The Dru Story

In the early 1990s, four of the team members—John, Rita, Anita, and Andrew—embarked on an ambitious journey, touring 40 countries in 18 months. They conducted seminars and interviewed pioneers of peace, spirituality, and environmentalism. Their experiments demonstrated that Dru Yoga techniques could help heal stressed and traumatized individuals, regardless of their circumstances. From aid workers in Uganda to executives in Manhattan, Rwandan refugees in Nairobi to cancer sufferers in Hong Kong, the results were consistently impressive.

The effectiveness of their approach soon led to invitations to war and conflict zones, where they trained refugee leaders in techniques that combined movement, meditation, breath, and visualization to transform emotional trauma. This unique blend of heart-based movements and therapeutic programs spread throughout the North Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Kenya, South Sudan, Northern Ireland, Bangladesh, Uganda, and Nepal. At one point, nearly 60 of Nepal’s 77 administrative regions had Dru programs.

However, by the early 2000s, the work began to pose significant dangers, including a near kidnapping in Africa and team members contracting tropical diseases. A key teaching from Chagganbhai and Ecchaben was the importance of clarity of purpose. Consequently, the team re-evaluated their efforts. They realized that their work in conflict zones could not address the root causes of these problems, which were often linked to attitudes and politics in the West. Thus, they decided to focus on transforming the consciousness of Western society by training Dru teachers.