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 > 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 > 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.