XLRI offers Himalayan retreat

Xavier Labour Relation Institute (XLRI) has launched Karmic Lounge, a 10-day programme for personal growth and inner reflection in the Himalayas. The programme would begin from October 2004.

XLRI was set up by Jesuits, a movement which encourages followers to shift to a monastery for a few weeks each year to cleanse the soul. The latest XLRI course would give senior managers a chance to spend 10 days in the Himalayas.

Guided by a psychologist, the programme would offer a chance to re-discover inner values and personal visions.

"In everybody's life there comes a time to pause and take stock, a time for reflection and inner search. As a psychologist, I am convinced that everyone needs a periodic realignment of life's choices with own inner convictions and values," says XLRI professor and coordinator, organizational behaviour, Mathai Baker Fenn.

"After years of work one gets world-weary. Most decisions are based on values and who you are rather than pragmatic and operational issues, and come from inner reflections," he added.

The programme, in association with Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TASF), seeks to provide a retreat. "The sooner you tap into your inner resources, the more productive you become," Fenn said.

"This follows the same concept of pilgrimage that is a tradition in India and the Himalayas have always been a source of inspiration and retreat since the ages."

Participants will be taken through graded self-discovery exercises that involve group work, meditation and psychoanalytic techniques.

The first three days would disengage the participants from daily life. On the actual trek, nobody would talk and instead connect with self and environment. "Self doubt would vanish once the sense of being a part of a bigger thing sets in," said Fenn.