Chirag Kulkarni

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<h4>
 CHIRAG KULKARNI, Co-Founder and CMO
 of Medly Pharmacies in the USA, speaks with
 RISHIKA SHARMA about creating a
 regular meditation practice, so as to make it a habit. He also shares how
 meditation has benefited both his personal and professional life.
 
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 Q: Hi Chirag. How did you get into meditation?
 


 CK: My parents have been practicing
 meditation since before I was born. I saw a lot of the values first-hand.
 Growing up, we used to go to the meditation center on Sundays; a lot of my
 life revolved around the Heartfulness practice, so when I had the
 opportunity to start meditation for myself, I thought it was well worth it
 and gave it a shot.
 


 Q: We often try things because people we look up to, like family
 members and friends, are doing it. You were basically surrounded by
 people who practiced meditation. What made you stick with meditation for
 yourself?
 


 CK: I spent a good while in India,
 and learned from one of the Heartfulness teachers, Chariji. Learning from
 him first-hand was a good introduction, but I think what made me stick to
 it was slowly seeing some of the benefits that meditation offered.
 


 Like with anything, when you start something, what keeps you going are
 the small wins that you see on a daily basis. In the beginning, it was
 probably the ability to sit for a few more minutes, from five minutes to
 ten minutes to twenty minutes, and more. I really started seeing the
 benefits of meditation after three to four months of practicing
 consistently. Small changes, like focus. I would get frustrated very
 quickly, and that started to improve. I noticed my patience starting to
 increase.
 


 In the grand scheme of things, what really helped me was writing a diary,
 because I was able to look back and analyze what my thoughts were when I
 started meditation, what I was feeling when I was meditating, and compare
 them with what I was feeling three months, seven months, and ten months
 later. I saw slight improvements even in the way I was behaving.
 


 Q: Did those small wins help cement meditation as a tool that you would
 utilize?
 


 CK: Yes. Those small victories led to
 larger improvements over a period of time.
 


 Q: What is it about the Heartfulness practice that makes it so unique?
 Why would you recommend it to young adults?


 CK: Self-care for some people might
 be baking, taking Sunday off and reading a book. Self-care might be doing
 face masks with your friends, or listening to music. There are so many
 examples of self-care, and the whole purpose of self-care is that you’re
 caring for yourself. With meditation, your focus is not only on caring for
 the mind and body, and all of the related aspects that fit into who you
 are as a human being, but also the element of the spiritual quotient that
 people really tend to ignore on a daily basis.
 


 Heartfulness is a spiritual practice. Initially, I was less interested in
 the spiritual aspects, and more interested in the material benefits, like
 deeper sleep, more focus, getting less angry, getting less agitated,
 getting less irritated.
 

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 <img
 alt="habit-meditation"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/habit_meditation2_bdb28b6a10.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:45:28.352Z"
 />

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 Q: It’s almost like meditation is a full cleanse.
 


 CK: I think meditation attacks a
 situation at the root cause. It’s like getting rid of weeds in your
 garden: one way is to cut the weed, but the most effective way is to take
 them out by the roots, so that they don’t grow back. It’s similar with
 meditation. You’re trying to fix what is happening at the depth of
 yourself.
 

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<h5 style="text-align: center">
 An open mind is important. 
 The moment you set expectations 
 around what meditation should be, 
 you limit what it can be. 
 Openness and a growth mindset 
 are two related things that are necessary.
 
</h5>

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 Q: Incorporating any new habit is a challenge. How did you learn to
 make meditation a priority in your life?
 


 CK: With anything in life, you have
 to start by figuring out what the benefit is. Once you figure that out,
 then you can figure out what priority it has in your life. In the
 beginning, meditation might not be a priority, but for me it was an
 important thing to stick to for a variety of reasons: First, there were
 people around me who were interested in it, and second, I knew the
 benefits, both from people who were practicing and from what I was seeing.
 


 The question of creating a habit first comes down to having interest.
 Then, once you have interest, it’s important to talk to people who have
 made the habit a part of their daily life, and figure out how they did
 that. From there, it comes down to a willingness to do it. If you
 prioritize it, you’re going to figure out a way to make it regular. Then
 it becomes a habit. It becomes second nature, just like brushing your
 teeth. 


 The thing about habits is that you don’t consciously think about them.
 For me, meditation became habitual in nature when I really saw the
 benefits, which was probably in month four or five. Being in an ashram
 helps you cultivate that regularity that you need to create habits. From
 there, coming back home was the real test of how to make it a part of my
 day-to-day life.
 

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 <img
 alt="habit-meditation"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/habit_meditation3_ea7f340b1c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:45:28.268Z"
 />

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 Q: What were the roadblocks to meditation becoming habitual?
 


 CK: One roadblock is the habit of
 doing something else instead of meditating first thing in the morning. The
 second is just natural hindrances that come in the way and prevent you
 from meditating on a morning-by-morning basis, like getting up ten minutes
 before your first meeting and not having enough time to get ready. It’s an
 element of time management, prioritization.
 


 Q: How did you overcome those roadblocks?
 


 CK: When I talked to people who had
 made meditation a part of their daily routine, one piece of advice they
 gave me was to give at least three hours in the morning to focus on
 yourself, to do things that promote self-care. That’s how I help myself
 calibrate and decide the time I need to get up to meditate. That develops
 a level of regularity, like waking up at the same time every day.
 


 Q: You must have had interest, as well. What was it about meditation
 that was so compelling that you had to wake up in the morning to do
 it?
 


 CK: I think interest comes when what
 you’re seeking is fulfilled. For me, it was seeing the benefits, feeling
 the peace and calmness after meditation, the refinement of my anger. Those
 were the things that I was really happy with. Seeing those benefits
 strengthened my interest in the practice.
 


 Q: With what kind of mindset should you approach meditation?


 CK: An open mind is important. The
 moment you set expectations around what meditation should be, you limit
 what it can be. Openness and a growth mindset are two related things that
 are necessary.
 

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 <img
 alt="habit-meditation"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/habit_meditation4_901a99541b.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T06:45:28.219Z"
 />

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 Q: Do you think willpower is important?
 


 CK: Hopefully, meditation is
 something that you enjoy, and because of the benefits that you see when
 you start practicing, you enjoy those benefits because they bear fruit. I
 do think it’s natural to exercise a certain amount of willpower throughout
 a meditative practice, but not necessarily in meditation. The practice of
 cleaning requires willpower, because you are consciously cleaning
 something, and that is not as natural as meditation.
 


 Q: How did a combination of interest, willpower, and openness support
 your practice?
 


 CK: I think in the beginning, there
 was some level of willpower required. I wasn’t necessarily seeing the
 immediate benefits of meditation. I trusted based on what I observed in
 other people around me. It was important to just get in the chair and sit.
 That is willpower.
 


 Q: Has having a consistent meditation practice impacted your approach to
 your career and professional life?


 CK: Yes. There are a variety of
 different decisions that need to be made. I think having a practice allows
 you to make decisions in the workplace, and cultivate a working style and
 environment that support everyone’s mutual growth.
 

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<h5 style="text-align: center">
 I would say that it’s a constant practice of 
 connecting with your heart and, as a result, 
 allowing your heart to guide you to make decisions.
 
</h5>

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 Q: How has meditation impacted your interactions and
 relationships with other people?
 


 CK: Meditation, for the most part,
 has allowed me to become more empathetic. It has helped me to pause, and
 that leads to more empathy.
 


 Q: Interactions between friends and family can be very different from
 interactions with people in the workplace.
 


 CK: I actually think of them as very
 similar, because in the workplace, you need to be very empathetic. You
 also need to be empathetic in social situations. You need to be decisive
 in the workplace, just like you need to be decisive with friends.
 


 Q: We’re often told to follow our hearts, but to take our minds with
 us. What is it about heart-based meditation that has helped you listen
 to your heart?
 


 CK: I would say that it’s a constant
 practice of connecting with your heart and, as a result, allowing your
 heart to guide you to make decisions. The mind is fickle, and with that
 fickleness can come wrong decisions. By tapping into your heart, you
 create a practice that is more unifying.
 

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<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center">
 Meditation, for the most part, 
 has allowed me to become more empathetic. 
 It has helped me to pause, 
 and that leads to more empathy.
 
</h5>

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 Q: What is it about Heartfulness that keeps you committed to it?
 


 CK: I think it’s the lightness
 inside, and the pranahuti. There are so many aspects that make
 Heartfulness compelling.
 


 Q: Why are inner peace and refinement important?


 CK: We live in such a chaotic world
 that if we focus on the chaos we can get lost. To be able to go within is
 really important because we all need that space to recharge, regroup, and
 refocus, especially nowadays. Introspection is important because it is
 easy for us to do things on a daily basis that are wrong. By stopping and
 introspecting, we strengthen our ability to make the right decisions.
 


 Q: What would you say to anyone who is interested in trying heart-based
 meditation, but doesn’t know where to start?


 CK: I would say just sit in a chair
 and try it. Allow yourself to meditate on your heart for a few minutes,
 and observe how you feel.
 


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<h4 style="text-align: center">
 Interviewed by RISHIKA SHARMA llustrations by ANANYA PATEL
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