7 Great Healers

Today I am going to talk about the 7 great healers. These healers are not people or something outside our selves. These healers are our attitudes, our habits. They are the way we live our lives. So, without taking anymore time let me introduce you to these 7 great healers.

FAITH…is deep belief that you can heal. The healer you have faith in might be god, universe, nature, your higher self or your body.
Do you have faith that your condition is heal-able?

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY…taking responsibility for your health and for your life is a big step. Blaming others, blaming situation or blaming god  makes you a victim as you give away your power to something external that you have no control over. Taking responsibility empowers you and motivates you to act towards healing. 
Are you ready to take COMPLETE responsibility?

FORGIVENESS…is allowing that part of your soul to heal which is stuck in a hurtful situation of past. It is freeing your soul. Whom do you need to forgive? Do you need to forgive yourself? Are you willing to forgive?

LOVE… is complete non-judgmental acceptance of what is. It is acceptance of ourselves as well as others 110% completely, without any ifs and buts. And knowing everything and everyone is perfect with all the seeming imperfections. Love is another name for peace. 
Are you at complete peace with who you are? Are you able to appreciate people around you as they are? Are you at peace with what is?

GRATITUDE...is realizing how blessed you are. Counting your blessing. Taking time to FEEL thankful. Be thankful for something as normal as being able to see, it is a great gift and you have countless such gifts, count as many as you can. 
What is that you are taking for granted without which you life will be less of a blessing? What is that you want more of but are not grateful for whatever little of it you have at present?

QUESTIONING YOUR BELIEFS… is your path towards enlightenment. Question everything you believe irrespective of where it came from – father, mother, teacher, your religious texts, anywhere at all. Beliefs shape our world and our experiences. It is in your best interest to keep the beliefs that are helpful and allow you grow and expand and heal. Throw all the unhelpful beliefs out!
Is my belief about this _ true?

MINDFULNESS…is the great assistant of the above six healers. It assists you
1. to know whether you truly have faith or not 
2. to know whether or not you are taking complete responsibility. 
3. to know whom do you need to forgive, or have you truly forgiven 
4. is this action based in love? 
5. to acquire vision to see even the minutest thing, in the darkest of corners that you should be grateful for. 
6. to bring to your notice the beliefs that are keeping you stuck 

Fun way of co-creating

Today I am going to share with you a fun way of co-creating your future. Have you ever imagined sitting on a time machine, travelling to your future and seeing yourself live your dream life? Yes? No? If you have done it, excellent! If you have not that is what we are exactly going to do in sometime.

Steps for fun co-creation:

1. Choose a date, in your future, you wish to visit. It might be 1 year from now or even 5 or 10 years.

2. Make a list of things you wish to achieve by then. While you do this check with yourself if each desire is coming from a place of love or just from a place of lack or greed. Let the list only have the things that makes your soul truly happy.

3. Just get an idea how your life will look like if the dreams in the list came true.

4. Now, time for time travel! Close your eyes, visualize yourself sitting in a time machine and visit your future self.

5. Now become you future-self. Enter into you future body. See with your future-eyes.

6. Use all your senses and watch your self living the life where all the dreams have come true. Listen. See. Feel. Taste. Smell. Feel the emotions. Observe what your typical day looks like. Remember to include the items in the wish list you made above.

7. Gratitude time. Become your future self and write a letter to your higher self or god or goddess or whatever you call it. Write about everything you are grateful for. Write about your achievements. Write about your relationships. Write about your wonderful health. Feel the gratitude while you write.

8. If you want you can decorate the letter or make it work of art if you wish to. Or you can dab some essential oil on it. You can tie a red thread around it. You can place in an envelope and also decorate the envelope. Do whatever feel good and makes the letter a expression of the feeling of gratitude.

9. Now, place it on your altar or on a wishing lantern and just let it go. LET IT GO!

Idea is to wish, then feel the gratitude as if you already have it and then finally surrender with faith.

Permission to not do

Last week I was feeling so overwhelmed and anxious. I had a biiiiiiiiiigggggggg to do list. Which included writing a blog and sending my first newsletter. My mind was in complete chaos. I was feeling stuck and angry. Then later that day me and my husband went for our usual long walk and he could feel my anxiety. He told me "I think you work better without deadlines". OMG! Why didn't I realize this on my own! He was so right.

Now I don't know whether or not it is the same case with you. But, even if it isn't, ask yourself what makes you the most productive.

That night I just went to my bed and did my regular ritual of  affirmations and recalling all good things that happened during that day, and just slept off. Next day, I decided that I will do nothing until and unless I genuinely feel like it. I decided that if I don't feel like it I'll postpone my newsletter till eternity and same with the blog post. OK I am kidding, not eternity! But I gave my self permission to do whatever feels good, even if it means staring at nothing throughout the day or might be spending the whole day on Pinterest.

Just giving myself permission to take a break & permission to not drag myself into performing continuously, was magical!

I spent first few hours of the day just doing regular things but without any hurry. It is powerful to JUST BE.
I was feeling much better now, and I felt an urge to write my blog. So I wrote my blog and then published my newsletter as well. The work felt so peaceful, as if giving myself permission to not do filled me with energy to do.

My heart was till craving for more break and more of just being. So I listened and agreed to do so. Now it has been a week and I have only worked for few hours here and there and only when I felt good. And now I am back, feeling more energized to do my work in the world.

This whole thing was a reaffirmation that -
I am important. 
How I feel is important. 

It felt like self-love. It felt like freedom.

And this what I learned
- deadlines don' work for me
- always listen to what your heart is craving for
- take a break & give yourself permission to just be

Now it is your turn. What makes you more productive and makes your energy tank full? What is your heart craving for now (it might be work but it might also be taking a break)? Are you willing to give yourself permission to do whatever your heart is craving for?

Prayer Tuesday - A beautiful Sanskrit prayer

I have spent my whole life in India and it is only last year that we moved out to Australia. During my school days in India, the whole school used to assemble and recite prayers, before the regular classes. Depending of the day of the week the prayer could be either Hindu or Islamic or Christian. The beauty was that each one of us sang all the prayers irrespective of our personal religious-beliefs. And I found all the prayers equally beautiful. The words might be Urdu or Sanskrit or English but the purpose of every prayer was the same - To connect with the higher power. Ask for his guidance. Be grateful for your life.Today I am going to share one of simple and beautiful prayers, that we used to recite in our school. It is taken from an ancient Hindu text, and is written in Sanskrit language.


Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaanti Shaanti Shaanti ||


Meaning:
Om, Lead us from Unreality (of Transitory Existence) to the Reality (of Divine Self),
Lead us from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
Lead us from the Fear of Death to the Knowledge of Immortality (Spirit never dies)
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

("Om" is considered to be the sound of creation. It is a very healing sound. Many people love to meditate on it.)

Go ahead and pray. Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!

Approval Addiction - Part 2 ... How does it steal away your health?

We all know how addiction to alcohol, smoking, food or even shopping affects our health, our mood and our life. Alcohol can damage your kidneys, smoking can damage your lungs and overeating can make you obese and cause serious health issues. I know. I know. I know that you know this. But, did you know that "approval addiction" can cause serious health issues? Take a moment here and think!

 (You might want to read the my earlier post "Approval Addiction - Part 1", if you have not already read, before reading the rest of the article)

(Warning: the next paragraph is a little technical!)

Let me start by explaining quickly how illness manifests in your body. Your thoughts give rise to emotions which gives rise to health or lack of it. If you know about Law of attraction, you know how when you focus your attention on something for good amount of time, it manifests! On similar lines, when you have a painful belief which leads to painful emotions for a prolonged period of time, it manifests in illness. Where and how in body does it manifest can be explained by the chakra system. Chakra system is an Indian system that identifies 7 major energy centers in our body. Just like you have digestive system, nervous system and circulatory system; similarly you have energy system in your body which consists of seven energy centers. Each of our beliefs can be linked to one of the energy centers and these energy centers in turn are linked to one of the organ systems of our body. Healthy beliefs and attitudes means healthy chakras means healthy organs means healthy you.

OK let's come back to Approval Addiction.

An approval addict hides behind her mask not only her awesome self but also the pain of not being able to show the whole of her true-self. The pain of feeling unworthy of showing the real you is, trust me, HUUUGE!
Approval addiction is born from fear and leads to more fear, pain, unworthiness, self-hatred and sadness of being alive without actually living! Can you imagine where this mountain of pain gets stored? Where else!? Yes, you are right, it gets stored in our body. And it effects all your energy centers! It effects each and every aspect of your life - relationships, social life, self-esteem, career, money making ability and of course health! See how deadly is this slow poison of Approval Addition?

We have to mindful about how we live our life and how we take decisions, big or small. Whenever you take a decision it has got to be either an attempt to get approval or an opportunity to shine.
First one is easy but, but a slow poison.
Second one is tougher but is routed in love. And will not only free you from all kinds of shackles but will also lead to good of everyone involved. Yes, even if right now you don't understand how. Second one is healing. Second one is a passport to your true life and of course healthy and fit body.

Whenever in doubt ask
"What would be my decision if the only approval I need is of myself?"

Now list down the things that you would do differently if you had all the approval you need. (Remember you only need your's)
eg:
1. I would get a short hair cut after years of thinking about it. Easy to manage! (My friends had always advised me against a short hair cut and had succeeded in  making me follow their advice because I needed their approval.)
2. I would share my blog on Facebook page. (When I did this first time, trust me it was scary!)
3. I would dress up myself in a way that feels good to me
4.
5.

OK. now go and do it! For your best life and best health!

(Everything I had on my old list has been ticked off :) ) Just sharing, next thing on my new list is public speaking!

Prayer Tuesday - prayer by Saint Francis

Starting from today I'll be posting prayers every Tuesday. Prayer is asking god for his guidance. Prayer is surrendering. Prayer is knowing that there is something more than what you can know with your five senses. Prayer is acknowledging the divine within you. Prayer is one of my favorite tools along with meditation and journaling. It opens my heart and prepares me for meditation. Meditation is listening to the guidance I requested for in my prayers. So, each Tuesday I'll be posting one of the prayers I love. Prayers from different religions and faiths. Prayers by saints and shamans. Hoping that it will open your heart to love and faith.

Today's prayer is a very well known prayer by Saint Francis. I love this prayer for its wisdom.

Now go, read the prayer slowly, feel it, allow it to guide you. In short, soak yourself up in the prayer.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seekto be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Approval addiction - Part-1... What is it? Why is it such an evil? How to get approval anyway?

What is approval addiction? Well! You can say you addicted to approval when your happiness and self worth is determined by what others think of you. When your dominant thoughts are - What are they thinking about me? Do I appear well dressed to them? Are they thinking I am too fat or too ugly? How do I impress them? How do I make them love me? - then you know you are addicted to approval.

I was explaining all this to my husband. I was explaining how it takes you away from your right life because you are no longer focusing on yourself, your talents and your abilities and are busy pleasing others. How approval seeking makes you wear a mask, or might be masks, and hides your real self from the world. How it fills you with resentment because you feel completely out of touch with who you really are or, even worse!, you might be completely confused in first place about who you truly are. How it sucks the life force out of you. And this makes you sub-consciously hate the very people you seek approval from. Terrifying, isn't it!

And then, my husband asked me a million dollar question. He asked me "what if a person wants approval from just this one person he is really close to? And this person can be anyone - your mother, your father, your best-friend, your husband, your wife, or might be someone else whom you really admire. And what if getting that approval makes him truly happy? What if the person feels that it is one of the purposes of his life to keep this one person happy and pleased?" Hmmmmmm..... Nice question! I asked "have you ever seen a person who is desperate for somebody's approval ever truly happy about it?".

 And now I am asking you, my reader, the same question "have you ever seen a person who is desperate for somebody's approval ever truly happy about it?".

Personally, my answer to the question is a big "noooooooooooooooo". 

Why?

• Approval is always about hiding your true-self. It is about doing something that you wouldn't have otherwise wanted to do or being someone that you are not. It is all about pretending.

• It creates an illusion of love. Yes, illusion! When someone loves you when you are wearing that mask there is no love, in first place. They love that mask not the person behind it. When there is no love, what do you fear loosing by not pretending? Why so much attachment with the illusion?

• When you are seeking approval chances are you are living in another big lie. Lie that you love the person you seek approval from. My dear, again it is not love. Love always feels clean. Love is about thinking of the highest good of the person you love. Love is not about you pleasing someone. Approval seeking relationship will soon fill with resentment for two reasons - 1) even after all your efforts you might never get enough of it 2) even if your exterior looks OK trying to please, your subconscious knows that you long to be loved as you are.                                                               Having said that, I would like point out that I am not asking you to be indifferent to requirement and emotions of people around you. What I am talking here is about accepting and loving your real-self completely and then presenting it in the world lovingly and as it is. This extreme self-acceptance will soon extend to accepting others as they are and inspire them to do the same. Yes, opposite of approval-seeking is not indifference, the opposite is loving self-acceptance.

• Now, here is the deal, I believe that purpose of anybody's life can never ever be to get approval or to please someone. Why? Because it is sooooooooooo disrespectful to who you really are. It is disrespectful to the one who created you. It denies the truth that each one of us is perfect. It creates an illusion that you need to be someone you are not in order to be lovable. That you are not worthy unless you wear a mask. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Your purpose can be or rather always is to serve someone but never to please anyone.

How to have all the approval you will ever need?

Confused!?? Are you thinking if seeking approval is so bad and if I am so against it then what is the need for this section in this post? Read on to find the answer!

Those who know about law of attraction, know how important it is to feel good. Whatever you want to attract in your life you must already feel abundant about it. This is true for approval as well. 

• Start by approving of yourself and everything about you. tell yourself that it is OK and safe to show your true self. If all approval you ever have is only your's, it is enough!
• Get into the feeling of being surrounded by people who love you as you are. As if you already have their approval. How would you feel? How do you think your true-self looks like? What would you do? How would you dress up? How would you communicate? How will you body language be? What career will you choose? What spiritual path will you follow?
• Think of real people who will love the true you. Look for them among your friend or someone whom you truly admire or someone from history or someone famous. Collect their pictures and make a collage out of it. Keep it at a place where you can see it every now and then and can feel loved and inspired to be your real self.
• Gather the courage! The people who don't approve of you might not disappear from your life but you will attract many amazing people who will love the true you. You will attract your tribe! So, now go and gather the courage to take the steps and let your true-self shine!

Do share your comments, feedback and related stories!

Your body knows even what your mind doesn't

Our body is a really miraculous being! Just before my recent India trip my old knee pain came back and this time it was a really bad one. I had hard time climbing up the stairs and even getting down. I was feeling miserable. But, along with my knee pain being back something surprising happened. I completely lost my interest in ice-creams. Yes, you heard it right! Ice-creams! Someone who knows me well also knows how much I love ice-creams. I was really surprised by sudden and complete disinterest in ice-creams. I even tried to force myself into it, but I found myself responding to ice-creams like would have responded to horrible tasting and sickening stale food. I had no idea what was going on!!!

I finally gave up and thought I should just listen to my body. I had a tough time refusing to ice-creams offered by my loved ones on my India trip. (In India, food is “The way” you show affection towards someone. That’s the way you pamper someone, especially if you are meeting the person after a long time. )

In the meantime my knee pain had got worse. I decided and visited a doctor nearby. The doctor advised me not to have cold things. COLD THINGS!!!???? So no ice-creams, no cold drinks …. He also advised me to keep myself warm and not to expose myself to cold weather + plus some rest to my knees till they heal.

I was already avoiding cold things and cold weather. Thank you, body! J J I was stunned and full gratitude at the same time! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!©©©

But, I was not giving rest to my knees at all while it needed it badly L L

Now after approximately one month of resting and listening to my body, my knee is still healing and the process is on. (I am also feeding myself with natural sources of calcium – like unhusked sesame seeds and ensuring that I spend at least 15 mins in sun to get natural vitamin D)

Moral of the story – “Your body knows even what your mind doesn't. So, first follow the instructions of your body and then, if you wish to, you can search for the logic behind it.”

Crying is not weakness

Few weeks back me and one of my friends, as it won't be fair to disclose her name, lets call her Mary,  were  chatting on phone. She was having hard time with her boss at work. She felt offended by the way her boss was treating her and decided to resign. Before leaving the job she wanted to communicate with her boss about what made her feel bad and the reason she had to take this step in-spite of having no other job as back up. While we were talking it came up that, even though she was so desperate about speaking with her boss there was something that was very strongly holding her back. After listening and talking for a while we found out the culprit - the belief that "Crying is a sign of weakness and helplessness" - and she was afraid that she would begin to cry in front of her boss and look like a helpless victim.

Let me tell you, a belief is neither right not wrong it is only either helpful or unhelpful / limiting. If it is helpful keep it. If it is unhelpful dispose it and replace it with a helpful belief.

It is funny how we humans tend to judge everything and classify it as right or wrong, good or bad and then on the basis of that judge ourselves. It is painful when doing something feels liberating but our beliefs don't allow us to do that. And then we choose to suffocate rather than find the belief and then question it. If there is anything truly powerful next to being aware, it the power of questioning. Questioning your beliefs. Questioning the reason behind doing the things that does not make you feel good and yet you continue doing. Trust me! Questioning is really very powerful and life transforming!

Coming back to Mary, at the end of our conversation + a little bit of coaching she realised that - crying is not weakness, it is just a form of expression. We cry when words are not enough for expressing the depth of what we are feeling at the moment. And when you express completely without bothering about being judged, you are doing an act of great strength and self love.

If you are interested in knowing more about benefits of crying click here. No! I am not trying say here that crying is a virtue. I am just saying that it is just a form of expression - neither good nor bad.

I feel grateful about this conversation with my friend because it always reminds me about completely and without any hesitation expressing yourself. Thank you Mary!

Would love to know your thoughts and stories about your struggles and victories with self-expression. 

Honor your need for a space just for you!

I have always treasured my private space, physical private space, where I could spend time with myself, my books and my daydreams. A space which reflects who I am, where no one would come and interfere with my sacred time. And I have always been lucky enough to have it. I had my own bedroom as a child and then even in my college I managed to either have a single room for myself or find a corner in the room or somewhere in the campus where I was left alone for a long as I please. Library was my favorite place during my post graduation. And now I have a study room cum home-office of my own and I simply love it!

But, I still encountered a few people in my life who could not really understand the significance of it, in fact even people who are really close to me just understood that this something important to me but I doubt if they really understood "why?". I would wonder at times if I am weird or is there something wrong with me.
I learned to make peace with the question unanswered and learned to accept and appreciate this need lovingly. Finally one day after doing some research I found out the reason for this craving for spending sometime alone - I am an introvert.. Introverts are not people who are shy or under-confident  like the extroverts assume them to be. Introverts are the people who enjoy silence and peace and turn within to find joy and happiness. No one is 100% introvert or extrovert - extroverts have higher percentage of extroversion as compared to the introversion they posses and vice versa.

Introverts feel drained in groups and need some time alone, absolutely alone, to recharge their batteries. They feel more alive and energized when they are alone. This why they love the professions which allow them to have space of their own. Most of the artists, writers, computer geeks, musicians are introverts. For the first time I understood why I always craved for a room just for me and that there is actually nothing weird in this (sigh of relief!).

Do you have similar craving, craving to have a room of your own? Honor your need and see how you can have a space which doesn't allow anyone to interrupt you alone / me time. Right now if you can't think of having a whole room for yourself, see if you can at least have a small corner or just a couch which is only yours.

Take out some free time and dream and DREAM BIG about your ideal private space. Visualize, feel, smell and hear how your dream room looks and feels like. See the details color of the walls, color of the floor, color of your furniture, what type of furniture do you have in there, what is your room filled with (books or DVDs or might be something else), decorate your dream room in a way that reflects who you truly are. Dream as vividly as possible. Dream as if there is no one to judge you.

After the above exercise just make a note of what you just saw. Write all the details of your dream room. Now go and look for pictures which have elements of the room. You don't have to collect them in one go. Casually look for them when ever your free.  Once you are happy with the collection i.e once you feel that the pictures you have collected represents more or less the space you had dreamt of, you can make collage out of them or just keep the collection in on of the folders in your computer dedicated to this project or if you have collected pictures from magazines you can pin then on a cork board or in a scrap book or you can even make a collage out of it and might be frame it.

The whole exercise gives you clarity about what you really want and once you are clear you can take an action when the time is reap and trust me knowing what you want clearly has some miraculous power of its own. Things start rearranging itself to fulfill your dreams.

Do share your idea of your own dream room.

Miracle of detachment

Detachment is a miracle tool which allows us to keep the thinking part of our brain aside for sometime and allow our observer self to observe from a neutral point of view. Let me first clarify what do I mean by thinking self and observer self. Your thinking self is the part of your brain which does all the calculations, which judges, which differentiates right from wrong and which labels things as good and bad. The observer self just observes, there is no judgement, you just observe and become witness to what is. In today's world most of us only use the thinking part of our brain. The result is either grasping or aversion. Either we live in constant fear of loosing something we love or we fight and feel anger towards things we don't like. The result is - becoming a  victim of the situations.

The opposite of being victim and of grasping and aversion is detachment. Detachment is allowing yourself to be aware without judgement and completely accept the present. It allows you to see the the picture and develop compassion.

Recently one of my clients was facing issues at work place. She was angry and frustrated because she didn't feel accepted and felt continuously criticized. After doing some work which allowed her to see the whole truth from a detached perspective, she was able to see the situation from a point of compassion rather than anger. Her story changed and she realized that her colleagues were feeling insecure in her presence and feared that she might be a threat to their job. She was able to see them as someone who needed compassion rather than her anger. Change in perspective alone, without having to change the real situation, made her feel more powerful and loving at the same time. This is the miracle of detachment - being able to find peace in the present. Once you do this you can definitely work towards a better future, you don't have to stay in the same situation permanently. There are two ways to look at it. One, once you at peace with your present situation you are left with more energy and liveliness to concentrate on better future. Second way of looking at it is, you have learned your lesson in love and compassion (if you look closely you will realize that all the lessons in life are about love and compassion, so that you learn to love in every situation) and  you don't need the situation any more, so life brings something new, the situation changes.

Steps towards detachment / awareness / happy life:

1. Meditation is a great way to develop awareness. Set aside some time for meditation. Initially 5-15 mins might be enough. There are many meditation techniques. Do your own research, see what suits you and commit yourself to giving it a try for at least four days. Four days is what you need to set up a routine (There is a complete book written by Martha Beck about the magic of the number four).
2. Is relationship with any person troubling you right now? Just try for yourself if you can see the situation from a different angle, might be from the angle of another person involved in the story. You don't have force yourself to believe they are right. You just need to see if you can tell a more compassionate story.

Please do leave your comments and feedback.

2013, I promise ....

According to numerology forecast this year is going to be an very important year for my career. It is an year of abundance and progress. And I know that this is so true. This the year I am going to take next step in my coaching career, which is not just a career but my calling. I have made some promises to myself and though its more about focusing on my highest good, forgiving, healing and shining, it is very closely related to my calling. Because as a life coach, in the words of Martha Beck, "you have to live it to give it".

Here are my new year resolutions, rather promises to myself:

1. This moment onward I promise myself that I will share openly what I think, believe and feel. I might fear being judged, but I'll acknowledge my fear and anyways take the risk of showing the world who I really am. There will be no mask, no armour, just me.
2. I promise myself that I will make choices from a place of complete love, self-acceptance, courage and standing in my truth. My choices will not be based on proving myself right or proving someone wrong or based on insecurity or retaliation.
3. I promise myself that if something is good for me, I'll plan it and do it. I won't procrastinate and delay my good.

This year I focus on subtracting all that is not working and cultivating more trust in the process of life.

What are your promises to yourself this year?

Thank you 2012

I have been practicing being thankful for things in my life since more than 3 years now and without fail it instantly makes me feel better. When I catch myself focusing on things that are not going well in my life this what I do, I thank, and then I feel grateful and my focus shifts towards the wonderful things in my life.
Now its the time to count all the wonderful things that have happened in this year, 2012. Here goes the list:

1. I am grateful for all the new and beautiful places we (me and my life partner) visited. While we were in India during 1st half of the year, we visited Goa - known for its world class beaches) and Mahabaleshwar  which is a hill station and it is sooooooo... green that you have to see it to believe it. Anywhere you go in Mahabaleshwar it smells of grasses. I can simply go on describing its beauty.
2. We traveled to Australia in August which was our first step towards our dream of experiencing different cultures of the world and seeing and experiencing more of our planet. We are loving this country. People are super friendly and they make you feel at home.
3. I enrolled into Martha Beck life coach training which was much awaited. I have no words to describe how good it felt. But something that felt much much better was when I saw my husband more happy than I was, it felt as if its his dream that has come true. I was reminded what true love is and I feel overwhelmed with gratitude and joy whenever I think of it.
4. I started my coaching practice which is much more than just a profession for me. Its my calling!
5. Worked on my limiting beliefs, worked on forgiveness and making peace with not so happy memories of past. I am happy to know that I will be moving into 2013 with less burden on my soul :).
6. Last but not the least I saw my health and energy levels improving though there is still along way to go.

Let us keep reminding ourselves that we have lots to be thankful about. Keep counting your blessings! My next blog will be about my vision of 2013. 

The Spell of Making

I just loved this post about how we tend to focus on finding god, spirit or the power that can help us, guide us and change our life for good, outside ourselves. But the actual power comes not from outside, but from knowing our inner selves -  knowing and coming face to face with both good and bad aspects of it. Please click the link below for further reading...

 The Spell of Making

Taking Risk!

RISK! Until recently mere thought of this word used to make me feel freakish. The worst kind of risk for me is the one that involves speaking with my loved ones about a topic where my views are completely different and clash of thoughts is almost certain. But then I am not a person to compromise and live a life where I make my inner self unhappy. What do I do?!!! Fight?! Yes, fight seemed to be the only way out. I used to assume that my family will not understand me and I have to fight to get what I want. After all, you can't have it all. You have to choose between living your life on your own terms and maintaining good relationship with your loved ones who think differently. But then, I know that its my thoughts and believes that design my life and determine the final outcome. I decided that I want both and started telling myself that it is very much possible. But still I was not able to summon up enough courage to initiate the discussions and talk openly about how I felt. And then the guidance came in the form of a book "The joy diet" by Martha Beck. There is a complete chapter about "Risk" where the reader is required to take a risk and without that one is not allowed to proceed to the next chapter. Here are few lines from the book that really made me take the required action -

"Taking risks that may help you achieve your dreams is the only way to challenge the fearful beliefs that have kept you from achieveing them already. It provides empirical evidence to support or disprove your various hypothesis about how the world works. It breaks down the boundaries set by fear, and this will decimate the constraints that
are keeping you from your right life."

"Any risk worth taking is worth taking whether it leads to success or failure. The criterion by which you should decide which dangers to face, and which to avoid, is not your chance of succeeding but the depth of your desire."

Finally, insipte of feeling the fear, I was able to summon the courage to speak openly. And guess what!...........mine was an happy ending!

From this incidence I have understood that the only way to live your life to the fullest is to take risks inspite of fear, knowing that what ever happens after that will be for your highest good.

Wish you best of luck for all the risks your going to take to get closer to heart's true desire :) !

Healing Hurt and Creating Love

In everybody's life there are some people with whom we share significant amount of time everyday and also a common space. We call these people family members. They have a great impact on how happy we are with our life. We depend on them for their love, care and understanding. But, when relationship with these very people becomes abusive and hurtful we start feeling trapped. We feel that there is no way out and start blaming each other for the way we feel.
But the good news is just like every other problem on this earth, this problem also has a solution. Solution is "LOVE & FORGIVENESS". Yes same age old mantra of love and forgiveness comes to our rescue.
Here are the steps to heal your hurt and create love in any relationship.

1. Take responsibility. Throw away your victim mentality. Stop feeling like a victim of the situation. Understand that every thing is impermanent and very changing. Know that you are the architect of your life and unwanted things will change if you take complete responsibility of whatever is happening in your life. This is step 1 of solution to any and every problem that exists and will ever exist.
2. Make a list of feelings that you feel when you see that person or think about that person on a sheet of paper.
3. Sit in a quiet and comfortable place and tell yourself that this particular situation, just like every thing in this universe,is ever changing. Affirm aloud "  My outside world is just a reflection of who I am. I am open to change and as I change things around me change as well."
4. Understand that any healing takes place only with love and forgiveness. Now perform a small ritual. Burn the list that you had prepared in step two with an intention that you are letting go all these feelings and see your feeling of hurt burned into ashes and now you are left with a heart willing to forgive.
5. Sit with your back straight and take few deep breaths and prepared your mind for next step of healing. Now affirm aloud "Forgiveness and love is the only solution to every problem in this world. I choose to forgive 'the person's name'  as well as myself. I forgive ... I forgive....and bless myself and 'the person's name' with love, happiness and health ( Visualize both, yourself and the person, to be happy and feel the happiness and love within yourself) As I do this, I set myself free from all hurt and past experiences. Only love and forgiveness is left behind.I create new and beautiful experiences for myself. I choose to see only positive in myself and 'the person's name' and as I do this I am giving birth to a beautiful relation between two of us."
6. Repeat step five for at least few weeks and continue for a longer time if you feel the need , you will actually see your relationship improving. 
7. Whenever any negative thoughts appear about that person, just remind yourself that you have decided to see only positive in that person and bless that person with love an happiness. Blessing dissolves any feeling of hatred.  

Any time you come across a person who tries to hurt you, just remember these words by Thich Nhat Hanh "When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.”  Forgive and bless the person, it will surely heal the person but first it will heal you.

Choose to see only POSITIVE !!

I am sure each one of us wants to live a happy life, full of happy situations and wonderful people acknowledging and appreciating your wonderfulness, and at the same time you enjoying all aspects - personal, professional, financial, health, etc- of your life to the fullest.

Is it possible to live such wonderful life? Is it possible to have it all? Yes, it is and i'll tell you how.

Make a choice. Choose to see ONLY positive. Yes, this is the key to living a life of your dreams ( I am assuming that you dream of a happy life :) ;) ). 

Everyday perform a small ritual. Follow these steps:

1.     Choose a quite and comfortable place for yourself. You can go for a quite corner of your home or to your balcony, garden or any other place that is comfortable and peaceful.

2.     Sit with you back straight ( this ensures proper flow of energy in your body)

3.     Close your eyes

4.     Observe your natural breath for a minute or two, till to start feeling relaxed and completely present in the moment.

5.     Take 5 deep breaths

6.     With calm  and peaceful mind start thanking God or Universe or Nature or Your Higher Self, depending on whatever feels comfortable to you and aligns with your belief system, for all good and positive aspects of the following:

1)       Personal Life

2)       Professional Life

3)       Abundance

4)       Health

5)       City, locality and home

6)       A particular situation that does not feel so good

7)       People around you - colleagues, family members, friends ...... thank for all good things they have done and still do for you .... feel good about them by remembering all good qualities they posses

8)       Your life partner

9)       Yourself ..... take your own time and remind yourself about all the wonderful qualities you have ... and feel love for yourself while you do this.

Thank for smallest of blessings and feel gratitude within yourself. Feel how important this blessing is in your life. Count all the positive traits of people around you and also include yourself.

7.     Now affirm,

“I choose to see ONLY positive in all situations and aspects of my life”

“I always choose to see good in everyone including myself”

“I see myself and others with love”

This ritual will soon train your brain to see only positive and you will see your life flooded with positive situations and people. After all, like attracts like. 

My idea of perfect 2012

Just like 2011, I foresee 2012 to be a very happening year for me.
2011 was the year when I got married, ended my corporate career and decided to do something different, found my passion in life, took a decision to join Martha Beck's life coaching, spent time understanding myself better, spent a lot of time with my loved ones and above all felt lucky about having wonderful life partner and family which truly loves and supports me.
And now, I already have lots of hopes and expectations from 2012. I see myself becoming a well paid life coach, and trust me only I know how much I am already excited about this. There is lot of travel coming my way - Goa, Australia and might be US as well. Doesn't that sound wonderful......getting to see new places....new culture....different food...nature...and lots n lots of shopping. WOW! I am also looking forward to renting a house with a beautiful garden .... Flowers are after all  my first love! Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...........these were all big big things. But, now there are many simple and small things that I plan to do every single day of 2012. These small things that are going to make my each day perfect are...

• cooking meals at home ( this will ensure that we both - me and my husband, are eating healthy and nutritious food)
• practicing yoga daily for 1 hour
• reading out affirmation to myself
• practicing meditation for an hour daily ( I know many of your might be thinking that 1 hr is too much much, but actually i am used to meditation for this long. Its just that I am not very disciplined and miss out on my meditation because of my laziness)
• practicing gratitude daily before starting my day & before going to bed
• spending 15 - 30 mins each day organizing a small part of my house

So..I look forward to a year of health, spiritual growth, gratitude and organised and clutter free space to live in.

I wish all my readers a very happy and prosperous new year.

Please share your idea of perfect 2012 and your plans to achieve it.

11 things you should do if you love your body and yourself

1. Sit  cross-legged  while eating - This is the way people in east, traditionally, used to sit while eating food. This is the best position to adopt while eating as it enables stomach to absorb and digest food properly.
2. Eat with your hands and be completely aware while eating  - Mindfulness or awareness is the only way to fully experience a moment and responses of your body in that moment. Eating is considered to be an experience involving senses. One should eat his meal in a quiet, airy and clean place where there is no distraction - no TV, no watching videos online or any other kind of distraction or multitasking. Light in the room must be neither too harsh nor too dim so that it is soothing and the same time you can also see what you are eating. Every bite must be eaten with hand so that you can feel what you are eating, and then it must be chewed properly and slowly enjoying the taste, texture and aroma of the food. Having your food in this way makes it a sacred event and not only fills you with gratitude towards the food but also you end up eating less as you get to know exactly when your stomach is full. The process of chewing the food properly and slowly also makes the process of digestion easier.
3. Eat your last meal before sunset - After sunset the process of digestion becomes slower and also there is less activity during the late hours, therefore its advisable to have the last meal before sunset. In today's world this might not be always possible, but at least one can try and have their last meal 3-4 hours before going to bed. This way you allow your food to get burned up properly and avoid getting it deposited as fat on your body.
4. Drink 6 glass of water right after waking up in the morning - Drink one and half liters of water right after getting up from your bed. In Ayurveda this is called Ushapaan and is very beneficial for the body and cures many ailments like constipation, acne, obesity, headaches, kidney stone, acidity, gas problems. It is even more beneficial if water is stored in the copper vessel overnight.
5. Drink lots of water - I don't think that I need to list down the benefits of drinking lots of water as most of you might already know this. Those who want to go through the benefits again or those who are not aware of it please refer to http://www.mangosteen-natural-remedies.com/benefits-of-drinking-water.html.
6. Sleep on not so soft surface - Sleeping on yoga mat spread on the floor or any other kind of mat or thin mattress that is soft enough but not too soft and fluffy is perfect for healthy sleep. It helps in maintain right posture while sleeping as the body parts don't sink in and also allows proper breathing. In long run this contributes in a big way towards healthy body and also keep back pain at bay.
7.  Breath deeply and slowly - Something as simple as breathing also needs attention. It is simple but vital process. Shallow breathing means lack of oxygen in body which mean low metabolic rate and improper digestion and absorption of food. Just sit quietly at some quiet place and breath deeply and slowly for about 10 mins and observe how it feels. You can feel the difference. Make it a habit to breath deeply and slowly, whenever you realize that your breathing has become shallow or too fast try to bring it to deep and slow. This ensure proper amount of oxygen reaching your lungs every moment of the day.
8. Stretch - In today's world where most of us have sedentary and passive life style, stretching your body parts keeps your muscles flexible, increases blood circulation and also keeps your energy levels up. So try and stretch after every one or two hours and continue feeling energetic throughout the day.
9.  Maintain right posture - Maintaining right posture goes a long way in keeping one fit and young and in maintain good energy level through out the day. Try and sit in different postures and at last, sit in the right posture keeping your back straight and shoulders relaxed. See the difference you feeling. It has many benefits from health perspective like proper flow of air and blood circulation in the body and also good bone health. Last but not the least it make you feel and look more confident and smart and attentive. 
10. Turn into a vegetarian - Vegetarian food is far more light and easy on stomach. It keeps heart healthy and also prevents from cancer. For further information please refer http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg.htm
11. Thank for all that you have and all good that will be coming to you- Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is very important. It is a very nice way to remind yourself of all the positive things in your life and in the process you end up feeling happier and more positive. Positive state of minds leads to attracting more positive things in your life which you would be happy and thankful about. At times we feel that there is nothing great in our life. Just remind yourself that mere fact that we have this life is a reason to be thankful about. Look around for small and simple things in your life to be thankful about. You can be thankful about beautiful sunrise and sunset that you get to see everyday. You can be thankful for enough food that you have to nourish your body. Look around, I am sure you will find minimum of five things to be thankful about. Practice thanking or gratitude every single day and make it your second nature to see something to be thankful about in simplest moments of your life. Once this habit has been cultivated start thanking for, not only what you have but also for what you want to have and achieve in your life, as if you are 100% sure that it is coming. Do this every single day with happiness and belief in your heart and see miracles happening.

Your Comments will be highly appreciated.

Detachment

Detachment ....... law of detachment... sounds familiar???? no?
For law of attraction to work , law of detachment has to be applied simultaneously.
Detachment has been identified as first step towards being happy and living more fulfilling life and also the first step towards spiritual growth by many religions of the east. But still many doubt that if someone is detached how can he still be able to love his family, friends and people around him. How can a detached person be a good citizen of the world?
One needs to understand that detachment is different from indifference. When you are detached you see things as they are, you see things from neutral point of view, you are not biased, you are not happy or sad, when detached you are just an observer. In day today situations or problems detachment helps you take right decisions without being blinded by bias and victim mentality.
When you are trying to attract something in your life, a better job, perfect life partner or any other thing, you need to be detached throughout the process, you should not get panicky or impatient, there should be deep faith that what you are asking for will be given. You just need to know precisely what do you want and be prepared to receive it because it is going to come for sure.