Saravanan is a master gardener, horticulturist, and landscape architect, with over 25 years of experience in nurseries, plant care, tree translocation, etc. He is also a Director, HeartyCulture Natural Products LLP, and has been instrumental in the greening of Kanha Shanti Vanam, the headquarters of Heartfulness Institute.

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Saravanan Subramaniam

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SARAVANAN SUBRAMANIAM, Director of HeartyCulture Natural Products, India, introduces us to a new type of grafted mango at the nursery in Kanha Shanti Vanam. Not only does this new variety bring diversity to our taste buds, but also symbolizes the unity in diversity we all wish for in ecosystems that include human beings.</h4>&nbsp;In a world often defined by fragmentation, where unity can feel elusive, the smallest gestures sometimes hold the deepest meaning. Imagine a single mango tree standing tall and proud, with a twist. On this one tree grow five different varieties of mangoes, each branch carrying a unique flavor and identity. It is not just a tree; it is an inspiring metaphor for harmony, innovation, and a hopeful future.This fascinating concept brings to life an idea that is as practical as it is profound. This 5-in-1 mango tree, capable of bearing five distinct varieties of fruit, was conceived with the vision to serve humanity with practical, <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/3-questions-on-vision" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sustainable solutions</a>.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">A tree that nurtures hope and prosperity</h4>The science behind this innovation lies in grafting, a horticultural technique as old as agriculture itself, revitalized with a fresh perspective. Traditionally, mango trees require years of patient nurturing before they bear fruit. They also grow tall, demanding ample space and time. Through grafting, however, saplings are carefully combined to create shorter, faster-growing trees that produce a bountiful yield. Each tree is designed to sprout two branches of each mango variety.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/joy_of_unity2_8261985c0f.webp" alt="joy-of-unity2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_joy_of_unity2_8261985c0f.webp 134w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_joy_of_unity2_8261985c0f.webp 429w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;These mango varieties are natural and rare, and have been meticulously selected for their quality and resilience. We work closely with the Central Institute of Horticulture to ensure that every tree we deliver is of the highest standard.But this project is more than just a horticultural endeavor. It is a living gift—one that brings together family, nature, and a sense of purpose. Gifting such a tree to your loved ones can become a symbol of growth, joy, and continuity. More than a sapling, it becomes a legacy.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Planting trees, growing memories</h4>The beauty of this initiative lies not only in its scientific ingenuity but also in its emotional depth. A mango tree has a way of embedding itself into the soul of a family. I remember the story of a grandfather who planted a mango tree decades ago. The family moved away, but the tree continued to bear fruit. The tree was a silent witness to the generations it nurtured.A tree connects us to our roots. It becomes a reminder of the love we share and the memories we create together. It is a way to give back to nature while building a lasting connection with our loved ones. For those without land of their own, there are still ways to participate. <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/the-4-phases-of-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Community</a> planting programs like those in Heartfulness centers, offer an opportunity to be part of something larger—to contribute to the Earth and society in a way that fosters connection and meaning. This is not just about planting trees. It is about planting happiness, love, and togetherness.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/joy_of_unity3_110d5a1c83.webp" alt="joy-of-unity3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_joy_of_unity3_110d5a1c83.webp 107w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_joy_of_unity3_110d5a1c83.webp 342w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/medium_joy_of_unity3_110d5a1c83.webp 513w," sizes="100vw"></figure><h4 style="text-align:justify;">A festival of love and growth</h4>Here’s a suggestion: Why not turn the simple act of planting a tree into a meaningful celebration? Instead of just planting a sapling in the ground, make it an occasion—a festival of love and togetherness. Bring your family together, dig a hole, and decorate it with flowers. Plant the sapling with care, adding soil and compost with intention. Let the whole process be filled with joy and a sense of connection.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/joy_of_unity4_20f445e7f6.webp" alt="joy-of-unity4.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_joy_of_unity4_20f445e7f6.webp 234w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_joy_of_unity4_20f445e7f6.webp 500w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/medium_joy_of_unity4_20f445e7f6.webp 750w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;Invite friends and family to join you. Share food and enjoy the moment. It is not just about the tree we are planting, but the love and hope we are putting into it. Every small act counts, and when we come together, we’re not just planting trees, we’re planting seeds of joy, unity, and transformation.This project is not just about horticulture; it is about creating a ripple of love. By planting a tree with love and care, we nurture something that will benefit not only us but future generations. It is a reminder that the small actions we take today have the power to create a lasting impact.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">The vision of unity</h4>Throughout history, it is unity that has driven humanity forward. Daaji, the inspiration behind this initiative, often reminds us to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. Whether it is within families, communities, or society at large, true progress comes when we overcome our differences and work together toward a common goal.Unity is not just about standing together. Unity is about creativity. It is about creating something beautiful and meaningful. It is about finding a way forward, even when obstacles arise.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">A call to action</h4>If this idea speaks to you, join in. Whether it is by planting a tree, gifting a sapling to a loved one, or participating in community programs, every effort counts. It is a chance to nurture both nature and our own hearts. In the end, this initiative is about more than mango trees. It is about planting hope, cultivating joy, and growing together as one. It is a celebration of life itself—a beautiful reminder that even the smallest acts, when done with love, can transform the world.May our collective energy of love and unity fill our worlds.Purchase your tree: <a href="https://hfnlife.com/products/5-exquisite-varieties-of-mango-in-1-plant" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://hfnlife.com/products/5-exquisite-varieties-of-mango-in-1-plant</a>Purchase through EMI option: <a href="https://hfnlife.com/products/5-exquisite-varities-of-mangoes-in-1-plant-emi" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://hfnlife.com/products/5-exquisite-varities-of-mangoes-in-1-plant-emi</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/joy_of_unity5_7f1a9562dd.webp" alt="joy-of-unity5.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_joy_of_unity5_7f1a9562dd.webp 245w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_joy_of_unity5_7f1a9562dd.webp 500w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/medium_joy_of_unity5_7f1a9562dd.webp 750w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:25%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/joy_of_unity6_cebc2b8a0c.webp" alt="joy-of-unity6.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_joy_of_unity6_cebc2b8a0c.webp 114w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_joy_of_unity6_cebc2b8a0c.webp 364w," sizes="100vw"></figure>

The joy of unity

Saskia Rao-De Haas And Shubhendra Rao

<hr><h4>In this exclusive interview, which we feature in two parts, SHUBHENDRA RAO and SASKIA RAO-DE HAAS speak with V. SRINIVASAN about their careers in music, about the role of music in education, and about the broader meaning of vibration, resonance, harmony and rhythm in life. Here, they start with the meaning of music.</h4><hr>Q: What does music mean to you in your life, at the core of your heart?SRH: Music is life, to me, the vibrations. Any vibration in this universe is music. It’s who we are, who I am. I think I’m fortunate to live that every single day and realize that. Everything that vibrates is music, everything that vibrates has resonance. The sound can be in harmony or disharmony, can be in rhythm or out of rhythm. So, to me music is the same as life.SR: That’s very beautifully put. For us, we live, eat, sleep, play music. It’s as natural as that for us. But then when you see the world, every small little movement, every chirping of a bird, the sound of the ocean, every small sound of the breeze, the rattling of leaves … There is music in everything. It’s for us to realize and for us to feel that.SRH: We have to be careful what we add to that soundscape of nature with our voice, our speaking. What do we say? I mean, this is what every enlightened person is telling us. From a musical perspective, this is also true. Noise pollution and harsh words all have a negative impact, as much as the vibration of Nature, of plants, trees and animals. So, there is a huge effect of music. I think of the story of what happened to the roses at your house.Q: Yes, I grew up in Bangalore and we had a small garden in front of the house. My mother was very interested in gardening whenever she had the time. So, we had five or six beautiful rose bushes growing there; each one had flowers of a different color and the roses were huge. They were so beautiful that every person who walked past had to turn and look, and appreciate them. Our neighbors thought that they could get some cuttings from our bushes and plant them in their own garden, so they’d also get beautiful flowers. They were beautiful, but they were not as good. Some people took some soil, too, and some fertilizer from the same packet that we were using. Again, they were still not as good. And then somebody said, “Where can we find the music you play?” because at our house there was always twelve to fourteen hours of music inside the home every day. The roses were actually responding to the music. Everything that music gives is Nature. Music means life.SRH: Before our son Ishaan was born, when I was pregnant, I would practice every day. The larger I got, the closer the cello rested on my belly, all these vibrations. We believe this had a huge impact on his development. He could talk by the age of eight months, speak three languages by the age of one and a half, and read and write by two. So, clearly there was something in the impact music had on him.SR: Why only Ishaan? For that matter, it is also true for our little puppy that has been with us for three years. Normally you associate a small dog with a lot of barking and whining, but this guy never barks. He is so quiet, so attuned to the music that he has experienced for the three years of his existence. We believe that music is his backbone, too, and he never barks. We want him to bark, and maybe once in a week he does bark, for two seconds! That’s the <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/music-is-a-spiritual-experience" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power of music</a>.Q: So, this leads me to my next question: There are many people in the world who look at music from a spiritual perspective. They feel that music, in one sense, is spiritual for them. Even in your article, you have mentioned how music is meditative. So, in this context can you share your insight on how music connects with spirituality?SR: Music is meditation. Maybe for that you have to ask: What is meditation? Meditation, from my understanding and my experience, is to lose everything else in your mind, and to be able to empty yourself. It is to be able to focus on a single point where all your energy and everything goes into realizing that point. And that’s what we do as musicians. So, it’s not music as meditation, but music is meditation. The years and years of practice that you put in, the tapasya and sadhana that you do – that is music and that is meditation. During my teens and early 20s, I was practicing twelve hours a day. When you’re so focused on one thing, that itself is meditation.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/soundscape_music_part1_2_f2df4e5a8a.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:53:57.689Z" alt="the-soundscape-of-music-part-1"><hr>SRH: Absolutely, but it’s also not necessary that you work with that as a musician. Some musicians have different perspectives. For us, personally, it is literally the way to communicate with the Divine, because this is our most direct and easiest way to feel that connection and experience it – not every day, not every time, but at least try for it every single day. I always like the analogy of Baba Allah Rakha to see music as a light, which you can call the light divine. You’re in a dark tunnel and you try to reach that light. That is what music practice means to us, and that is meditation. Often, music is seen only as entertainment. There is nothing wrong with that role of music, it’s fine, but people lose out on everything else that music is. It doesn’t mean that music is a means to meditation. It is meditation. So, we don’t need to meditate and listen to music. If you listen to music in the right context, especially neoclassical music, you are meditating. And I think sometimes there is confusion because people mean well – I’m meditating and I’m listening to music, which means there is a cut into two separate experiences. Whereas, when you come with that knowledge of meditation and you listen to the music, you just listen and let it flow. You don’t need to do any extra breathing exercise, chants, or anything else, as the music will guide you. Sometimes I feel there is a subtle difference between the two.<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">Meditation, from my understanding and my experience, is to lose everything else in your mind,&nbsp; and to be able to empty yourself.&nbsp;</h5>&nbsp;<hr><hr>Q: Wonderful! So, great music is seen as a product of great inspiration. It’s a deeply creative process. What is the interplay between music and creativity? Does one have to be intuitively creative as a musician or a composer, or is it the other way around?SRH: I have always loved what Osho said about creativity: that any activity we can do with a sense of creativity, whether it’s a sweeper or the highest form of music, is more a way you approach every task in your life. So, music clearly is very easy in that sense to be creative with because it comes from that creative impulse. I think it’s not only in music we show that, it’s literally everywhere. I think, for us, the creative process in music is every day. I mean, like the day before yesterday, we had a session about what music is, what Indian music is. And I was visualizing it and comparing it with how Plato describes an idea – realized knowledge versus something that you learn. So, Indian music is more realized knowledge, right? You feel that a raga in the air and we take a little bit of inspiration for creativity from it, express it and release it again. So, based on that I created a piece which is a complete meditation; it’s an old chant on the cello with very subtle overtones of all the notes of a specific raga in the background.SR: It’s just amazing. If you have that in every house, or if we can send it to all the violent activities across the world, everybody will give it up because it brings so much peace, it connects you to a point where nothing else can connect, it’s very, very simple. And honestly, I think it doesn’t need to be a 100-minute piece with 300 musicians. It’s just one person creating that, although of course there are layers in that using modern technology. You have to listen to that to believe it and you have to experience it to understand what we’re saying, I feel it’s highly evolved, simple music. Every house should reverberate with it for 24 hours, so that everyone feels connected.SRH: Like our little puppy. Normally, he lies down in one part of the house, and I have it playing in a loop and he comes and he stays near it throughout. So, with creativity and inspiration, sometimes you get an idea to set it to music and sometimes it’s a concept. So, this was a concept, also like the color of white which contains all the colors. So, we wanted to recreate the sound of the tanpura, the drone of old charm that is always there that contains the beginning of the universe; it contains all the notes. It’s like the color white in a way.SR: Absolutely. It’s an endless process. Every day you create, every minute you create. It’s not an extensive 100-minute piece, it’s literally bringing it down to a single point, and it’s so organic, it’s purity at its best.SRH: Exactly, there’s a different one for when you listen to it in the morning with the notes of the morning raga, or if you listen in the afternoon or evening. So, an organic process of music, how we’re inspired as musicians, changes it accordingly, as well.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/soundscape_music_part1_5_9be3510f56.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:53:57.695Z" alt="soundscape-music-"><hr>Q: You have performed across the world in front of global audiences and interacted with so many people in this field. Now, looking at the world today, there is polarity, conflict, and there’s a rise in forces which are sometimes very depressing, creating turmoil in the atmosphere. There are also other vibrations which are very positive, but if you think in terms of balance and counter balance, sometimes it seems the negativity is really overpowering. So, from your own practical experience, how do you think music could create a wellspring that could positively impact global peace and harmony?SR: Negativity sells more in terms of TRP ratings, newspaper sales etc., but actually there’s a lot more good in this world than negativity. The only thing is the good doesn’t come in your face all the time because it doesn’t sell, so, there’s an underlying financial aspect. And if we go back in history, in mythology, as well as in today’s world, wherever there is positive, there also has to be negative; wherever there is negative there has to be positive. They are going to live together. It’s not possible to have only positivity for people to understand what is positive. Unless they see the negative, how can they understand the positive?Yes, there’s a lot of negativity, but in my personal view, there’s a lot more positivity.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/soundscape_music_part1_3_b88dedeaea.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:53:57.684Z" alt="soundscape-music"><hr>And if we see it from that angle, we’re immediately spreading positivity. And music has different functions also. One of them is the shanti rus, but music can also be very provocative, as we know, whether it’s for the rise of nationalism in different parts of the world, and how music was used even there. Music is used in so many different ways, so, I think we should all start feeling positive within and try and spread that to every person we meet. If you’re positive you spread that positivity to ten more people who will spread it to another ten, then a hundred people.SRH: That’s true, music does have those different functions for me. One is in finding peace within; to have access to that function though, we really need to focus a lot more on music education. And that is one of the main reasons we started our “Sangeet4All,” to make sure that children had access to value music education and not to perceive it only as entertainment. The other main function of music is to connect communities, whether it’s bhajans, or folk songs, whether it is dancing together – that is what a lot of popular music is based on, that community feeling. But it’s exploiting them in a way, isn’t it? I mean, teenagers should be teenagers and explore who they are, but that aspect is exploited very professionally by big multinational companies, the basic dancing around the campfire, right? And that is I don’t know how many million dollars industry. Whereas, if we give a value-based music education from day one, maybe we can bring back some of that sense of community, whether it’s at school or elsewhere. It doesn’t mean that they only need to sing classical music. It’s completely independent of style, but it’s how we use music, what values do we learn from it? Military and marching music is one function, again the community feeling, right? One is the communal introspective part with God, and the other is being in a society. Both are equally important in music and music can give wonderful expression to that. But if we want to promote peace, we need to use those functions of music in a constructive way, and one of them is definitely music education. The other is to do with your wonderful organization, bringing that community feeling of being together, listening to music together in such a positive way; and it can also be dancing together, there’s nothing wrong in that either. The only sad part is when it gets exploited.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/soundscape_music_part1_4_7ba1209cb4.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:53:57.638Z" alt="soundscape-music"><hr>To be continued<hr><h4>Interviewed by V. SRINIVASAN</h4><hr>

The soundscape of music - part 1

The soundscape of music - part 2

Has conducted research on yoga since 2001 and has been a practitioner/instructor of Kundalini Yoga since 1973. His research has evaluated yoga for insomnia, chronic stress, and anxiety-related disorders, and in workplace and public school settings. He works with the International Association of Yoga Therapists as scientific director for the annual Symposium on Yoga Research and as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy. He is medical editor of the Harvard Medical School Special Report Introduction to Yoga, and chief editor of the medical textbook The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care. He is interviewed by VICTOR KANNAN of the Heartfulness Institute about the intersection of yoga and well-being.

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Sat Bir Singh Khalsa

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SAT BIR SINGH KHALSA, Ph.D. has been an instructor of Kundalini Yoga since 1973, and conducted research on yoga since 2001 on insomnia, chronic stress, anxiety-related disorders, and in workplace and public school settings. He works with the International Association of Yoga Therapists as scientific director for the annual Symposium on Yoga Research and as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy. He is medical editor of the Harvard Medical School Special Report Introduction to Yoga, and chief editor of the medical textbook The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care. He is interviewed by VICTOR KANNAN of Heartfulness Institute about the intersection of yoga and well-being.</h4>&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection2_0acf760470.webp" alt="mind-body-connection2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_mind_body_connection2_0acf760470.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_mind_body_connection2_0acf760470.webp 563w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection2_0acf760470.webp 563w," sizes="100vw"><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Four aspects of traditional yoga</h4>Q: Thank you for your time this morning Dr. Khalsa. What is yoga to you?SBSK: What I call “traditional yoga” or “historical yoga” is composed of four major elements. First are the Asanas, the physical postures and exercises. Many people practice only Asanas, and that’s fine, but it’s limited. It is only one aspect of yoga.Second is breathing, Pranayama. This is part of a rich tradition that goes back a long way and is still very much alive in modern yoga.&nbsp;Third is physical relaxation, which is technically included in the postures but I think it deserves its own category. There is a specific practice we call the Corpse Pose or Shavasana, which is deep relaxation of the physical body. It has very specific effects that have been demonstrated in yoga studies and also with “progressive relaxation,” a practice used in the West for many decades in the field of psychology. Relaxing the physical body has very clear effects on behavior and mental and emotional functioning. It highlights the connection between the mind and the body.&nbsp;Fourth, meditation (Dhyana) is perhaps the most important component of yoga. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are mostly about the cognitive aspects of yoga, the meditative component, the focus of attention. My simplest definition of meditation is the relaxed, non-analytical focus of attention. The difference in various meditation styles is simply the target of that focus. All of them involve the engagement of attention, recruiting the attention networks in the brain to focus on a target. When you focus on that target for a period of time, your mind starts to wander. The task in meditation is to bring your focus back to the target of attention. It’s that cyclical bringing of the focus to the target.&nbsp;Physical postures, relaxation, Pranayama, and meditation are therefore the four most important components in yoga in modern practice.&nbsp;Q: In relaxation, there is the physical and the mental-psychological. A Mayo Clinic research paper talks about autogenic relaxation. How does that work?SBSK: Two Western relaxation practices have a long history. One is called autogenic training (Johannes Heinrich Schultz, 1932), a guided imagery practice that works on the physical body to generate a sense of relaxation. The other is called progressive muscle relaxation (Dr. Edmund Jacobson, 1938). They have been used as interventions for a variety of conditions, both physical and mental.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection3_7a1f8cc578.webp" alt="mind-body-connection3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_mind_body_connection3_7a1f8cc578.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_mind_body_connection3_7a1f8cc578.webp 563w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection3_7a1f8cc578.webp 563w," sizes="100vw"></figure><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Mind and body are connected</h4>Q: The mind-body connection is interesting because the mind is not local, non-physical, while the body is physical. The connection of the mind-body is happening in the brain as far as we know. So, how do meditation and progressive relaxation affect brain functioning? I’ve read that even short-term meditation influences the chemical composition of the brain, impacting behavior; and longer-term meditation, e.g. 8 to 13 weeks, produces structural changes to the brain. Can you talk about the connection between mind and brain, and how they work together and are influenced by each other?SBSK: Mind and body are intimately connected. Without the brain there is no mind; you can easily demonstrate that. In modern science, including medical science, the mind and body have been dissociated. This started in the 1800s as the two fields developed – psychology and psychiatry on one hand, and physical medicine on the other. This led to an underlying schism between mind and body in modern medicine.Very often we see that doctors treating physical disorders aren’t interested in what’s going on mentally and emotionally, and those working with psychological or psychiatric conditions are not asking what’s going on in the body and with physical behavior. This is a major flaw, because the mind and body are intimately connected.&nbsp;The spinal cord is an extension of the brain that runs through the body and brings information from the body to the brain. And the brain communicates information back to the body. What influences one influences the other.&nbsp;You see manifestations of both when you have an emotional condition. When you’re upset, you cry. It physical, yet it’s a response to an emotional event. On the other hand, if you burn your finger, you experience a lot of emotional distress. To ignore mind or body at the expense of the other is a weakness and a misunderstanding. We will have more success in treating psychological and psychiatric conditions by incorporating respect for the body, and more success in physical medicine if we respect and understand what’s going on mentally and emotionally with the patient.&nbsp;My focus is on the mind-body connection and what we can measure. In modern medicine, we have very little understanding about self-regulation of the body by the mind, whereas in yoga we learn to control our internal state, both psychological and physical. This construct of self-regulation is a hallmark of yoga and other mind-body practices.&nbsp;Q: Is self-regulation the Pratyahara limb of yoga?SBSK: I don’t think self-regulation is associated with one limb. I view the eight limbs as a guideline to dissect how yoga works on the mind and the body, but I don’t find it that useful. Many people are focused on the Yamas and Niyamas, which are about ethical behavior. They have value, but I think they automatically emerge out of a regular yoga practice over time. They are not necessary to start or to have a yoga experience.Once you engage in one of the four components, you invoke the other three to some degree. The four components (physical exercise, breathing, relaxation, and meditation) are completely enmeshed and interlinked. For example, in slow breathing your autonomic nervous system slows down and there are also immediate effects on the brain and cognitive functioning. Mental relaxation also occurs when you do slow breathing. Similarly, when you meditate, there is a cognitive effect and physical relaxation. Your breathing slows down. So all of these practices are intimately linked together.Q: Your answer is pretty helpful. People can start with any of the yoga practices that attract them and start to benefit from the other components as well.SBSK: It is one of the major advantages of yoga. We all have different personalities and affinities. You can choose to engage in the practices that appeal to you.&nbsp;If you don’t practice, you won’t benefit. Knowing about mind-body medicine alone doesn’t work. You have to engage, and engagement is greater if you enjoy the practices. Yoga works on multiple fronts and that is the reason I originally chose yoga as a contemplative practice.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection4_d6e65da835.webp" alt="mind-body-connection4.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_mind_body_connection4_d6e65da835.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_mind_body_connection4_d6e65da835.webp 563w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection4_d6e65da835.webp 563w," sizes="100vw"></figure><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Demystifying yoga</h4>Q: Researchers and academics like you are passionate about demystifying yoga; especially that it is more than postures.SBSK: That’s true. People, get upset with diluted forms of yoga, especially in India. They say, “Oh, the Americans are taking our ancient sacred practices and minimizing them, destroying them by doing things like wine yoga, beer yoga, and goat yoga." I understand that viewpoint, but these limited forms of yoga serve as a gateway. People may start with physical postures alone for fitness, but the postures have a very powerful mind-body effect and people experience other things.&nbsp;The original reasons for trying yoga may be very trivial. Some start because they want to fix their knees or shoulders. Then a month later, after they’ve been practicing regularly and their shoulders are better, they say, “I’m feeling different, and I’m able to manage life more effectively. I’m less stressed and I want more of that, so I’m going across the street to the traditional yoga studio where I can learn more.” Limited yoga can be a gateway to traditional yoga, and that’s good. I would rather people do only Asanas in limited yoga than take pharmaceuticals.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Yoga and neuroplasticity</h4>Q: Absolutely. There is an axiom that what you did not learn before five you cannot learn after 50. Is there a right age to start? How does it relate to neuroplasticity?&nbsp;SBSK: Well, learning is affected by developmental stage. There are things you learn better when you are younger. Everything you do in life changes brain activity and brain structure. Neuroplasticity and neural activity are changing constantly. If you learn to juggle, you are changing brain activity and structure. If you read more books, you are changing brain activity and structure. Everything is reflected in brain activity and brain structure. If you start smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, the changes will not be positive, obviously.&nbsp;The different components of yoga also change both brain activity and structure. Those changes can occur at any time of life. Perhaps they are more beneficial when you are younger, just like anything else, so there are benefits to doing these practices early.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Yoga for children</h4>You can start yoga even in infancy. Preschool children can learn the principles of self-regulation, such as how to be aware of their body and mind, how to relax their body and mind. The yoga that is practiced at that age is targeted to their level of interest – animal games, pretending to be a lion or another kind of animal in yoga-like postures; relaxation and teaching the children how to self-regulate. A competent preschool yoga teacher can take a group of children who are bouncing off the walls with energy, and 20 minutes later have them all lying peacefully in Shavasana. It is a miracle. These children learn to self-regulate, learn to be aware of their own physical activity and mental energy, and calm that at will.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection5_34f55bc8e9.webp" alt="mind-body-connection5.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_mind_body_connection5_34f55bc8e9.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_mind_body_connection5_34f55bc8e9.webp 563w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mind_body_connection5_34f55bc8e9.webp 563w," sizes="100vw"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Being aware of your internal state, both psychological and physical, is intimately linked with self-regulation</h4><hr>Children also experience another fundamental construct, which is mind-body awareness, a term which is now popularized as mindfulness.&nbsp;Being aware of your internal state, both psychological and physical, is intimately linked with self-regulation, because you can’t self-regulate if you’re not aware. These two constructs are perhaps the most important in yoga and mind-body medicine— mind-body awareness and self-regulation of the internal state. They can be taught to children at a very early age. Later on, they can learn more practices, like Pranayama and meditation, and by the time they’re in high school, they can do everything an adult can do.To be continued.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4><hr>

The mind-body connection

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SAT BIR SINGH KHALSA is interviewed by VICTOR KANNAN about research and the applications of yoga in modern life. Dr. Khalsa has been an instructor of Kundalini Yoga since 1973, and has conducted research on yoga since 2001 on insomnia, chronic stress, anxiety-related disorders, and in workplace and public school settings. He is medical editor of the Harvard Medical School Special Report, Introduction to Yoga, and chief editor of the medical textbook, The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care.</h4><h4 style="text-align:justify;">Yoga in schools</h4>Q: Can you tell us how some of the yoga practices help prevent physical and mental problems?SBSK: I’ve been a strong proponent that we need more research on the implementation of yoga in our public schools, because I believe yoga provides fundamental skills children need to learn. The skills of self-regulation and mind-body awareness are preventive. They will prevent both physical and psychological conditions.One of the biggest risk factors for all kinds of medical conditions is chronic stress and emotional disturbance. Self-regulation leads to emotional equanimity. Stress regulation and emotional regulation are absolutely critical in preventing aberrant behaviors as well as aberrant mental states. The degree to which our children and adolescents are experiencing adverse mental health conditions is disturbing. The answer is to teach them what has been called “socio-emotional learning”; the ability to self-regulate and be aware will change their behavior. It will change their mental state and it will change their emotional state. It will change their self-efficacy overall and improve their ability to cope with life.Unfortunately, these skills are not taught in our schools, which are focused on acquiring successful occupations and not on successful health of the mind, emotions, and body. Not training our children to be able to be functional physically, emotionally, and mentally is a weakness of our society. Education should be about learning how to be an effective and functional adult, not just about getting a job.Yoga has the potential to inculcate those skills, and that’s the reason I believe it should be taught in schools. But we need the research to demonstrate that bringing yoga into schools will accomplish that.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/how_yoga_regenerates_us2_60c9942385.webp" alt="how-yoga-regenerates-us2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_how_yoga_regenerates_us2_60c9942385.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_how_yoga_regenerates_us2_60c9942385.webp 492w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/how_yoga_regenerates_us2_60c9942385.webp 492w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;Q: You also mention that policies lag behind research, so we need more research.SBSK: Our society functions and makes decisions based upon research evidence. Now, the problem is that research takes time. There are many forces and influences in opposition to research on topics that we believe are beneficial. One example, which is very dominant in modern society, is cigarette smoking. The research on smoking goes back to the 1940s and 50s. Scientists reported that smoking is associated with bad effects, and then came the evidence that smoking causes cancer. How many decades of research has it taken to create policies and regulations leading to no smoking in restaurants and university campuses? I’m hoping it will not take many decades to come up with policies for yoga and socio-emotional learning in our schools. It’s hard to predict.There is a joke in modern society that science moves forward funeral by funeral. Scientists hold onto old dogma and refuse to be open to new evidence and new ways of thinking. When they die, those who take over are more open and will adopt and implement new policies.We have so many examples. Go back to Galileo and the principle that the Earth revolves around the sun. It took decades to finally win over the opposing force, which was the Church arguing that it was against religious doctrine. That construct died with the people who defended it.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Yoga is not religion</h4>Q: I’m also wondering about the misunderstanding that yoga is religious.SBSK: There are actually two major misunderstandings, and they are polar opposites. One is that yoga is a religion. There is suggestive evidence that yoga was part of the Indus Valley civilization. We know that yoga evolved out of the culture from that part of northern India. India is predominantly Hindu, so many Hindus practice yoga, but to argue that yoga is a form of Hinduism is incorrect, both historically and philosophically. Although it is linked to other philosophical traditions in India, e.g., the Samkhya philosophy, all of which are related to each other, yoga stands on its own as a form of practical mysticism.The focus of yoga is the experience of the unitive state of consciousness. There has never been a dogma associated with it. That, to me, is what distinguishes religious activity from spiritual activity. Yoga is a practical form of mysticism, a philosophy that argues for the experience of a higher state of consciousness. It’s an experience, not a dogma or belief. &nbsp;That is the distinction between spirituality and religion.In religion, you adopt a set of beliefs and behaviors that make you part of that religion. You align with those beliefs and dogma, and you practice the techniques, ceremonies, and rituals as part of religious behavior.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">The focus of yoga is the experience of the unitive state of consciousness. There has never been a dogma associated with it. That, to me, is what distinguishes religious activity from spiritual activity.&nbsp;</h4><hr>Yoga is a mind-body practice. You do exercise, relaxation, breath regulation, and meditation. Over time, you hope to experience the unitive state of consciousness. In the beginning it may be an experience of simple peace, quietude and tranquility. But many people do experience the deeper unitive state of consciousness, the Samadhi state. If you do the practices, you have the experience, regardless of whether you believe or not. And there are many instances where people start with the belief that yoga is a joke; then they practice and change their minds because of the experience that yoga is real and beneficial. That’s one extreme.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Yoga in Western mainstream culture</h4>The other extreme is that many people believe yoga is practiced largely by beautiful women in leotards doing acrobatic postures, and that you have to be flexible. This is the result of the media’s portrayal of yoga. In this view, men don’t practice yoga, children don’t practice yoga. If you have a medical condition or limitation, you don’t practice yoga because you’re not fit.If you’re writing a media article, or want to sell a magazine, what are you going to show? An old fat man sitting in meditation? No, you’ll show a beautiful woman in leotards doing an acrobatic posture, because that’s what attracts readers. If you constantly put that kind of image in the media, then the public makes that association. The related conclusion is, “I’m not a young flexible woman, therefore yoga is not for me.”Q: I thought the Happy Buddha was a good counter to that.SBSK: The problem with the Happy Buddha is that you’re going into Buddhism. When you show a meditative posture, it’s associated with Zen and other forms of Buddhism. You’re going to the other extreme of yoga as religion. As a community, we have to disabuse the public of these two extreme notions, which are both false.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/how_yoga_regenerates_us3_5d1bba0555.webp" alt="how-yoga-regenerates-us3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_how_yoga_regenerates_us3_5d1bba0555.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_how_yoga_regenerates_us3_5d1bba0555.webp 720w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/how_yoga_regenerates_us3_5d1bba0555.webp 720w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;Q: I agree. We have a responsibility to promote yoga correctly, if it is to help everyone optimally, focusing on the latest research, from a perspective of promoting sleep and stress management, and preventing depression and addiction.SBSK: We are seeing enormous advances in research on yoga, with studies that show the psychophysiology of individual yoga practices, and also the effects of combining all four aspects of traditional yoga.There are four major outcomes of the basic research on the psychophysiology of yoga:<ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Changes in the physical body.</li></ul>There is increased flexibility, muscular endurance, muscle strength, and respiratory function. It works on the physical body and through the mind-body connection, affecting the emotional cognitive functioning.<ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Self-regulation</li></ul>There is now strong evidence that yoga can self-regulate our internal state. We’re starting to understand the neurophysiology of that self-regulation. The two most important self-regulation skills are stress and emotion regulation. We know that the prefrontal cortex is activated during yoga to calm the limbic system, where stress and emotion are expressed. There is growing evidence to show the ability of yoga to improve self-regulation of emotion and thought processes.<ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Increased mind-body awareness, mindfulness</li></ul>The engagement of the attention networks in meditation consistently over time leads to the skill of self-regulation of thought processes. We become capable of self-regulation of thought processes and come to an understanding of our thought processes. We come to realize that we are not our thought processes. They are not central to who we are, because we can self-regulate them and change our thoughts. This is referred to as metacognition in psychology. Metacognition is consistent with the most powerful and universal form of psychotherapy today, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is based on self-regulation of thought processes. That component of yoga is powerful.<ul><li style="text-align:justify;">Longer-term yoga practice leads to deeper states of consciousness</li></ul>People experience at both gross and subtle levels a sense of peace, quietude, and tranquility. Over time, it becomes stronger and evolves into a unitive experience, which approaches the state of the universe is one. This brings a deep oneness that leads to a change in life purpose and meaning.That is really what we’re talking about when we use the word “spirituality.” People change. They may change their behaviors. They change their goals in life—there’s a shift from materialistic goals to non-materialistic goals. They become more focused on spiritual goals and less on materialistic aspects of life.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">There is increased flexibility, muscular endurance, muscle strength, and respiratory function. It works on the physical body and through the mind-body connection, affecting the emotional cognitive functioning.&nbsp;</h4><hr>The research is convincing in the fitness component. This research goes back decades. If we give individuals asanas to practice, they become more flexible. We can measure this in inches and centimeters and degrees of motion. Pranayama practice increases respiratory function and the autonomic nervous system.From brain scanning and neuroimaging, molecular biological techniques, and biochemical assays, we are now starting to understand how self-regulation and mind-body awareness develop, what the relationships are in the different regions of the brain, and how this manifests in the brain. This is the most powerful outcome we’ve had from research during the past three to four decades.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/how_yoga_regenerates_us4_4b88fbd3be.webp" alt="how-yoga-regenerates-us4.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_how_yoga_regenerates_us4_4b88fbd3be.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_how_yoga_regenerates_us4_4b88fbd3be.webp 492w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/how_yoga_regenerates_us4_4b88fbd3be.webp 492w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;The area where we don’t have so much scientific research is spirituality. Many people have argued yoga is so profound that you can’t possibly study it. I disagree. If you have a spiritual experience, and you can describe it, you can measure it. We have many questionnaires and assays that measure states of consciousness. We also know these states of consciousness are produced by the brain. We know there are networks in the brain that are affected by yoga practice that produce these states.One of the strongest pieces of evidence that it is the brain is the fact that psilocybin can generate unitive states of consciousness. Psilocybin is a drug that affects regions and networks of the brain. A subset of people who have taken psilocybin experience the full and complete unitive state of consciousness, which has the same degree of efficacy and life change that naturally-generated experiences have. We know there are regions and networks that can be activated to generate these states of mind.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">From brain scanning and neuroimaging, molecular biological techniques, and biochemical assays, we are now starting to understand how self-regulation and mind-body awareness develop, what the relationships are in the different regions of the brain, and how this manifests in the brain.&nbsp;</h4><hr>The model of the psychophysiological changes with the four outcomes can automatically apply to any circumstance or behavior. You can address hypertension, diabetes, depression, or anxiety. The two research areas that have had the biggest impact on policy change have been yoga for low back pain and yoga for cancer. We are starting to see strong movement in other areas, for example, yoga for diabetes. India has put an emphasis on the treatment of diabetes because of the epidemic there.In the West, we are seeing yoga in incarcerated populations, and the enormous potential for rehabilitation of criminal behavior. There are many areas where yoga is now used very effectively in mental health and the entire range of human disorders.To be continued.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4><hr>

How yoga regenerates us

Dr. Panda is a leading expert in the field of circadian rhythm research. He is Associate Professor at the Regulatory Lab at the Salk Institute, a Pew Scholar, and a recipient of the Dana Foundation Award in Brain and Immune System Imaging. His book, The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge You Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight, is helping people around the world to align their lifestyles with these daily cycles, having a dramatic effect on their health.

Satchin-Panda.jpg

Satchin Panda

<h4>DR. SATCHIN PANDA is a leading expert in the field of circadian rhythm research. He is Associate Professor in the Regulatory Lab at the Salk Institute, a Pew Scholar, and a recipient of the Dana Foundation Award in Brain and Immune System Imaging. His book, The Circadian Code, has helped many people to regain their energy, sleep well and lose weight. Here he is interviewed by UDAY KUMAR on how he developed the ideas in his book, and what inspired his research.</h4><hr>Q: Good morning, sir. It’s very nice to see you. Thank you so much for taking the time. I believe in karmic coincidences, and one day I was thinking that there should be something around the circadian code, not a complex research paper but something simpler for the common person to read and understand, beyond superstition and ritual, which really explains the science. Then I discovered your book, and I was very happy.SP: Thank you.Q: The more I read it, the more I can feel your sincerity in putting the contents across.SP: Yes, it is difficult because being a scientist it’s always hard to simplify and at the same time not to lose the facts.Q: Yes, it’s a very fine line.I wanted to talk to you about your circadian clock app. I’ve personally been using it and it’s a very comprehensive app! It covers a lot of things.But first, can you talk a little more about your childhood, especially time with your grandparents?SP: It’s pretty well described in the book, and as an idea it’s immense. Only in retrospect, after studying <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/the-science-behind-creating-a-daily-meditation-practice" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">circadian rhythms</a>, could I understand the difference between the way my paternal and maternal grandparents lived their lives. My maternal grandfather was working for the Indian Railways in a small town in Odisha so at times he had to do the night shift. He had access to relatively good health care. My paternal grandfather was a farmer, who lived on a farm and didn’t have access to health care because it was a small village in the middle of nowhere. The end stages of their lives were very different. My maternal grandfather, who ate better food and had better access to health care, succumbed to a neurodegenerative disease. He died earlier than my paternal grandfather, who lived in sync with Nature. He didn’t have electricity, he slept well, and he ate a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. I guess the only thing he bought from the market was salt. I can’t remember anything else, not even jaggery.In retrospect it was interesting to see how these two lives played out. I think that also gave me some early insight into the seasonality of plants and flowers, and it brought some curiosity. Most of science talks about how x affects y, but it doesn’t talk about timing. So, I realized that maybe the biology of time would be the next frontier in science. That’s why I decided to work on the biology of time.Q: Beautiful! I love the phrase “biology of time.” I also noticed the way the time with your grandparents nurtured a natural curiosity in you. You talk about this even in your TED talk, for example, your sister telling you that the frog comes up at a certain time. I thought that was just fascinating.SP: Back then, we didn’t have the time displayed everywhere. In those days, perhaps we had one watch in the house. It is interesting that animals and plants keep track of time to fifteen minutes accuracy, or even five minutes accuracy, irrespective of what time they go to bed and wake up in the morning.Q: There is something to be said about the world today. I work in the technology sector and ten years ago I was also involved in some BPO activity and went to India to visit one company. At 2 a.m. all these young people were working like it was like broad daylight, and I was worried for them. I’m more worried now knowing the science. What are they doing to their biological clocks? Can it be reversed? Can we heal? What does science say?<hr><hr>Animals and plants keep track of time&nbsp; to fifteen minutes accuracy, or even&nbsp; five minutes accuracy, irrespective of&nbsp; what time they go to bed and&nbsp; wake up in the morning.<hr><hr>So, we are saying that some of it can be reversed. One can live a healthier life. It’s not irreversible damage. Even if you take the case of a car. I may not have taken good care of my car, but if I start taking good care of it, it will not continue to degrade at the same rate. If I reduce the rate of degradation I will get a few more years out of the car. The same thing happens when taking care of your health. If you think about the modern healthcare system, where we find medication and surgery, underlying all that is one universal principle which stems from the germ theory of disease. Sanitation, vaccination, and antibiotics are the foundation of the modern healthcare system. For example, there is no way a person can successfully go through surgery without sanitation and antibiotics. Similarly, the foundations of day-to-day physical health are also three factors: sleep, nutrition, and physical activity. Whether a person is healthy or sick, if they don’t pay attention to these three things, their system will break down. Conversely, no matter how sick they are, if they pay attention to these three, then the chance of recovery is much better.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/biology_of_time2_694b8e7342.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:16:24.129Z" alt="Biology of time"><hr>Q: I think that’s where the whole notion of prevention and cure comes into play. Money put into prevention probably goes much further than trying to fix the system.SP: Yes, but we should not make the distinction between prevention and cure because people who are already sick feel that they have missed the train. For example, when somebody gets diabetes, it may never be cured. They learn to manage it. Giving them hope that they can manage it and stay healthier is a very powerful message, because most people will pay attention to their lifestyle only after they get the disease. We should not tell them, “Hey you missed the train because your condition cannot be reversed.” Instead, everything we are talking about actually helps them live life to their full potential, irrespective of what condition they may have.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/biology_of_time3_60b9ffd713.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:20:33.982Z" alt="biology of time"><hr><hr>The foundations of day-to-day physical health are also three factors: sleep, nutrition, and physical activity. Whether a person is healthy or sick, if they don’t pay attention to these three things, their system will break down. Conversely, no matter how sick they are, if they pay attention to these three, then the chance of recovery is much better.<hr><hr>Q: I love that. It’s a very ennobling message. There’s always an opportunity to get on the train and start from wherever you are, which is what you say a lot in the book – it’s never too late. And to your point about observation, especially when observing plants, there is a line in your book – it was like watching a Broadway show sitting in the front row – and you also describe vanilla farmers. Can you talk a little bit about observing plants and how that triggered your curiosity further as you went along?SP: The plants and animals on the planet have circadian rhythms. That’s how they adapt to cold, warmth, and everything else. For example, if you plant seeds, you’ll notice that the seedlings spread their leaves during the daytime to capture the sun, but at night they close their leaves as if they’re shivering from cold, because they want to reduce the heat loss.Similarly, depending on what time of day pollinators are present, most flowers open their petals at a specific time. When I was working with vanilla, I discovered that it flowers very early in the morning before sunrise, and that’s why the farmers wake up around one or two a.m. and go to the vanilla field to hand-pollinate the flowers before sunrise. Being in tune with the circadian rhythm of the vanilla flowers was breaking the workers’ circadian clocks because they had to wake up early! I observed that a lot of the farmers in the vanilla fields slowly developed an allergic reaction to vanilla. I don’t know whether it’s genetic, because of exposure to a lot of pollen, or due to a combination of their circadian rhythm being broken, being sleep deprived, and exposure to the allergen. That’s why the chance of getting allergies might have increased.It is an interesting observation, but I guess these days we don’t have time for these observations because instead we observe what is trending on Twitter and Facebook. What is interesting is that if you mine the Twitter data, there are very nice circadian, weekly, and annual rhythms. In Google Analytics you can look for these patterns in the searches that people make. You’ll clearly see that the things people think about, worry about, or are curious about have circadian rhythms. As you might imagine, searches for pain medication increase at night. People search for coffee more often in the morning and late afternoon. Studying these data, you start to know the predictive value of rhythms to help us anticipate events as opposed to just being responsive. Anticipation versus response actually increases efficiency by 10% to 20%.Q: Wow!SP: For example, if you are opening a shop in a market and you know that people only come to the market by 9 or 10 a.m., after finishing their morning activities at home, what is the point of opening the shop at 6 a.m.? Also, it’ll be useless to open at 12 noon because you have missed the morning customers. So, rhythms are played out in commerce. Plants turn their photosynthetic mechanism on one or two hours before sunrise. They are opening shop one hour before sunrise so that they can get the first rays of the sun and convert them into energy.Having that circadian clock gives them the advantage of getting maybe 10% to 15% extra photosynthesis. The circadian clock helps the plant kingdom fix 10% more carbon. And imagine, if they didn’t fix that additional 10% we would be dead by now. Then, at the end of the day, photosynthesis winds down one hour before sunset, so they don’t waste any unnecessary energy to keep the photosynthetic system goingQ: Brilliant!SP: It’s all about prediction.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/biology_of_time4_3544274e3e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:28:04.522Z" alt="biology-of-time4"><hr>Q: As you rightly said, one of the key things is that rhythm is universal, and if we flow with it, it supports us, whereas if we go against it, there is friction. In Heartfulness, it is recommended that we meditate early in the morning, before dawn, and do the detox cleaning practice in the evening, and a prayer before sleep at night. The timings are based on the circadian importance of getting better returns at certain times of the day for certain activities. Is this also the case with other aspects of lifestyle? For example, is there research on recommended times for students to study? A lot of kids nowadays burn the midnight oil.SP: Sometimes this can be taken out of context. For example, we know that there are better times to exercise, but that’s for elite athletes who want that extra one second advantage. If we say that late afternoon is the best time for exercise, then people who need to exercise may say, “Well, morning may not be the best time to exercise.” So, in the pursuit of perfection, we should not give up what is good now. For sleep, it’s very clear that we should sleep at night. We have excellent sleep when we go to bed at 9 or 10 p.m., whereas we cannot sleep for six to seven hours, even when we try, during the daytime. But that’s very different from exercise, or studying for an exam, because when there is an exam, we have to study. We cannot say, “No, I’m just waiting for my best time!”<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/biology_of_time5_401eab8ad4.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:30:14.655Z" alt="biology-of-time5"><hr>Q: I’ve used that excuse a few times, but it didn’t work out very well. I like what you are saying, and it is the same with meditation. Even though there is a best time of the day to meditate, it is still better to do it now than wait for that ideal time.<hr>To be continued.<hr><hr><h4>Interview by UDAY KUMAR</h4><hr>

The biology of time

Time is the next frontier

<h4>DR. SATCHIN PANDA is a leading expert in the field of circadian rhythm research. He is Associate Professor in the Regulatory Lab at the Salk Institute, a Pew Scholar, and a recipient of the Dana Foundation Award in Brain and Immune System Imaging. His book, The Circadian Code, has helped many people to regain energy, sleep well and lose weight. In part 2 of his discussion with UDAY KUMAR, he speaks about how he developed his ideas, and what inspired his research.</h4><hr><h2>The Biology of Time – Part 2</h2><hr>Q: Regarding the point you mentioned about sleep and sleep discipline, I have an Android phone and although I never knew anything about the blue light filter somehow I would turn it on and it would feel softer on my eyes. Then I came across your research. What triggered this whole curiosity and life changing discovery?DP: For a very long time, animals and humans have reset their brain clocks in response to light. Then there are many blind people who cannot see, cannot even see the headline of the New York Times, but when they travel from one place to another place, they can readjust their clock to the new time zone, just like normal people. But then there are other types of blind people who have lost both their eyes because of surgery or an accident, and they cannot reset their clock. That means there must be a light sensor in the eye, which is not for seeing, but may be essential for sensing.So, that clue was there for almost 50 years, and everybody was trying to figure out where this light sensor is. Then, after the human genome project, it became easier to look for it because we had the information. That’s how we stumbled on the melanopsin photoreceptor. If you remove the melanopsin gene in a mouse, it cannot sense light accurately, and cannot reset its clock. It takes a very long time to reset at scale.Then we figured out that it’s a blue light sensing protein – it senses blue light. That makes sense because during the daytime we have a lot of blue light in sunlight. So, we are designed to sense that blue light and become a lot more alert during the day. At night-time we don’t need blue light because it keeps us alert. Candlelight and firelight don’t have too much blue light. So, we are designed to see more blue light in the daytime and less blue light at night.Unfortunately, nowadays, what has happened is that opticians want us to have a blue light coating, which is actually not the right thing to do. You need blue light during the daytime, whereas you don’t need blue light at night. So, it’s better to have two pairs of glasses. If you don’t get enough blue light during the daytime, you can become depressed. Cell phone tracking data show that we spend more than 87% of our time indoors, and most of our indoor lighting is not good. In my living room, I might have 250 to 300 lux of light, whereas on a cloudy day in New Jersey, outside there will be 10,000 lux. Right now, where you’re sitting, since you’re away from your window, you may be sitting in 200 lux. Out of that, blue light is a small fraction. If you filter out the blue light, then of course you may not get so much eye strain from looking at the screen, but you will not get the upliftment that you get from going outside.The second aspect is that most opticians are selling blue light filtering glasses. But is it filtering enough that is biologically significant? The answer is no. Most blue light blocking glasses that people are buying filter out maybe 5 to 10%. It is like you’re standing outside, and you feel it’s too much sun, and you get a transparent umbrella and hold it. So, in most cases it’s 5%. The glasses that really filter out blue light will look orange. Only orange and other spectra will go through, since blue is filtered out, so we see them as orange or even red. The real blue light filtering glasses are orange, yellow or red.Some people who get migraines will benefit from filtering out blue light when they go out, but they’ll also benefit just from wearing sunglasses, because that will filter out a lot of light, including daylight. At night-time, for people who cannot sleep easily, and cannot control the lighting, the real blue light filtering glasses do help. For example, somebody working in a grocery store, whose shift ends at 10 p.m. or midnight, who comes home completely jazzed up because of the light and cannot asleep, will benefit if they wear the blue light filter glasses for one or two hours before the shift ends. That will help. So, there are specific cases where they’re more effective, while there are many cases where people are just paying for nothing because there is no benefit that is significant.Q: Here are my $20 glasses from Amazon! [chuckles]DP: Maybe you’ll get some placebo effect.Q: Exactly! It’s placebo and now I totally know it!DP: Just look at the glasses, do they actually look slightly yellow or orange? If so, then you know.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/the_biology_of_time_part2_2_89bf3c610e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:21:52.593Z" alt="the-biology-of-time-part2-2"><hr><a href="Q:">Q:</a> I think a lot of families will find this advice helpful because, with homeschooling, designing an ergonomic workspace for kids has become more important than for grownups. There’s just so much that they have to do with this new change.The other aspect of your research, which I have started implementing, is time restricted eating. Is it the same as intermittent fasting, or is it different? I like time restricted eating better.DP: In the scientific literature, intermittent fasting is a broad term, because it just means doing something intermittently. It goes back to the research on calorie restriction: When caloric intake in mice is reduced by 20 to 40% then the mice live longer. That led to the idea that we should restrict calories, but then it is not easy to restrict calories every day, so they came up with the idea that we should eat every other day: There is a diet called the “Every Other Day Diet.” And then it was discovered that people who didn’t eat for two days out of seven might get similar benefits, and that people who eat less than 1000 kilocalories for five days in a row every two months also get some benefit.<hr><hr>Some people who get migraines will benefit from filtering out blue light when they go out, but they’ll also benefit just from wearing sunglasses, because that will filter out a lot of light, including daylight.<hr><hr>So, all of these are intermittent not continuous. That’s why they lump them together as intermittent fasting. But the word “fasting” repels people who would benefit, like people who have diabetes. They are told by their physicians that they should not fast, because they may become hypoglycemic. In our clinical study, we tell them that they can simply choose their 10 hours, and they can eat whatever they’re currently eating, then they say, “Yes we can do it.” If we tell them that “You have to fast for 14 or 16 hours,” then psychologically it becomes difficult.Q: Again, the positive reinforcement that you spoke about earlier: What is the message that helps a person take a positive step forward? I love the idea of time restricted eating. What you also showed is that it’s not about how much or what, but it’s the time you eat, the discipline, that makes a lot of difference.It was a Japanese scientist who received the Nobel Prize for autophagy and there was a lot of conversation about the positive benefits of fasting and how it helps with autophagy. So, in the Indian context, there is the idea of Ekadashi. I think our ancients knew the benefits of fasting.DP: In the Indian culture there is weekly fasting, which is similar to intermittent fasting. Two days in a week you fast, and that gives similar benefits. Reducing calories for several hours over a couple of days does give a lot of benefit.Q: Is there any research on the benefits of fasting on emotional stability? I was reading some yogic literature where a person who was irritable was told by his teacher to eat less in the evenings, that it would help him. So, I’m just wondering if scientific research also shows any correlation between emotional poise and restricted eating.DP: Yes, we anecdotally hear that people who have anxiety benefit from this and can avoid a panic attack. And I think in the book I describe how there is a hormone that is passively broken down in the gut that causes panic attacks. So when that hormone is managed, it may no longer cause anxiety.But what is interesting is the history of fasting, I don’t remember where I saw it, perhaps in a documentary, where Dr. Valter Longo talks about fasting. Another interesting thing was done by Russian scientists who were doing some experiments to try to figure out how to improve the health of institutionalized patients with depression and bipolar syndrome. There was a very difficult patient who was bipolar, and one day he said, “I’m not going to eat.” The warden gave up and said, “Okay, if you’re not going to eat, don’t eat. I’m not going to force feed you.” They used to force feed the patients, but instead he decided, “Okay, until he begs for food, we’re not giving it.” So, the patient went without food and just had water for six days or even longer.After that, he came back completely cured and said, “Well, I feel much better! I’m ready to leave as I’m completely normal.” The physician warden, who was a little curious, wondered, “Was it the fasting or did something else happen?” So he tried this experiment on many other patients with emotional problems, and found that fasting actually helped a lot of them, not all. So, in Russia, a lot of the experiments on fasting and health started from emotional health.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/the_biology_of_time_part2_3_783c189fde.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:22:57.523Z" alt="the-biology-of-time-part2-3"><hr><hr>When we fast, the brain and the rest of our nervous system go through changes because they’re exposed to ketones as an energy source. For mice with certain neurological diseases, like Huntington’s Disease, time restricted eating helps them to sleep better, and their activities are much better. At the same time, for depression and other conditions, bright daylight is still the best antidepressant and it’s plentiful and free.<hr><hr>When we fast, the brain and the rest of our nervous system go through changes because they’re exposed to ketones as an energy source. For mice with certain neurological diseases, like Huntington’s Disease, time restricted eating helps them to sleep better, and their activities are much better. At the same time, for depression and other conditions, bright daylight is still the best antidepressant and it’s plentiful and free. A lot of people don’t go outside enough. Because I wear my light sensing watch I see how much light I am exposed to, and if I don’t make an effort, even in San Diego, California, I don’t get as much as I should. If you think about it, most of the time we are indoors, we have curtains or blinds on the windows, and we are not always sitting next to a window. Then, as soon as we go out of the house, we put on sunglasses and get into the car.So, we are never actually exposed to much daylight. Daylight is very useful in reducing depression and people in Nordic countries know this, so they even pay to sit in a brightly lit room, with 10,000 lux of light, as an antidepressant. At Geneva airport, also, there are light rooms where you can pay to sit.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/the_biology_of_time_part2_4_537ff7362c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:24:03.281Z" alt="the-biology-of-time-part2-4"><hr><hr>The foundations of day-to-day physical health are also three factors: sleep, nutrition, and physical activity.<hr><hr>Q: I remember when I first came to the USA, I was in Virginia in the winter. Inside the house, with incandescent light, I would feel almost claustrophobic by evening. I had to step out, take a walk, and sit in the sun. It took me a good two to three years to acclimatize myself to the change in lighting. When we bought our current house we added extra windows. I didn’t realize it when I had it, but when I didn’t have it I knew immediately.Any parting words that you want to share with our readers, especially during Covid times?DP: Sanitation and social distancing will help prevent the virus from getting into our bodies, but to improve resilience we need a good circadian rhythm. Then, even if we get the virus we may not become too sick. For example, among NFL and NBA team players, there is no death for those who tested positive. All these elite athletes have a very strict regimen – how much sleep they get, their exercise regime, and they’re always outside practicing. That’s a clear example of a cohort of nearly 1000 people who had the same rate of infection as the general public, but no one went to hospital.Paying attention to sleep activity, nutrition, and being outside builds up resilience, so that even if you test positive you may not die.This is a direct effect, and there’s also another indirect effect. People with diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure often have a more severe form of Covid, but we also know that time restricted eating can help reduce the severity of these chronic diseases, so indirectly a circadian lifestyle will also reduce the risk of suffering from the virus.Q: Sir, thank you so much for all the great work you are doing.DP: Thank you. Have a nice day.Q: You too! Bye.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/the_biology_of_time_part2_5_eb50737b3b.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:25:02.863Z" alt="the-biology-of-time-part2-5"><hr><hr><h4>Interview by UDAY KUMAR</h4><hr>

Does light affects our moods?

SATVIK SWAMINATHAN

<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">A PHOTO ESSAY</h4><hr><h4>The Masai Mara National Reserve spreads over 1,200 square kilometers across the southwestern part of Kenya, Africa. In August 2018, SATVIK SWAMINATHAN had the opportunity to visit these sprawling grasslands and get a glimpse of the life that coexists here in all its magnificence.</h4><hr>The first stop was a point from where I could see the rift valley, through which we would pass to reach Masai Mara. The view from the top was spectacular. It filled me with wonder, as I imagined what could be the future changes on the face of the Earth. This bigger picture in the divine scheme of things glaringly demonstrates the insignificance of human life, with its whole spectrum of joys and sorrows. It was a truly humbling feeling.The entrance to the National Reserve is through the Oloolaimutia gate, which is an archway without any boundary wall. The first view of Masai Mara is magnificent, as the real feel of the Savannah grasslands, with endless space and one lone tree here and there standing upright, is quite spectacular. It can only be experienced.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/coexistence2_6fbea71175.jpg" alt="coexistence"><hr>We saw the whole spectrum of wildlife in Africa: herds of elephants and giraffes; groups of wildebeest, deer, buffalos and zebras grazing in the grasslands; gigantic hippos lazing in ponds and waterholes; warthogs, ostriches and mongooses; the carnivorous lions, cheetahs and hyenas; and the scavenger birds also with their share in the Savannah. To see all these animals coexisting in the open, in a single frame, was quite an enthralling experience. I felt like an awestruck time traveler who had just landed in the prehistoric era!The soil in Africa is very fertile, almost dark maroon in color, and this helps the growth of grass, which in turn attracts the wildebeest and zebras to cross the Mara River for greener pastures. Almost a million animals migrate every year to Masai Mara in August, braving the mighty river filled with hungry crocodiles. They then return back to the Serengeti in Tanzania in October. With the abundance of prey, the lions and the other carnivores rule here.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/coexistence3_7127ddf13b.jpg" alt="coexistence"><hr>The natural balance of the ecosystem is admirable: nature always provides the basic necessities in abundance. For every lion there are at least a thousand wildebeest, and for every wildebeest there is exponentially more grass to graze. Unlike human beings, nature doesn’t hoard and save things. Just like a flowing river gathers no moss, the human mind also does not gather impressions when we use only what we need. The moment we build a dam, the water stagnates and moss is formed, very similar to the human mind where the very concept of saving creates impressions.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/coexistence4_be350770fd.jpg" alt="coexistence"><hr>The first time I saw a lion eating an antelope was quite an experience, where I could feel the so-called negative qualities like fear, pain, and violence etc. in their pure form. I came to understand that it is the human mind, with its duality and judgment, which creates good and bad in any feeling or action. Never before had I thought of the concept of fear, pain and violence without a cringing feeling in my heart. But this time it was different.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/coexistence5_9041142ba4.jpg" alt="coexistence"><hr>Experiencing the raw feeling of a lion attacking and killing an antelope has no negativity associated with it, because the lion kills to eat. The most fascinating aspect in all this was that there was no impression formed in me despite the fact that the lion was tearing and ripping into the antelope and eating raw flesh. It was chaotic but natural. Here, everything is in the present and, once the lion has eaten, it does not trouble any other animal.In comparison, when a butcher does the same thing, even though it is in a controlled manner, it stirs up a feeling that forms an impression. It is orderly yet unnatural. It’s because the killing in the butcher shop has more than the thought of just eating for today, but it also has the concept of saving for the future, selling, and all the other man-made layers associated with it. Only we human beings have the concept of saving for the future, which in itself is an unnatural act. So I came to realize that it is not what we do that matters, but the attitude and feeling with which things are done.Morality cannot be taught, it can only be felt.It can never be a generalized rule spanning all people and time. It can be different for different situations, for different people, and at different points of timeMorality is the connection with the innermost feeling of the heart at that particular moment.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/coexistence6_7a1d0769a6.jpg" alt="coexistence"><hr>To perceive the innermost feelings of the heart, we need to dive deep and remove any obstacles. Once we experience and realize that essence which is the same in everything, be it animate or inanimate, then even the question of being moral or not disappears and anything we do is in sync with the Ultimate.<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article and photography by SATVIK SWAMINATHAN</h4>&nbsp;<hr>

Coexistence

Scilla Elworthy founded the Oxford Research Group in 1982 to develop dialogue with nuclear weapons decision makers, and then set up Peace Direct in 2002 to support local peace-builders in conflict areas. Three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003, she advised Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson in setting up “The Elders.” She co-founded Rising Women Rising World in 2013, her latest book is The Business Plan for Peace: building a world without war, and her TED talk on nonviolence has been viewed by over 1,400,000 people.

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Scilla Elworthy

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SCILLA ELWORTHY tackles one of the most pressing issues of our time: terrorism. She shares her thoughts on the role of women and building peace, which requires courage, determination, compassion and a budget.</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;The threat that most people fear today is terrorism. Yet current methods for dealing with terrorism simply repeat previous errors that exacerbate the problem. In order to map an effective strategy it is essential to understand how militant fighters think.To respond to terrorism with violence is counter-productive, because violence is what terrorists understand, and they are masters of exploiting our addiction to news of their brutality. According to former Islamic State captive Nicolas Hénin, violence is exactly what his captors want: “They will be heartened by every sign of overreaction, of division, of fear, of racism, of xenophobia; they will be drawn to any examples of ugliness on social media.1“The winner of this war will not be the party that has the newest, the most expensive or the most sophisticated weaponry, but the party that manages to win over the people to its side.” As an example of how people had responded well, he described the recent escalation of the refugee crisis, and corresponding offers from people in Europe to give homes to fleeing Muslims, as “a blow to Isis”.Deeyah Khan is an Emmy award-winning documentary film-maker, whose most recent project, Jihad, involved two years of interviews with and filming former Islamic extremists. She says, “The Islamic State does not want us to open our doors to their refugees. It wants them to be hopeless and desperate. It does not want us to enjoy ourselves with our families and friends in bars and concert halls, stadiums and restaurants. It wants us to huddle in our houses, within our own social groups, and close our doors in fear.”2Philip McKibbin says that we should be wary of allowing our emotions to dictate the ways in which we respond to terrorism. “Terrorists want us to feel shock, outrage, insecurity … A loving response to terrorism would be proactive, rather than reactive. It would see us responding to the causes of terrorism, rather than concerning ourselves disproportionately with terrorist actions.”3The main causes of terrorism are humiliation and revenge. When you do the math, it is a painful fact that ‘legitimate’ states enact much more violence worldwide than non-state terror groups do. This does not excuse terrorist action, but it does explain it.<h3 style="text-align:justify;">Effective strategies</h3>What steps could governments take to defuse international terrorism? It could be to immediately adopt genuinely fair and peaceful processes in their dealings with other peoples. This strategy would deprive terror groups of one of their most compelling justifications for violence.4Nothing should be done which supports the image of the terrorist as a heroic warrior defending the interests of the people. When the media consistently feature terrorists on their front pages, they can see themselves as global celebrities. Other young men then naturally crave such oxygen of publicity, even if it costs them their lives. Leaders need to orchestrate a cohesive and coordinated&nbsp;program to educate media editors. Denying airspace would work far better to minimise the glamour of brutality.<h3 style="text-align:justify;">Do what terrorists fear: unite</h3>In ‘Rising Women Rising World’ we ask ourselves the hardest question, and the one most likely to provoke ridicule: what could be done to bring the young warriors of ISIL into the embrace of compassion, showing them that we need to move beyond the power struggles that have caused such misery for humanity for thousands of years? If we go on as we have done, there may be no earth to dominate.5If we are ridiculed for proposing a compassionate response to terror, we can recall Abraham Lincoln’s response to someone who accused him of taking too conciliatory an approach in dealing with the South. “Madam,” he said, “do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">We need to move beyond the power struggles that have caused such misery for humanity for thousands of years. If we go on as we have done, there may be no earth to dominate.</h5><hr>Love requires us to think of terrorists as people. It encourages us to understand that their actions, however hateful, come from a place of grievance, humiliation and isolation. It asks us to believe that their pain, and the pain that so many other people are feeling in this time of terror, is not insurmountable. That collectively, we are able to overcome it.<h3 style="text-align:justify;">Build bridges: empower local people</h3><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/love_in_a_time_of_hatred_1_img_2b6a57631e.png?updated_at=2023-04-03T06:18:13.153Z" alt="love-in-a-time-of-hatred">The British government knows, from the experience in Northern Ireland, that what finally brought 30 years of terror to an end was not the application of superior force. It was the building of bridges, listening, patient mediation, respect and negotiation. Senator George Mitchell, who played a major part in the eventual Good Friday Agreement, said: “I will listen for as long as it takes”.6Over the past decade, ‘Peace Direct’7&nbsp;has learned that local people have the power to find their own solutions to conflict, which turn out to be the best way to break recurrent cycles of violence and make peace last. One lesson we have learned from our local partners is the importance of helping people at risk to feel part of their communities, thereby turning away from extremism. While this might seem like a liberal platitude in the face of&nbsp;serious violence, it is in reality hard, dangerous and dedicated work. And&nbsp;it can have remarkable results. For example, an award-winning counter-radicalization&nbsp;project in Pakistan, begun in 2014, has reached almost&nbsp;4,000 ‘at risk’ young people.8<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/love_in_a_time_of_hatred_2_img_34a3f28052.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-03T06:18:53.766Z" alt="love-in-a-time-of-hatred-2-img"><h3 style="text-align:justify;">Women’s voice in dealing with violence</h3>A decade ago, a group of women made a careful analysis of the root causes of political violence, revealing the persistent influence of powerlessness, exclusion, trauma and humiliation. They proposed proven practical steps that could be taken in Iraq, Israel and Palestine, and in our own towns and cities.9<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">Women want peace because they give birth to life. We have a natural longing to protect, heal and make whole. We have trained ourselves to listen, knowing that the capacity to give another person our full attention is the fastest and most effective way to resolve conflict.</h5><hr>Ten years later, in this current serious situation,&nbsp;we are not simply arguing for a more sparing use&nbsp;of military force, we are arguing that any armed&nbsp;intervention should be preceded and followed by a&nbsp;much wider range of strategies designed to address&nbsp;both the causes and effects of violence.Women want peace because they give birth to life. We have a natural longing to protect, heal and make whole. We have trained ourselves to listen, knowing that the capacity to give another person our full attention is the fastest and most effective way to resolve conflict.Most of us say we want peace, but we don’t put our skills and our imagination to work on the challenge. Peace building comes low down on the priority list in comparison to war, certainly for spending. We don’t have a budget or a government department for peace, whereas we do have both for war, even if we call it defence.It is perfectly possibly to develop strategies to dissolve terrorism. It requires intention and a budget, plus courage, determination and compassion, from the top down and from the bottom up. This is what human beings are capable of.Resources:<code>1https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/16/isis-bombs-hostagesyria-islamic-state-paris-attacks</code>2Exposure – Jihad: A British Story’ aired on ITV1<code>3https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/ philip-mckibbin/hijacked-emotions-fighting-terrorismwith- love&nbsp;</code>4Ibid.<code>5‘Rising Women Rising World’ serves to build&nbsp;a vibrant community of women on all continents&nbsp;who take responsibility for pioneering a&nbsp;possible future. https://www.risingwomenrisingworld.org/envisaging-the-future/</code>6 Personal communication from Dr Mo Mowlam,&nbsp;11 May 2004.7&nbsp;www.peacedirect.org8 www.awaregirls.org&nbsp;9&nbsp;Rifkind &amp; Elworthy, Making Terrorism History, London, Random House, 2006, pp. 60-89.<hr><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by&nbsp;SCILLA ELWORTHY</h4><hr>

Love in a time of hatred

Scott is a pioneer of workplace mindfulness programs and advancing compassion at work. He blends his experience as a Silicon Valley executive with his practice and passion as a wisdom seeker. He is the author of The Full Body Yes.

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Scott Shute

<h4>SCOTT SHUTE is a pioneer of creating workplace mindfulness programs and advancing the discussion around compassion at work. He blends his experience as a Silicon Valley executive with his lifelong practice and passion as a wisdom seeker and teacher. In his recent role at LinkedIn, Scott was the Head of Mindfulness and Compassion programs, and he is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Full Body Yes. Here, he is interviewed by EMILIE MOGENSEN.</h4><hr>Q: I am super happy that Scott has kindly agreed to talk to me about conscious business and entrepreneurship. It means a lot to me in my journey as an entrepreneur and as a student at the <a href="https://innermba.soundstrue.com/">Inner MBA program</a>, where Scott is a faculty lead. His work on how to implement ancient wisdom traditions in modern work life is really cutting edge.In his book, Scott explains how we can learn from each other’s stories. His story really resonates with me, especially the fact he started his spiritual search at a very early age, and later in life became an entrepreneur with an achiever mindset.I take a few deep breaths, like he taught us in one of the programs. I can do this.Hi Scott!(The fact Scott starts by thanking me for the work I do in the world makes me grateful, because I have met a humble and kind man.)I am curious how a young boy in “super rural Kansas” became inclined to seek within.SS: Yes, I grew up in rural Kansas, which is the exact middle of America. I am the youngest of five children and went to a traditional little country church. I always felt I had a deep love for the Divine, but I didn’t really understand or resonate with our religion.When I was ten or eleven, I started asking lots of questions to my parents and pastor, and I didn’t like the answers I was getting, so I started searching for something different. I knew and believed there was something different. One of my brothers had been touring America, and when he came back to run the farm with my dad he kept disappearing for long weekends. Nobody knew what was happening. Finally, my sisters and I pinned him down and he shared that he had found a different path. He was going to spiritual retreats, and when he shared some of the teachings and belief systems from those retreats, I started weeping.It was a feeling of connection – a sort of knowing when I am in tune with something powerful. I knew I had come home after lifetimes of being separated, like two parts of a magnet that knew the other side was out there and finally they were together. It has been a big part of my life ever since.My parents were concerned and thought we had joined a cult. For some people, anything that is not their traditional religion is a cult. But over time they realized we are good people, regardless of what we believe. My mom, especially, has seen the growth and impact it has had on me and in what I do in the world.Q: Is it the same spiritual practice that you do now?SS: Yes, it is. I tend not to give the name of it, because I am out in the working world and I don’t want spirituality to get in the way of what I do at work. But I am also happy to share more about it when people reach out and are interested.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mindful_vulnerability2_700x459_1847f65728.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-09T04:50:12.016Z" alt="mindful_vulnerability2"><hr>Q: Can you share what you do in your spiritual practice? Do you meditate?SS: It looks like meditation, but I don’t call it meditation. I call it a spiritual exercise and the purpose is to get in touch with the deepest part of myself. In my worldview, that is soul. I believe that I am soul, that is my true identity, and I have a personality called Scott. The body, the mind, the emotions are the things the soul uses to get around. When I operate from the perspective of soul, then things go better. I have deeper insights, more understanding, and I can be more in tune with life.So, there are several different practices: there is singing the word “HU,” which has been used in different traditions throughout history, and there are visualizations. If I am trying to manifest something, I do a lot of inner work, like the poet Rumi talks about spending as much time in the invisible world as in the visible world. We are creating with our thoughts, so if we want to be more conscious about what we create, it requires constant inner work. That’s some of what I am doing.Q: I am curious to hear more about your entrepreneur side. I’m not the right person to discuss the corporate stuff, as I don’t have much experience, but I have a lot as an entrepreneur. Can you say something about your inner drive as an entrepreneur?SS: Less than two months ago, I left LinkedIn. My vision is to change work from the inside out, and I mean that in the biggest way as 3.5 billion of us are in the workplace. My mission is to mainstream mindfulness and operationalize compassion. I’m trying to be of service. I was an entrepreneur earlier in life, when I created a start-up to help coaches get more business. Back then, I was trying to do good things, but I was also trying to make a living, whereas now I have the benefit of having done well in life, finances are less critical, so I’m really following spirit and what really wants to manifest.Each one of us has a unique set of skills that only we have. I am the only one in the world who is the world expert in “being me.” So, I’m trying to follow the path of bringing consciousness and the business world together, because there are very few of us who have my background with both things. I am trying to let the drive be less “change the work from within,” and more “follow my own heart and soul.”I think that soul is creative by nature. How does soul use personality, like all the skills we’ve developed? It can be as a teacher, a caregiver, a guitarist, or a barista. In my case it’s being a businessperson. How do I use those skills for the greatest and highest good?Funnily enough, the finances flow much more easily when I am focused on that rather than on the finances.<hr><hr><h4>I’m trying to follow the path of bringing consciousness&nbsp; and the business world together, because there are very few of us who have my background with both things.&nbsp; I am trying to let the drive be less “change the work from within,” and more “follow my own heart and soul.”</h4><hr><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mindful_vulnerability3_700x459_02b60f078e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-09T04:52:21.542Z" alt="mindful_vulnerability3"><hr>Q: Spiritual entrepreneurship, how does that resonate? It sounds like you’re moving your ego to the background and surrendering to what has to happen?SS: There is a Japanese concept called Ikigai, which is the intersection of four circles: What you’re good at, what you love to do, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs. In building a career, the most satisfying is when you are in the middle of this circle.Had I just become a spiritual bohemian when I was twenty-two, instead of going into the world of business, I probably would have done some good things, but my impact would be limited as I would not have credibility. I created a skillset in my career to make a living, then tried to get closer and closer to what I am good at and what I like. Then, I think, the fourth one has more meaning to us as we get older: What does the world need?So now I try to live with this question in mind: How do I operate from the perspective of soul, and how do I make it practical and survive in this world?Q: To fit in where the world needs you – is that something you feel?SS: Yes, I absolutely feel it as being in the center point. We sometimes talk about our genius zone, where we are our best.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mindful_vulnerability4_700x459_44fdf617d5.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-09T04:54:06.701Z" alt="mindful_vulnerability4"><hr>Q: Is it about working from that original place within, closest to the center?SS: When I talk about becoming more aware as soul, it’s the same as, “What is the truth about me?” and getting closer and closer to that truth of why I am here.Q: In many ways, being a person who seeks within can seem like a contradiction to being a busy businessperson or an entrepreneur. I felt this myself at times. Can you put some words to this meeting of these two aspects of yourself, as it somehow seems to be the essence of your soul purpose? How can an achiever let go and let everything unfold as it has to unfold?SS: I think it’s one of the hardest things, and I struggled with it for a very long time. How to be an achiever and be at ease? It makes me think of two stories from the spiritual traditions.The first story is of a teacher and a student. Some sort of baptism is taking place, and the teacher takes the student and dunks his head underwater. The student struggles and, just before he expires, the teacher lifts his head up and the student gets to breathe again. Then the teacher says, “When you want God or truth as much as you wanted air, then you will find it.”The second story goes: When you finally let go of searching for truth or God, you will find it.I was thinking: How can these two stories exist in the same universe? How does this work? I have an understanding of it now. We have this deep inner striving, and it shows up in our human form as a striving to survive. Our human bodies are built to survive, to make money, to make a family, and all that stuff, and we want to be successful in the world. That’s very important, but at some point we have to let go of the results. There is a very powerful and necessary striving,and then there is the letting go.In the early part of our lives and careers, we become really good at certain things, and our focus tends to be on them. But at some point, hopefully we look up and go, “Is there not more to this?” And when we finally say, “Yes, there is more to this, and I want to be of service,” it’s all our skills which allow us to be of service in the world.We have this inherent desire to exercise a skillset, to use what we know. And then we have soul, that wants to create in the world. And then there is the letting go of the result, which is a fine line of development. How do I do both things and live on the razor’s edge, in the middle of these two forces? That’s the beauty of life right there.Q: That’s very difficult!SS: It’s extraordinarily difficult! It’s a continual practice and the road gets narrower the further you go.Q: I have heard you say that we are moving from a me paradigm to a we paradigm. Can you put some words on how that influences entrepreneurship in the future?SS: Sure. Let’s think of it as spiritual development. We spend our lives thinking about “Me, me, me, my own survival, my own success, my own needs.” At some point we wake up and go, “There is more to this.” For me it was a natural process – I got married, I became a leader, and it became obvious that I would not be successful unless “we” are successful. This often happens naturally as we get older, I think, this we-orientation. It becomes the path towards our own freedom, when we learn to give. And I don’t think giving is selfless, as giving includes ourselves. This is when we start to orient to the whole versus just us, and we are then able to do so much more. Research bears this out at every level – at the individual level, the team level, and the company level, in terms of success.If you’re having a discussion with your partner, you might bully your way into having your own way, and it might work a few times. But if you continue to do this over and over again, in the long run, you won’t have a partner. In the long run, being selfish means you end up with less. If you think of serving the whole, you get it your way sometimes and sometimes not, but both people are happy and end up with more.It works in the same way in an organization, with customers and colleagues. If I have a deep awareness of my customers and wish the best for them, I will develop great service and products for them. The third part of compassion is the courage to take action. Sometimes I need to do what is right for my customers, and maybe it’s not great for me in the short term, but over the long term, if I balance the needs of my employees, my customers, and my shareholders, then long term I will be more successful. And the research bears this out; companies who operate this way are fourteen times more profitable. So, if you say you don’t have time for compassion in your organization, I say you don’t have time not to do this.Said in a really crass way, if you wanna build a successful company, if you wanna make more money, then you must work for the whole.<hr><hr><h4>It becomes the path towards our own freedom,&nbsp; when we learn to give. And I don’t think giving is selfless,&nbsp; as giving includes ourselves.</h4><hr><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/mindful_vulnerability5_700x459_492aa431ed.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-09T04:55:27.013Z" alt="mindful_vulnerability5"><hr>Q: So, do you think more and more companies and entrepreneurs will start working from their soul and not their ego?SS: I hope so! All the wisdom teachings go back thousands of years. There is this beautiful quote in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear: “Our lives do not rise to the level of our goals, they fall to the level of our systems.” This was said by the Roman philosopher Gaius Acilius, 2,200 years ago. My point is, this wisdom has always been there, but we haven’t followed it. It seems to be the same in every lifetime; it’s the same with our kids, we can teach them something, but unless they go through it themselves, they don’t learn it.So, my prediction is that it will probably be the same for the rest of eternity [laughter]. And still, I have hope!<hr>To be continued.<a href="https://www.scottshute.com/">https://www.scottshute.com/&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottshute/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottshute/</a><hr><hr><h4>Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4><hr>

Mindful vulnerability

<h4>SCOTT SHUTE is a pioneer in creating workplace mindfulness programs and advancing the discussion around compassion at work. He is at the intersection of the workplace and ancient wisdom traditions, blending his experience as a Silicon Valley executive with his lifelong practice and passion as a wisdom seeker and teacher. In his recent role at LinkedIn, Scott was the Head of Mindfulness and Compassion programs. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Full Body Yes: Change Your Work and Your World from the Inside Out.&nbsp;</h4><h4>In part 2 of this interview with EMILIE MOGENSEN, he explores vulnerability as a leadership quality, the value of an expanding consciousness, and wisdom practices at work.</h4><hr>Q: So, have we not learned anything collectively? Have we not pushed it to the extent of how far the ego can go?SS: Of course. I think we rise in consciousness, but the challenges are always there. There is still war and destruction, even though we know better. There are still places where terrible things happen, and there are places where beautiful things happen: consciousness, beauty and love happen. I choose to spend my time where the beauty happens, and change the world from the inside out, and if the rest of the world changes, fine. I focus on me.Q: So, I am getting a little personal. I noticed you used the word “vulnerability”a few times in your lectures. At the same time, I sensed a very interesting energy in my own being. I felt it as very vulnerable, which seemed really authentic coming from you. I felt very mesmerized and able to maintain my focus on your messages, despite being a rather impatient, typical entrepreneur. It was very intriguing how you use this quality to come forward with your messages. Is vulnerability a quality we need to be more curious about in the future?SS: Absolutely! First of all, as humans, we are programmed to mirror vulnerability. In other words, if I share vulnerability, people around will do the same – that is how we are wired. There is very interesting research on this.Regarding vulnerability as a leadership quality, we want to follow leaders who feel real. We want to follow leaders we can identify with. So, if a leader is perfect, steely, and never shows any weakness, they are distant from us, whereas, when we can see ourselves in our leaders, we are much more likely to follow them. I think that is a superpower and works for followership.It also serves us as leaders to build strength, because we tend to protect ourselves against harm. But what happens when we share with people who we really are? It sets us free.When we share our weakness and get over ourselves there is some growth that happens. We can’t be harmed, as we have already shared our weakness. Just like I said about desire versus letting go: when we let go of ourselves, we get more in return.Q: Do you think the main purpose of our work and business endeavors can be to expand consciousness?SS: Yes. I think everything in life is about expanding consciousness, and work can be as good as going to a monastery! Of course, I must focus on my organization to succeed when I am at work; but tucked away in my mind, I know it’s to develop myself.The most important work we can do is to develop our own consciousness. Because then, whatever we do, we are going to be so much more effective, we will be so much more!<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Vulnerable_leaders2_700x458_fa0363c2fc.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T07:34:09.098Z" alt="Vulnerable_leaders2"><hr>Q: How would it impact the world if everyone worked with expansion of consciousness as our approach, secondary to whatever we do?SS: Imagine what that would do to the world! It would absolutely benefit the whole if everyone worked for the “we”instead of the “me.”Q: I was touched in one of your lectures, when you said that we use the word “compassion” because we are too shy to call it love. We can even take it a step further – we are way too intimidated to call it Divinity. Can you speak a little bit about that? Is there place for Divinity in modern work life and business endeavors?SS: I think Divinity is everything. Nothing is not a part of the Divine. It’s the language and how we talk about it that we must focus on. My job is to operationalize compassion – how do you develop products and sell them compassionately. That makes sense to everyone. But deep inside, when I talk about compassion, I’m really talking about love. And when I talk about love, I’m really talking about the Divine. So, I am consciously thinking about how to operationalize the Divine at work.We are probably not ready yet to use this language, because some people get confused and think it’s about religion. I’m not talking about religion at all. It’s the last thing I’m talking about.<hr><hr><h4>If I practice wishing others the mindset of kindness and having the courage to take action, then I am living this divine principle of compassion. Work becomes the living expression of my Divinity in the world.</h4><hr><hr>Q: That’s why I’m pushing a bit here. I’m very curious about whether these ancient wisdom practices can be translated and operationalized into modern work life, without losing a bit of their deep transformative potential?SS: I think there are two different things. First, is the path to enlightenment through work? Not exactly, but you can consciously have your path to enlightenment using work as a context. To get enlightened, I don’t need to go and meditate full time under a tree or join a monastery. I can be an executive, or a frontline worker, or a barista, and still have the same spiritual experiences. The context is just as valid.If I pick a religion, let’s say Christianity, I can follow the ethos of one of the key principles, “Treat others as you would want to be treated.” If I practice that at work – wishing others that mindset of kindness and having the courage to take action – then I am living this divine principle of compassion. Work becomes the living expression of my Divinity in the world.If I join a monastery and become enlightened, who cares? Whereas, if I practice these principles among thousands of people at work, then I make a real difference.Q: Yes, you have. Thank you for that, Scott.Can you give some tips to anyone wanting to bring contemplative practices or meditation to their workspace?SS: I have a few tips and playbooks but first, if you’re coming from a spiritual perspective you need to leave some stuff at the door. No gurus, no religion, none of that. The stuff you do at work needs to be secular. You can do a lot within that zone – breathing practices and meditation – but most importantly, you need to use the language of the environment you are in.What do people need? If they just need a break from their mind, to feel some peace, that’s great! Give them that. Second, just start. I started at LinkedIn in a conference room, and there was one guy present. The following week there were three, then five, and it grew organically from there.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Vulnerable_leaders3_f7b9d70527.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T07:35:19.866Z" alt="Vulnerable_leaders3"><hr>A good thing to do at work is a 30-day challenge – people like to compete, so they join a challenge. Then treat it as a business, once you know who your friends are and you have the top of the funnel. Meet people where they are. We found that when we did a 30-day challenge, we had 1500 people sign up for it. Then we started email marketing and it kept growing and growing. We used the same principles as we use when growing a business. We built a community at work.Why do we do this? We do it to raise consciousness. We do it to serve the employees, because when employees get out of their minds a little bit, it’s goodness all around.Q: Is the world ripe for bringing wisdom practices to workspaces now?SS: Yes, this is absolutely the right time for us to have this conversation!Q: Thank you, Scott.<hr><hr><h4>Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4><hr><hr>

Vulnerable leaders

Senthil is an engineering management professional in the telecommunication and semiconductor domains with five US patents to his credit.&nbsp;He has been a Heartfulness practitioner for 25 years and is a Heartfulness trainer. His interests include yogic psychology, high performance teams using Adizes frameworks, photography and trekking.

Senthil Viswanathan.jpg

Senthil Viswanathan

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SENTHIL KUMAR VISWANATHAN shares his experience of meditating with Transmission, and how much easier it is to dive deeper into the spiritual journey because of this very beautiful energy.</h4>&nbsp;I have been meditating with Transmission for 25 years, and I would like to use an analogy to illustrate the difference between meditation with and without Transmission.We are all used to listening to music on airplanes while on a flight. There is a lot of background noise where the music is hardly audible using the regular headphones. One solution to this is to use a noise cancelling headphone. The noise cancelling headphone when switched on, makes the music very clear and audible even with a lot of background humming noise of the aeroplane. How does this really happen? The noise cancelling mechanism uses vibrations that are phase inverted (opposing to the noise), which nullifies the background noise. This makes the music so crystal clear that we are able to hear even the slightest and subtle sounds in the music, though there is a lot of noise all around us.Similarly, what really happens when we <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/meditate-listen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">meditate</a> with Transmission? Transmission is a subtle transformative energy and it seems to create a field, just like the noise cancelling headphones, where the noise of the mind seems to be nullified in some sense, creating a field enabling us to really feel the subtle happenings beneath the noise. This Transmission is the vibratory energy coming from a living Guide that creates the field where the settling of the activities of the mind seems to occur with relative ease.Meditation without Transmission is like listening to music using regular headphones—there is a lot of background noise. Even though the music is playing, the subtle sounds are overpowered and eclipsed by the background noise. Though we are able to hear something, it is not as good as listening using the noise cancelling headphones. Though we are able to meditate to some extent, it is relatively not as deep and absorbed as meditating with Transmission.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/transmission2_3e79e3600c.webp" alt="transmission2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_transmission2_3e79e3600c.webp 138w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_transmission2_3e79e3600c.webp 444w," sizes="100vw"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Transmission is the subtle vibratory energy that creates the field where meditation becomes easy.</h4><hr>Transmission is the subtle vibratory energy that creates the field where meditation becomes easy. But, it is important to be alert in order to feel the subtlety when the clutter of the mind is eased, otherwise it is easy to miss it or even slip into sleep. Similarly, while meditating, the alertness and <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/lack-of-awareness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">awareness</a> is required to feel, observe and witness what lies beneath the noise and clutter of the mind. This is when Viveka or the mind’s faculty of discrimination is heightened if one is alert enough. Using this heightened and expanding Viveka, one can now see what lies beneath – like that of a still pond. Now, what do we do with such a mind that is alert, aware and absorbed? By carrying this state of heightened absorption through the day, we are able to perform our tasks much better and effectively with a higher sense of discrimination and awareness.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4><hr>

Transmission: The field that makes it possible

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SENTHIL VISWANATHAN explores the concept of zero, from both computing and spiritual perspectives. Through this, he uncovers the very origins and base of our existence as human beings, and also why this hidden part of ourselves is eclipsed by whatever manifests from it. He highlights the importance of the attitudes of insignificance and humility in our personalities if we are to glimpse the nothingness at the center of our being.</h4>In the world of computers, the basic representation of information uses the binary system. In the binary system, there are just two states of information—presence (one) or absence (zero) of a bit of information.Any number can be represented by a combination of these data of ones and zeroes. The operations permitted on this binary system of data—addition, multiplication, division, negation etc.—permit both the representations of complex data as well as computation, thereby enabling it to become both the storehouse of information and the logic that transforms and uses it.This Zero or Nothingness is contained in every number (zero added to any number is the same number). Similarly in a graph, the center of the graph is denoted by the coordinates 0, 0. Every other coordinate is anchored in reference to this center, and is contained within it.In computer science, this binary representation is used to represent every bit of information, perform mathematical operations using the same binary logic, and transform information from one dimension to the other—like representing sound as a series of zeros and ones and bringing it back as music by doing the inverse. All this is possible by the base representation of just two states—presence and absence of just ONE bit.The core of the computer is an oscillator which generates this series of alternate ones and zeroes, or as a sinusoidal wave. This crystal oscillator is the lifeline and heartbeat of the computer. Everything else is derived from this base; however, it is easily forgotten and eclipsed by the creations and representations which are derived from it.In the book, Truth Eternal, the Heartfulness Guide, Lalaji states the following:“The Vedas are liable to be questioned because the real mantra, shruti, or udgeet, is OM. In them are found “becoming-ness,” the quality of being counted, and the sentiments of the hearts of human beings. That is why there appears some difference whenever they are caught in words. For example, one and the same integer or unit assumes different forms of sums under the principles of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The whole sum, in spite of inversions and seeming contradiction, is an integer or unit only, and has the form of integers alone—in just the same way as water assumes various forms on passing through various channels as a fountain, well, tank, river, or canal. Nevertheless, it remains the same water.”&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/power_of_zero2_d279a15e06.webp" alt="power-of-zero2.webp"></figure>&nbsp;On the topic of <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/a-touch-of-heaven" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spirituality</a>, he states:“Where there is only one thing, there is no motivation of idea. Nor is there any opportunity for discrimination, addition, or subtraction, multiplication, or division. Where is knowledge, where is action and where is bliss when there is only one? When there are two, then only is a third state produced by their combination, as also discrimination between this and that, you and me. The knot is in the middle, and at one end there is one head and at the other end there is another. Mind is the middle knot, at one end of which there is the higher self of consciousness and at the other end there is the lower state of inertness or unconsciousness. The mind, taking the shadow and influence of both, becomes a knot of consciousness and inertness, and is compelled to think and understand.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/power_of_zero3_2a292822f4.webp" alt="power-of-zero3.webp"></figure>&nbsp;The above two quotes are akin to the binary system in computers enabling us to represent and compute everything, thereby creating the digital world.It seems to me that the subtle and physical bodies are caused and manifested by the causal body.Consciousness (Chit) and the functions that play out in the field of <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/evolution-of-consciousness-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Consciousness</a>—including Mind (Manas), Intellect (Buddhi), and Ego (Ahankara)—originated out of a base, but they easily eclipse the base from which they manifested and get caught in the web of their own creation.Our journey seems to be to become aware of this base, which is the root of all existence, which animates us from inside out, and to be in tune with the base and be the best manifestation possible of it. It is almost like the leading edge of a perennially moving wave. It is an energy point which keeps moving up and down as a series of points. When we look back it is a wave, but it is also a point which is in continuous and rhythmic motion.My <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/the-dualities-of-existence" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spiritual Guide</a>, a fellow human being who is anchored to the base through his own negation and attitudes of insignificance and humility, makes me aware of the possibility of such an existence, and reminds me of what it is that animates me from inside out. Being in sync with such an individual, I realize the possibility to resonate with the same frequency and manifest similar qualities.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Our journey seems to be to become aware of this base, which is the root of all existence, which animates us from inside out, and to be in tune with the base and be the best manifestation possible of it.</h4><hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/power_of_zero4_1c9fed6125.webp" alt="power-of-zero4.webp"></figure>&nbsp;

The power of zero

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SENTHIL VISWANATHAN reflects upon keeping the human engine running in top condition.</h4>Let us consider the workings of a piston engine—the piston moving in a cylinder harnesses the energy provided by the mixture of fuel and air. The engine comes alive when the initial spark is ignited and is combined with the fuel-air mixture. This initial spark is the infusion of life into the engine. The energy released by the combustion caused by the initial spark is then harnessed and transferred to the crankshaft, which then powers everything else. After the vehicle is set in motion and sufficient momentum is attained, the engine continues to draw in the fuel and air mixture as long as they are available, provided the vehicle is not turned off. The engine’s energy is then transferred through gears and a transmission to power the various other parts of the vehicle. This includes setting the wheel in motion or powering an alternator, which then produces electricity to power the car audio system, etc.Likewise, in the human system, it seems that the heart is the engine that is set into motion when the initial spark of life descends into it. Once set in motion, it harnesses the vibrational energy of life, powering the entire existence from within. The <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/a-users-guide-to-living-part-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">life-giving force</a> of the heart draws its energy from the “fuel-air mixture” of food and breath, powering the physical existence, which then becomes the foundation for the mind and intellect to blossom. The saying, sarvam annam, translated to “everything is food,” is seen in action in our human body. The life-giving force of the heart serves as the food or energy for both the physical and subtle bodies, each having a spiraling effect on the other. The way this energy is utilized depends on the mind, which seems to control the physical self (akin to the vehicle’s steering wheel, accelerator, and brakes), influenced by the gunas, the three qualities of nature, buddhi, intellect, and the heart’s qualities, which are then manifested as what one thinks and does.This life-giving force also enables the essential property of embryonic stem cells in the umbilical cord to become any type of cell in the body, which can be used to regenerate or repair diseased tissue and organs.In a vehicle, what is visible is only the external manifestation of the energy, such as a wheel moving or the stereo system working. The engine is completely eclipsed and covered by layers of gears, transmission, and crankshaft. Similarly, what powers our existence inside out, starting from the life-giving force in the heart, is eclipsed by the internal organs, the external physical self, the mind, and the intellect. Hence, we miss out on what animates us from the inside out and fuels this entire being.To keep the engine running in top condition, the friction between the parts must be minimal, with no energy wasted. Additionally, the deposit of soot must be removed periodically to maintain the engine’s optimal performance and keep it in pristine condition.Similarly, the soot covering the heart must be cleaned up so that the vibrations received in the heart are transformed and utilized without any loss, contamination, or additions. The soot of human existence is due to the residue or impressions of our day-to-day actions (karma), our gunas, and our subsequent likes and dislikes influenced by our ego.To keep the machine running efficiently, the Transmission loss must be minimal. As a human being, the energy that animates my existence, both inside and out, must also be regulated and balanced so that it is utilized for the right pursuits. All of this is possible when the mind is regulated, so that it is in tune and guided by <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/the-intrinsic-goodness-of-the-heart" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the heart</a>, in turn driving the physical existence in a balanced manner.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/engine_existence2_073d4de13a.webp" alt="engine-existence2.webp"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">As a human being, the energy that animates my existence, both inside and out, must also be regulated and balanced, so that it is utilized for the right pursuits. All of this is possible when the mind is regulated, so that it is in tune and guided by the heart, in turn driving the physical existence in a balanced manner.</h4><hr>

The Engine of our Existence

Serge Nicolai was born in France of Corsican heritage. As a teenager he started reading about philosophy and experimented with different paths of self-development. He started meditation in earnest at the age of 21 with the help of an Indian master of Raja Yoga. After finishing his MA in linguistics, he moved to India and has since worked in international schools in South India as a modern language teacher. He continues to practise Raja Yoga and reads widely on religions, philosophy and psychology. He is married with two children and lives in Chennai.

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Serge Nicolai

What is maturity? How does it manifest in an individual, or in a nation? This is my take on it.Maturity is to live from the heart, which is the deeper part of ourselves, rather than living from the head, which is the superficial part of our mind.Instead of just reacting to fears and desires, mature individuals, or a mature society, act out of their deeper core.How does this show? The life of the heart is mainly expressed in<h3><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/maturity_img2_f7d3f59436.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-29T12:47:29.531Z" alt="Maturity"></h3>In societies with long spiritual traditions, you will find the majority of people directing their LOVE towards others, at the very least to their families, and their WILL towards themselves, to perfect themselves.In younger societies, I find the majority of people turning their WILL towards the others, or the world, while directing their LOVE towards themselves, in the pursuit of comfort and self-aggrandisement.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">The mature person sacrifices so that others may live; the immature person enjoys life at the expense of everyone else.</h4><hr>In a nutshell, the mature person sacrifices so that others may live; the immature person enjoys life at the expense of everyone else.I am not saying the latter is bad. Only that the person is just a child, with a long way to go on the road to express inner nobility.<hr>Article by SERGE NICOLAI<hr>

Maturity

<h4 style="text-align:center;">SERGE NICOLAI explores beauty and its source, the beauty unfolding within.</h4>Who is not after beauty? What is real beauty? And why are we looking for it?Beauty gives pleasure to our senses, be it a beautiful landscape, a beautiful face, a beautiful artifact, or a beautiful piece of music. One may argue that as a community or a civilization frees itself from the struggle to cater to its basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, there is more effort and resources given to fulfilling this search for beauty.A poet said, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” But is it? Experience shows us that the possession of one thing never satisfies us and, as soon as we get it, we embark upon the next pursuit, ad infinitum. So what are we really after?I would say that we are attracted to beauty because it reminds us of a lost harmony, of a subtle balance of forms. We would not recognize it outside if it were not already imprinted in us.We are really looking for our own lost beauty, a beauty not of this world, a light that alone makes everything resplendent.When we find it, whether in a child, a sage, or a pure person, we stand in awe. Something from another dimension beckons us. For a moment we are transported out of this mundane existence. And that is what we are looking for in this pursuit.Alas, this self-forgetfulness doesn’t last and we are back where we were. What is the solution?The only way is to turn our pursuit inwards, turn our efforts to our own making, so that we cultivate inner beauty. As this grows, our dependence for outer beauty will diminish.Finally, sages say that a time comes when the beauty unfolding inside is an unceasing wonder, making one forget everything else.That, this mystery, is what we are all really yearning for.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by SERGE NICOLAI</h4><hr>

The quest for beauty

An international speaker, author, and spiritual teacher since 2000, Shai Tubali is one of Europe’s leading experts and innovators in the field of the chakras and the subtle system. Currently based in Berlin, he tours and guides seminars and retreats in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, and Greece. Formerly the head of the Berlin holistic center Chiro-Yoga, he has now established the new international center Human Greatness. Shai has published 23 books in English, German and Hebrew, in spiritual non-fiction, prose and poetry. His latest book is Unlocking The 7 Secret Powers of the Heart.

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Shai Tubali

&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SHAI TUBALI helps us understand the value of keeping the heart open, vulnerable and willing to experience whatever challenges life gives us, without becoming defensive and closing the heart.</h4>&nbsp;<hr>&nbsp;Your mind cannot tell the difference between “vulnerable” and “breakable.” It thinks it is obvious that if you are vulnerable you are also breakable. Since this sounds logical enough, your mind chooses the strategy of remaining invulnerable as much as possible.Of course, your mind only wants to protect you, as its main role is to keep you safe in a world full of dangers. It registers moments when you were vulnerable and, as a result, became deeply disappointed, rejected, betrayed, or abandoned. This left you not just with an unbearable pain but also with a profound sense of weakness.We are all afraid of being weak. It is a survival instinct: we must not show that we are powerless and defenseless in a hostile and overpowering environment. To conceal this weakness, we put on armor, a thick layer of protection with which we defend our vulnerable heart. This is why we become hard and sometimes react quickly to insults or criticism with anger, hatred, and vengefulness, and harbor grudges.Your mind strives to become so strong and impenetrable that you will never be harmed or feel pain. To achieve this impregnable condition, it surrounds the heart with a protective wall. This wall is not just a metaphor – you could easily sense it in your chest as a thick layer separating you from the environment and protecting your fragile true being. This wall is not necessarily such a bad idea. If you have no coping mechanism for intense emotions and profound disappointments, it is perhaps wise to keep a thick protective layer around your heart. However, in light of our knowledge of the powers of the heart, we should reexamine this strategy: Does it really work? Do we actually feel safer when our hearts are closed?<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/myth_fragile_heart2_46e9a1ecd2.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T06:38:13.695Z" alt="the-myth-of-the-fragile-heart"><hr>A quick, honest look at our life experience tells us, of course, that this strategy does not work very well. The more we feel threatened and in need of defending and protecting ourselves, the more intensely and deeply we feel our own fragility. In the end, the effort to become invulnerable makes us more vulnerable. The great irony is that the more we contract our heart, the more we feel it needs additional and even more sophisticated layers of protection, with the result that, slowly but surely, we stop feeling pain but scarcely feel anything else. We become cautious and numb, hurting little but also loving little.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">The secret power of the open heart</h4>Your wise heart offers a different strategy. With this secret power, you can finally remove the wall: vulnerability is your key to indestructibility. The heart’s wisdom confidently defies the effectiveness of the wall. Historically, walls have never really worked, and this is also true for your internal wall. From the point of view of the heart, it is clear that what we believe makes us stronger actually makes us weaker. And what we believe makes us weaker actually makes us stronger.The mind’s strategy is based on resistance. It refuses to open up because it wants to avoid potential disappointments. It strives with all its might to minimize the pain of betrayal and rejection, pushing people away as a result and keeping a clear distance, since people are able to upset our mind-body system by failing to be there for us.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/myth_fragile_heart3_26081046ac.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T06:39:01.768Z" alt="the-myth-of-the-fragile-heart"><hr>The heart’s strategy is based on love. It continues to trust and open up even if this could lead to painful experiences. It agrees to pain, because it knows that it is better to feel pain than to feel nothing. That is because it knows the secret that, as long as it remains open, even if it bleeds a little it will not be weakened. In fact, it gets stronger with each opening up, despite the disappointment and hurt.In reality, it is your mind’s resistance to pain that makes these past experiences so painful, imprinting upon you dark and trenchant conclusions about life and people. When you closed your heart in response to the pain, it took hold of you. Opening up to breathe into it and to contain it completely in fact has the effect of melting it away, leaving the heart refreshed and intact.This is the excellent “contain and include” heartpractice: when there is no resistance and you choose instead to open up even more widely, you become greater than the situation. Contained within your heart, the situation fades away without leaving an unforgettable impression.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">Use disappointments as opportunities</h4>Generally speaking, the heart is in one of the following three different kinds of conditions:MOSTLY CLOSED:&nbsp;This is when the mind decides that we’ve had enough disappointments and betrayals for one lifetime, and so even with those with whom we are close we make sure our heart remains essentially invulnerable and untouched.HALF OPEN:&nbsp;This is when we open and close our heart, depending on circumstances. We open it up with certain people in a safe environment, but even then only when they are kind to us. The opening is conditional on circumstances and, therefore, is fluctuating.ESSENTIALLY OPEN:&nbsp;This is not only a condition, but also a statement of being. An essentially open heart never closes the door of trust, faith, and communication, despite all disappointments and betrayals.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/myth_fragile_heart4_54dbcc850b.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T06:39:48.460Z" alt="the-myth-of-the-fragile-heart"><hr>The state of being half open is the most common – the heart only opens when the situation is clearly safe. It is the mind that allows us to be vulnerable only when there are good reasons to trust. However, this dependency keeps us weaker; it means that our heart opens and closes in response to each and every stimulation, however negligible. This is a fragile heart, constantly searching for signs of approval and recognition and needing to fear any change of circumstances.For the half-open heart, deep emotions such as love and tenderness are too delicate and can only be expressed in a wholly supportive and nurturing environment. The half-open heart is based on what is probably the greatest myth surrounding the heart – that since it is fragile, it requires a safe environment and cannot handle a difficult or hostile world. When the heart encounters intense situations, it withdraws behind the wall, leaving the mind on the front line to fight and negotiate.The heart’s secret power tells us something completely different: Love and compassion are not tender but rather invincible powers of our being that channel tremendous cosmic waves. They do not need a secure environment to be revealed; they can be expressed proudly and openly even in the most strident and noisy marketplace and in the face of strong opposing forces.Try this exercise the next time someone offends you or when the next hurt inevitably strikes:Remain with an open heart. You will feel an impulse to contract your heart, but make the decision not to do so, instead retaining the flow of openness and tenderness, and see what happens as a result.<img class="image_resized" style="width:409px !important;" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/myth_fragile_heart5_5fcedc394a.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T06:40:36.818Z" alt="the-myth-of-the-fragile-heart">With&nbsp;your heart exposed, work with the unconscious expectation that has caused you pain – that people should never be disappointing. The reality is that not only will people disappoint you every now and then, but this plays a crucial role in your own heart’s development. Translate your disappointment into the thought that obviously this person should have offended me, and keep the heart open and flowing. Open your chest fully to the event. Agree to the pain. Direct love toward the person who caused you pain. You will soon discover that this pain flows through you and is transformed into a greater power of love.<h4 style="text-align:justify;">The paradox of indestructibility</h4>Your heart does not need protection, it is your best protection. Living life with an open heart is not just less damaging than having to defend it, it is, ironically, the very state in which nothing and no one can hurt you. As the heart lets go of expectations and remains wide open, agreeing to feel unconditionally, a point will come when it no longer feels pain but only love.Since that pain was caused by your own expectations, you will grow confident enough to keep your heart as an open door that never closes, and which constantly allows the natural flow of goodness and compassion from within your heart.Here we return to the difference between vulnerable and breakable. Vulnerability means fearlessly keeping the door to your heart open. A tender heart that does not try to protect itself and remains open to experience, accepting, loving, and forgiving under all circumstances, is an unbreakable heart. There is nothing that it cannot envelop and contain, no power that it cannot melt away, since it agrees to receive whatever penetrates it. What enemy could defeat such a heart? Even the most powerful assailant becomes helpless, as it tries with all its might to attack, hurt, and ruin. The love of such a heart keeps it unharmed.We can only suffer hurt as long as fear lives within our hearts. Aggression and destruction feed on our fear, but they lose all their power in the face of love. Together, love and the heart’s openness form the most formidable power in the world – a power that only increases when we love at those times when it makes no sense to open up at all. We fear being hurt, but what can happen if we are willing to get hurt and commit ourselves to love, even in such circumstances?Many people consider the life of Jesus a perfect example of the heroism of the heart: the way he lived in this harsh world like the most delicate flower – wide open, exposed, and loving. Do we think that those who crucified him defeated him? No, we know that the heart of Jesus could never be crucified, only his body. You cannot crucify a heart whose last words are “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”<hr>An adapted excerpt from the author’s latest book, Unlocking the 7 Secret Powers of the Heart, available at https://shaitubali.com/en/webshop/unlocking-the-7secret-powers-of-the-heart-a-practical-guide-to-livingin-trust-and-love/. Reprinted with permission.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by SHAI TUBALI Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4><hr>

The myth of the fragile heart

Shantanu Mandal has a background in fashion design and fine arts. During his time as a reporter for La Croix in Paris, he played a key role in helping create the UN Youth Manifesto, and since then has been a key member of the Youth Forum at the UN Convention on Combating Desertification in 2019, a mentor in the Climate Ambassadors Program, and involved in area of “Major Growth for Children and Youth.”  He is based at Mount Abu in India, the spiritual headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris, and has practiced Raja Yoga for 20 years. Shantanu is a facilitator, mediator, and bridge between different communities, helping collaboration and providing a space where they can co-create.

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Shantanu Mandal

<h4>SHANTANU MANDAL has a background in fashion design and fine arts. During his time as a reporter for La Croix in Paris, he played a key role in helping create the UN Youth Manifesto, and since then has been a key member of the Youth Forum at the UN Convention on Combating Desertification in 2019, a mentor in the Climate Ambassadors Program, and involved in area of “Major Growth for Children and Youth.” &nbsp;He is based at Mount Abu in India, the spiritual headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris, and has practiced Raja Yoga for 20 years. Shantanu is a facilitator, mediator, and bridge between different communities, helping collaboration and providing a space where they can co-create.</h4><hr>Any action that we want to happen at a bigger level starts from a single and a very humble individual origin. Something cannot be done “outside” if it is not embraced inside. For example, if Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t free inside, he could not have helped free his country. If Nelson Mandela wasn’t free inside while sitting in prison, he could not have visualised a free country. So, when I wanted to do something for the environment, I started believing in the things I was doing.The first thing that motivated me was changing my lifestyle. I became minimalistic, not purchasing anything unless and until it was necessary. I changed my diet to become vegan. These little things built good energy inside me, so I started volunteering. That is how I have approached personal responsibility.For big businesses, every stakeholder has their share of responsibility as an individual, then they take on responsibilities as part of the organization that extend to the dynamics of the group – are they aligned to the well-being of Mother Nature? Every stakeholder, whether an individual, a group, or a big company, has a role to play in climate action.Some companies have a massive potential in shaping future society. They could start now, with the simple idea of promoting “flourishing.” Flourishing is different from progress. The word progress conveys a linear aspect of earning and earning, whereas the concept of flourishing, regeneration, is when everybody inside the team is progressing and flourishing, and nature and the environment are also flourishing. The problem right now is that even when the individual, the group, and the organization progress, Mother Nature is not progressing. Instead, it is being depleted.A flourishing way of dealing or trading is when we also focus on the health of nature and the surroundings, because that’s our resource center. My computer, my jacket, and everything else has come from Mother Nature, and if I understand that beautiful connection, I will think holistically; I will consider every aspect of that connection. Every small or big stakeholder can do that.It is something that comes naturally within faith-based communities. They look at development projects in a very holistic way – no aspect is left out. Even if the process is slow, it is substantial and powerful. Everybody flourishes, everybody’s good wishes are there, everybody’s good energy is there.At an individual level, it can start from a very simply approach – look to make a healthy life. Thinking about the planet and other people can be a bit overwhelming, but having a very healthy lifestyle only requires four things:<ol><li>A healthy, nourishing diet.</li><li>Proper rest so the body can function.</li><li>Good mobility, exercise, and fitness.</li><li>A positive attitude.</li></ol>These four keep us healthy, and you can start with any one of them.Is there something in your diet you can do without? Why are you attached to it? Do you need it for health? Can you manage without it? The answers to these questions will lead you to a more natural, eco-friendly diet. That’s what happens if you keep asking the right questions.Looking at mobility and exercise, if you can’t spend a lot, walk to the market or local shop, instead of using a car or public transport. It will make a difference. I have been living in the UK for the past three months and whenever I can I walk. My colleagues don’t always understand it, but I walk as my exercise. The concept must come from a lifestyle practice.Living non-violently and holistically in nature is not an add-on activity. Even if you can’t change your food, rest, and exercise, start with positive thinking. For instance, when you have gratitude for the things around you, it creates a bond with Mother Nature and the environment, and you will cause less harm. You will be eco-friendly in your choices. This will come very naturally, and you won’t have to work for it.<hr><hr><h4>When you have gratitude for the things around you,&nbsp; it creates a bond with Mother Nature and&nbsp; the environment, and you will cause less harm.&nbsp;</h4><hr><hr>So, start with any of these four aspects. The easiest one to adopt is a positive attitude, an attitude of gratitude for everything. It is free of cost and it will light up your heart; everything will start radiating from there. You will feel like eating non-violent food, walking in nature, and it will become natural for you. I know because it happened to me. It starts with a gentle inner commitment, because if it is not gentle it is not sustainable.Going forward, my hopes for the future revolve around flourishing, love, friendship, and security: love for myself, love for each other, and love for the actions of others. I can openly appreciate what others do and show my love for what they’re doing. That includes love for Mother Nature, and for the Divine.My hopes for the longer term also focus on strong friendships, strong collaborations, strong networks. Having all these, we will have a life full of protection, safety, and security, whether it’s emotional, financial, or physical. &nbsp;Strong friendships help us feel safe, and when we are safe and secure we can focus on what needs to be done right now. An anxious mind cannot act in the right direction, whereas a safe and secure mind will act appropriately and look at the needs of the time.To do that, we need to become friends of ourselves, and find a very strong friend, like the Divine, Mother Nature, or anyone in whom we have great confidence. When we communicate within that friendship, we create a safe space where working becomes very easy.<hr><hr><h4>To do that, we need to become friends of ourselves,&nbsp; and find a very strong friend, like the Divine, Mother Nature,&nbsp; or anyone in whom we have great confidence.&nbsp; When we communicate within that friendship,&nbsp; we create a safe space where working becomes very easy.&nbsp;</h4><hr><hr>It requires actions, not just romantic words and thoughts – actions of friendship. I cannot just sit here and think, “Maybe it would be nice if that person and I were friends.” We must come together, speak, call, or WhatsApp. Some action is needed to feel safe, and some action is needed to help everything flourish.<hr>

Start with small beginnings

Shanthi Venkat is a Heartfulness Meditation trainer, a certified Tai Chi instructor, and a retired physical therapist based in the United States. She balances her love of the sciences and healthcare with her creative passion for cooking, baking, and gardening.

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Shanthi Venkat

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">SHANTHI VENKAT is a physical therapist based in the United States. Here, she details how a deeply personal experience as a caregiver pushed her to reflect on the stigma around aging and her own professional work, and the easy steps we can take to prepare ourselves for growing older.</h4>&nbsp;My husband and I have been in the healthcare industry for over three decades; he provides home visit physical therapy services for the geriatric population and I work with the Veterans’ Affairs clinic, where I treat elderly veterans of war, and young veterans returning from recent tours. Because of the nature of our work and our adaptation to the ever-changing landscape of geriatric healthcare, both of us developed what we believed to be a thick skin to caretaking.That thick skin has been tested and recreated over the last seven years, after my husband decided to move his parents, in their eighties, from India to the US, so we could care for their growing medical concerns. Neither of us had any apprehension about this caretaker role, until his parents actually moved in.The months and years following their arrival have been an eyeopener for us. Much changed quickly: the energy in the house shifted as our lives revolved around their needs, wants, emotions, and illnesses. Prior to their arrival, we were empty nesters planning for our retirement, but the immensity of their health issues postponed those plans indefinitely.We were also inching closer to our 60s. Little aches and pains magnified in intensity, and no matter how preemptive we were in managing them, we were not rebounding quite as quickly. Neither of us will ever regret the choice we made to bring my in-laws here; at the same time, caretaker burnout is very real. Whether we were willing to accept it or not, we were also aging.What is aging? It is a degenerative process that we undergo physically, mentally, and emotionally. The changes do not happen in any certain pattern or proportion. But each change does affect the others. When our physical health is not good, our mental and emotional well-being are compromised, which in turn leads to even poorer physical health. We get trapped into a hamster wheel of sickness, one giant unending cycle.&nbsp;Aging is hard. It can feel like all the control and independence built over several decades is gone in the blink of an eye. Many elderly people must make the emotional adjustment of returning to an almost childlike state, in which they constantly have to ask for help for even the simplest of tasks. It can be lonely, embarrassing, frightening, and often completely unfair.Aging is also a challenge for caretakers. I have wondered what has made the circumstances with my in-laws so challenging, when over the past three decades, my husband and I have helped so many elderly people rehabilitate themselves to live healthy, independent lives.&nbsp;The challenge, I have realized, is the emotional attachment we have with family members. Even when we know it is coming, it is hard to watch a parent grow older. It is hard for the role of parent and child to reverse. And it is hard to care for ourselves when our energy is going toward taking care of someone else, especially loved ones.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">What is aging? It is a degenerative process that we undergo physically, mentally, and emotionally.</h4><hr>Because of my work, I understand that aging is a taboo topic, one that we are hesitant to learn about, because it is frightening to think about getting older. We teach young people how to become adults. We teach them how to be financially independent, to save for retirement, to pay bills, to buy a house, to build a family. But we don’t teach them how to age. We do not successfully educate people on how to care for the inevitable: an aging body.At work I watch young veterans struggle after being discharged from service: Their bodies and minds have physically and psychologically aged significantly because of the impact of war, and they are left feeling hopeless as they try to navigate life under different circumstances.So I encourage you to apply these five simple steps to keep your bodies and minds healthy and strong, and preempt the effects of aging:<h4>1. &nbsp;Exercise regularly&nbsp;</h4>Even something as simple as a walk around your neighborhood can do wonders. I spend an hour each day walking on the treadmill or doing strength-training exercises.<img class="image_resized" style="width:38.88%;" src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully2_ac6efaca60.webp" alt="Aging-Gracefully2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_Aging_Gracefully2_ac6efaca60.jpg 166w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_Aging_Gracefully2_ac6efaca60.webp 250w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully2_ac6efaca60.webp 250w," sizes="100vw"><h4>2. Find a consistent hobby&nbsp;</h4>It keeps your mind sharp and engaged. My husband and I have green thumbs and spend a lot of time in our garden.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:36.93%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully6_35bbf06b80.webp" alt="Aging-Gracefully6.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_Aging_Gracefully6_35bbf06b80.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_Aging_Gracefully6_35bbf06b80.webp 250w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully6_35bbf06b80.webp 250w," sizes="100vw"></figure><h4>3. Spend time with friends&nbsp;</h4>Every demographic is impacted by loneliness. Keep your personal connections strong. I make a point to pick up the phone and call my friends a few times a week, or drop by a friend’s home even just for an hour.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:38.56%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully3_b7c8c19bf5.webp" alt="Aging-Gracefully3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_Aging_Gracefully3_b7c8c19bf5.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_Aging_Gracefully3_b7c8c19bf5.webp 250w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully3_b7c8c19bf5.webp 250w," sizes="100vw"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Even when we know it is coming, it is hard to watch a parent grow older. It is hard for the role of parent and child to reverse.</h4><hr><h4>4. Engage in mind-body activity&nbsp;</h4>Meditation, yoga, and other contemplative activities can create a fit mind and body. In addition to my meditation practice, I became a certified tai chi instructor a few years ago, which has been another successful way of keeping me connected to myself.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:38.41%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully4_608c60cf24.webp" alt="Aging-Gracefully4.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_Aging_Gracefully4_608c60cf24.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_Aging_Gracefully4_608c60cf24.webp 250w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully4_608c60cf24.webp 250w," sizes="100vw"></figure><h4>5. Take time for yourself&nbsp;</h4>Alone time is necessary to keep yourself sharp and healthy.&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:38.87%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully5_a1b916e083.webp" alt="Aging-Gracefully5.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_Aging_Gracefully5_a1b916e083.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_Aging_Gracefully5_a1b916e083.webp 250w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Aging_Gracefully5_a1b916e083.webp 250w," sizes="100vw"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">We must do a better job of taking care of our aging family and friends; especially in the last leg of life, people need support and love.</h4><hr>These steps may seem like common sense, but knowing what we can do to stay strong and healthy can help to make the process of aging more manageable. When that education is coupled with compassion, acceptance, and patience, aging can be graceful. We must do a better job of taking care of our aging family and friends; especially in the last leg of life, people need support and love.The last seven years challenged the way I thought of myself as a caregiver. More than anything, it challenged my own perception of aging, and the ways I was taking care of myself. After all, I want to age gracefully too.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL</h4><hr>

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