"I was going through a point where I wasn't happy. I was looking to outside things to make me happy, and nothing was working. I guess you could call it a mid-life crisis," she explains. "I had so many things to be happy about, but I wasn't happy."

Finally, Shukla decided to try one last thing.

Her life hasn't been the same since.

"Slowly, gradually, I noticed a change in myself," Shukla says, looking back. "I got more relaxed. And apart from reducing stress, it gave me a lot more energy, focus and happiness. It's just a huge blessing that came into my life."

What's this Saratoga resident's secret? The Art of Living.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born in Papanasam, India, and studied with many renowned spiritual masters, becoming a scholar of Vedic literature and earning a master's degree in advanced physics. He founded the Art of Living Foundation in 1982, and since, his philosophies and teachings have spread to more than 140 countries worldwide. Shankar wanted to give people the world over a way to return to joyous, peaceful living, regardless of one's culture, background or religion.

"We identify ourselves as being somebody—I belong to this religion, this culture, this tradition. But we forget the basic identity that we are human beings. When that stands first and foremost, all other identities follow behind that. Then, I think we can achieve what we are really looking for," says a quote by Shankar on the Art of Living Foundation's website.

Today, the AOLF hosts courses with two different programs. The first, which is the core of the program, centers around a three-step breathing technique Shankar designed known as sudarshan kriya.

Art of Living teacher Denise Marcus says the course in sudarshan kriya teaches several breathing techniques, all geared toward centering the person, reducing stress, detoxing the brain, bringing the person to a higher level of energy and ridding all negative energy. She says while a few of the different, calming breathing techniques are widely known, sudarshan kriya is unique to the AOLF.

"Kriya means 'purifying action,' " says Marcus. "Sudarshan kriya is a purifying action that brings you to your true self—a self that is centered, not stressed. The whole course is about learning how to manage emotions and think in a way that produces less stress."

Marcus says the course fosters an understanding of how the breath is linked to emotions. "All emotions are linked to breath—when we're angry, we breathe a certain way; when we're sad, we sigh [and so forth]. This breaks the link between the negative emotions we bring on and the way we breathe. So there is a knowledge component—how to think in a way to produce less stress—and a physical component, the breathing."

The second part of the program teaches a more advanced, full mediation called sahaj samadhi, which she says is "an effortless meditation in which you learn how to go very deep [into yourself] and reduce stress that way. It takes the metabolic rate to a very deep level."

Marcus says these practices can work miracles in a person's life.

"The combination of breath and meditation and the points we talk about in the course make it an effective course to teach people how to live, and enjoy life more, she says. "And scientific research has shown that practicing the techniques on a regular basis is as effective as medication."

After taking the Art of Living course, people can begin practicing the breathing and meditation in their everyday lives.

Shukla takes that one step further—she opens her Saratoga home on Tuesday evenings to host Art of Living sessions with fellow practitioners.

"I love opening my home every week," she says. "We have a great, diverse group of people [that come regularly] that transcends any faith or religion."

Shukla says that in the weekly meetings, which are called satsang, the attendees participate in a long, intense session of sudarshan kriya together, and socialize.

"We get together and practice our breathing and have refreshments. Through Art of Living, you instantly make these great friendships; it's so easy," she says.

In addition to curing her depression and helping her to live a happier, more relaxed life, Shukla, who has been practicing for around four years, says the breathing and meditations are also an amazing anti-aging beauty secret.

"Honestly, when you are stressed, it shows on your face," she explains. "You can try to cover it up with makeup or whatever, but it shows through. But with [the Art of Living], it calms you and improves your outlook, and it shows."

Shukla says her oldest child is 20, and no one would ever know it.

"They ask me what my secret is, and I say Art of Living," she says.

Shukla says she also believes that it can help cure addictions such as smoking or alcohol.

"Addictions start slipping away," she says. "At social gatherings, I would always have to have a drink of wine or two; I would just have to have it. Now I don't feel the need anymore, and actually, I can't even stand it."

She says the negative people in her life also slipped away.

"All sorts of negative people started dropping out of my life. I think I just started attracting positive people like a magnet," she says.

The second facet of the AOLF is its sister organization, also founded by Shankar, The International Association of Human Values.

IAHV performs volunteer services to aid underprivileged villages around the world, and provides free Art of Living courses to patients with HIV, breast cancer and other illnesses and those with low income. It also provides courses for corporations and prisons.

"When you live a happy life, you just feel like giving back," says Art Of Living volunteer and Saratoga resident Johanna Chu.

Chu can also speak from personal experience when it comes to how dramatically the Art of Living can improve someone's life—she used to suffer from intense depression, stress and anxiety.

She says she considered a combination of anti-depressants and therapy, but was wary of the medications' possible side effects. So, she kept searching for a more natural remedy.

In her sophomore year at UC-Santa Cruz, Chu decided to try an Art of Living course.

"It was very obvious from the first day, and throughout the course—I really felt like a huge burden from my shoulders had been lifted. I'm much more lighter as a human and much more carefree and not as worried now, and my depression and anxiety is gone," she says. "My relationships with people are much better, I don't fight with my parents anymore, and I get along with people around me. I make friends much more easily. It's really a gift, this breathing practice."

Chu is now a local volunteer for the AOLF and is a teacher in training. She helps organize courses and fundraisers. She says its important to know that the cost of the course benefits IAHV's efforts and covers costs of putting on the courses, 100 percent, and that interested people can make payment plans and even post-date checks.

Chu, a graduate of Saratoga High School, says she is currently in talks with the school's staff about providing courses for the students, staff, PTA members and local residents on the school's campus.

Visit www.artofliving.org for general information, and www.artoflivingsfba.org for courses and information specific to the Bay Area.