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A few years ago in South Los Angeles, I watched a former Bloods gang leader and a LAPD police officer sit side by side writing poetry about pain, loss, and hope.

A few weeks ago, they could barely look at each other.

Nobody forced them. Nobody lectured them. The shift happened after they participated in an eight week Ambassadors of Peace workshop offered by the Cities4Peace initiative of the Art of Living Foundation that consisted of yoga, breathing and Sudarshan Kriya meditation practice.

That moment remains the most humbling moment yet of my American life.

I feel that America’s crisis is not only political. It is deeply emotional.

People are carrying stress, loneliness, anger, fear, and exhaustion. We see it in schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, and online spaces where disagreement quickly turns into hatred and othering.

Through our work at Cities4Peace over the past decade, we have worked with educators, veterans, community leaders, former gang members, and members of law enforcement using dialogue, breathwork, and meditation practices.

The goal is always the same: to help individuals breathe, to heal and discover the compassion in the heart to see one another as human beings again.

Before this chapter of my life, I spent nearly two decades at Shell in various engineering and innovation roles. On paper, many of us were successful. However, in 2002,  while working on a petroleum assignment in Niger Delta, I was exposed to a mob attack. In the several months that followed, I had struggled to sleep and be normal. That had left me feeling that technical competence alone wasn't enough to be successful in life. A friend had recommended attending the Art of Living workshop and it benefited me tremendously. I was able to sleep better. I had not registered to attend the workshop to gain enlightenment.

I was simply looking to get a good night sleep. The impact of the breath and meditation practices was real and practical. After just a few months of regular practice, I had started to feel calmer, clearer and more grounded.

Years later, I produced the documentary From India With Love, about six victims of violence from across America who embarked on a transformational journey to India, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had also visited India to study nonviolence. The common denominator that binds them in this story is their unique exposure to violence and their desire to reinvigorate the conversation about nonviolence in America. The group included: a single mother whose son was brutally murdered in a tragic school shooting (Sandy Hook) and her best friend, a former gang member (Los Angeles), an educator (New Jersey), a social entrepreneur, and a music scholar (both Black Lives Matter activists from Oakland).

That film has since inspired thousands of Americans to discover how yoga and meditation practices can help in experiencing peace within and adopt ‘nonviolence’ or ‘Ahimsa’ as a way of life. The film has been used as a resource in schools, colleges and by community organizers as a resource for sparking conversations on wellbeing, compassion and cohesion.

As International Day of Yoga approaches, I often wonder if we have reduced yoga to stretching, fitness, and lifestyle branding while missing its deeper value.

India’s ancient traditions were never only about the body. They were about how to remain balanced and compassionate in difficult moments. That feels especially relevant today.

Today, America is boiling in division, polarization and mistrust. The business models of social media reward outrage. Fear travels faster than understanding. Many are feeling helpless watching individuals and communities become more divided.

But we do not have to remain bystanders. Rather we must not remain bystanders. Our resources below can act as a catalyst for you to spark conversations on wellbeing, compassion and cohesion.

• You can host a screening of our documentary film in your home and discuss mental wellbeing in your family.

• You can attend our SKY Breath Meditation workshop. You can host such a workshop for your community.

• You can host our educational module for the teachers of your own child’s school, church, community organization or workplace.

I think rebuilding trust in America will not begin in Washington DC.

It will begin much closer to home — in schools, neighborhoods, community centers, and ordinary conversations where people slow down enough to truly hear one another again.

The real promise of yoga may begin when we move beyond the mat and into becoming agents of change in the healing of our communities.

On this International Day of Yoga, let our work inspire you to be part of the solution and #BeTheChange.

The writer is the executive director of Cities4Peace

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of New India Abroad.)

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