The Organization
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar started spreading The Art of Living in Bangalore. It did not adopt its legal form until later, in the United States, and at the beginning of the 1990s attained the status of a level 2 NGO. The Foundation has representatives accredited to the United Nations in New York, Geneva and Vienna; it is officially consulted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a "Development of a global health policy for the 21st century".
It is relayed, nationally, either by associations or by branches of the Foundation. In France, its current body is an association (IALF). The International Foundation, meanwhile, is currently present in more than 180 countries around the world. Its purpose is to make available to as many people as possible a set of simple and effective techniques, derived from yoga, intended to cleanse the effects of stress.
Stress is responsible as much for illness as it is for a large number of illnesses. Stress brings down the immune system; it creates physical tensions that make the body uncomfortable, degenerate into backaches and organic dysfunctions. Just by eliminating its effects, health and quality of life improve dramatically.
This is the Foundation's objective: to improve the quality of life for everyone; objective, relayed, at the collective level, by the humanitarian projects of the International Association for Human Values. All of the programs offered by the Foundation, called Art of Living , come in the form of internships. His major tool is the Sudarshan Kriya. The Foundation intervenes, as a privileged partner, in the humanitarian programs of IAHV.
Sister organizations
Art of Living sister organizations are dedicated to making a world free of stress and violence a reality. The International Association for Human Values (IAHV), Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth (VVMVP), Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir (SSRVM) and Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI) among others, formulate and implement the humanitarian projects of the 'Art of living.
The Art of Living Foundation works with:
CONGO (Conference of NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC at the United Nations), Geneva and New York
United Nations Committee on Mental Health and Aging , New York
NGO Forum for Health , Geneva
National Association of Women's Organizations , Uganda
