Just Me: The Kratik Malhotra Blog

Venerated, resolute, an exceptional cyclist, a regular at XTERRA European Championship, an art of living devotee and one of the most down to earth sportsmen that I have ever come across, Nico Pfitzenmaier spoke to almost a hundred youths and gave them a delightful time during the Art of Living YES!+ Summer Magic 2010 program at the International Centre of the Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore on June 30, 2010.

Although, the conversation with Nico turned out to be quite equivocal, it proved to be one which served to bolster the ideas of various youths present. Nico started his talk emphasizing nutrition as the key factor and was quick to realize the problems affecting the youths with respect to their eating habits. He being a vegetarian himself, talked about the need of eating fresh vegetables and preparing a diet which is free from sweets and chocolates, especially for ones, who are intransigent towards sweets. He was firm in his speech and said, “Stay away from bread and eat highly nutritive food because nutrition affects 70% of the body energy.” It was an inspiring message right down from probity from a sportsman, who even at the age of 39 was fit and competing at the highest level in world sport.

When asked about aggression and violent behavior, Nico said, “You can’t be aggressive in your appearance but being aggressive in the performance you put up is decent.”

Talking about his experience after the Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful breathing technique that energizes you, he said “After the Sudarshan Kriya, when I got on my bike, I felt absolutely fresh. I had to ride for eight days and it enabled me to cover a distance of 140 kms. If you can feel mentally and physically strong ever single day, it’s really awesome!”

According to the expert cyclist, “Kriya” has helped him to breathe through better and pump more air into his lungs which has helped him to improve his stamina. He went on to corroborate its influence by regarding the breathing technique as his inspiration and wants every sporting personality to undergo the practice.

Nico was quick to underline the importance of spirituality in the lives of sports personnel, who according to him would ameliorate from this knowledge. He reiterated saying, “Some of the players, especially football players, get overpaid but somewhere deep down they are still empty. They might be able to afford anything but they are not centered enough. Spirituality makes that happen.”

Well, the talk with Nico was another Summer Magic highlight and the one from which a bunch of people (including me) got a chance to learn a lot in terms of what it takes to compete at the highest level.