Let me take you to a place,a place far far away from here.You don’t need to pack your bags or worry about the journey for the place.As this is the place where the blinds can see, the deaf can hear, dumb can speak and mentally challenged are part of the world.

Everything is familiar in this place, like you have been living in this place for generations yet so far away from it, like you are at home.Your heart settles here, no anxiety, no sadness, no expectation so no disappointment, no anger or no tears. As of now, you won’t find anyone there, since people don’t live there anymore.

You won’t find food there, because there is no hunger.You won’t find money there because there is no poor.You won’t find schools there, because there is no uneducated. No hospitals because no illness.No war because there is no religion.No disputes because there is no country or possessions.

No..wait, don’t start searching this place in your map or in your globe, you won’t find it there.Many have lost themselves in the pursuit of this.A prince left his kingdom and family in pursuit of this, though he found it.

You don’t have to leave your family or home or job or college to get there. Just take a mirror and look  within maybe you will find it there.Look at a kid smiling, maybe you will find it there.Maybe you will find it in a mother’s face looking at her children.Maybe you will find it in a father’s smile when he is looking at his family. Smell the coffee.Listen to the rain, even smell the mud.Put on your headphones and play cold play, maybe you will find it there.Tell someone, everything is going to be fine. Hold someone’s hand or hug someone. Take a walk without knowing where you are going looking at everyone. Shutting off the world, turn off your cellphones, no Facebook or mails. Maybe you will find it there.Or, maybe go home and love your family and let it find you.

The place is called – Place of Peace.

And as Bob Marley said -

so far away from where it’s happening
you think you found a place of peace
just to find that it’s happening everywhere
it’s happening here there and everywhere
please don’t touch that with the vision
learn to respect every man religion…
let I live a life I love to today…
lift my spliff and take a draw
someone say I’m breakin’ the law
they make everything to try and arrest you…

Hardik Pokhrel

Dated : 15/4/2013 3: 55 am

When people make mistakes, I make them aware and continue to love them. How to take it if they are disrespectful to me after this?

In life situations there are many contradictions. These contradictions surface when mistakes happen.

Mistakes happen. When mistakes happen let us treat them as our mistake together and resolve it to bring peace. When people make mistakes, we make them aware of their mistakes if they seem not to be aware of them and continue to love them – this sets them free to be themselves.

Those times the people we set free are disrespectful to us, let us look over it. Let us know they do not have the capacity to know the magnanimity of the love behind setting them free to be. If it is their privilege they may realize this with time…

Love you!

Jyo

Question asked privately…

If you have questions/thoughts to pose, please feel free…

P.S.: I have been advised by my mentor in energy, Rishi Vidyadhar of Art of Living, to remove the sections of the book posted here excepting a couple. More than 40% of the sections of the Book Build it With Love were posted here to date since August 2012, daily at first, then weekly.

I am here with my first video about Bal Chetna. My only concern of making this video is the fact that in most the chapters like my Nangal chapter, not much importance is given to Bal Chetna courses. So to tackle that thing I have made this video. Hope you will like this.

Love Chandu

Fatehsagar gets decked up with city crowed and bright decorative stuff, all set for evening processions.

Udaipur Municipal Corporation along with Alok  association organizes 4 day mass celebration which is studded with huge fete & fireworks. Various competitions like Turban tying & Kite flying enhances the vibrancy of the fete.

Pic-courtesy- Udaipurtimes

Colorful and sparking firework presentations at “Fatehsagar ki paal” usually blow off the showers of auspiciousness in the city.  Traditional dance and folks festival is conducted at the shore of “Pichhola Lake” to mark farewell to the past year.

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A large rally is preceded from Nathdwara to Pichhola Lake, and it becomes a colossal affair when a mass from adjacent villages & localities adjoins it. Grand “Kalash-yatras” enroute, makes the “Upcoming Year” most special.

Also the consecrating soil is brought from “Haldighati” to worship the valor of “Maharana Pratap”.

The tradition of Surya Puja in the morning and beckons of reverence by small kids soaks everybody in the occasion.

Amid of loud festive aura, city folks welcomes the new year with all heart and hale with action packed evening at Lok Kala Mandal too.

The celebration of “Vikram Samvat” culminates with a great religious fervor.

Picture Courtesy: Manmohan Bhatnagar

Also reminds me of humming the song

We did our “home practice” for the Sudarshan Kriya again. I’m really hoping to meditate more often and dedicate myself to practicing kriya more often.

I definitely feel more aware and full of energy. I’m so excited for everyone that made it through the course and I hope it will have just as great of an influence for others as it did for me.

The local Art of Living chapter hosts weekly kriya meditations which is great in order to continue putting this philosophy into practice.

Here is a final interview from Brittany!

Wrong timing!

And like a big prank, The District at the Ayala North Point has just opened. And it has a Dumond store! What simple living hullabaloo am i getting myself into?

That is exactly the mentality that i want to let go of, otherwise i wont make any progress. If I die tomorrow and I still haven’t allowed this seed of simplicity to bear fruit, I lose the chance of a lifetime.

So that I can be more specific and “measurable” in my simplifying project, and to identify that which needs the most adjustment, it would help to take stock of what I currently have and what I tend to do. An inventory of my lifestyle.

The Inventory

1. Clothes

I have more corporate clothes than weekend wear, and most of my clothes are dresses (cooler, keeping the crotch free, haha). Even then as I came home to Bacolod, I’ve promised not to buy clothes anymore, except those whose discounts one couldn’t just ignore. What I have in my closet then are the stuff I bought in Manila in the four years that I stayed there, with the Manila corporate landscape / Makati Garden Club in mind. When I came home, some  items — large collars, bulky scarves and shawls, tight and uptight pencil skirts, bold prints — are too ridiculous to wear in a relaxed setting. I’m not an extremely hungry shopper, so even then, I just limited my shopping to three months – January and July for the end-of-season sale, and November for the pre-holiday sale. But, especially when shopping with friends and colleagues, I would tend to gravitate to Zara, Topshop, Promod, Terranova, and try my luck at Rustan’s, and that’s where the problem lies. Looking back, I can’t believe I fell for those brands. Put them all in a box, and bring to the market with a “bag-o bukad” label, and they’ll seamlessly blend in.

2. Shoes

It’s quite difficult to get myself a pair of shoes. I don’t have a size at Celine or CMG or Charles and Keith or Rusty Lopez. Not even at Crazy Feet, Meryl and Shoe Earth. So I would go to Payless or Hush Puppies or Debenhams where I’m sure I won’t go home empty handed. But come July and November, I come to Nine West, or Dumond and rabidly look for a reward, a pacifier of sorts for my size 10.  My style principle (when it mattered so much to me) was that you can tell by the fabric (especially of a gown) and the shoes (especially the material, the shade if it’s a silver or a gold pair, and the heel) if one has good taste or not. I would then head home trying to convince myself some more of my “good” purchase, and make up for the possibility of it being a bad decision by not eating. If I remember correctly, this is the theory of cognitive dissonance (or is it? GMG!). Months after, the pair would also lose its magic, looking very ordinary and uneventful in my eyes. That’s when I would start to realize the lost opportunity of putting money elsewhere that will make it grow, and where it will not disintegrate its heel over time.

3. Food and Entertainment

I love to eat out and try new places with friends. I drink, too, for loosening up, and though I can hold my liquor, I always get surprised by the tab — did a party of three just consume provisions enough for the Wedding at Cana? Also, many times, after a stressful day, or as a reward for lunch, I would go to a restaurant and eat alone, when I could have just looked for a clean carinderia, or gone home.

Now, what other forms of entertainment do I haplessly spend on? I have to think through, because they’re so varied. From countless dvds, to unplanned dinners and jaunts with friends. Keyword: unplanned.

3. Food at home / Groceries

Though I have tried to ease out on junk food and cancer-causing treats and most canned food, some still manage to get its way to the cart. It does help to refrain from doing the groceries when you’re hungry or else even the canned garbanzos would not be spared. What I also find quite taxing is buying vegetables, especially those that rot easily. You can’t get a bunch of greens in one go and keep it fresh for a week. You have to restock every three days.

4.  Favorite Purchases

I love browsing through Booksale looking for back issues of magazines, crossword puzzle books, and other rare finds. Magazines always catch my attention as I love scrutinizing the layout, the ad placements, the photos, the editor’s note as much as the rest of the writing. Great if I find special interest back issues that cost less than P50, but my hands always have the itch for the costly ones that, if you think about it, just rehash and rewrite articles and have nothing new to say (Cleanse, tone, moisturize; Tips for a new you, etc.).

Speaking of cleanse, tone, moisturize, makeup takes much of my spending, too. The youtube tutorials are to blame (haha) for the many brushes my finger and one basic tool can replace, for the primer, and the bb cream, and all that shizz.

I have yet to come to terms with how I spend on books. I could spend over a thousand on one and not feel bad about it, until I find the book just lying around unread. Okay, yet to be read.

Fountain pens may also take much of my spending as a I take on a new hobby. But actually, I’ve always loved doodling and stylized lettering and untrained calligraphy even before I’ve come to know about the tools of the art.

Adjustments

So far, that’s what I could think of, and I need to make huge adjustments to suit my new lifestyle of going out less and buying less especially if unplanned, of commuting and walking more, and of prioritizing free entertainment.

Next Post: My Lifestyle Adjustments 

If  it sounds familiar… Yes, isn’t that what we have been doing since the beginning of time? Up and down the slide of  laughter and tears. Sometimes thrilling, sometimes painful. Yet we return. The thrill and the pain both attracts and repels; we are drawn to it, drawn to life.

Some say that there is freedom in being aware of this cycle; by being an observer they claim to maintain some distance from it. But where is the awareness? Who is the observer? What is being observed? It’s hopeless. But this hopelessness gives me  the gumption to smile and say to my children ” Soon baby, we’ll come back soon.”

Don’t be a football of other people’s opinions

Following yoga, we discussed a few resonating points. My favorite was not being a football of other people’s opinions. Think of when we receive a compliment and feel instantly happy and uplifted, whereas someone says something negative and we feel dejected and upset. This idea of not being a football of other people’s opinions is very important since it’s so easy to allow other people’s thoughts dictate our emotions and our well being.

Acceptance

We discussed acceptance and the idea of accepting other’s exactly how they are and not trying to change them. This is particularly difficult since it’s hard to forgive others when they’ve hurt us, let alone accept that they’ve done so.

Yet, by accepting others it gives us immense power and freedom. Consider people who are in abusive relationships and refuse to leave. This is because they haven’t accepted the situation they are in and they don’t want to accept it. When we accept someone for who they are in a particular moment it gives us power to respond and react and see the situation how it truly is.

This idea of acceptance was a very powerful point for me today and I will definitely be thinking about it for the next few days.

Sudarshan Kriya Home Practice

Today we also learned a home practice for Kriya. For the past two days we had used a tape to guide us so it was great to have the experience of kriya without tape and realize that we can practice this powerful meditation ourselves. Since this is my third time doing the Art of Living course, I’ve learned the home practice before but haven’t stuck with it as much as I’d like to. It’s a goal of mine to be more dedicated to practicing Kriya at home and meditating more frequently.

Below is another followup interview with Brittany! It’s been such a joy to watch her go through this experience.

Wortschatz public library // Design of the 20th century shop Margaretenplatz

from winter to spring and back again @ MQ

opening of Alexander Brener & Barbara Schurz CLAIM AGAINST FAME @ Knoll Gallery Vienna

enjoying nice spots in the city: Hafnersteig & Drachengasse (Kammeroper, Theater Drachengasse)

off topic museum donawitz // on the road

a glimpse of the life I’m living right now

That is until my father, a devoted yoga practitioner, coaxed me into yoga sessions again while I was at college, this time with a more mellow, & supple instructor. The classes were soothing, the postures gentle & flowing, & I enjoyed myself enough to stick around for a few years. Despite my consistent & determined practice, I found that having unusually long limbs & a short torso led to some comical (failed) attempts to master certain postures. If I can’t excel at it, surely it just means it isn’t worth doing. Right? (Sour grapes, anyone?!)

My lack of perceived ‘success’ & my subsequent foray into corporate slavery (which sucked all my waking hours leaving me with little time to call my own) combined to hasten the end of my budding romance with yoga.

Many summers later, a long-drawn battle with pott’s disease left me with a weighty (pun intended) aftermath to tackle. On the road to slim city, I tried various old-school & contemporary fitness activities but always turned up my nose at yoga. “Yoga? That’s just stretching, it’s gentle & relaxing, it’s not even exercise!”, I proclaimed. Even Suryanamaskars (Sun Salutations) didn’t escape my derision – they were too b.o.r.i.n.g for me. I did several Art of Living programs, some of which incorporate yoga. I cheekily breezed through them, refusing to apply myself fully. Sri Sri Yoga, a program dedicated to the practice of yoga that integrates elements from Hatha Yoga, failed to tempt me & I watched in mock scorn while others signed up.

Years passed, I turned into a fitness snob but my attitude towards yoga didn’t change. Until the Yogathon 2012 was announced, that is. (Organizers, take a bow. That was some inspired thinking! Can we just take a moment to reflect on how utterly cute that name is?!) The challenge of performing 108 consecutive rounds of Suryanamaskars totally tickled my fancy. I began preparing in real earnest a month ahead of time, gradually working my way towards the full challenge. The actual event was oh-so-much-fun! Did I say yoga wasn’t exercise? Well, I had to eat my words. A brisk 108-rounds of Suryanamaskars is as much of a kickass cardio (& bodyweight) workout as any HIIT¹ session I’ve seen!! I’m no stranger to the endorphin-fuelled high after a good sweat sesh, but the best part of a yoga workout is that I’m immediately energized in a way that no gym session can match. No DOMS² to deal with the next day either. Signs of a satvic workout, eh?

As I slowly recover from a cervical injury that’s kept me out of action for several weeks, my exercise of choice is…you guessed it…Suryanamaskars! Quite a far cry from someone who once thought yoga was for wimps! I now believe that yoga of all forms (gentle, rigorous, or in-between) is a necessary part of any fitness plan that aspires to be complete. If anything, the yogathon has rekindled my romance with yoga & whet my appetite for more. Sri Sri Yoga is now a treat I’m looking forward to.

(Yoga has come to be almost universally accepted to mean a repertoire of postures (asanas), & primarily a physical exercise form. Yoga, though, is more than just asanas. The word yoga means uniting the body, breath, & mind in awareness. Although it is considered as one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy, it is universal in its application & not bound to any religion. It is as much a spiritual discipline as a physical one. In the above post, yoga refers to its contemporary meaning of the practice of asanas.)

Shifting Awareness

With two more days left in the course I can tell that my awareness has shifted and I am definitely feeling more present and focused. Although I am still full of thoughts and thinking about the future, I am definitely more calm and not quite as stressed about the tasks and projects I need to complete for the coming week.

It’s interesting to watch your mind and realize how easily our thinking can drift from the present moment. I am trying to be more aware of this and work on staying in the present and giving my full attention to the now.

100%

Today, Alison discussed responsibility versus reaction and when we hold responsibility we have power and can respond to a situation, but when we are reacting we are usually expressing emotion and not moving to action. This idea of taking responsibility also led us to a discussion about giving 100% towards all of our actions. By doing so, it’s impossible to have regrets and to be disappointed in the results of your actions.

We Don’t Plan Our Mistakes

Another valuable concept we discussed was trying not to see intention behind people’s mistakes. We constantly make mistakes and we don’t plan to make mistakes. Yet we tend to blame other people for their mistakes, like when someone cuts us off and we get angry. I liked this idea of trying not to see intention behind people’s mistakes that might affect us. If we see intention in other people’s mistakes that might lead us to be angry or upset and express negative emotions. It would be far more pleasant to have that recognition that people don’t usually intend to make mistakes and to no hold a grudge when they do.

Below is another interview from Brittany following today’s Art of Living experience:

When will I be happy?

As a group we discussed our personal happiness and what it will take for us to be happy. Alison explained that we tend to tell ourselves we will be happy when we attain something in the future. Humans are constantly looking to the future and saying “I’ll be happy when (insert goal, desire, dream)”. By doing this we are prolonging our happiness. And it begs the question, why not be happy now? That’s all we have is the present moment, that is the life we have, it’s only in the present so why not choose to be happy right now? I love thinking about this and realizing that I too set myself up, telling myself I’ll be happy when I graduate, or I’ll be happy when I’m in law school, or I’ll be happy when I have a more balanced schedule, etc. It’s freeing to realize that I only have the present moment and I should be happy while I’m experiencing the “now” instead of prolonging my happiness to the future.

Sudarshan Kriya 

Tonight on the course, Alison also introduced us to Sudarshan Kriya, a rare and unique guided meditation that is only specific to Art of Living courses. This type of meditation can’t be taught outside of Art of Living courses and is a very sacred practice.

The course is guided by a tape and the process is different for each person. It’s a very deep meditation that uses the breath.

Below is a video that explains the Kriya and the benefits of the experience. The breath is a powerful tool that allows us to release stress, along with providing many other positive results.

Ready for Bed!

Although I’m filled with energy following the course, I know it’s important to get sleep as my body is going through this course. It’s crucial to drink enough water and get enough sleep as a lot of detoxifying is occurring. I wanted to share my experience on my blog and I also interviewed my roommate Brittany following the course this evening.

Stay tuned as I’ll continue to post about the Art of Living course!

Religious or spiritual belief grows within most of us sooner or later. Thoughts of God, Gods, Goddesses, angels, demons, ghosts (both benevolent and malicious) litter our personal lives from when were children to the final days in old age. We struggle to deal with it either by dismissing it as hocus pocus or accepting a particular faith so completely that it guides our lives in all we do. To say that we are unaffected by all of this is a form of denial bordering on stubborn psychosis. The little tree that we allow to grow within is the result of the moral and ethical conflicts we all struggle with. We can deny that little tree, stomp on it, run the lawnmower over it, but the roots are still there and, in another season or age, a new bud will reach out of our earthly trials again searching for the life-giving light of the sun. We just cannot kill the roots of that symbolic tree because it is genetically hardwired in our brains.

We’ve all heard of the Tree of Life at one time or another and, if studied more deeply, will find that it exists within mythical and religious concepts that span cultures the world over. Much is dedicated to the basic visuals of a symbol which has its roots in the unknown depths and its branches reaching to the sun. To bring even more meaning, young trees are able to bend in strong winds, grow hardy and are able to then live thousands of years. What better image for our short-lived human life and its determined belief in the hereafter? Religion has two main lessons for us no matter what message is delivered from a pulpit or whispered in hidden groves: Act toward others in accordance with how you, personally, wish to be acted upon and that there is more to life than the material existence we are experiencing in our daily grind. In our short archeological history (~50K years), we discover that many of the artifacts found in excavations of ancient societies have symbolic religious inscriptions. This indicates that, at least for one quarter of the time modern humans existed, we were interested in exploring the idea of ‘Life After Death’.

Why?

Well, I can only speak for myself because all of you wonderful readers no doubt have your own personal views and that specific point is very important, for we all have to decide which way our beliefs are to be shaped, if at all. If you understand that the word ‘belief’ means ‘to love’, then it is obviously a completely personal path and cannot be transferred from one to another without shades of someone else’s bias coming into play. I ‘love’ the continuance of life after death and ‘believe’ firmly in the idea. Nothing will shake me from that conviction even though I adhere to no specific religious institution or prescribed dogma. All of it only is a means by which I am able to make sense of this universe and my place in it. If I were to try to explain my views, all I can suggest is that ‘Spinoza’s God’ makes the best argument for me. James Craig Green explains it well in this short essay:

http://www.waterwind.com/spinoza.html

Carl Gustav Jung also helps explain our predilection towards spiritual leanings in an excerp from ‘Man and His Symbols’:

Pg. 75, 76, Dell Publishing CO. INC. (ISBN: 0-440-35183-5)

Life is a battleground. It always has been and always will be; and if it were not so, existence would come to an end.

It was precisely this conflict within man that led the early Christians to expect and hope for an early end to this world, or the Buddhists to reject all earthly desires and aspirations. These basic answers would be frankly suicidal if not linked up with peculiar mental and moral ideas and practices that constitute the bulk of both religions and that, to a certain extent, modify their radical denial of the world.

I stress this point because, in our time, there are millions of people who have lost faith in any kind of religion. Such people do not understand their religion any longer. While life runs smoothly without religion, the loss remains as good as unnoticed. But when suffering comes, it is another matter. That is when people begin to seek a way out and to reflect about the meaning of life and its bewildering and painful experiences.

It is significant that the psychological doctor (within my experience) is consulted more by Jews and Protestants than by Catholics. This might be expected, for the Catholic Church still feels responsible for the cura animarum (the care of the soul’s welfare). But in this scientific age, the psychiatrist is apt to be asked the questions that once belonged in the domain of the theologian. People feel that it makes, or would make, a great difference if only they had a positive belief in a meaningful way of life or in God and immortality. The specter of approaching death often gives a powerful incentive to such thoughts. From time immemorial, men have had ideas about a Supreme Being (one or several) and about the Land of the Hereafter. Only today do they think they can do without such ideas.

Because we cannot dscover God’s throne in the sky with a radiotelescope or establish (for certain) that a beloved father or mother is still about in a more or less corporal form, people assume that such ideas are “not true.” I would rather say that they are not “true” enough, for these are conceptions of a kind that have accompanied human life from prehistoric times, and that still break through into human consciousness at any provocation.

Modern man may assert that he can dispense with them, and he may bolster his opinion by insisting that there is no scientific evidence of their truth. Or he may even regret the loss of his convictions. But since we are dealing with invisible and unknowing things (for God is beyond human understanding and there is no means of proving immortality), why should we bother about evidence? Even if we did not know by reason our need for salt in our food, we should nonetheless profit from its use. We might argue that the use of salt is a mere illusion of taste or a superstition; but it would still contribute to our well-being. Why, then, should we deprive ourselves of views that would prove helpful in crises and would give meaning to our existence?

And how do we know that such ideas are not true? Many people would agree with me if I stated flatly that such ideas are probably illusions. What they fail to realize is that the denial is as impossible to “prove” as the assertion of religious belief. We are entirely free to choose which point of view to take; it will in any case be an arbitrary decision.

There is, however, a strong empirical reason why we should cultivate thoughts that can never be proved. It is that they are known to be useful. Man positively needs general ideas and convictions that will give meaning to his life and enable him to find a place for himself in the universe. He can stand the most incredible hardships when he is convinced that they make sense; he is crushed when, on top of his misfortunes, he has to admit he is taking part in a “tale told by an idiot.”

It is the role of religious symbols to give meaning to the life of man. The Pueblo Indians believe that they are the sons of Father Sun, and this belief endows their life with a perspective (and a goal) that goes far beyond their limited existence. It gives them ample space for the unfolding of personality and permits them a full life as complete persons. Their plight is infinitely more satisfactory than that of a man in our own civilization who knows (and will remain) nothing more than an underdog with no inner meaning to his life.

A sense of a wider meaning to one’s existence is what raises a man beyond mere getting and spending. If he lacks this sense, he is lost and miserable.

What happens on the first night of an Art of Living course?

As I’ve previously explained on my Art of Living page, the course focuses on learning certain breathing techniques and meditation along with low impact yoga and tools for stress management and handling negative emotions.

It’s hard to explain to someone exactly what the course is, but I’ll do my best. Although it’s my goal to encourage my readers to eventually try a course and see what it is like!

There is a group of about 25 people on this particular course and tonight we started with some ice-breakers and working on getting to know one another since we will spending the next four days togethers. We also led yoga to start and that was a great way to get everyone focused and basically set the tone for the course. I love doing yoga because it’s such a great tool to get into the present moment and allows me to leave my day behind and release any negative energy I might be feeling.

Following these exercises, Alison began to discuss the nature of the mind and how we need to shift our awareness and focus on “what is happening right now”. Basically, being in the present moment.

For the last part of the evening, Alison taught us three breathing techniques before we began a guided meditation. I love re learning all of these techniques and it is so important to me that I take the time for myself and meditate and refresh myself on the Art of Living philosophy.

I felt energized and relaxed after the meditation. The power of Ujjayi breathing is truly incredible. My roommate and close friend, Brittany Bell is taking the course, and I’ve attached an interview with her response and reaction following the start of the course tonight!

Sleeping baby = time to do kriya and meditate!

When I was 26 years old I did this course called ‘The Art of Living Breathing Part 1 Course.’  I know it sounds really naff when people say this, but it changed my life.  It really did.  When I registered for the course I didn’t realise just how much I needed it.   I’d spent so many years of my life being really busy.  I was constantly trying to fit in as much as I could.  I  guess I believed that the more I did the more fully I was living.  At the end of the day what that mostly left me with was a over-riding feeling of worn-out-ness.  (Yes, I made that word up).

On the course we learnt this breathing practice called the sudarshan kriya.  It was powerful.  I’d done many breathing techniques before and I’d been teaching yoga for a few years, but nothing I’d done came anywhere near this.  Our teacher said that if we really wanted to experience the benefits of the kriya we should practice it once a day for 30 minutes over 6 months.  I took it on.  I was really keen to see how it would affect me.   For me the benefits were huge.  I was able to get so much done in heaps less time, quite effortlessly. I was working as a freelance journalist at the time and needed to on-goingly produce a lot of articles quickly.  I’d really have to work at that, until I started incorporating the kriya into my daily routine.  Because my mind was so fresh after practicing the kriya I was able to punch those articles out in no time.  The words just flowed through me.  In fact the course had such a huge impact on me that I ended up becoming a volunteer teacher of it.

How To Get Your Kriya and Meditation Done When You Have A Newborn

For the last 12 years I’ve done the kriya at home pretty much every day. When Joshi was born I missed a few days, but was back into it within 10 days or so.   Kriya’s not something you can do while your baby’s awake and needing your attention, so the way I fitted it in initially was to do it during the day as soon as he fell asleep.  It could be any time of day, because he didn’t yet have anything that vaguely resembled a sleeping pattern.   Anyway, as soon as he’d fall asleep I’d drop what I was doing and go straight into my practice.  There was pretty much always laundry to do (when isn’t there with a baby!), dishes to wash, rooms to tidy, etc, but I knew that if I was to get it done I had to seize this small and unpredictable window of opportunity.  All the other things could be done when he was awake. Kriya couldn’t.

Of course there were times when my practice would get interrupted because he’d wake quite soon after he’d fallen asleep.  Sometimes I had to come out of my meditation really quickly to tend to him.  But I decided that I wasn’t going to complain about it.  Instead I’d practice being grateful that I at least got 10 or 20 minutes in, or whatever it was.  Better than nothing, right?

How To Get Your Kriya and Meditation Done When You Have A One Year Old

Now that Joshi’s almost a year old a lot has changed.  When he wakes up in the morning (usually around 6.15am), instead of getting a bit of extra sleep while Simon looks after Joshi, I get up, have a shower and spend the next hour doing my practice.  I do 15-20 minutes of yoga poses, 30 minutes of kriya and 10-20 minutes of sahaj samadhi meditation, (which I also learnt through the Art of Living Foundation).  When I’m done, I  look after Joshi while Simon does his.  This is what works best for us now.  It wouldn’t have worked when he was a newborn coz I was just too tired to get up at that time in the mornings.

What I often wonder is how parents cope without something like kriya in their day because this parenting journey is really demanding and you really need all the energy you can get.

Tip of the day for parents-to-be:  learn the sudarshan kriya and meditation now, before you become parents.

Extra tip for mammas-to-be:  learn how to do the kriya before you become pregnant because you can’t learn the it while you bub’s growing inside you.  Once you have your baby it’s so much harder to make the time to do the course.  Not that it’s not possible, just harder.  The Art of Living course is a total of about 18 hours spread over 6 consecutive sessions, so it’s a committment.  And you can’t miss any of the sessions, so you’ve got to be able to really get your head around taking it on fully. But once you’ve learnt it you’ve got one amazing tool with which to take care of your mind and body.  And I promise you, you’ll need that when you’re a parent, especially if you want to bring your best self to the family table and not your worn out, sleep-deprived self.

PS.  The Art of Living Courses are taught by volunteers in more than 150 countries, so you can do it almost anywhere in the world.  Oh, and your kids can do the Art Excel Course if they’re between 8 and 13 years old.   They’ll love it. It’s heaps of fun.

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art of Living is knowing which ones to keep.

And, One of the earliest lessons i learnt the hard way was, to be able to drop off my fear

of making a mistakes… For example, in my French or Arabic class, even though i wasn’t the
best of the students, i would make sure i always raised my hand to answer questions, ending
up being the outstanding student of the class…!! Well, my classmates would be able to tell you better of what an outstanding student really meant

My parents encouraged me to be bold and face my fears. Some of
the things i keenly remember were my fear of swimming in the deep side of the pool or in a river. Or fear of the darkness and strangers. And slowly, i picked up the knack of doing things i was
scared of, on purpose.
And those may have been my first experiences of inner freedom.

With time, i wouldn’t say that I became an exceptional student or remarkable at something, but i
learnt to be open to things in life, never be afraid of committing mistakes and also have integrity
of who i am.
Well yes, It was this ability to step into the unknown, that finally brought me to my Master Sri Sri.

I was still in my teens when I joined our ashram, and I’m sure I must have given a hard time to Guruji
(what I call my Master fondly) as by now I was already a pro at making mistakes
And one day with all HIS love & patience HE said, – “Its all right to make mistakes just take care that
you make new one each time. Just don’t keep repeating the old ones !”
Hmmm… Now that was an interesting view point, which I imbibed.

So all set and excited about committing new mistakes, I told Guruji that I want to take care of the
agriculture in the Ashram. Of course agriculture was something I had absolutely no idea of
Guruji smiled at me confidently and said ‘all right’.

Ashram Farmer- 1996
Few days later, I joined Guruji to visit a Swamiji at a nearby Ashram, where we were
graciously gifted around 400 coconut tree saplings to be planted at our Ashram.
Back in those days, It was a big project and I was incharge !
I looked at Guruji with great confidence and told HIM, it shall be done.
After which Guruji was traveling abroad for a few months.
Coconut is a pretty simple looking tree but the process of planting one is not that simple and has to be
taken care of and tended to properly. Well, i made sure everything went by the book, planted the
saplings and looked after them like babies.

The day Guruji arrived back, my hard work hadn’t paid off… With all my knowledge and might
we had planted the saplings, taken care of them. Yet out of the 400 saplings only a few had
survived!I still don’t know how I managed that

Guruji burst out in a loud laughter, patted my shoulder and said, – “It’s alright, try something else.Doesn’t matter what you do, just make sure you keep doing something!”

I remember dancing with my parents when I was young. My dad is a great dancer and I remember my mom happiest when she was dancing with him. Together they make a perfect couple on the dance floor.

Even if you are shy or afraid of what others may think, you can always dance where no one can see you. Fun. Your secret!

I also love watching other people dance. Love watching flash mobs and dance contests. My friend sent me a fun video on you tube by Ben Aaron. He is shows you how liberating Dance Walking Fitness can be in New York.

My kids love to dance too. I can see how they express themselves and how they copy my moves now. So free and innocent.

I suffered a little from home-sickness the last two months but dancing and hip hop yoga makes me feel so good.

And the spring of course. Spring makes me feel like dancing too.