its core principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and to explain the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of this spiritual system.

Introducing Falun Dafa with a slide presentation. (Photo provided by Jnana Prabodhini Prashala High School)

The entire group of social workers joined in and performed the second set of Falun Dafa exercises, known as the “Falun Standing Stance,” with practitioners. Several of them shared their enjoyable and surprising experiences of practicing the standing exercise for the first time and said that the exercise music was very soothing.

A practitioner demonstrates the exercises.

The attendees shared their experiences. Some experienced a tangible energy flow in the body, especially on their palms. Others felt their hands becoming a bit heavy while doing the standing postures. A few others talked about a unique sensation of something revolving above their heads.

A woman around 60 said that when she held her arms in front of her head, she felt vibrations in her forearms. Another participant said that though her shoulders were in pain while holding her arms up, she felt fully relaxed after the exercise was complete, which was different from the usual fatigue experienced after doing other physical exercises.

The participants expressed a common view that the Falun Dafa exercises were “easy to learn.”

Learning the second exercise (Photo provided by Jnana Prabodhini Prashala High School)

After the session, a group representative requested further follow-up sessions and said that many of the participants wanted to continue to practice in the future. She even suggested forming smaller groups of 10-plus people, if the practitioners could come to teach them the exercises. The practitioners said that they would plan some more sessions soon and shared the local contact numbers and the Falun Dafa website details with the group. Practitioners also gifted a set of English and Hindi language copies of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa, to the school library.

The practitioners later met the school principal and requested to conduct a session for the students. The principal promised to talk to his superiors.

Pophale, the practitioner who is an IT professional, said that it was a good start for local practitioners to introduce the practice in educational institutes, and they were happy that their first session in the school helped many people become interested in learning Falun Dafa.

Practitioner Manorama D, 70, who demonstrated the exercises with others, said: “It was an amazing feeling to see such happy and satisfied expressions on the faces of those participants. It was an enriching experience for everyone.”