In a freewheeling style laced with with and humour, Swami Parthasarathy narrated real life anecdotes and incidents to drive home the message of stress free living. ``Plants have only a body, while animals have body and mind; but humans are fortunate to have a body, mind as well as intellect. Hence man can think and analyse the cause of stress in his body and act appropriately,'' he lectured.

Chasing a future goal without concentrating on present actions causes stress, he cautioned. ``There have been so many instances wherein a batsman plays brilliantly, but becomes nervous whileapproaching a century. This happens due to unwanted stress that can be avoided by self analysis and concentrating only on the next ball to be delivered,'' he explained.

He further gave the example of tennis player Ivan Lendl who could win every other Grand Slam tournament save for the Wimbledon. ``Because Lendl was always thinking of his past failures on the Wimbledon centre court, he would get stressed up and therefore fail, in spite of being the best player in the world,'' remarked Parthasarthy. Humour, he said, also makes for a great anti-stress buster.

Swami Parthasarthy has devoted over 40 years to study Vedanta and its practical applications. The Vedanta Academy, situated 108 kilometres from Mumbai at Malavli, conducts three-year residential course on the ancient philosophy.