Life Classes(Love class) – Day 7 & 8

The Life Classes on respect, love, and communication have provided us with invaluable insights into the core principles that sustain healthy and fulfilling relationships. We have learned that respect is the foundation upon which trust and mutual understanding are built, while love is a continuous action that nurtures and strengthens the bond between individuals. Moreover, communication stands as the bridge that connects hearts and minds, ensuring that both partners feel heard, valued, and supported.

These lessons have not only deepened our understanding of relationships but also empowered us to apply these principles in our own lives. By fostering respect, nurturing love, and practicing effective communication, we can create lasting and meaningful connections that thrive on mutual care and understanding.

Haso, Jeeyo, Muskurao :)

The last two days in our life class have been a remarkable experience filled with learning and self-discovery. We delved into the concept of marriage, its different phases, and the essential factors that contribute to a strong and fulfilling relationship. This insight provided us with a renewed understanding of the importance of relationships in our lives. Additionally, we explored parenting styles, contrasting traditional and modern methods, and recognizing their deep influence on a child’s development. Watching a thought-provoking film further deepened our grasp of these ideas, allowing us to relate the different stages of marriage to real-life situations.

A sincere thank you to our amazing mentors, Pooja Ma’am and Muskan Ma’am, whose engaging and thought-provoking approach created an open and supportive learning environment.

These eight days have been truly life-changing, leaving us with valuable lessons that will guide us in different aspects of life. As it is often said, “Life is not about how many breaths you take, but about the moments that leave you breathless.”

Memorable Life Class Experience- Day 7 & 8

The last two days of our life class have been an incredible journey of learning and self-reflection. We explored the topic of marriage, its different stages, and the key elements that make a relationship healthy and strong. Understanding these aspects gave us a fresh perspective on the importance of relationships in our lives. We also delved into parenting, comparing old and new approaches, and realizing how they shape a child’s growth. A thought-provoking movie helped us relate the stages of marriage to real-life scenarios, making the concepts even more meaningful.

A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful facilitators, Pooja Ma’am and Muskan Ma’am, who made these sessions engaging, insightful, and relatable. Their approach created a comfortable space where we could learn and share openly.

Overall, these eight days have been truly transformative, leaving us with wisdom that will guide us in many aspects of life.

Life Classes(Love class) – Day 5 & 6

The Love class has been a deeply emotional experience for me, especially when we explored the connection between love and pain. We often think of love as a beautiful, uplifting feeling, but there’s another side to it—one that involves vulnerability, sacrifice, and sometimes, emotional pain.

During the class, it became clear that love isn’t just about joy and affection.The hurt that comes when we care deeply for others, the heartache we sometimes endure, and the vulnerability that makes us truly connect. Understanding this aspect of love has helped me realize that pain isn’t something to avoid or fear. Instead, it is part of the process of growing deeper in love, both with ourselves and with others. The second day of the Love class stands out as one of the most heartwarming experiences I’ve had. Listening to everyone’s stories about their definitions of love was deeply moving. It was enlightening to hear how each person’s view of love was shaped by their own experiences, and these reflections expanded my understanding of the topic in unexpected ways. The openness and honesty with which everyone shared created a truly special, safe space for reflection and connection.

A heartfelt thank you to our facilitators for guiding us through these powerful realizations. Their openness and ability to create a space where we could explore both the beauty and the complexities of love was invaluable. Their passion made this journey through love and pain a truly enriching and eye-opening experience.

Emotions: An inevitable part of living

“I don’t ever want to feel sad…”

What a wishful thinking, I reckon.

It wasn’t too long ago that I realised not wanting to feel an emotion is never a ‘good’ option. As a bandaid option, yes, sounds great. However, will that feeling come back to haunt you sometime later in life, in a different setting, in a different way?
Probably yes.

How do you deal with a wind-whirl of feelings and emotions that come hitting you across your face, with an increasing pain in your stomach that doesn’t resemble butterflies anymore, and an aching, sharp, deafening sound that leaves you hearing your own heartbeat?
It sounds scary and overwhelming.

From these life classes, I take back one thing – ways to manage my emotions: Acceptance.

Acceptance comes in various forms – maybe in search of truth, maybe through the learnings of Buddha, or maybe through therapy.

My form is acceptance?
Therapy!

When discussing these unsettling emotions, I have a nerve to discuss something pleasant (my way to deal with discomfort, I guess?). Love, no? I mean, the two days of life classes were dedicated to this very emotion. Love in every form – be it familial, platonic or romantic. However, something I really enjoyed was knowing what this particular class has done crazy in love. There’s something mischievous, flirty and innocent in sharing what each of us has done to express the extent of love we feel.

Abrupt ending – thanks.

My experience with 7 Habits & Love- Alpha

The two-day life class was an enlightening journey that extended far beyond the theoretical understanding of the “7 Habits.” These sessions illuminated a path through my uncertainties and challenges, transforming not just my approach to daily tasks but my overall outlook on life. The workshop, however, presented a comprehensive and practical framework that made the habits accessible and relevant to my daily life. It provided real-world applications and examples that brought the concepts to life, making them easier to integrate meaningfully. The sessions encouraged self-reflection, helping me identify areas for improvement and growth.

A special thanks to Pooja Ma’am and Muskan ma’am for facilitating such a fun journey!

7 Habits & Love – Beta

Love

In this class, we delved deeper into subjects of love, stages, major principles to survive the relationship. At first we pondered on the big question, why marriage is important for oneself. The few answers to it was Emotional Support and Companionship, Commitment and Stability, and others

We further went deep into studying stages of marriage life. Which is divided into 8 parts:-

  1. Falling in love
  2. honeymoon
  3. period of adjustment
  4. something is missing
  5. crisis
  6. forgivemess
  7. norming, performing
  8. attainment

Later we went to meet our new mentor parag sir, who gave an insight of types of relationships. Which are divided into mainly 3 catagorries. 1) kingly 2) friendly 3) beggerly.

A kingly relationship is where the purpose is solely to offer and serve without expecting anything in return, embodies the essence of selflessness and generosity. In such a relationship, one person adopts the role of a benevolent ruler, guided by a genuine desire to uplift and support the other without seeking personal gain or recognition. Here’s a description of this type of relationship. Unconditional Giving- In a kingly relationship, the giver offers their support, care, and resources unconditionally, without expecting reciprocity or acknowledgment. Their acts of kindness flow freely from a place of genuine concern and empathy for the other person’s well-being.

A friendly relationship built on the foundation of good bonding, no expectations, and true love is a beautiful manifestation of genuine connection and mutual affection. In such a relationship, both individuals prioritize nurturing a deep bond based on trust, respect, and authenticity, without seeking anything in return. Joy in Each Other’s Happiness: In this relationship, both individuals find joy in each other’s happiness and success. They take delight in seeing the other person thrive and grow, knowing that their love and support have played a part in their achievements.

In a beggarly relationship, the dynamic revolves solely around transactions, with little to no genuine connection or emotional investment between the individuals involved. Each interaction is driven by a desire to extract value or benefit from the other party, with little regard for mutual respect or reciprocity. Unlike healthy relationships built on mutual trust and respect, there is no genuine connection or emotional bond in a beggarly relationship. Interactions are superficial and lack depth, with little opportunity for meaningful communication or understanding.Give and Take Mentality: The relationship operates on a strict give-and-take mentality, where both parties expect immediate gratification for their contributions. There is little room for generosity or selflessness, as each person prioritizes their own interests above all else.

everyone of us shared insights from their lives about their undestanding about what type of relationships they have with people and it changes according to place, person to person and time.

later after coming back to class from break, we continued with what are the major roles of parents. We had few stories of people sharing their bond stories with their family or parents.

At the conclusion, we summed up with a video of sadhguru explaining how to become a good parent and saint gaur gopal das explaining you have to change first to change others.. because children are observing and learning, that’s an important point. Children are highly observant and tend to mimic the behavior of their parents and caregivers. Modeling positive behavior sets a strong example for children to follow. It’s essential for parents to be mindful of their actions and strive to demonstrate traits such as kindness, patience, empathy, and resilience, as these qualities can have a significant impact on a child’s development and well-being.

7 habits & Love class- Beta (Days 5 & 6)

Days 5 & 6 offered us new perspectives as we explored the complex concepts of discipline and love. It’s funny how life gives you reality check sometimes, and one of the most important lessons we learned was that life is challenging. The irony is that the difficulty seems to lessen as soon as we completely understand and embrace this fact. Knowing life’s challenges reduces their complexity, much like deciphering a hidden code.

As we investigated the ideas of legitimate and illegitimate suffering, our inquiry into the understanding of pain took an intriguing turn. Even while I debated calling some illegitimate pain unjustified, I couldn’t argue against the need of accepting and recognizing it. Maybe I simply dislike the fact that some pain is so disregarded by society that its cause becomes logically insignificant to the person too leading them to repress it. 

Discipline turned into a focus, and a fellow member said something that stuck with me- love is a verb which is an action word, and love as an action, necessitates discipline. It was quite beautifully put according to me. Our investigation of the four discipline tools –  delaying gratification, acceptance of responsibility, dedication to truth, and balancing – opened up a world of introspection. My group was assigned the task of explaining acceptance of responsibility, which turned out to be not only entertaining but also extremely insightful.

According to Scott Peck, the discussions on love were equally fascinating, ranging from personal definitions to debunking misconceptions and exploring non-examples. Love, as we discovered, transcends conventional notions, and it was eye-opening to challenge our preconceived notions about it.

We concluded the day by watching the film “Fair Play.” Even though I didn’t particularly like it, it did a good job of portraying the harsh reality of the power relationships between men and women. It served as a sobering reminder of how intricately relationships are constructed. All in all, I had a great time during these sessions, and I want to express my gratitude to the school and our facilitators for providing such a rich educational environment. We are continuing to explore the complexities of life, and I am grateful for the insights and lessons gained. I am looking forward to the next and sadly our last 2 sessions with great anticipation.

Life class day 3 & 4 (7 Habits & Love: Beta)

I grew up knowing about the 7 Habits as an FS Alumni, however, experiencing them as an adult under the guidance of Sufiyan Sir and Jyoti Ma’am was an entirely different story. These two days consisted of a combination of reflection, teamwork, and self-discovery.
We began with a recap before moving on to Habit 4: Think Win-Win. We played games and spoke about scenarios that helped me view these tendencies in a more mature light. Habit 5 was the next topic, which was seek first to understand and then to be understood. We had a listening circle for this and it dealt with verbal and nonverbal communication as well as the essence of listening. Parag Sir and the entire listening circle imparted a lot of wisdom to us on its importance in this noisy world. I realised that genuine listening is somewhat uncommon today.
Next was the outdoor adventure at KG Farm, with an emphasis on Habit 6 – “synergy.” However, we initially became overly fixated on winning the games. We learned the value of teamwork through the intense, entertaining, and even rowdy gameplay, especially tug of war. We tackled Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw, which is about taking care of yourself so you last longer, just like an axe. The way we studied listening through role-playing and games struck me as the most significant aspect of these days. We developed these behaviors because of the atmosphere in the classroom.
Thanks to Jyoti Ma’am and Sufiyan Sir for making these two days not only jam-packed with knowledge but also incredibly entertaining. I would also like to thank Fountainhead School for sustaining this educational process not just for the students but also for the staff. Now that the 7 Habits journey has commenced, I’m eager to see what lies ahead.

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