Heartfulness and Reliance Foundation Join Hands to Host a Unique Athlete-Centric Meditation Programme at the Paris Olympics

This exciting collaboration between Heartfulness and the Reliance Foundation is an opportunity to showcase how sports can be a connector for all types of people, regardless of background, identity, or ethnicity. The Heartfulness-led event will take place from 29th July - 1st August and 7th to 8th August.

Conceptualised by Reliance Foundation in association with the Indian Olympic Association, the India House is the first-ever country house for India at the Olympics. It will serve as a home away from home for all Indian athletes and also celebrate India completing over 100 years of participating as a team at the Olympics.

The theme of the experience is, ‘Inner Skill for Athletic Excellence’, and aims to apply Heartfulness meditation to achieve optimal athletic performance. The event, entitled “Applying Meditation for Optimal Athletic Performance”, also aims to elevate Indian culture, sports and heritage. During the event, participants will explore various Heartfulness and meditation techniques that can help athletes reach and sustain peak performance, manage stress and maintain mental clarity in high-pressure situations, and recover and build resilience using meditation. The goal is to help athletes discover the intersection of meditation and sports excellence by inspiring and equipping athletes, coaches, and enthusiasts with the tools necessary to enhance their performance and achieve their full potential.

Speaking on the event, *Rev. Daaji, Global Guide of Heartfulness and President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission* said, “Athletics is not simply about physical and physiological strength, but it also about mental fortitude. Many times, sportsmen lose despite best qualifications because they have not developed that mental resilience. Resilience, focus and inner calm is essential to tackle any situation – be it in sports or in life. This is where Heartfulness meditation helps. I am delighted that the Reliance Foundation has collaborated with Heartfulness to empower athletes, as well as people from other backgrounds. Through Heartfulness, we hope to awaken the dormant consciousness among sportsmen and sports-enthusiasts, and help unleash their unlimited potential. This opportunity at the Paris Olympics is a momentous occasion for us.”

Keynote speeches will also be delivered on topics such as, “The Power of Meditation in Sports”, “How Meditation Enhances Athletic Performance”, and “The Future of Meditation in Sports”. Participants will also experience Heartfulness meditation as a guided group activity.

Heartfulness offers a simple set of meditative practices and lifestyle changes, first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalized into teaching through the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India with a goal to bring peace, happiness, and wisdom to one heart at a time. These practices are a modern form of Yoga designed to support contentment, inner calm, and stillness, compassion, courage, and clarity of thought, as the first step toward a purposeful life. They are simple and easily adopted and are appropriate for people from all walks of life, cultures, religious beliefs, and economic situations, who are over the age of fifteen. Ongoing training in Heartfulness practices continues at thousands of schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in corporations, non-governmental, and government bodies worldwide. More than 5,000 Heartfulness Centers are supported by many thousands of certified volunteer trainers and millions of practitioners in 160 countries.