Workshop on ‘Art of Living’

Rawalpindi :The Department of Sociology, in collaboration with Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC)-FJWU, and Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) has organized a four days workshop on ‘The Art of Living’ with the underlying theme: ‘Everything under the Sun you need to know to be ‘Happy.’

Aneeqa Ansari, Lecturer Department of Sociology took the initiative to plan this workshop by inviting three resource persons namely: Shahnaz Minallah, Dr. Adeela Rehman, and Ms. Saira Batool. Dr. Sarwet Rasul, Faculty Advisor for Arts and Social Sciences was the chief guest of the opening ceremony. She appreciated the idea of conducting a workshop on ‘The Art of Living’. She said that one does not only need to put effort for the professional life and material gains, but also in terms of gaining peace of mind, composure, and mindfulness. We need to consume our energies to stay connected to our roots as a human beings, and this will have a long lasting impact not only on our personal and but professional lives, she added.

The first three days of the workshop sessions were conducted by Shahnaz Minallah, a trainer, and a life coach of mindfulness and self-mastery. Session were full of energy, enthusiasm, and dedication and they made the participants learn Yoga, meditation, sufi chants, breathing exercises, nostril exercises, and the techniques for purifying mind and soul from negative thoughts, and building up positive energies. Dr. Adeela Rehman, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, taught the techniques of managing social stress. She emphasized on developing positive thoughts and positive social relationship between one another by managing social stress.

Saira Batool, lecturer, Department of Sociology, Islamic International University delivered a lecture on ‘Social Construction of Happiness’ and beautifully illustrated many facets of happiness that society creates and imposes on an individual. While addressing the closing ceremony Kausar Abbass, Executive Director SSDO, motivated the youth for positive social development by sharing his own struggles and accomplishments. He invited FJWU for more collaborations in the future for the promotion of sustainable social development by involving university graduates to play their role in the progression of not only the society, but the nation as a whole. At the end, Dr. Adeela Rehman thanked SSDO for sponsoring the event and collaborating with the department. She also referred to the up-coming events in which she mentioned her willingness to collaborate with SSDO. Certificate were distributed among the participants of the workshop.