It's Fehu now for fitness

THE CHIRON Health Centre, informs it's founder-instructor George T. Kuriyan, is not a place where you are going to find ``chromium and steel fixtures for fitness". Tucked away in a quiet Rutland Gate by lane, off the upmarket Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Kuriyan imparts his healthy living techniques from the peaceful confines of his old-worldly home.

A serious-looking young man who has devoted much of his life to spiritual pursuits, Kuriyan holds a diploma in acupuncture as well. His interest in the search for a greater truth stems from his years of training in the warrior arts — he is an exponent of Thekkan (Southern) Kalaripayittu, the little-known martial form of Tamil Nadu (as opposed to Kerala), presented as the dancing poetry of a fighter. Says Kuriyan, ``the place of performance is sacred, the guru is deified and considered an embodiment of the art. The whole warrior art tradition aims at perfecting the human being."

To this end Kuriyan has spent years understanding alternative systems such as spiritual healing, Tai-chi (literally translated as the ``supreme ultimate fist"), acupuncture (which uses needles in therapy) and accupressure (where the same effect is achieved with bare hands). He is also a noted Reiki master and contributes occasionally to leading newspapers besides delivering lectures (like the recently concluded one on ``The Tao of Excellence'' at the Landmark Bookstore).

The Chiron Health Centre does not advertise and prefers word-by- mouth publicity which "will come on it's own". It is named so after the half-horse, half-man in Greek mythology, revered as a teacher of healing.

Kuriyan himself believes that "a true teacher is an eternal student". He has recently begun conducting classes in the time- honoured Fehu Initiations. He explains that they aim at "mentally and physically reaching a state of supreme self-satisfaction where you feel no fears and are at peace with yourself. A Fehu Initiation intends to help a person with a need, to achieve it in a manner that makes him autonomous. It is an outlook different from technique-oriented escapism and seeks to address the problem, not just the symptom."

A Fehu Initiation centres around the oriental concept of "chi" or the energy of the life force which flows around us and influences our lives. The Initiation is aimed at achieving optimum balance between the self and the environment, with the keyword being balance. It works with two basic elements — the divine and the desirable. Fehu Initiations, explains Kuriyan, "channels the divine to manifest the desire. It's about the ability to feel interconnected to all things at all levels in all dimensions, leading to the overall goal of inner peace and contentment."

The Chiron Health Centre's pioneering programme is essentially a self-help one. The individual is geared to empower himself or herself by paying attention to his/her spiritual, physical and psychic qualities. Unlike other motivational programmes, which depend on substantial supervision by gurus or teachers, the Fehu Initiation seeks to encourage the individual to take charge of his or her development. It also does not follow any rigid agenda and adapts to the needs of the individual on a one-to-one basis. Fehu can be loosely translated to mean`` creative potential for abundance."

Kuriyan says, "The Fehu Initiation is about you as a person, your limitations and your abilities. You are not required to submit to my tyranny as your guru or master.

The agenda would be decided by the requirements of the practitioner. The key question is: `What do you need?' You are initiated into being a person who creates and turns his immediate environment into one full of opportunities that satisfy you. If there is a way for you, a Fehu Initiation seeks to equip you with the tools to walk that way, guided by a higher, inner wisdom, with no bondage to me. It is an alternative to abdicating your inner wisdom in favour of that of another human being and letting someone else tell you what is good for you. As we all know, Swami is one who is a master of himself."

The Chiron Health Centre can be contacted at 8232272.

LALITHA SRIDHAR

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