Swadharma Impact Study Findings 3: Outer Manifestation

This post is a part of the reporting of findings from the Swadharma Impact Study. Read the 1st post of the series for context.

Findings

The findings have been distributed in 4 sections:

1. Snapshot
2. Inner Discovery
3. Outer Manifestation
4. Community

The general format of the presentation of findings is the finding followed by insight or significance if any. This post consists of the outer manifestation section.

Outer Manifestation

1. Divergence in field of work
2. Helpful practices developed through Swadharma
3. Dropping of unhelpful practices
4. Challenges in transitioning learnings

Photo by Fleur on Unsplash

Divergence in field of work

While it’s not easy to leave the comfort of a settled job, many participants already exhibit a great amount of courage who choose to take up a programme like Swadharma. This is a very important parameter of evaluation since roughly 1 in 2 participants come looking for the next steps in life, seeking to find their passion, gaining perspective, clarity, purpose, and meaning in life.

It is encouraging to see the number of divergences and overall satisfaction levels in the field of work plus the spirit of exploration and the emergence of clarity for the participants in the long run (table below). The results are well aligned with the motto of Swadharma, and validation to its approach of helping the learner connect with their inner guide which triggers a life long journey and several shifts in the outer life.

We went a step further and asked the participants about the changes in their approach to work. Here are a few recurring responses we received: dealing with failure better, looking for value alignment in work, more confidence, listening to myself, greater clarity, perspective, creativity, patience, more organised, authenticity, work as offering, and many more.

Quoting some of the responses received to share insight on the unique and subtle ways Swadharma has impacted the lives of the participants.

There’s definitely a huge divergence. Swadharma and the exposure I got in Auroville opened a world of new possibilities for me. It also gave me the confidence to explore my interest in Ecology and the Natural World. I feel like Swadharma was a door for me: from one world to another.

I think Swadharma encouraged me to be able to pursue music on a non-traditional path that was unique to me. I was doing music before but did not have an idea on how I wanted to further pursue it.

I have definitely diversified my fields of interest after Swadharma and also got a newfound interest in my original field of study.

There is a partial divergence, I have decided to pursue my previous field of work, but still continue to work on my new found interest along with it. I have taken this path as I need to sustain myself financially while I continue to work for my interests.

I guess my journey was a bit more circular than divergent. I always knew what I wanted to do but I got lost on the way and swadharma (and especially my time in Auroville) helped me find my path again.

Yes, totally! After Swadharma I did feel a bit lost; maybe because in reality, things are not as easy as they are in one’s head. But eventually, I made up my mind, and with the support of my loved ones I was able to explore my new passions.

Swadharma instilled in me a great learning and process which is to be the extension of your own work or visa versa. This helps me work on myself as a person also. Earlier I would have kept work and self different.

Helpful practices developed through Swadharma

Swadharma in the context of Auroville offers a unique environment that naturally encourages healthy behaviors and practices. But the challenge is transitioning them after the programme when the participants are on their own, back to the context they came from, without the active and immersive community support.

Therefore, we lay a lot of emphasis on habit building as understanding habit-building enables long term changes and can act as an anchor through the ups and downs of the journey. Practices people think they pick from Swadharma:

Dropping unhelpful practices

The underlying idea is to create a space to become more conscious and self-aware, and a natural byproduct is dropping what’s unhelpful (at least a part of it). Through the course of the programme we touch on a wide range of the psychological spectrum spanning physical, emotional, and mental aspects, and take the participants through the degeneration and regeneration of these. Our approach is not labeling this or that as bad, but helping cultivate a self-awareness that provides the strength and clarity on what an individual needs at a given point in time and what is not serving them, those things can be let go of. What are the things keeping them from the version of themselves they would like to be? It’s not a forceful deletion but a letting go from a place of deeper self-knowing. This is also aided by the habit-building module. A healthy environment, supportive community, nature, reflection, activities, mentor support, etc. support this process for the learners. Below is a tally of the responses.

Challenges in transitioning learnings

The following are some of the challenges reported by the respondents in transitioning learnings from Swadharma into their lives post programme.

This is useful info for the programme team as it helps us in 2 ways, one, validation that the space being created at Swadharma in Auroville is highly conducive for growth, and two, to lay greater focus on community building aspects post programme. We already had some initiatives in this regard and have strengthened our efforts with community-building activities so that support can be harnessed from within the community without strong dependence on the programme team. It is also not a surprise to see the responses, as training the faculty of will is one of the longest and most challenging parts of the journey of transformation. We are invested in helping create long term shifts in the lives of our participants and plan to continue providing the necessary support. Some of the responses received are as follows:

I think the biggest challenge has been self-discipline and to have to do it alone. Also, the fact that there is not much guidance so at times you don’t know how to go about things.

It’s still hard because most people around me (family and friends) do not have the same or similar values as me. But as changes go, mine was slow- I’ve been taking time (about 6 months now) to incorporate lifestyle changes so friends and family are slowly coming around.

Since a large part of daily life involves a whole bunch of people, it’s been very hard to show them a new way of doing things — for example, I have tried to incorporate more sustainable practices at my house, but my flatmate doesn’t put in the same kind of effort (I do have plans of moving out!).

As a lot of us said, it has been impossible to explain Swadharma to people, especially when speaking to close friends or relatives who might actually benefit from the experience.

Consistency and discipline in following my passion and taking action.

We probed a bit further to understand what obstacles do the participants face in maintaining regularity. Following are the responses received:

These insights would help us prepare the future batches better in terms of the challenges they might face and share some tools to improve readiness to respond to these obstacles.

In the upcoming post of the series, we will talk about the community section from the study consisting of insights such as how many people recommended the programme further, if people have been keeping in touch, and more.