Tyler Raiker - “Shruthi Kumar Resurfaces Mindfulness”

Shruthi Kumar Resurfaces Mindfulness

A firm, thoughtful grip of a handshake is more than just an exchange of greetings. It’s an exchange of setting your grounds, fulfilling your assertiveness, giving your peers a first impression of yourself. Shruthi Kumar, taught this lesson as a little girl from a friend of her father, keeps this mindset with her years now as she attends Harvard University, currently a freshman. First going into this handshake, the man exclaims, “What are you doing? You can’t go into a handshake with such a light grip! You must stand your ground and give a handshake executed so well, they know you recognize your worth.”

Growing up in Omaha her entire life, Kumar lived her adolescent years spending periods of leisure doing yoga, playing piano and violin, swimming, and learning a dance called Bharatanatyam, one of the oldest and most popular classical Indian dances originating in Tamil Nadu. It encompasses music, rhythm, and expression harmoniously— all ideals that Kumar embeds into her routine. Reading was another interest she loved.

Both of her parents grew up in India, and after moving to America with the Indian education system being their recognized schooling, they saw the American schooling system Kumar endured as uncanny. These two differences clashed together as she grew up learning. ”I had to choose either how my parents were taught or how I was taught.

It was confusing!” It was mind-boggling for Shruthi’s parents to adapt to the ways the American system taught their daughter. It was only fair they wanted the best for her educationally, even if that meant re-teaching her methods of algebra, composition, or just that common ground.

Moving into her high school years, the same activities she remembered being pure bliss and innocence no longer could fit in her schedule, and Kumarshe had to pick her battles between her many extra curriculars. The stage of entering high school highlighted new perspectives and goals for Kumar— her life was now a strict routine

of school, studying, violin practice, Student Board, Burn Magazine, yoga, and the list goes on. Kumar was attentive to performing her best work in committees she knew could implement a difference. Kumar also remembered valuing her parents and peers around her.

Each new day, Kumar would notice little details of her classmates’ personalities and take great meaning and lessons from each tangent. Her peers had taught her the importance of not caring about what others could judge you about, because at the end of the day, “you are driven by what truly makes you happy.” Another noted detail was the stressful atmosphere that appeared to be a constant every day at Marian. Kumar could not imagine when a student shared “I had to go to bed at 4 just to finish homework.” This was in no way how a student should formulate a mindful schedule. Not at all.

At this moment Kumar started to brew up an idea. Summer going into sophomore year, Kumar took a spiritual trip to India for two weeks in the sublime of mountains, away from any commotion. This trip was focused on the legitimacy of yoga, an activity she now took pride in. Yoga in the Western Hemisphere has been marginalized as the physical activity white mothers attend to in the morning every now and then. Its true nature is discipline and liberation; yoga focuses on the art and science of healthy living. Being in India, Kumar went to bed at 9 and woke up at 4

By J1 Reporter Tyler Raikar

“I know it’s a cheesy saying, but it holds so much importance. You have to fulfill what truly brings you happiness in life. That right there is the key to success.”

AM every morning, fueled her body with foods most beneficial to her mind and body, meditated several moments of her day, and learned the daily routines of the native people’s lives.

Inspired with a new confidence, Kumar sought to anonymously organize a new program instituting these new perspectives in Marian under the name of “GoYogi”, a non-profit organization that prioritizes mental health in educational facilities. Her goal was simple. Bring the students of Marian five minutes of mindfulness to rebalance and center their days. Five minutes of pure meditation and alleviation had the potential to recreate a student’s day. Igniting this difference in students’ lives continued to inspire Kumar to her days of high school and present day college.

GoYogi expanded to many schools in the U.S. and even India. Her program emphasizes the importance of mental health education and mindfulness in school systems. Schools currently practicing this are Marian and Udavum Karangal, located in Chennai, India. Prairie Meadows Alzheimer’s Special Care Center’s, in Omaha, Neb., also began using the program Feburary 2019 to give a a great alternative of medication to patients with latestage Alzheimer’s. The program showed relaxed and rejuvenated patients who have participated in the meditation. But what exactly inspired Kumar to create a non-profit organization like this?

Kumar recognized the fast-paced lives Marian students endured every day. Sports, homework, pressure of success, extracurricular activities, social participation, projects, sleep deprivation, anxiety... and the cycle repeats! Using her guidance from her trip to India, she experimented using the art of yoga to battle this academic disruption.

As Kumar continues to lead her expanded organization today, it sets a reminder for herself and others of what she wishes to forever live by. She strongly hopes each person involved with GoYogi feels driven to find balance, to establish goals with a reward of happiness, and to feel inspired. To all the young women, even if that means fighting a little harder to have their voices heard, Kumar says the experience is worth all the fight once that girl realizes her worth.

Kumar was that girl once. That girl is the same person who learned to fight for her own approval rather than another’s. That girl who learned to take the initiative from a firm handshake has grown up to be an unstoppable young woman who continues to be an inspiration for each girl at Marian today.

Shruthi Kumar Age 20 Photo courtesy of Kumar