MYC’s Game-Changer Movement
“We have been selfishly taking from the earth much more than we have given back, yet we have been complaining too. Just think for a moment, what have we given back to the world? If you have done nothing for the children of Mother Earth as yet, it is time. It is high time. This is indeed a wake-up call.” –Mohanji
The Awakening Times (TAT): Can you briefly overview Mohanji Youth Club (MYC) and its mission to empower youth globally?
Mohanji Youth Club (MYC): We are a Global network of youth from across the world. It began as a WhatsApp community on June 6, 2016, inspired and led by our Founder Mohanji’s teachings of kindness, compassion, non-violence, and self-acceptance. The fundamental purpose of Mohanji Youth Club or MYC is the empowerment and stability of the youth, primarily through the practice of self-acceptance and by engaging in acts of kindness and selflessness. Our motto is simple: ‘Do good. Be good’ – we want to show the world how powerful it is when the youth unite for goodness. We aim to empower and inspire the youth to lead authentic, positive, and purpose-driven lives. We are essentially a social responsibility club, united by purpose, seeking to foster a global family of youth.
By expressing our uniqueness, our authenticity, we explore and exhibit our full potential, beyond the limitations of the mind. By becoming cognizant of our responsibility towards the world we inhabit and towards all its beings. As well as by selflessly adding value wherever we can, we envision a boundless world of love, respect and kindness, and contribute towards the peaceful co-existence of all beings and species. Thereby, we have an effective existence as youth leaders driving impactful change in the world today.
MYC welcomes applications from all youth across the globe and operates beyond the boundaries of caste, creed, race, colour, culture, country, language, gender or religion.
TAT: In how many countries does MYC currently have active members, and how do you foster collaboration across such diverse regions?
MYC: Presently, MYC has active members from 18 countries across 4 continents, including countries from the Balkans – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of North Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia, India, Middle East countries – Iran and Syria, Malta, The Netherlands, South Africa, United States of America, United Kingdom – primarily from England, Wales and Scotland, and most recently, Turkey, Canada and Georgia. Apart from these, we have also received applications from youth in 9 other countries namely – Australia, Brazil, Estonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.
This just goes on to prove that there are people across the globe that resonate with the message of kindness, compassion, non-violence, authenticity, stability, and selflessness. Our purpose unites us, the love and support underlying the very ethos of MYC family helps form the bridge and connects us together. Unique thoughts, unique skills, unique individuals, but as Mohanji says, ‘the same heart beats within us’.
Although, to be frank, sometimes we are also aided by chatgpt which matches our availability across time zones and helps to suggest the best time for a meeting! 😉
TAT: What are some of the significant projects or initiatives MYC has worked on, and how do these align with your mission of youth empowerment?
MYC: There are several projects and initiatives that MYC launches such as workshops for raising awareness and skill development, youth empowerment boot camps, youth festivals and excursions, as well as selfless actions. For instance, MYC offers sessions like ‘Language Lounge’ wherein members from different countries share the gift of their language and culture with others. We learn greetings, hear folk stories, and enjoy some folk music and poetry too. Our last two Language Lounges were in Farsi and Italian. We hope to have our next language lounge in Hindi. We also organize regular dance sessions for our youth to learn various dance forms like Reggaeton, Ballet, Garba, etc. Youth also experience various transformative processes offered by Mohanji Foundation like Conscious Walking and Conscious Dancing.
Presently, we are having workshops to learn counseling skills, titled ‘Listen with heart: Counseling Skills 101’. As the world continues to grapple with mental health concerns, we believed it was time to equip ourselves with the necessary skills to assist and uplift our fellow youth. We, therefore, sought support from qualified psychologists aiming to impart relevant skills to the youth, thereby enabling them to be better friends – more empathetic and compassionate to the oft-unseen troubles that besiege our minds.
We also organize sessions like the ‘Youth Yoga Tribe’ where we learn from the ancient traditions of Yoga in association with the Himalayan School of Traditional Yoga, we have sessions where participants engage in the transformative process of EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique that enables the youth to release their suppressed emotions in a safe environment by tapping specific points on the body and acknowledging their feelings. In a similar vein, MYC Circle also allows members to gather together and share their thoughts and feelings in a safe and non-judgmental space. MYC Connect offers youth the opportunity to meet new people from across the world, this is also facilitated during excursions where youth travel together and especially during the Festival of Youth. Festival of Youth was recently organized at Obrenovac, in Serbia.
At MYC, we also engage with Mohanji’s transformative teachings through exclusive sessions with Mohanji, where he candidly answers all our questions. During Pages & Pals, our book-reading session and Insight Hour, we deeply engage with Mohanji’s teachings through rich conversations, sharing our experiences and trying to practically include them in our lives. For instance, through initiatives like the ‘31-days of Gratitude’ which was held in October 2024, to incorporate gratefulness in our hearts and lives throughout the month.
We also engage in several selfless activities such as fruit tree plantation drives, blood donation drives, regular food donation drives which we call the ‘21-day Feeding Challenge’. In our last two feeding challenges, members from 9 countries collaborated in feeding a total of 1779 beings! In addition to that, we also conduct various sessions for underprivileged children in India at Mohanji ka Aangan, teaching them all kinds of things like music workshops, robot-making workshops, disaster awareness sessions, empowering stories, art and craft sessions, health awareness workshops etc. These sessions are an amazing way for the youth to experience the joys of sharing their knowledge and skills with children. We also participate in book and stationery donation drives for these children. In Croatia, our volunteers regularly conduct empowering sessions for specially-abled individuals.
Engaging in skill-development workshops and sessions aimed at promoting personal growth and wellbeing really boosts their self-esteem and confidence. In addition to that, participating in selfless activities allow the youth to experience deep satisfaction and inner richness that comes from sharing what they have in abundance.
TAT: What inspired the idea of the “No Complaints Movement,” and why was December chosen for this initiative?
MYC: People usually tend to grumble, whine, carp, cavil, or gripe when faced with uncomfortable situations, in an obvious bid to “feel better”. However, what usually happens is that this temporary and elusive need to “feel better” by venting negative emotions, actually ends up making us and even others feel worse. It also breeds discontent, spreads negativity, and leads to further dissatisfaction. Mohanji has often spoken about the harmful repercussions of habitual complaining. He explains how the very act of complaining diminishes us, reduces our frequency, and even takes away our initiative to improve. He emphatically states, “Complaining is anti-productive and hazardous to progress and success in life.” Furthermore, complaining also “easily slips into escapism”, thereby affecting our self-esteem.
The “No Complaints Movement” is a powerful game changer. It invites individuals to participate in a monthly challenge, where they do not consciously complain about anything at all. No complaining means accepting whatever happens in our life and working a way around it calmly. It also means no blaming.
As the year 2024 draws to a close and the shifting winds of 2025 beckon, we realize there is no better way to welcome a new year than by embarking on it as a more confident and effective version of ourselves. And so, December 2024 – No Complaints Movement. Bring it on!
TAT: Is this initiative exclusively for youth, or others can participate? How do you encourage intergenerational involvement?
MYC: While our primary focus would be on young people, we invite anyone who resonates with the message to join us. 🙂
We believe that by bearing witness to our transformation, and by sharing our own true experience, we might inspire others to participate as well, whether they are children, youth, adults or even the elderly!
TAT: What are some practical tips or recommendations you would give to someone embarking on a complaint-free month?
MYC: When tempers run high, or you are troubled and feel the need to complain rising, pause. A moment is all you need to redirect your attention. The very second you become aware that you are complaining or want to complain, the intensity of the situation would wane a little or decrease enough for you to choose differently. Think strategically or channel your inner Chess Grandmaster. What can you do to turn this situation around? Believe in yourself and maybe seek the road less traveled. Perhaps, as Robert Frost said, that will make all the difference!
TAT: Complaining often feels like a natural reaction to difficulties. What strategies does MYC suggest to help individuals transform complaints into constructive actions or gratitude?
MYC: Candid conversations might help. Expressing how you feel in a respectful, compassionate way would go a long way. Consider challenging situations like a game or a puzzle to solve. Explore out-of-the-box solutions to achieve your goals. This would not only create a positive, empowering atmosphere but would also increase your confidence and self-worth. Gratitude would definitely help you be more grounded and stable, even one small moment of gratitude would help to shift your perspective.
TAT: What role do gratitude, self-awareness, and self-reflection play in succeeding during “No Complaint Month”?
MYC: Indeed, the key components of the movement are being self-aware and reflecting on our experiences – How did the day go? Did we complain? What changed when we chose to stop complaining? Could we transform the situation into something positive? How did it affect us and the people around us? We will also engage in thought exercises aiming to understand why we complain, whether it is habitual, or triggered by an event or a person, and how it makes us feel.
Gratitude, as we experienced during “31 days of Gratitude” in October, 2024 is another incredibly powerful tool that allows you to shift fairly quickly to a more positive mindset. It brings forth that silver lining in each cloud and contributes to increased self-worth and self-esteem. Mohanji explains it thus:
“Have deep gratitude for all that you have. Ungrateful attitude is the biggest curse that you can inflict on yourself. Those who complain about what they do not have ignoring all that they have been blessed with are truly poor at heart. Their poverty consciousness never gives them any kind of satisfaction out of their life. This is the real misfortune of life. Nothing else is so bad.”
Hence, self-awareness, self-reflection and gratitude would be pivotal in ensuring success during the “No Complaints Movement”.
TAT: How does MYC’s work, including the “No Complaint Month,” contribute to fostering global youth leadership and creating empowered communities?
MYC: Through initiatives such as “31 Days of Gratitude” and “No Complaints Movement”, we intend to enable the youth to become more effective and stable in their lives. Such initiatives boost the self-esteem and confidence of young people across the world. They also enable them to become better human beings and therefore, better youth leaders, contributing positively in their own communities to empower others.
TAT: Are there any personal stories or testimonials from MYC members that stand out to you as particularly inspiring?
MYC: Recently, one of our active volunteers shared her real experience with “31 days of Gratitude”. She shared that consciously practicing gratitude over the past months brought a remarkable change within her. She started deeply appreciating all the things that we usually take for granted. This helped her feel the abundance of blessings that she was experiencing. What truly touched us, was when she shared that merely acknowledging her blessings would sometimes bring tears to her eyes and fill her heart with immense love and warmth that she was so well taken care of.
TAT: What ripple effects do you hope to have from this initiative—within families, communities, or workplaces?
MYC: We intend to use our own experiences to transform and inspire others. Each week, we will invite members to talk about their struggles, the challenges they faced, the epiphanies they had, the transformation they brought to their own lives, and how it created ripples of change around them. We will explore whether we can utilize humor and joke our way around uncomfortable situations. Or whether being compassionate and attempting to understand other perspectives would help us more. Some of us may also choose to set up a ‘complaint jar’, putting in a coin each time we slip and setting it aside for our Christmas donation fund.
Most assuredly, this will create a ‘butterfly effect’, especially in the lives of people we directly interact with and perhaps, it may also have an indirect impact on people who are mere observers. We believe that only when we change, our world changes. So, whether it is within our family, our community or our workplace, one small change may be just the spark they need.
TAT: What final message would you like to share with the readers of The Awakening Times who may be considering joining the “No Complaint Month”?
MYC: The “No Complaints Movement” is a journey we will all walk together, where we may fall, but will surely rise with the support of each other. To all our dear friends and readers of The Awakening Times, we leave you with this food for thought, in the words of Mohanji –
“Look back before you start to complain. Think where you were before. Remember where you started from. Remember your beginning before you complain about the place you have arrived at. You brought yourself here traveling through time. Appreciate. Be grateful. Express gratitude.”
