Insight > How I Am Learning To Be

This post was literally born out of an understanding that I don't need to write a blog post.

I feel extremely lucky to be paid to do what I love to do. As a lifestyle journalist and blogger, there's never enough time to execute all the ideas that I have for my blogs or magazines or even forthcoming books {everyone has at least one book inside themselves!}.

Since my work stems from my passion for writing I feel a constant compulsion to work.

And since I write on food, travel and lifestyle, my mind is ticking ALL the time. When I am enjoying a good meal I am wondering if I should write a blog on the restaurant, when I am travelling to a nice place I'm wondering how can I share the same experience with my readers. Should I pitch a story to a luxury travel magazine or to a women's magazine sharing tips on how to make an exotic location suit their tots...

Yes, I have two little tots of my own. And I love being an involved mom, from knowing how their school day went to driving them around to organising {and cooking} healthy, delicious meals, my days are packed.

And then of course, there's the very important aspect of my spiritual practice that keeps my body and mind not only healthy but centred and constantly evolving. After all, life has a far deeper purpose than mundane {even though happy} existence. A daily routine is extremely important when it comes to spiritual matters. From my morning chants to remembering to express gratitude for my wonderful life, there are many things that I'd like to do everyday.

Armed with to do lists {thank heavens for the fabulous apps that help me tick things off} and various notepads in which I jot down ideas {they do come from somewhere outside of me, and I mustn't ignore them} I try to make the most of each day.

Only until a few days ago when my laptop stopped working {I don't even want to mention the word 'crashed'}. At first there was panic and I thought my life had come to a standstill - thankfully there were no looming deadlines but all my to do lists, notes, ideas for forthcoming books etc were all on the laptop, but then there was a sense of freedom. There was literally some free space in my being that showed that it's ok. While I am trying to make the most of my life one day at a time, and will continue to do so, it is ok for me to slow down and let things be. A few days' break from constant thinking is not going to block ideas from coming to me. I will write articles or story ideas when I do, but I needn't think about all that I can possibly write about all the time. As the cliche goes, it is ok for me to stop and smell the roses. Because in the larger picture, all is ok, all is well and all is exactly how it's meant to be. If only I can stop the non-stop chatter of the mind and concentrate on doing what I'm doing when I'm doing it, I will be present, and centred

And here I incorporate another to do in my daily routine: sharing my thoughts with you everyday, as they come to me, as I feel them and as I continue making the most of each day.

Insight > Live Your Greatest Life

If you had Aladdin’s lamp, what would be the three wishes that you’d ask for? And if I told you that the same wishes can be granted to you even without having the magic lamp, and you needn’t limit yourself to only three of them, then what would you ask for? No, I’m not wasting your time by talking about fairytales. I am introducing you to the world of affirmations – the art of fulfilling your deepest desires by using the power of your mind. When I first heard of this concept, almost a decade ago, I loved the idea of getting whatever I wished for, but wasn’t quite sure if it would work. Or rather, I wasn’t sure if it would work without any voodoo or black magic. I only took it up as an experiment and till date I am creating my life exactly the way I want, step-by-step and day-by-day. 

Here’s how to do it. The first step is to coin an affirmation of whatever you want to manifest in your life. An affirmation is a positive statement in the present perfect tense. For instance, if you want to be happy in love, your affirmation will be: I am happy in love. Why you need to affirm as if you’ve already got what you want actually has a scientific explanation. We studied in elementary science that all matter is made up of energy. Thus, even a wooden table is actually a moving mass of molecules and atoms, and when these molecules and atoms are further broken up it is discovered that everything in this universe is made up of one single type of energy which appears in different forms, both animate and inanimate. To actually understand how it all works you’ll need to delve into Quantum Physics which is obviously beyond the domain of this article. The bottom line, however, is that all this energy is in constant motion, and it vibrates at the same frequency as our thoughts. Hence, we can actually create ripples in the energy field of the universe just by using our thoughts. Rather than knowing why it works, let me tell you how to make it work for you. So for now, let’s get our focus back on getting whatever it is that you desire - whether monetary or emotional; a change in your personal or professional life situation; or even healing your body. Here is a step-by-step guide of using your thoughts to create actual life situations.

1.     Know what you want

More often than not we are not even aware of what we really want. Smita, 30, a banker, is bored with her job and desperately wants a break but can’t think of an alternative career option. Her case is synonymous with zillions of other situations where one knows more about what we don’t want rather than what we actually desire. Therefore, the very first step is to figure out exactly what you desire. One of the simplest ways is by using the green-eyed monster. The moment you feel the pangs of envy you can immediately convert it into a positive experience of knowing what you want. Another powerful exercise is to start writing a journal. Just start pouring out your thoughts on paper: from all that you hate to all that you wish and desire. You’ll be surprised by all the negative thoughts in your head that you weren’t even aware of. All you need to do is to convert the things that you hate into positive affirmations. For instance, if you feel “I hate my job, my boss drives me up the wall, my love life sucks” all you need to affirm is “I am doing a job that I love, I have a fabulous rapport with my boss and my colleagues, my life is better than my fondest dreams”.  Of course, things don’t turn around overnight, but the process has certainly begun because how can you achieve anything if you don’t even know what it is in the first place.

2.     Affirm

How often have you experienced a sense of déjà vu or the fact that you have actually willed a certain situation to occur? That’s because you will always see the manifestation of your deeply held beliefs. Therefore affirmations become effective when you actually believe in what you’re affirming. So once you’ve coined your affirmations do anything you can to believe in them - you can write down them till you’re convinced, say them out loud in front of a mirror, or simply feel how you’d feel once you get it. For example, if you’re affirming to get a promotion, close your eyes and imagine your boss announcing that you’ve got a promotion - feel the joy that you’d feel when you get the news of your promotion, feel the excitement in sharing the news with your family and friends.

3.     Remove all negative thoughts

The main trap that you have to look out for on this journey of being positive is that of being pseudo-positive. You may think that you are being positive but deep down you are still bound by various negative beliefs. This is quite natural too, considering that we are conditioned with all sorts of limiting beliefs since the time we’re born. And although NOW is the time to change your thoughts, it does take time for the new set of thoughts to become your beliefs. Now that you have started making the effort, do not stop mid-way. This is the final test.  If there is something for which you have been affirming for a while that still hasn’t manifested just answer the question for yourself – “why is it not happening?”. You’ll immediately start justifying why not. If you’ve been affirming to become a model you may come up with answers like “I can’t make it”, “maybe I don’t look good enough”, “I’m too fat”, “there’s too much competition”, “it’s too tough to get a break in the modelling circuit” .. these are actually all the beliefs that are holding you back and this is what you’re experiencing. But once again when you’re aware of these thoughts you can easily convert each and every one of these statements into positive affirmations like, “I look great”, “I have got an unbelievable entry into the world of modelling”, “I enjoy facing the camera”, “assignments are pouring in”, and so on.

4.     Use pictures to reinforce your belief and feel good factor, create a vision board or a treasure map.

Shakti Gawain, author of Creative Visualisation suggests creating a treasure map to reinforce your affirmations. It’s a fun process. Just take a bunch of lifestyle magazines and cut out pictures of all that you’d like to see manifest in your life whether it is a cruise holiday or the owner of your dream home. You can either put it all up on a pin board or create a scrap book if you like to keep your desires to yourself. “Since I like travelling, the wallpaper on my computer is of the next destination that I’d like to go to,” says Sabina Kapoor. “It almost always works. While I was working for a travel magazine I really needed a break and wanted to head off to the hills. I just placed a picture of a view from the balcony of a house in the hills. And guess what, my next assignment was to review a new resort, and uncanny as it may sound, the view from the balcony of my room was very similar to the one in my wallpaper. When I was back at work I changed wall paper to a gorgeous beach. And, you guessed it right again.. I was off to Thailand soon after!”

5.     Be thankful for the small miracles that you’ve already started experiencing.

Try using these affirmations in situations for which you can see results fast enough. As you see them manifesting for yourself your conviction and confidence in using them to create almost anything in your life will increase. Since we’re working on the principal that whatever you focus on expands, focussing on all that’s already working in your life will increase it. “When I used to focus on all the bills that had to be paid I felt as if I was only earning to pay other people,” says Shantanu, 45, writer. “But ever since I started focussing on my income, I was amazed that new sources of income just kept opening up for me. And even if I continued to pay the same mount of bills, I was happy that I could afford to pay for all that I wanted. It’s all just about attitude!”

When you get the hang of how affirmations work you can use them to create almost anything in your life. Whether these affirmations work or not depends entirely on your belief and experience. But the least that a positive mindset can do is to encourage you to take the first step towards living your dream life.

  

Books > Begin The Year By Taming The Mind

Beginning of the year is always a good time to adopt good practices. While I don’t really make New Year resolutions, I do like to set goals for myself each year, and at the end of the year check on how I’ve fared. Over the years I have learnt the art of setting goals that cover my personal, professional and spiritual growth. Because I have consistently improved in all these areas I am also motivated to try my best to achieve my goals each year. This year I plan to share my experiences and insights more regularly on this blog, not only to inspire my readers to live their highest lives, but also as a consistent reminder to myself of staying in tune with my higher purpose.

A few days ago I succumbed to the incessant chatter in my mind, and got swept with all sorts of stressful thoughts pertaining to all sorts of things. It was rather overwhelming, because my regular practice of chanting the Hanuman Chalisa that usually calms me failed to have its effect on that particular day. But it did leave me with a reminder to read a book that was recently gifted to me by my mother in law: Mind Can It Be Tamed?, by Swami Swaroopanand, published by Chinmaya Prakashan.

In this small 44-page booklet Swamiji explains the nature of the mind and through various examples, analogies and anecdotes, he gives very easy and applicable techniques on how to make our mind our best friend and most efficient tool to live our highest life. The freedom from one’s mind starts when we can simply step off our train of thoughts, viewing them like an observer. Anything that pulls your attention to the past or the future is sheer imagination.

With this knowledge it is possible to center your mind into the present moment, and realizing that all the “stressful thoughts” are just that – “thoughts”.

To really gain from this book I would encourage you to read it yourself. I love the simplicity with which it is written, yet when practiced regularly these techniques yield the most profound (and almost immediate) effect on the state of one’s mind.

Do drop me a line if you read this book and share what you felt. Also, if you'd like to share your experience with taming the mind I'd love to hear about it. 

Insight > Celebrating Yoga

There are many reasons to celebrate yoga, International Day of Yoga is just one!

I never cease to be fascinated with the way our ancient yogis understood much more about the human body ages before medical science could comprehend what was what. The benefits of yoga (even those that go beyond the physical body) have been expounded upon by many saints and sages, new age gurus and trendy celebrities who have experienced them. But I'm not getting into all that right now. I only want to share with you what I know for sure. And that is the fact that I feel happy and alive when I do yoga. 

I know that when I stretch my body upto its optimal point I am pushing the boundaries further. Although I am blessed with a naturally flexible body, I am very grateful for the strength in my muscles and bones that allows me to stretch into varied asanas. This reminds me of a wonderful quote I read recently: Do Yoga Today So That You Can Do Yoga Tomorrow! Our body is meant to be agile and healthy, no matter what our age. It is only when we stop short of utilising the body’s optimal potential that we start diminishing our scope of movement. When was the last time you could sit comfortably on the floor and get up without any trouble? Do you feel out of breath after climbing a few flights of stairs? Muscles and lungs are only a few parts of the body that benefit from this lovely practice. We can’t even see how wonderfully the abdominal organs are massaged during bhujangasana or how our nerves are soothed by bhramari pranayama. Yoga has benefits that penetrate deep within the physical body and impacts our overall being. 

Although it is an ancient practice, the relevance of Yoga is Now more than ever before. We seem to be living in a world filled with toxins, right from the air we breathe to the food we eat. The increase in lifestyle diseases is scary. And while we can either succumb to the ill effects of our lifestyle or live in perpetual fear, there is a way out. In the face of all the negativity and fear, yoga is one tool with which you can actually do something about improving your health naturally. 

Coming back to what yoga does for me: all the stretches and contortions into asanas with complicated sanskrit names leave me blissed out. I can safely say that the time spent on my yoga mat is the happiest part of my day. It makes me appreciate the wondrous mechanisms of the human body that we have learnt not to trust. In the larger picture it makes me appreciate nature for what it is. It makes me realise that I am just a little dot in the vast universe that is perfect just as it is, even with all the toxins and the negativity. In fact, it infuses me with an unmatched positivity. It makes me realise that life is indeed beautiful and makes me want to live it to the fullest.

I sincerely hope that you try this wonderful practice and let its magic hook you on!

Insight > 3 Most Powerful Prayers for Success

At times we end up learning something profound while teaching our kids.

Recently when my 8 year old was preparing to participate in a competition, I shared some tips with him that I practice subconsciously. I realised that if one was to apply these tips to anything that you do, stress free success is almost guaranteed.

I am a strong believer in the power of prayers. Call them prayers, mantras, affirmations, visualisation or simply positive thinking, I feel that they have a profound effect on our psyche. And the right attitude is usually the most powerful way to experience success.

So, while preparing my son for his competition, I told him about the following important prayers to get him started with a productive attitude. Here I'll also explain how they help at various levels.

* Pray to Enjoy Whatever You're Doing
When you enjoy whatever you do, you naturally end up doing your best. The sense of enjoyment lends an inherent sense of confidence. In case you need to enhance your knowledge about it, when you learn about something that you enjoy there is usually no pressure, but a genuine urge to learn. This makes you learn more about the topic of your choice without any pressure to do so.

* Pray to Do Your Best
As I explained to my son, while we needn't pressurise ourselves with competition with others, it is important to feel satisfied with the effort that we've put into something. There shouldn't be a situation where you come back feeling that you could have done better. While I don't believe in pushing myself, or anyone else, into achieving success, it is important to make sure that you don't fall short of doing whatever you're capable of doing.

* Pray to Be Happy with the Result
If you've done the first two things, ideally you can just surrender to whatever the outcome is. But I feel good praying to be happy with the outcome. Then, in case you come out a winner, it's great. But if there's somebody else who is actually more deserving to be a winner, so be it!

As long as you've enjoyed the whole process (of participating in a competition, for instance),  knowing that you've done your best, and are genuinely happy about the outcome, then you're a winner in any case!

Insight > For The Love Of Yoga

I love yoga for its versatility and flexibility, vastness and simplicity, intensity and ease. Yoga can be curative and restorative. Yoga enables you to use the power of your body optimally, in turn leading the body towards optimal health. 

There literally is something in yoga that everyone can do. And I learnt this only by experience. I went through a phase when i had given yoga a rather long break in my life. So while my body was still quite flexible, my muscles had lost considerable strength. Every time I got back to an intense yoga practice, I landed with a mild muscle injury. Although the injury was mild enough to be cured only with adequate rest, it was painful enough to keep me away from practicing yoga for a few days. This went on for almost a year.

This is when I truly realised the flexibility of Yoga. Instead of refraining from yoga altogether due to a muscle strain,  I started designing practises for myself that included asanas that didn't require any movement or pressure on the strained muscles. For example, with a strained intercostal muscle in the chest, I focussed on asanas for the lower body and the core, without any pressure on the chest muscles. When I strained a muscle in the hip/thigh, I focussed on asanas on the upper body, and so on. The vast choice of asanas, along with umpteen variations, made it possible for me to practice a full hour of yoga without overstraining the already strained muscles. This choice of practice not only made it possible for me to practice yoga regularly, it also slowly started building strength in my muscles. The variety of sequences that I followed also made the entire experience more interesting for me, without falling into a boring repetition.

I like my Yoga practice to leave me feeling energised and refreshed and not groaning with pain unlike some other physical workouts. It has been over a year now that I have not succumbed to any injury due to yoga. Having done my teacher's training helped me in designing balanced sequences for myself. But even if you can't do that, always discuss openly with your yoga teacher and help them to offer sequences that are most suited for you.

Insight > Acceptance: Do We Really Have A Choice?

We've heard many-a-guru make a big deal of Acceptance. Accepting our circumstances is a very brave thing to do, they say. They even teach us the difficult practice in order to enrich our lives.

But is acceptance really a choice?

If we don't accept what is, we are merely running away from reality. Living in a bubble of falsity and what should "have been". And if you fail to accept the past and present exactly the way they have been you are simply living in denial! Since you cannot change the past and this very present moment, not accepting it is a mind-game that many people get trapped in,

Not accepting your present graciously usually arises from dissatisfaction of what is. It also relieves you or your responsibility in creating your present life. We can ponder all we like on the various permutations and combinations of an imaginary past. "If that had happened then this would not have happened", "if so-and-so had done this then that would have happened" and so on. But isn't all this a mere waste of time and energy?

In not accepting your present you even give away the power that you have in creating your highest life. Only when you truly accept your circumstances exactly as they are can you work on effectively working towards a future that you truly desire.

Acceptance of your life exactly as it is opens you up to the power of the present moment. It is in this present moment that you can make choices that will create the rest of your life. And if you choose each action wisely you can make a string of decisions that you will one day look back at and feel happy about the life that you created for yourself.

So instead of living with regrets for the past (or even the present, for that matter), start by accepting totally and whole-heartedly your current circumstances, embrace your life exactly as it is. Then you can take stock of the things that you would like to change. But be very mindful of the fact that you cannot change the past, but you can do things differently in the present and steer your life towards your most cherished goals and deepest desires.

Insight > The Freedom of Forgiveness

I am my worst critic.

I have an elephantine memory. There are things that I may have done, unintentionally, in the distant past. Maybe no one else remembers something inconsequential like me refusing to write an article just because the editor of a magazine changed. But I remember. And there are times that I still curse myself for doing that. That refusal cost me the connection with a big media house at that time. While I have written for many other media houses since then, I feel that I lost out on some opportunities just because of that one mistake that I made. The editor has changed since then, but my association with that particular magazine is still affected. 

This is just one example. While at some level, I sincerely believe, that there are no accidents. That everything happens for a reason. Yet, there are so many things from my personal experiences as well that I curse myself for doing. Those incidents are over and done with. Life has moved on, and beautifully. But still these incidents are haunting reminders of the mistakes that I have made in my life.  

When I started practicing forgiveness I realised how very freeing it is. It frees me up from the uncomfortable past. Forgiveness just frees you up from emotions that unnecessarily get clogged somewhere in your body-mind. I say "body-mind" because of all the research that shows that unresolved emotional issues create all sorts of blocks in your physical body, hence leading to disease. 

You may not even go up to someone to tell them that you've forgiven them. Just forgiving someone in your heart is extremely powerful. While I occasionally forgive people who may have harmed me, intentionally or unintentionally, I know that the most important person that I need to forgive is MYSELF. We are often the harshest on ourselves. We need to understand that none of us are perfect. Just an honest and constant effort to be the best that you can be is enough to lead a deeply fulfilling life. 

There is a lovely prayer that encourages you to practice three-fold forgiveness. 

• forgive someone who may have harmed you intentionally or unintentionally
• forgive yourself for harming someone intentionally or unintentionally (this includes forgiving yourself if you may have harmed yourself as well)
• forgive yourself if there's still a situation that you're not ready to forgive

We all have grudges with family or friends, colleagues and at times even strangers. When we harbour these grudges we stay connected to those uncomfortable situations through our mind/emotions. Forgiveness just helps you release all the energy that you end up holding unknowingly. Go ahead and give it a try! 

Insight > Coping with the Loss of a Loved One

It's been a year today! Here's what I wrote for Better Homes and Gardens, January'15 issue on how I dealt with the loss of my parents.

Yoga > The Final Step For A Headstand

The headstand or the shirshasana is quite the epitome of a good yoga practice. It is not called the "King of Asanas" for nothing. The innumerable benefits aside, the ability to stand upside down looks very impressive too.

But I resisted doing the headstand for the longest. In fact, I went for my Teacher's Training Course (TTC) at the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam, Kerala, without ever attempting it. This was ironical because the headstand is the first asana after a few warm up rounds of surya namaskar in a Sivananda class. Even so, I was glad that there was no pressure on me by any of my teachers to perform this asana. The TTC is quite intense as it is. With a hectic, packed routine in an austere setting with classes back-to-back, it is rather demanding. Probably that is why the teachers allow the students to progress at their own level of comfort.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my morning and evening asana sessions, I thought I knew what was holding me back from the headstand. I have always been non-sporty. I felt that I lacked hand-eye co-ordination as well as the strength required for almost any sport. Yoga was something that I could do because I have been blessed with a flexible body. But I had heard that "you need a strong core to hold a steady headstand".  Knowing that the core was my weakest point, I was sure that it just wasn't my cup of tea. In fact, I even found the preparatory pose - the dolphin - extremely difficult. Anything that required strength seemed impossible for me to perform.

One day, at the end of the evening asana session, a fellow student who I had not spoken with in the 3 weeks that we had already been there, came up to me. "I have seen you during the asana class, you do all the asanas except the headstand," he said. I nodded vaguely, not wanting to discuss my weak points with someone who I didn't know. "Seeing how you perform your other asanas I'm sure you can do the headstand," he continued without any hesitation owing to my lack of interest in his observation. That was that. He went about his business thereafter and I got busy with mine.

The next morning, after the surya namaskar came the time to do the headstand. I typically would get into the child's pose at this time, and while everyone else flew up into the headstand, I would usually continue staying in the child's pose, with my forehead touching the floor.

On this day, though, I thought of just attempting the first step of getting into the headstand - my forehead on the floor, the hands clasped around my head, and my elbows right next to my knees. The foundation is very important for getting any asana right. As I rose my tail, I got into the inverted V with the forearms, forehead and the feet firmly on the floor. I felt a balance of lightness and strength through my body.

This gave me the confidence to move to the next step: walking my feet towards my torso, straightening my back in line with my neck and shoulders and rolling gently towards the top of my forehead. At this point, my heels had risen off the floor and I was on tip-toes.

Then came the challenging part: I had to raise my feet off the floor one at a time and fold my knees near my torso in a suspended child's pose. I was surprised when I could actually do it. I was balancing on my head already! All I had to do was raise my knees towards the ceiling, with my legs folded back and eventually unfold my legs to straighten them up.

Seeing me finally attempting the headstand, my teacher came up to me and supported me while I went up into the headstand gracefully and steadily. Although I did come down with a jerk, which is not advisable, I had at least done my first ever headstand.

So what was the final step for me getting into the shirshasana?

My core didn't become stronger overnight. But probably my mind did. Someone else believing that I could do it made me believe that I could. I could have believed in myself without some random person having the faith in me or my ability. Trusting that I could do it was all that was required all along.

And this is my favourite example of the mind-body unity that yoga displays so beautifully. In many cases, physical inflexibility actually arises in the mind or mental strength manifests into physical strength. It is lessons and observations like these that make it possible to carry your yoga practice off the mat and into daily life.

Insight > The One Value That I Want To Inculcate In My Kids

There is one phrase that I seem to be using quite often with my kids: "You are not doing this for me, you are doing this for yourself".

Even though it may have an impatient tone, the underlying message is that of Self Motivation.

Aged 8 and 6 years, my kids may still be too young to understand the concept of self motivation. They are all too eager to impress their parents, cousins or friends by all that they do. While approval and appreciation play a very important role in raising confident children, I know that this is the time to lay the foundation of this all-important value. In fact, you may even start using self motivation at an earlier stage.

Instead of pushing them constantly to eat healthy, do their best in academics or extra curricular activities, I find that telling them that they are doing it for themselves has a much deeper impact.

And as they grow, competition amongst peers and external pressures to perform at a certain level will only increase. But self motivation is the one thing that will ensure that they are always giving their best, without succumbing to stress of any kind.

This is one value that I cherish the most in myself. Believing that I am trying to be the best that I can be, at a personal as well as professional level, makes me enjoy all that I do. It also takes away the need to prove myself to anybody.

While I don't have a competitive streak in me, self motivation ensures that I don't become complacent. I am sure that everyone, without exception, has a combination of certain talents and qualities that makes them unique as well as special. We need to nurture and develop these qualities to be the best version of ourselves.

And if there's just one thing that I'd like to teach my kids, it is this - always strive to better yourself! Then whatever activity or lifestyle they undertake, I'm sure will be met with success.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2015. I hope you have set personal and professional targets for yourself to be the best that You can be!

Insight > Why You Should Write Everyday

Writing has a meditative quality. It has the ability of revealing thoughts that are embedded deep inside your mind. It can reach a part of your being where conscious thinking cannot reach. Very often, I find that writing creates the time and space to reason things out with yourself.

For me it's simple: Writing helps me to keep my mind clear. Writing helps me know myself better. Writing helps me set life goals for myself. And, writing has helped me create a life of my dreams.

While I cannot imagine a day without writing, I know there are many people out there who just can't imagine themselves writing. "Writing is not for me!" I have heard many people say. Even so, I cannot imagine why it won't help you.

Many people get stuck even before they start writing, not knowing where and how to start. I'll share some tips that helped to me to not only start writing for myself but even helped me become a professional lifestyle writer.

Write For Yourself: Many people experience a writer's block even before they start writing. I feel that most of us get stuck with writing articulately, as if to impress anyone else who would read what they've written. In order to write with abandon, when you get started keep your writings personal. You don't need to share your thoughts with anybody else if you don't want to. In fact, I would suggest, please don't share your writings with anyone if your purpose is to truly know yourself.

When you start writing, you'll realise that your mind is cluttered with thoughts that you wouldn't want to admit to yourself, let alone share them with anyone else. Let's admit that we're no saints. Even if we assume that we have mostly good thoughts and try to be good people, we all have thoughts that we'd rather keep in our heads than spell them out in front of anyone else. In order to create space in your mind, these are the thoughts that you need to start emptying out on paper. This exercise alone is so liberating!

Write Spontaneously: Once you're past the initial hurdle, you may be wondering where to get started. I would suggest that you start with thoughts that are top most in your mind, Right Now! If you start thinking about what you want to write, you may get stuck mid-way. Just start writing whatever is going on in your head. Before you know it, you'll be expressing your plan for the day or the next few days, you may end up writing a to-do list, you may start expressing something that has been bothering you, and so on. The best part about writing spontaneously is that you'll be surprised with the number of thoughts that clutter up your mind. (And we wonder why concentrating on any one thing is such a difficult task!)

Just as clutter in your environment saps you of energy, a cluttered mind keeps you distracted from the present. There's always so much to do. If we keep it all in our mind, I find it starts going in circles in our head. Just writing out everything creates some empty space in the mind that can then be utilised for creative thinking and constructive planning on how to get things done.

Get To Know Yourself: I have heard from so many friends that they don't really like their current jobs, but for the lack of knowing what they truly want to do, stay stuck in a rut. Most people have a general idea of how they would like to shape their lives, but when it comes down to the details, they have no clue about where to get started.

According to me, the first step of living the lives of your dreams is knowing what you really want.

So what are you waiting for? Get a pen and paper, or open your laptop or the notes in your phone, and start expressing your thoughts. Do drop me a line, if you find the exercise liberating, joyful, healing or you experience some surprising revelations.