Uma is a certified yoga teacher and spiritual coach with over 15 years of experience. She teaches at the Sivananda Yoga Center in Chennai, India.

uma-natarajan.jpg

Uma Natarajan

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">VALENTINA TSAREV, SRIVIDYA VARADARAJAN, UTTARA VENUGOPAL, and UMA NATARAJAN are all yoga teachers who have experienced the benefits of yoga and Ayurveda at a young age. Here they share some key features of their use for health.</h4><h3>Health according to Ayurveda, and the relationship between yoga and Ayurveda</h3>Valentina, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta: Charaka was one of the greatest Ayurvedic doctors and Vedic scholars, and he asked, “What is health, and a healthy person?” He described a healthy person as one whose doshas are balanced. The three doshas – vata, pitta, kapha – define our personal constitution. Also, one whose digestive fire or transformational fire, agni, is balanced; one whose dhatos, body tissues, are in balance (we have seven vital tissues in our body); one whose malas, wastes, are eliminated normally; one whose indriyas (senses), manas (mind), and atma (soul or the self) are calm and clear. Such a one is called swastha purusha, a healthy person.Yoga and Ayurveda are sister sciences, and they share the same spiritual goals. They require us to connect ourselves to the true self – a healthy person has a healthy physical body, a healthy mind, and a healthy spirit. There are two goals to Ayurveda: one is to protect and maintain health throughout the lifespan, and the second is to cure diseases, disorders, and imbalances in the body and mind. The main focus is the prevention of diseases and the promotion of positive health. In order to reach the main goal of our life, to find our true self, to find Christ Consciousness, we need to be healthy.<h3>Yoga as therapy</h3>Srividya Varadarajan, Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram: There is a prevalent idea that yoga is about convoluted postures, and fit and slim people. But yoga is more than physical fitness – it is essential for us to perform our duties, take care of our responsibilities, etc. The body should not be an impediment toward our spiritual growth, so it’s important that we are physically fit, but the influence goes much beyond that. While doing asanas is important, asanas are only one part of yoga. Yoga is beyond that. We practice asanas with the breath, the practice of pranayama, because all that works at the level of the prana in the body, which is the life force. The prana in our body is responsible for all the functions. So by doing asana and pranayama, the balance improves, which in turn makes all the functions work better. Any abnormality in the functions of the body will be corrected because of the prana circulating inside the body. So this is the therapeutic reason for yoga.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/yoga_and_ayurveda2_06b0b85fdc.jpg"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">If you practice yoga regularly, the flow of your prana is going to improve and help your organs function better. And your mental health will also improve; you will be happier, not anxious and stressed out, and you will live life smoothly.</h4><hr><h3>Creating a healthy mind</h3>Uttara Venugopal, Yogavahini: Yoga is much more than asanas and pranayama. It is a way of living. Yoga has many, many tools, including meditation, making choices, speaking the truth, living with cleanliness, not harming anybody, and being happy and content with whatever we have. Some of these tools have been taught to us when we were born in our families, and later we learn asanas and pranayama, especially when we’re unwell these days.So, today we are talking about mental health. Take, these two or three years of Covid. It was a huge catastrophe, and people are still struggling with what Covid has done to them. Either they have been affected by the illness directly, or the fact that the whole world was turned upside down. It’s safe to say that almost everyone was extremely troubled. At the other end of the spectrum, individuals have lifestyle difficulties. For example, if you are bent over a computer typing or coding every day, you hardly get up to move. This lifestyle will definitely lead to physical difficulties like back pain, your slept will be affected, and you will have digestion issues. A sedentary lifestyle may lead to diabetes. And all of these are going to affect your mental state.&nbsp; If you practice yoga regularly, the flow of your prana is going to improve and help your organs function better. And your mental health will also improve; you will be happier, not anxious and stressed out, and you will live life smoothly. Your body and your mind will not stop you from doing what you need to do. Work for yourself, for your family, provide. It’s definitely going to help your mental health. &nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Yoga has many, many tools, including meditation, making choices, speaking the truth, living with cleanliness, not harming anybody, and being happy and content with whatever we have.</h4><hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/yoga_and_ayurveda3_766c985967.jpg"></figure><h3>Yoga and good health</h3>Uma Natarajan, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta: Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with a women’s health ailment, and the doctor said that there was no choice but to remove my uterus. This came as a big shock to us. When I approached my first teacher she said yoga could help. So, along with the medication I also practiced yoga, and then I became a yoga teacher. It has given me confidence and faith; faith follows from practice, my teacher would say. Twenty years on, I have not had my uterus removed, and I’m functioning well.I’ve personally experienced that yoga can work on your internal organs, along with medication, and after some time the medication is not needed. When you’re committed to the practice, it helps on both the physical and mental levels.&nbsp; I used to be a high achiever and get very angry and anxious about winning at everything; there was always a fear element in me, always uncertainty. But after practicing yoga and meditation in the Sivananda discipline, I started feeling calm and composed. There was an automatic reduction in anger, greed, jealousy, hatred; you witness them slowly fade away from you, and positivity comes without much effort. If you commit to the practice, you will experience all this on your own. When I’m teaching, the students also receive the same energy. My teacher always says that what you have, you can pass on, and receive the same kind of benefit.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/yoga_and_ayurveda4_7db693eb2e.jpg"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">The five points of yoga – proper exercise, asanas; proper breathing, pranayama; proper relaxation, savasana; proper diet, vegetarian and sattvic; and meditation and positive thinking. So, you can apply these five points of yoga every day, to every aspect of life. You can practice yoga every moment, just remembering.</h4><hr><h3>How long does it take for yoga to be therapeutic?</h3>Valentina: Swami Vishnudevananda, the founder of the Sivananda organization, was sent by his master Swami Sivananda to the West, to spread yoga. He was traveling in North America and trying to teach yoga the way he taught in the Himalayas, but it didn’t quite work because of the different energy, different people, and different lifestyles. So, he came up with the five points of yoga – proper exercise, asanas; proper breathing, pranayama; proper relaxation, savasana; proper diet, vegetarian and sattvic; and meditation and positive thinking. So, you can apply these five points of yoga every day, to every aspect of life. You can practice yoga every moment, just remembering. You are not thinking about the benefits, but whatever you do, you can practice asanas or meditate, or chant, say prayers or mantras, exercise useful awareness. Once we bring awareness to our practice, we bring yoga to our life.And remember the main goal of Ayurveda is to find our true self. If we just focus on benefits, wondering how long it’s going to take, we are going away from our yoga practice, back to our senses, back to our physical body; how good do I look? etc. Once we withdraw all the senses and bring full awareness to the practice, that’s when we start to get real benefits. And those benefits help us on the long journey to our true selves. &nbsp;<h3>Common ailments treated by yoga therapy</h3>Srividya: The prevailing common problems are musculoskeletal issues due to a sedentary lifestyle, working so many hours; too much time on a smartphone leading to a lot of neck issues, back issues, spinal issues, and knee pain. Yoga therapy is different from physiotherapy, because although we give movements, we also work at the breath level, we work with prana, we work at the level of the mind. Other problems include acidity, asthma, wheezing, irritable bowel syndrome, and since the pandemic, in the younger generations, there are a lot of anxiety and depression issues.We use all the subtle tools of yoga, not just postures. At Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, we address each student individually to find out the physiological and mental condition of the student. We assess them depending on where they live, what kind of work they do, how much time they have for practice, etc., because sustained practice is very, very important. If I tell people to wake up every morning at 5 a.m. and do one hour of practice, it’s not going to work for everybody. We consider all these factors and offer an individual specific program dependent on the student and their ability. It’s a holistic approach. We ensure that we teach them well so that they will practice on their own, daily, which is the most important thing. Ultimately, the goal is prevention, to prevent future suffering. That’s how we try to empower the students.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/yoga_and_ayurveda5_4559b95251.jpg"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Yoga helps you live well in community, your energy helps other people, the way you interact with friends, your spouse, your parents, your children. It makes things a lot more harmonious and less difficult, that’s for sure.</h4><hr><h3>Yoga for all ages and levels of health</h3>Uma: Step by step, more flexibility develops, deeply into yourself. Yoga is applicable to people of all ages and all levels of difficulty. For example, if you cannot do double leg raises, teachers will tell you an adapted way of doing them, folding one leg and lifting the other leg up slowly. When the flexibility develops you will be able to do it perfectly. The teachers at Sivananda are trained to understand each and every student, their health constraints, their ability constraints, and accordingly, they teach.Everybody can practice yoga, and everybody can feel the difference in themselves. If you keep on practicing, you will feel the benefits, and when you have experienced the benefits, like me, you become committed to the practice.<h3>Beyond health</h3>Uttara: Practicing yoga doesn’t stop you having problems in life. Rather, it gives you the strength, the energy, and the foresight to cope with them very well. When something impacts you, you won’t react and let it affect you as badly as it could. You don’t get sucked down.Yoga also teaches you to understand yourself better, to see where you are at any point in time, and to go someplace better. For example, practicing yoga regularly has impacted the way I cook. Now, that may sound like a silly thing, but I’m feeding people better food. My practice impacts so many other people too. Very importantly, it helps me maintain and develop better relationships with others. None of us live in isolation. Yoga helps you live well in the community, your energy helps other people, the way you interact with friends, your spouse, your parents, your children. It makes things a lot more harmonious and less difficult, that’s for sure. And who doesn’t want to live like that?&nbsp;<hr>To watch the whole discussion, go to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAS9kqnbbtw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAS9kqnbbtw</a>

Yoga and Ayurveda for health

Upama has been a Heartfulness practitioner for over 33 years and is a meditation trainer, an NLP practitioner, a quantum speed reading trainer, a quantum healer, and a Brighter Minds facilitator who has trained more than 3,000 students. She is a special educator, MDA and Davis method.

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Upama Rajasekhar

<h4>UPAMA RAJASEKHAR is a Brighter Minds trainer and Heartfulness trainer. Here she shares some thoughts on future educational goals and today’s children.</h4><hr>Recently I spent three days with the most humble school principal and six of his students during their recent visit to Kanha Shanti Vanam. I am so grateful to witness, develop, acknowledge, and expand my thinking and ideas. I was shocked, surprised, hopeful, and grateful to learn from them.What made them stand out? I feel that right brain education is the answer. I employ quantum techniques as well as utilizing the subconscious mind. I believe that teachers and parents must work on themselves first. Once they’ve tested these techniques in their own lives and are convinced of their potential, they can then utilize them with joy and confidence with children.Children sometimes have difficulty accessing their unlimited innate abilities because of a negative self-image in their subconscious. Education can liberate children from anything that limits their mental potential. If a parent or teacher can eliminate these negative impressions and allow children to discover the innate power within themselves, they will be able to make use of their talents. This self-transformation is an essential element of being an achiever. Children raised in a heart-based program become sensitive, wise, passionate, curious, loving, and kind human beings. What more can we wish for?Today’s child is a wonderful, magical mixture of sense-abilities. In the past 30 to 40 years, science has unlocked the door to the infant mind, giving parents rational proof that their children have genius-like learning abilities during their formative years. As a mother and a teacher, I am encouraged to do all that I can for our children, in the hope that the knowledge they gain and the positive learning habits they form during this time will influence and enhance their learning and quality of life forever.<h4>The relationship between love, the mind, and the brain</h4>The mind makes the brain work, and love makes the mind work. If you respect your child as an individual and show them your love, recognize their existence, and praise them, their mind will be relaxed and they will be able to use their true potential. If you pay attention to your child’s mind and their right brain, they will change, grow, and be easily able to acquire knowledge or information. This is because you were able to ignite a fire within them to learn and absorb. This applies to both parents and teachers.The left brain is trained through knowledge-based education, whereas the right brain has rich potential abilities because it resonates with the cosmic energy. The purpose of the right brain is to process resonance, images, mass memory, and high-speed processing. The right brain can be cultivated by using techniques like sensory perception and memory games.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/right_brain_education3_2d6980d81c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T07:54:03.605Z" alt="right-brain-education3">&nbsp;<hr>The 21st century is the era of the right brain. It is important for education to integrate intelligence and intuition, body and mind, rational thoughts and feelings. Fostering these combinations is the true goal of education.By planting the seeds of music, math, spoken and written languages, science, art, culture, and more, early in life, your child’s mind will have a rich subconscious library of information. They will naturally crave to learn more about the world around them, eagerly building this growing library. And when high-quality input is combined with joyful play, imaginative exploration, and critical thinking activities, both hemispheres of the brain are stimulated, resulting in an incredible whole-brain acceleration.&nbsp;<h4>Future educational goals:&nbsp;</h4><ul><li>Inducing hidden human potential.</li><li>Enhancing the well-balanced development of body and mind.</li><li>Nurturing sensibility.</li><li>Instilling creativity.</li><li>Promoting a deep sense of spirituality.</li></ul><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/right_brain_education2_6ed790657f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T07:56:47.739Z" alt="right-brain-education2">&nbsp;<hr>In the near future, I hope that we will develop curricula that educate children to be able to carefully understand their ego, the true nature of the universe, and the meaning of life, rather than simply learning facts and gaining knowledge. Parents and teachers can aspire to understand the nature of a child’s mind in order to unlock true potential and allow it to develop holistically.This is my perspective to share, and my joy to impart – the truth about the children of today and their impact on our future. Let us encourage humankind to become like little children. Only after doing so, we can finally come to understand the traits of this new generation and resonate with them.<h4>Today’s child</h4><ul><li>Picks up information at an incredibly fast rate. They are wired to continually gather data and connect or link it to what they already know.</li><li>Is a multi sensory being who can absorb information through more than just their five physical senses.</li><li>Seeks clarity and balance.</li><li>Blossoms in a joyful, stimulating environment that meets their individual needs.</li><li>Brings mental images to life. They can see these images clearly, three-dimensionally, with all their senses. They have the ability to imagine, invent, and create a positive future for all of us.</li></ul>Today’s children are all around us. All it takes is a little bit of effort on our part to see them with an open mind, a listening heart, and a willingness to see.Once we combine what we know about the current generation with effective, gentle, playful learning methods – allowing their unique geniuses to unfold – we need to ask ourselves: how do we evolve in order to successfully raise and nurture today’s children? When we answer this question completely, we will genuinely affect the whole world in a positive manner. In short, we all need to rise up.

Right brain education

<h4
 id="h-upama-rajasekhar-is-a-brighter-minds-facilitator-here-purnima-ramakrishnan-meets-with-her-and-some-of-the-children-she-facilitates-in-the-program-to-learn-firsthand-about-their-experiences"
>
 UPAMA RAJASEKHAR
 is a Brighter Minds facilitator. Here,
 PURNIMA RAMAKRISHNAN
 meets with her and some of the children she facilitates in the program, to
 learn firsthand about their experiences.
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 I had heard a lot about the Brighter Minds program, when I had a chance
 encounter with one of the facilitators ram, Mrs. Upama Rajasekhar, and this
 meeting was perhaps one of the turning points in broadening my own perception
 about the world in so many ways.



 “So, why did you decide to become a facilitator?”“I wanted to train my son. He
 is an archer and wanted to master blindfold archery, so I wanted to help him
 realize his dream. The rest, as they say, is history.”



 This was just the start of the conversation. She invited me to interact with
 her students. When I joined them, I felt like I had entered a sci-fi movie
 set, the likes of Asimov’s second foundation series.



 “My son changed and developed so much in just two days of the program, that we
 felt this is something all children in the world should experience,” said
 Upama.“So what exactly happened?” I asked.“Have you heard of the term sensory
 perception? Our brains can sense certain things from the atmosphere, depending
 on their capacity of perception. When their functions and capacities are
 heightened, we can perhaps call it super-sensory perception,” responded Upama.
 “So, do these kids acquire a sense of perception than is more heightened than
 normal people?”“Well, that is not exactly true,” answered Upama. “To an
 extent, however, we are awed by their abilities to learn quickly and the way
 their memories improve. Their intuition develops, and this leads to better
 confidence in everyday life. They have a pleasant personality, and we just
 feel so empowered around them. Let me introduce you to some of the children,
 and you can interact with them to see what I mean.”



 Some of the kids were familiar, because they were from near where I lived, and
 they sat down to chat with me.



 One boy said, “Aunty, you should see me performing while blindfolded.”
 This young boy was blindfolded and then guessed the colors of colored
 balls correctly. I was awed. I had heard of such things, but never witnessed
 it with my own eyes. “What else can you do?” I asked him, wanting to see
 more.“ Aunty, close your eyes and think of something,” he replied. I
 closed my eyes and wondered what to think of. For some strange reason, my
 attention went to the dry deserts, and I could see a pyramid being built in
 the distance. I went nearer, and noticed that there were so many workers, who
 were probably slaves. I saw a pharaoh nearby, but then thought that a child
 couldn’t figure out something so complicated, so I decided to focus on a
 single pyramid. I opened my eyes to see the boy in a deep concentration. “ Aunty,
 I can visualize some laborers,” he said. “What were they doing?” “They
 were building something,” he answered. “What were they building?” “A
 pyramid, I think.”



 I stopped him, and gently asked him to open his eyes. I think I couldn’t take
 more than this, so I told him to go back to his friends.



 “Upama, how did he do this?” I asked. “So, did you think of a pyramid?”
 she responded with a question. “I visualized exactly what he mentioned –
 some people building a pyramid in the desert,” was my answer. “It
 happens. I am not surprised. Some children have that uncanny ability to tap
 into their abilities at the most appropriate times. But it does not happen all
 the time.” “What do you mean?” I asked. “There has to be an
 environment of calm and composedness. They have to be completely relaxed on
 all planes. So that is why we relax them at the beginning of the session using
 the Heartfulness Relaxation technique. And then we proceed to the other
 activities of the Brighter Minds program.”



 “So in their minds, in their calm composure, are they really able to know
 exactly what someone else is thinking?” was my next question.
 “Neuroplasticity!” responded Upama, with great emphasis. “It just means
 that the brain cells reshape or remold themselves depending on various
 external and internal stimuli in the exercises. We have exercises for the
 right and left hemispheres of the brain, for the eyeballs, and many other
 things. We also have certain music which stimulates the brain and helps it to
 enter the alpha and theta states. We always encourage children to be natural.
 We are not rigid in the exercises. Who knows what these kids could lead us to!
 So, a certain amount of flexibility is required as a facilitator. We
 facilitate the children in their journeys to realize their true potential.”


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div>
 <figure>
 <img
 width="300"
 height="502"
 alt=""
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/change_ultimate_creativity2_e39ea3dc1f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T03:00:20.214Z"
 />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 My next question was, “Don’t you think the children could start getting proud
 of their achievements, their confidence spilling over into over-confidence?”
 “When they go through their journey, when their minds are opening up in
 such a magnificent way, there is no place for ego. There is no place for
 pride. The children feel humbled and awed, feeling confidence in the higher
 support, as they evolve. Their hearts are refined, and their humility is also
 refined. The more they know, the more they realize that there is a lot more to
 traverse.



 “Let me tell you about how I feel – there is no place for pride or ego in this
 work. I am happy seeing these children. I have trained 500 children so far,
 and I have seen them flower so beautifully, without ego being inflated. Every
 day I thank God that he chose me to do this in my life, where I can be of use
 for humanity’s upliftment.”



 I also had an opportunity to interact with Upama’s son: “So, did you learn
 blindfold archery?” “Yes,” he responded, “and I am happy for that.”So I
 asked, “What has changed in you from within?” “Ideas come. I am curious.
 I have changed. Feeling change itself is creative. I was a limited version
 earlier. I now feel that every day I am becoming a more complete version. Do
 you know what I mean?” I did not entirely comprehend, but I accepted
 what he said.


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h5
 class="has-text-align-center"
 id="h-there-is-nothing-great-in-what-we-are-doing-here-we-are-not-creating-history-we-are-not-making-magic-we-are-just-helping-people-realize-their-true-potential"
>
 There is nothing great in what we are doing here. We are not
 creating history. We are not making magic. We are just helping
 people 
 realize their true potential.
</h5>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div>
 <figure>
 <img
 width="400"
 height="370"
 alt=""
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/change_ultimate_creativity3_49dc8bc962.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T03:02:06.789Z"
 />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />


 “Upama, I am curious, can adults also improve their sensory perception?” “Yes,
 we are planning to release adult classes soon, for the general public. We are
 in the process of concluding some research. You know, there is nothing great
 in what we are doing here. We are not creating history. We are not making
 magic. We are just helping people realize their true potential. We are telling
 them, ‘There is this organ called the brain, so please use it to the fullest
 capacity.’ That is all. Why don’t you try what the other kids are doing?” “But
 I am an adult,” I said. “That is exactly what I was trying to convey,”
 she said. “Don’t create these barriers in your mind, as they do not exist. We
 are still researching the program for adults, but that does not mean something
 wonderful cannot happen with you. Come on.”



 My personal experience with what happened is a story for another day. Let me
 tell you, though, I came out with my heart filled with beautiful magic, an
 eternity of waiting having unlocked in my mind. It is difficult to put into
 words what I felt after that. I don’t know about identifying colored balls
 while blindfolded, or guessing thoughts accurately. I have not tried to guess
 things many times, but I can vouch that this is something everyone can try. I
 now understood what Upama’s son was trying to tell me earlier – that indeed
 change is creative. It is the ultimate creativity.



 Sometimes, things we have always wanted all our lives, without consciously
 realizing it, come in packages that we least expect. After witnessing the
 miracles in the mind, how can the heart go back to its past state?


<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h5
 class="has-text-align-center"
 id="h-our-logic-and-science-are-so-limited-there-is-so-much-mystery-in-this-world-knowing-how-to-unlock-our-own-hidden-potential-at-this-time-in-humanity-s-evolution-seems-all-the-more-exciting"
>
 Our logic and science are so limited. There is so much mystery in
 this world. Knowing how to unlock our own hidden potential at
 this time in humanity’s evolution seems all the more exciting.
</h5>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div>
 <figure>
 <img
 width="338"
 height="196"
 alt=""
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/change_ultimate_creativity4_0759293787.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T03:04:41.931Z"
 />
 </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4
 class="has-text-align-center"
 id="h-interviewed-by-purnima-ramakrishnan-illustrations-by-arati-shedde"
>
 Interviewed by PURNIMA RAMAKRISHNAN Illustrations by ARATI SHEDDE
</h4>

<hr />

Change is the ultimate creativity

Ursula-Le-Guin.jpg

Ursula Le Guin

Light a candle

cropped-HFN_logo-192x192.png

Usha Padmasola

<hr class="vertical-space1" />
<h4>
 <spanundefined
 >USHA PADMASOLA wrote this article
 pre-Covid. Little did she realize just how relevant her thoughts have
 become in the current era, where most of our connection and communication
 in the business world are via screens. How can we adopt her suggestions in
 2021?
</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <spanundefined
 >Recently over a breakfast meeting, en route to a business site, we held
 some purposeful engaging talks with our 75-year-old negotiator. Needless
 to say we were sold for his wisdom, business acumen and the warmth that
 every bit of his personality exuded. Extending his firm handshake, he
 invited us to visit the NGO he was running in Himachal Pradesh, and we
 bought a lifetime of friendship.
 


 <spanundefined
 >As opposed to such rich invaluable human experience, a recent digital
 engagement hit me hard. The fear of automation and machine-age gripped me.
 This is what happened:
 


 <spanundefined
 >Since I had an issue, I dialed a toll free number of an outsourced
 customer service center. As the automated voice walked me through the
 15-minute route, I was made to feel like a 16-digit numeral by the end of
 the call. I realized that the modern business houses were hitting an
 all-time low on customer service and relationship building.
 


 <spanundefined
 >I wondered: Why doesn’t any company want to speak with their
 customers?


 <spanundefined
 >No doubt technology on one hand has allowed us to be more efficient, more
 productive and more profitable, but technology has also depleted the very
 humane essence from humans and from the many important aspects of business
 today. Today when I have a query and make a call to a business house, I
 expect to speak with a live person and not with an automated digital
 replica that is designed to maximize profits and minimize interaction.
 


 <spanundefined
 >I face the paradox of having to interact more with my plastic cards and
 humans with iPod ear-buds. I am made to feel like a prisoner with a code,
 I feel more like a numeral than a human. Where are all the humans and
 where is the humaneness?

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <img
 decoding="async"
 alt="emoticons-emotions2"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/emoticons_emotions2_6d169f7548.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T05:25:56.447Z"
 />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <spanundefined
 >Business is not just about analytics, conversion rates and clicks
 through, but it is about making a connection. The feeling of helping a
 customer tackle a problem and presenting them with a solution is a very
 palpable achievement. I wonder if I can put a laugh and empathy on an
 Excel sheet and mark my business. Likes, tweets, shares, posts, upticks
 and chats, although a few mouse clicks help us express ourselves faster,
 it’s a fallacy to think that people are more connected than ever. The crux
 of the matter is that people are connected
 <spanundefined
 >more to technology – smart phones, tablets, laptops and hardware – and
 not to real people.


 <spanundefined
 >Real people build real, face-to-face, human-to-human relationships. Real
 people smile at one another and interact. If we’ve forgotten what it’s
 like to be real humans, let’s:


 <spanundefined
 >Use technology as an invertendo to aid us. <spanundefined
 >Network digitally to connect in a real way. <spanundefined
 >Get to know someone, earn a relationship, and their business. <spanundefined
 >Do it the old-fashioned way and make a connection that will last a
 lifetime.
 


 <spanundefined
 >Real people express themselves through real emotions not emoticons.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 style="text-align: center">
 Article by
 <spanundefined
 >USHA PADMASOLA <spanundefined
 >Illustrations by ARATI SHEDDE
</h4>

<hr />

From emoticons to emotions

Uttara has been a qualified yoga teacher and therapist for over 16 years, and with YogaVahini in Chennai for over 12 years, teaching individuals and groups.&nbsp;

uttara-venugopal.jpg

Uttara Venugopal

Heartfulness_Logo_new.png

Vaishali Narasimhan

VAISHALI NARASIMHAN describes how a very tough
 period during the pandemic was followed by a beautiful re-emergence, thanks to her love for poetry and the city
 of Chennai in the south of India.



<hr class="vertical-space1">



After I left school, I stopped reading Kabir Das, Rabindranath Tagore, Emily Dickinson, and Sylvia Plath. It remained
 a veiled interest. Following a tough period during the pandemic – despite the fact that we were all in that unusual
 circumstance together – our paths diverged and we isolated ourselves. I felt lost. How can you convey what you’re
 thinking when you’re lost in your thoughts and unable to express yourself? So I reasoned to myself.



<hr class="vertical-space1">




<figure><img decoding="async" width="700" height="438" alt="" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/where_have_you_been2_700x438_d6f5b0419c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T05:56:10.995Z">
</figure>




<hr class="vertical-space1">



February 23, 2021, was a watershed moment in my life. It was 3 a.m. and I couldn’t sleep. I was scrolling through
 Instagram when I came across a poem narrative. I heard it once, twice, and something about it compelled me to listen
 to it every day. On December 4, 2021, I discovered what that “something” was: this lovely thing about simplicity,
 honesty, and love. I began attending open mics on poetry and story-telling in Chennai, hosted by a small group of
 people known as Deleted Drafts, and I fell in love with my city, its people, and its surroundings. I wondered,
 “Where have you been all these days?”



<hr class="vertical-space1">



<hr>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center"
 id="h-i-discovered-what-that-something-was-this-lovely-thing-about-simplicity-honesty-and-love">I discovered what that “something” was: this lovely thing
 about simplicity, honesty, and love.</h4>



<hr>



<hr class="vertical-space1">



I sat there listening to experiences similar to mine. I felt vulnerable and I choked up behind my mask. Masks are
 multifunctional! I felt a weight fall off my shoulders, something heavy and painful. Today, I began writing poetry,
 and I shared my thoughts with the rest of the world. I remembered Aisha (from the movie Wake Up Sid)
 saying, I have a strange feeling of love for this city. You can only heal yourself with time.



Thank you for your time and poetry, and happy morning to you, Chennai.



<hr class="vertical-space1">



<hr>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Illustration by HilaryDesign
</h4>



<hr>

Where have you been?

Valentina is Sivananda yoga teacher, and an Ayurvedic and skin beauty care therapist and consultant. She has experienced the benefits of yoga and Ayurveda from a young age.

valentina-tsarev.jpg

Valentina Tsarev

Dr Shiva is a force of Nature! She is a scholar, researcher, environmental activist and advisor to governments worldwide, who has helped to draft laws to protect the Earth and the farmers whose livelihoods depend on her bounty. She has also authored over 20 books. She is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization and promotes the traditional practices of sustainable agriculture, biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. She funded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which lead to the creation of Navdanya. She has received many prizes and awards for her tireless and inspiring work spanning 50 years.

vandana_profile.jpg

Vandana Shiva

<h3><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/ritual_gold_1_992f055845.jpg"></h3><h4 style="text-align:center;">IN CONVERSATION WITH DR VANDANA SHIVA</h4>Q: Dr Shiva, you have been working tirelessly for years to bring awareness and change in the field of sustainable agriculture and ecological diversity, in India and around the world. Have we progressed? What are some of your most satisfying achievements to date?VS: I think the recognition that the Earth is sacred, the rights of all her beings are inviolable, is growing. This is what has inspired me to spend a lifetime in the service of the Earth and defending the rights of those people who depend upon the Earth.In terms of what are the satisfying achievements, one is saving this valley where we are sitting, which is my birthplace. I returned here1 because the ministry had asked me to do a study on potential mining in this region, and our study stopped the mining going ahead. It was the first case in India where the Supreme Court ordered that commerce had to stop if it was destructive in taking away people’s life support systems.The work I started to do with saving seeds has been satisfying in and of itself, because seeds are such important teachers of renewability, generosity and diversity, and all of that has guided my work.Regarding the legal issues, I’m satisfied that having woken up to how seeds were under threat, and starting seed saving, I was able to work with our government and our parliament to put laws in place that defend the integrity of seed – article 3J of our patent laws. I was asked to help draft the Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Act so that we have the rights of farmers written in black and white. I was asked to help draft the Biodiversity Act, which makes it an obligation to protect biodiversity.Then there are the things we started, such as the Community Biodiversity Register, documenting what is there, and all of that is now government policy. I can go to the remotest area and people are collecting this indigenous knowledge.Then there have been the legal victories against the big giants, for example, our struggle against the patenting of neem. We fought it for 11 years and won. Basmati rice from Dehra Dun was patented by a Texas company, but we had that reversed. The wheat of India was patented by Monsanto and they also had to give up that patent. We were entering a new age of colonialism where instead of grabbing territory and saying, “This is ours,” they were now grabbing life, biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and saying, “We are the inventors.” And I think we put a brake on that bio-piracy epidemic. It still happens, but it would have been the norm if we hadn’t stopped it. It is now the exception.I think that studying the Green Revolution, when the Punjab erupted in violence and the Bhopal tragedy took place, we’ve now been able to show that we can grow more food while protecting the Earth. We can feed two Indias through ecological farming. Our farmers earn ten times more by not being addicted to poisons.So each of these things is on the one hand inspired in a deep way by the integrity of the Earth, and on the other hand has also managed to reverse some of the really destructive assumptions of industrial agriculture and the greed associated with industrial globalization.Q: Thank you. You are very modest – you didn’t mention the international influence you have had. I am aware of your trips to Geneva and your current work with ecocide and the rights of planet Earth, which leads us to the next question: what are the most pressing ecological issues of our time? What are a few practical things that all of us can do to bring change for the better?VS: I think that the most important ecological issue of our time is to stop this illusion that we are separate from Nature, that we are masters of the Earth, and that we can manipulate the Earth and other beings as we want. Because whatever we do to other creatures, some privileged powerful human beings also do to other human beings.We have driven other species to extinction a thousand times faster than normal rates. We are also doing so much to drive the human species to extinction with the disasters we have created. But this is not inevitable. We could instead start functioning within the reality that we are members of this Earth family. We are not outside the Earth, we are part of the Earth, and any violence to any strand of the web of life is violence to ourselves. That waking up will help us recognize the limits we must respect, rather than following the illusion of limitless growth. It will help us create a better world for ourselves and others by using less. Because it is not the case that by predating on the Earth we are having better lives.The single thing everyone can do is change the way we eat. Eating right is an important step. We are today eating food that is the result of industrial farming. It is nutritionally empty, toxic and uniform, and does not meet the needs of the planet or our own needs. 75% of the ecological destruction on the planet is because of industrial farming and a globalized food system. 75% of the diseases are related to that same food system.So we need to change our eating to be more conscious, recognizing that we are the food we eat – it is not separate, it is not a commodity, it is not fuel for our body as a machine. We are living, sacred temples, and food is itself a sacred gift. We have to bring that sanctity back. We have an ancient saying, “Anna Brahma,” meaning food is the creator. The creator is embodied in the food.So in the simple act of eating, we can start protecting the planet, we can start reversing climate change, we can start reversing species extinction, we can start solving the water problems, we can reverse desertification and we can build up our health. And it would be stupid not to take that small step.&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">The single thing everyone can do is change the way we eat.</h5>&nbsp;<hr>Q: India is a fast emerging nation with a young population. How can the youth best participate in a new paradigm so they have a hopeful future?VS: First, we are not emerging from anything! We are an ancient nation, and the word ‘emerging’ was given to us by the globalized economy, which has treated us as an emerging market for itself. An ancient civilization of 10,000 years doesn’t emerge it evolves. It evolves to the next step.Now the next step could be a very smudged photocopy of the failed western paradigm of consumerism, resource exploitation, competitiveness and dissatisfaction. It is a paradigm that is designed to destroy work. Youth has no place in that paradigm, because it cannot create work.How do we make sure that young people in India are able to have a future? I think the first thing is to learn the deep principles of our civilization, of an ecological civilization. To learn from people like Gandhi the dignity of labor, where he would spin cloth as the way to freedom, rather than say, “I am going to be a serf in a giant mill or a giant garment industry.” He recognized that climbing another step in slavery is not progress, but breaking out of a slavery system is liberation.We need to learn from the Buddha, who was also born in this land, the teaching of compassion. The current economic model teaches us how to be cruel, how to be brutal. And India is living that brutality, whether it is in violence against women, raping 2-year-old babies, or murdering 7-year-old children in school. This is not the India I know. This is an India that has become distorted. It is wasting too many lives. We need to reclaim India. And reclaiming India is where the youth will have a place.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/vandana_2653e83362.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T10:05:32.659Z">Q: What is your vision for humanity? Where are we headed? How will we get there?VS: My vision is that we are human to the extent that we recognize non-human life and our dependence on it. Our humanity does not come from separation. Our humanity does not come from how violent we can be, and how exploitative can we be. That is not being human. Being human means being part of the Earth, having compassion, spreading love.My dream, first and foremost, is to continue to do what I have done for more than 50 years, but also respond to the new challenges. A brilliant scientist like Stephen Hawking said that either we will be extinct in 100 years or we will escape to other planets. My response to him is, “You guys of science, the powerful ones, have escaped too many times and trampled on too much.”It is irresponsible to destroy this Earth, to be violent against Mother Earth, and continue that hubris by trying to colonize other planets and calling that a planetary civilization. I would call it the fiction and illusion of planetary imperialism.What we need to know is the limits that guide us on this planet and respect those planetary boundaries. With this we become more human. The deeper we are in living within the limits of the Earth, living within the limits of social justice, living within the limits of respect for all, the deeper is our humanity. Our civilization knew this in the past, but it has forgotten it, and is now remembering it and joining with other civilizations, including those that have forgotten it for longer. We are all seeking. Not only are we seeking to know how we have a future as a human species, but the future of our human species depends on recognizing that all other species have a right to a future and we do not have a right to extermination, pushing others to extinction.We have to move from hubris to humility. We have to move from narrowness of the mechanistic mind and the monoculture of the mind to the ecology of the mind, a mind that is part of the whole.Q: Does spirituality have a role in this paradigm of change? Some people believe that you can only change the world if you change yourself – it all has to come from within through meditation. Having stayed on your farm for the last month, I see a dual way, as there is so much we also need to do to live in community, to grow food, and to regain our connection with the earth. Can you comment on that?VS: Well we do meditate out here, but we don’t meditate all the time. I think the crass materialism that came out of greed has created a reaction of spirituality that is defined only as the inner life. But the basic principle of spirituality is to know the interconnectedness – that there is no divide between the inner and the outer. Every violence we do to the Earth comes from a degradation of our own spiritual being. Every aspect of our spiritual being that becomes more conscious stops harm to all others. Just like there is no divide between humans and the Earth, there is no divide between spirituality and material life. Every life is sacred. That’s when true spirituality will be reclaimed.<hr>1 Navdanya Biodiversity Farm, Shisham Bara, Uttarakhand, India&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Interviewed by KIM HUGHES</h4>&nbsp;<hr>

Interconnectedness

<hr class="vertical-space1" />
<h4>
 In 2017, DR. VANDANA SHIVA spoke with
 KIM HUGHES about the sacredness of the
 Earth, the work she has been doing to bring awareness and change in the field
 of sustainable agriculture, and the importance of understanding our
 interconnectedness with Nature, and how we can change the way we eat.
</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 Q: Dr. Shiva, you have been working tirelessly for years to bring awareness
 and change in the field of sustainable agriculture and ecological diversity,
 in India and around the world. Have we progressed? What are some of your
 most satisfying achievements to date?


 VS: I thing the recognition that the Earth
 is sacred, the rights of all her beings are inviolable, is growing. This is
 what has inspired me to spend a lifetime in the service of the Earth and
 defending the rights of those people who depend upon the Earth.


 In terms of what are the satisfying achievements, one is saving this valley
 where we are sitting, which is my birthplace. I returned here because the
 ministry had asked me to do a study on potential mining in this region, and
 our study stopped the mining going ahead. It was the first case in India where
 the Supreme Court ordered that commerce had to stop if it was destructive in
 taking away people’s life support systems.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center">
 I thing the recognition that the Earth is sacred, 
 
 the rights of all her beings are inviolable, is growing. 
 This is what has inspired me to spend a lifetime 
 in the service of the Earth and 
 defending the rights of those people 
 who depend upon the Earth.
</h5>

<hr />
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 The work I started to do with saving seeds has been satisfying in and of
 itself, because seeds are such important teachers of renewability, generosity
 and diversity, and all of that has guided my work.


 Regarding the legal issues, I’m satisfied that having woken up to how seeds
 were under threat, and starting seed saving, I was able to work with our
 government and our parliament to put laws in place that defend the integrity
 of seed – Article 3J of our patent laws. I was asked to help draft the Plant
 Variety and Farmers’ Rights Act so that we have the rights of farmers written
 in black and white. I was asked to help draft the Biodiversity Act, which
 makes it an obligation to protect biodiversity.


 Then there are the things we started, such as the Community Biodiversity
 Register, documenting what is there, and all of that is now government policy.
 I can go to the remotest area and people are collecting this indigenous
 knowledge.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <img
 alt="interconnectedness2"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/interconnectedness2_294b4c4ec1.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T08:16:25.090Z"
 />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 Then there have been the legal victories against the big giants, for example,
 our struggle against the patenting of neem. We fought it for 11 years and won.
 Basmati rice from Dehra Dun was patented by a Texas company, but we had that
 reversed. The wheat of India was patented by Monsanto and they also had to
 give up that patent. We were entering a new age of colonialism where instead
 of grabbing territory and saying, “This is ours,” they were now grabbing life,
 biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and saying, “We are the inventors.” And I
 think we put a brake on that bio-piracy epidemic. It still happens, but it
 would have been the norm if we hadn’t stopped it. It is now the exception.


 I think that studying the Green Revolution, when the Punjab erupted in
 violence and the Bhopal tragedy took place, we’ve now been able to show that
 we can grow more food while protecting the Earth. We can feed two Indias
 through ecological farming. Our farmers earn ten times more by not being
 addicted to poisons.


 So each of these things is on the one hand inspired in a deep way by the
 integrity of the Earth, and on the other hand has also managed to reverse some
 of the really destructive assumptions of industrial agriculture and the greed
 associated with industrial globalization.


 Q: Thank you. You are very modest – you didn’t mention the international
 influence you have had. I am aware of your trips to Geneva and your current
 work with ecocide and the rights of planet Earth, which leads us to the next
 question: what are the most pressing ecological issues of our time? What are
 a few practical things that all of us can do to bring change for the
 better?


 VS: I think that the most important
 ecological issue of our time is to stop this illusion that we are separate
 from Nature, that we are masters of the Earth, and that we can manipulate the
 Earth and other beings as we want. Because whatever we do to other creatures,
 some privileged powerful human beings also do to other human beings.


 We have driven other species to extinction a thousand times faster than normal
 rates. We are also doing so much to drive the human species to extinction with
 the disasters we have created. But this is not inevitable. We could instead
 start functioning within the reality that we are members of this Earth family.
 We are not outside the Earth, we are part of the Earth, and any violence to
 any strand of the web of life is violence to ourselves. That waking up will
 help us recognize the limits we must respect, rather than following the
 illusion of limitless growth. It will help us create a better world for
 ourselves and others by using less. Because it is not the case that by
 predating on the Earth we are having better lives.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center">
 We could instead start functioning within the reality 
 that we are members of this Earth family. 
 We are not outside the Earth, 
 we are part of the Earth, 
 and any violence to any strand 
 of the web of life is violence to ourselves. 
 That waking up will help us 
 recognize the limits we must respect, 
 rather than following the illusion of limitless growth.
</h5>

<hr />
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 The single thing everyone can do is change the way we eat. Eating right is an
 important step. We are today eating food that is the result of industrial
 farming. It is nutritionally empty, toxic and uniform, and does not meet the
 needs of the planet or our own needs. 75% of the ecological destruction on the
 planet is because of industrial farming and a globalized food system. 75% of
 the diseases are related to that same food system.


 So we need to change our eating to be more conscious, recognizing that we are
 the food we eat – it is not separate, it is not a commodity, it is not fuel
 for our body as a machine. We are living, sacred temples, and food is itself a
 sacred gift. We have to bring that sanctity back. We have an ancient saying,
 “Anna Brahma,” meaning food is the creator. The creator is embodied in the
 food.


 So in the simple act of eating, we can start protecting the planet, we can
 start reversing climate change, we can start reversing species extinction, we
 can start solving the water problems, we can reverse desertification and we
 can build up our health. And it would be stupid not to take that small step.


 Q: India is a fast emerging nation with a young population. How can the
 youth best participate in a new paradigm so they have a hopeful
 future?


 VS: First, we are not emerging from
 anything! We are an ancient nation, and the word “emerging” was given to us by
 the globalized economy, which has treated us as an emerging market for itself.
 An ancient civilization of 10,000 years doesn’t emerge, it evolves. It evolves
 to the next step.


 Now the next step could be a very smudged photocopy of the failed western
 paradigm of consumerism, resource exploitation, competitiveness and
 dissatisfaction. It is a paradigm that is designed to destroy work. Youth has
 no place in that paradigm, because it cannot create work.


 How do we make sure that young people in India are able to have a future? I
 think the first thing is to learn the deep principles of our civilization, of
 an ecological civilization. To learn from people like Gandhi the dignity of
 labor, where he would spin cloth as the way to freedom, rather than say, “I am
 going to be a serf in a giant mill or a giant garment industry.” He recognized
 that climbing another step in slavery is not progress, but breaking out of a
 slavery system is liberation.


 We need to learn from the Buddha, who was also born in this land, the teaching
 of compassion. The current economic model teaches us how to be cruel, how to
 be brutal. And India is living that brutality, whether it is in violence
 against women, raping 2-year-old babies, or murdering 7-year-old children in
 school. This is not the India I know. This is an India that has become
 distorted. It is wasting too many lives. We need to reclaim India. And
 reclaiming India is where the youth will have a place.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 <img
 alt="interconnectedness3"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/interconnectedness3_0649aeb6a9.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T08:16:25.147Z"
 />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 Q: What is your vision for humanity? Where are we headed? How will we get
 there?


 VS: My vision is that we are human to the
 extent that we recognize non-human life and our dependence on it. Our humanity
 does not come from separation. Our humanity does not come from how violent we
 can be, and how exploitative can we be. That is not being human. Being human
 means being part of the Earth, having compassion, spreading love.


 My dream, first and foremost, is to continue to do what I have done for more
 than 50 years, but also respond to the new challenges. A brilliant scientist
 like Stephen Hawking said that either we will be extinct in 100 years or we
 will escape to other planets. My response to him is, “You guys of science, the
 powerful ones, have escaped too many times and trampled on too much.”


 It is irresponsible to destroy this Earth, to be violent against Mother Earth,
 and continue that hubris by trying to colonize other planets and calling that
 a planetary civilization. I would call it the fiction and illusion of
 planetary imperialism.


 What we need to know is the limits that guide us on this planet and respect
 those planetary boundaries. With this we become more human.


 The deeper we are in living within the limits of the Earth, living within the
 limits of social justice, living within the limits of respect for all, the
 deeper is our humanity. Our civilization knew this in the past, but it has
 forgotten it, and is now remembering it and joining with other civilizations,
 including those that have forgotten it for longer. We are all seeking. Not
 only are we seeking to know how we have a future as a human species, but the
 future of our human species depends on recognizing that all other species have
 a right to a future and we do not have a right to extermination, pushing
 others to extinction.


 We have to move from hubris to humility. We have to move from narrowness of
 the mechanistic mind and the monoculture of the mind to the ecology of the
 mind, a mind that is part of the whole.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center">
 We have to move from hubris to humility. 
 We have to move from narrowness 
 of the mechanistic mind and 
 the monoculture of the mind 
 to the ecology of the mind, 
 a mind that is part of the whole.
</h5>

<hr />
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 Q: Does spirituality have a role in this paradigm of change? Some people
 believe that you can only change the world if you change yourself – it all
 has to come from within through meditation. Having stayed on your farm for
 the last month, I see a dual way, as there is so much we also need to do to
 live in community, to grow food, and to regain our connection with the
 earth. Can you comment on that?


 VS: Well we do meditate out here, but we
 don’t meditate all the time. I think the crass materialism that came out of
 greed has created a reaction of spirituality that is defined only as the inner
 life. But the basic principle of spirituality is to know the
 interconnectedness – that there is no divide between the inner and the outer.
 Every violence we do to the Earth comes from a degradation of our own
 spiritual being. Every aspect of our spiritual being that becomes more
 conscious stops harm to all others. Just like there is no divide between
 humans and the Earth, there is no divide between spirituality and material
 life. Every life is sacred. That’s when true spirituality will be reclaimed.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: center">Interviewed by KIM HUGHES</h4>

<hr />

Vanessa is a Heartfulness practitioner, a Heartful Communication facilitator, and an editor of Heartfulness Magazine. She lives in Baroda, India, where she has worked with schools and educators to bring dynamic English language programs to children of all ages.

vanessa-patel.jpg

Vanessa Patel

<h4>VANESSA PATEL enjoys a humorous shared memory with friends, and reminds us of those small yet precious moments of connection and joy that make up a lifetime.</h4><hr>It seems to me that this year has been much about waiting … waiting for an upturn in the pandemic, hoping for more harmony amongst communities and nations, praying for less suffering of all sentient beings, longing for our Mother Earth to get some respite. It has been frustrating and sad, mainly because looking to change things we cannot control has rarely been rewarding for anyone. This is when I became aware of the unexpected joy of those beautiful little moments that simply happen when we choose to live in the here and now.Recently, I had a small reunion with my university friends. We hadn’t met in many years, and so much had happened since the last time we were together that there were several milestones and hurdles to talk about. While sharing our news, one of my friends brought up an old memory that completely transformed the energy of the conversation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It was the story of a night in May, after our first-year May Ball. The three of us were not quite ready to call it a night, so at 3 a.m. we decided to take a long walk through the fields to the nearest village. What seemed like an easy walk to start with quickly became a little more complicated when we realized there was a bull living in one of the fields. But instead of feeling scared, we kept going and found the situation so hilarious that I really prayed our giggles would not prove to be the proverbial red rag. Having safely thwarted the bull, we reached the village only to realize no one was up and nothing was open.We were too tired to traipse back across the fields, and the first bus wasn’t until an hour later, so we laughed our way to the nearest park where we discovered the swings and roundabouts of a children’s playground. We killed an hour there, enjoying these childhood thrills with no one around to tell us we were too old to use the playground. When it was time to catch the bus, we happened to pass by a small bakery and had just enough money to buy a hot sticky bun each while ensuring we had enough money for the bus fare to get us home. It was only when we started the journey back that the cold and tiredness started to seep in, but the experience of holding and eating that hot sticky bun really hit the spot. So much was distilled into those few hours – carefree adventure, spontaneity, and no worries about what came next.Reminiscing about this experience, the same laughter we had shared back then bubbled to the surface. Here was a realization that there are many amazing people who have been a part of my journey. I felt joy in the simplicity of this shared experience, and it reminded me that moments like these have the power to balance the many complexities of life.<hr>

All things small and joyful

<h4
 id="h-vanessa-patel-shares-her-experience-of-working-in-multicultural-teams-and-how-different-cultures-interpret-similar-situations">
 VANESSA PATEL shares her experience of working in
 multicultural teams, and how different cultures interpret similar situations.</h4>



<hr class="vertical-space1">



As a spiritual practitioner, I have the same goal for spiritual progress as millions of other people around the
 world. At the Heartfulness Institute, we are blessed with a truly rich cultural diversity. It never fails to amaze
 me how this assortment of people speaking different languages comes together in harmony at our regular meditation
 retreats. And yet, this homogeneity of oneness brings with it a fair share of interesting situations.



As a Heartful Communication facilitator, working with people worldwide has been a huge learning experience. This is
 quite apart from imbibing the “language” of compassionate communication. During our workshops in India, there is
 always a thrum of energy with participants keen to share incidents from their life and eager to display their
 understanding. At times, this presents a challenge to keep to time and to bring the stimulating discussion to a
 close.



By contrast, our workshops in Europe have silent pauses when the participants are given time to introspect and note
 down their reflections. It is very curious as we use the same material in the same format for all our programs. It
 led us to understand that Asians seem to be largely work-centric and wish to cover the ground with efficiency, while
 Europeans are more people-centric with a focus on getting to know the participants and connecting.



The beauty of this: when we observe each other’s sessions, we find the different styles very moving and mutually
 enriching – our post-session debriefs are abuzz with exchange.



The material and resources we use are continually evolving. During one session on behaviors that break connection –
 what we call “circuit breakers” – it became clear that cultural relevance plays a huge part, especially when it
 comes to listening without interrupting. While deep listening lends support to an aggrieved person, enabling them to
 speak fully, some of our participants pointed out that in their culture it is seen as indifference. It is
 disconnecting if they don’t step in to console or advise, so that the person feels they are not alone. At times, an
 interjection may be required on the speaker’s part so that the other person feels the empathy.



When similar cultural issues are addressed, there are always valuable takeaways. A seemingly innocuous sentence like,
 “The children are playing outside while their mother is in the house,” was a subject of major discussion – some felt
 it had judgmental undertones. We live and learn and keep ourselves flexible, honoring all sensibilities.



What I’m trying to get at is that regardless of what we have in common, there is always an element of cultural
 interpretation informed by our environment, upbringing, and geopolitical leaning, because this has been our life,
 our education, and experience so far. It’s when we open up so as to receive what another person is bringing to the
 table that the magic happens. We don’t need to always agree with others in order to see the world from their point
 of view. This opens the gateway to empathy, the crux of honoring cultural diversity.

Communication and diversity

Vanessa Patel: Vanessa is a Heartfulness practitioner, a Heartful Communication facilitator, and an
 editor of Heartfulness Magazine. She lives in Baroda, India, where she has worked with schools and educators to bring
 dynamic English language programs to children of all ages.

Amruta Patel: Amruta lives in London and works for the UK Ministry of Justice. She is a facilitator
 for Heartful Communication and a yoga practitioner, and spends her free time on long walks exploring London with
 friends. She is an avid reader of mysteries, as well as literature on public health and Greek mythology.

Ananya Patel: Ananya is a designer and illustrator who enjoys finding dynamic ways to tell stories.
 She works on projects with social impact, and runs a youth collective bringing innovative design approaches to climate
 action and gender equality.

Vanessa Patel, Amruta Patel & Ananya Patel

vanessa-amrutha-ananya.jpg

When needs must

Vani is the Managing Director at Kalaari Capital, a venture capital firm based in Bangalore. She is a renowned investor and a visionary known for identifying emerging markets. Vani enjoys spending time with her family, practices yoga and Heartfulness meditation,believes in sustainable living and grows enough organic produce in her garden to meet her family’s needs.

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Vani Kola

<h4>VANI KOLA, venture capitalist and founder of Kalaari Capital, is interviewed by LAYA IYER about moving to the United States to study, and what she has learned from her experience of living and working in different cultures. She also shares her views on the value of direct communication and setting expectations.</h4><hr>Q: What were the most important things you learned when you moved to the US from India?VK: I moved when I was 20. It felt like limitless possibility. I was discovering my potential, both academic and creative. I was going into a university environment, a melting pot, so maybe the cultural shock was not too great. It was a stepping stone, because it was an insular environment. There were so many resources available – libraries, the variety of classes – and it was a time of enjoyable learning and having fun!Q: Are there any experiences or stories that stand out for you still today?VK: I found that people were mostly very helpful. I learned to ask. When you don’t know something, and you ask, people take the time to help you. That is something that has stayed with me. Also, how important it is to do the same for others. That’s on the positive side.During my first summer, I was looking for a job. I found one, but I didn’t think to ask, “How much are you going to pay me?” or “Is there a contract I need to sign?” Instead I said, “I want to work,” and they said, “Yeah, sure come on over.” I didn’t get paid at the end of the first month, but I couldn’t ask. I thought, “Oh well, maybe they’re just running late, and they’ll pay me later.” Obviously, that was very naive.I really needed that summer job, because as a student I didn’t have a lot of money. So, after six weeks, I said, “Hey, I just need to check when I’ll get paid.” They said, “But this was not a paid assignment. We didn’t say we’d pay you.”I learned two valuable lessons. One, never do that to somebody else because there is a cultural difference or naivety – do not try to benefit from somebody else’s ignorance. I think they knew I was ignorant, because I came from a different country, and I didn’t know to ask how much they would pay me, I just assumed they’d pay me. Leveraging somebody else’s ignorance burns that person up!The second important lesson was to be very clear about expectations, about anything, from anybody. Ask, be upfront, and don’t be shy about it. Often, people say, “Don’t worry, we’ll deal with it later.” And you don’t know when they’re going to deal with it or if they’re going to deal with it. “Let’s deal with it now, before we embark on something. Let’s have clarity.”Sometimes people think it’s not nice to ask, but my experience says it’s better to have very direct communication and clear expectations in a relationship, whether professional or personal. You can avoid unexpected disappointments, and you can avoid friction in relationships.Q: What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received about being a woman in STEM?VK: I happen to be a woman who is working in STEM, but it’s not an identity. I think we label ourselves too much. I don’t want that. I don’t like to be boxed into those categories&nbsp; like, “What is it like to be a woman and a venture capitalist?” or “What is it like to be in technology?”If I were to give advice, it would be against overthinking or overanalyzing risks while taking decisions, and just going ahead with whatever it is that you are trying to do. Don’t try to be a conformist; don’t try to be a rebel either.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Clear_Communication2_49dac56a23.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-11T12:06:19.921Z" alt="Clear-Communication12">&nbsp;<hr>Q: What does #leveltheplayingfield mean to you?VK: Democratization of opportunity. It means that we are thoughtful about our unconscious bias and we change this to provide opportunity to people equally. For instance, in the context of working women, level the playing field means giving women the opportunity to continuously rise in their organizations.Q: And what’s your advice for people who are looking to be entrepreneurs? What are their next steps forward? What actions can they take?VK: First, build some experience. Also, to be an entrepreneur, it’s important that you are passionate about some idea, some problem you wish to solve, and have the skills required to solve it. Work systematically on developing these skills.Another is perseverance to achieve your goals. There may be many setbacks, so learn to deal with setbacks. And find the right mentors who can be there and can help you.Q: How would you go about finding a mentor? Or is there a specific way you recommend approaching people to be your mentor?VK: You have to be specific about what you are looking for. For instance, I am looking to understand how I can build my early sales compensation structure; or I’m trying to solve a design problem; or I’m trying to get some feedback on our marketing strategy. Approach mentors in a way that they can be in a problem-solving mode with you.Second, don’t look for mentors who can help you with everything. For instance, I may be the wrong person to ask, “How should I build a sales structure?” Ask people who can help you in a specific area?Q: Thank you so much for your time.VK: You’re welcome.<hr>

How clear is your communication?

Varsha is an interdisciplinary artist based in Baroda, India. Her works and projects have been exhibited internationally, most recently at Documenta 15, Kassel, in Germany. &nbsp;She is currently co-organizing Womanifesto: Flowing Connections, which will open at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center in September 2023.

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Varsha Nair

<h4>The Womanifesto collective came together in Bangkok in the late 1990s to fulfill the need for an inclusive, creative, and open-ended art platform for artists from Southeast Asia. It was primarily set up as an independent project run by women, and is now a globally recognized entity, involving multiple art forms and artists from all over the world. One of the coordinators, VARSHA NAIR, shares her experience of this movement and its evolution with VANESSA PATEL.</h4>Q: The Womanifesto collective has members who are artists, poets, writers, and activists, with the outcome based on shared experiences and dialogue exchanges. So, has it been more about the gathering and feeling of community that it has engendered rather than the creative work produced?VN: Yes, absolutely. Always, we have brought what we would like to present, to exhibit, to talk about – it was never curated. It was not only about the artwork, but about what led to that artwork and how we arrived at that point. It has also been very much about the ethos of caring for and supporting each other. For the second event, one artist was short of money and everyone pitched in to support her.&nbsp;With funding for projects from sponsors, we have retained our autonomy for decision-making, e.g., how big their logo is on posters and catalogues, and where it is placed. These are important decisions that came out of our conversations about running Womanifesto.We don’t ask our members to register; no one has to pay money to belong. We don’t exclude people. If somebody reaches out to us with interest, we engage with them and invite them if there is an exhibition coming up. Also, we don’t limit ourselves to exhibitions; we have diverse ways of engagement.&nbsp;Our first project was on a farm, involving the local community; the second was a very big exhibition in a public park. We didn’t want to be based in the center and limit our output to having exhibitions only.&nbsp;Q: How often did you gather for these collaborative events?VN: Every two years. As artists we are also the organizers, and we have our own lives. After an event, there’s a lot of follow up. Then you need another year to realize another event.&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">We want to involve as many women artists,&nbsp; and&nbsp;also have a cross generational approach,&nbsp; because that’s the other thing about the art world&nbsp; – age discrimination, especially for women.</h4><hr>Q: How is Womanifesto different from other artists’ platforms?VN: In the mainstream art world, there’s a way of looking at things top down. Whenever there is a big show with a lot of funding, the big names in the art world are invited to participate, and then they reach out to minor players, almost as fillers to complete the curation. The funders have a stake in it, and the curator has to keep them happy, so it all becomes a big game.&nbsp;Womanifesto is the opposite; it is inclusive and representative. We invite men into thematic projects to talk about human issues and to listen, because in the art world it’s a known reality that we’re always talking from the male perspective. So, one idea is proper representation.&nbsp;Q: Apart from gender, in what other ways does Womanifesto encourage representation?VN: In our second event, we had artists from Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Croatia, America, and many other places. And we are open to the idea of anyone organizing projects under the Womanifesto banner and adhering to what it stands for. Suppose you have an idea of doing a workshop in Indonesia, you could involve us in the organization and set it up however you wish.&nbsp;We want to involve as many women artists, and also have a cross-generational approach, because that’s the other thing about the art world – age discrimination, especially for women. What we emphasize is conversations with elders. They are the ones who have lived through many experiences and gained wisdom and knowledge. That’s where the interest is; that’s where the real conversations can happen. And we now set up projects that are pointedly cross-generational. We soon realized that we didn’t want to just do exhibitions, and that we enjoyed the gathering of women artists.&nbsp;We have tried to look at everything through a different lens; for example, in a residency, do we have to produce and display work at the end of it? Can we have a workshop without a “work” to take away from it? That was the idea behind the 2001 workshop on the farm: even though it was a workshop, we didn’t have to make work. It was inter-generational, we were going away on a picnic, all living together, cooking, eating, and spending time together. And this brought about a lot of exchange, sorrow, and fun.&nbsp;The focus was on conversation, exchange, and working with children on an educational program. All the artists came up with workshop models that we could run with children from the age of 7 up to senior students from a local technical college. At the end we had an open day, which was a great celebration with local music and lots of food.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/2008_Residency_wrkshp_by_Naruemon_Padsamran_f7b0fa788c.jpg"></figure>Everybody from the surrounding villages was involved; we put contemporary artists with local traditional craftspeople and artisans, who were making fishing baskets, mats, woven cloth – everything that they still continue to use in their day-to-day life. These were agrarian communities and there’s a real rhythm to their existence. During the rice planting season, everybody is in the fields. Once the rice is planted, and they’re waiting for it to grow, the weaving and the dyeing of yarn happens.We hosted everything on the farm so that the community members would come to the farm every day and show us how they made various things, talk about it, spend the day with us, and food would be cooked for everybody. &nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/2008_Womanifesto_Mae_Pan_explains_natural_dyes_copy_46db7a9286.jpg"></figure>Q: So they shared the arts and crafts of their everyday life – not necessarily something to hang on the wall or display.&nbsp;VN: Exactly, it’s an integral part of their life.&nbsp;We also talked about new forms. For example, they were interested to see an artist make a fishing basket with a slightly different look. Already the object is faultless in that it’s been used to track fish for centuries, and it works very well. But the exchange, another level of creativity, awakened both sides. In many ways it was the artists who learned more – we gained knowledge of materials, the locality, the skills, and how to scout things out.&nbsp;For example, one of the artists running a workshop asked the kids to lead her through the farm, which had a little creek running through it, a forested area, and rice fields. In the forested area, she asked them, “Show me what you know about the plants growing here: which are good, for cooking, for eating, and why?” She wanted to determine how much of that traditional knowledge was being handed down. They were asked, “What has your grandmother told you?” “What has your grandfather told you?” “Has your mom told you anything?” There was an emphasis on keeping that knowledge at the forefront, because the gaze is so much turned towards cities for employment.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Everybody from the surrounding villages was involved;&nbsp; we put contemporary artists with local traditional craftspeople&nbsp; and artisans, who were making fishing baskets, mats,&nbsp; woven cloth – everything that they still continue to use&nbsp; in their day-to-day life.</h4><hr>It reinforced the richness of the rural environment and honored our codependence with Nature. There is immeasurable wealth in community living and the handing down of the tiniest of details. One girl said, “If you touch that flower, don’t put the finger to your mouth or it will make you sick.” From childhood, she’d been made aware of all of those little things.&nbsp;We’re planning a similar workshop in a couple of months, which will be included in the next exhibition later this year.Q: Is that to celebrate any particular milestone of Womanifesto?VN: We started in 1997, which was a milestone already because we did it against many odds and with a lack of funding. We have managed to sustain this format over the years with some core members who were there from the beginning. In terms of organization, we did everything inhouse, from write-ups to accounting. We’ve always had other artists joining, and doing projects that involved a lot of artists.&nbsp;One recent project was a publication, Procreation Postcreation, which went out as an open call globally for artists to participate. We had an amazing response with people from Mongolia to St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands sending us their work. The idea was that you procreate, and then what happens after you’ve created? Those are very widely interpreted in many ways. One response was from a man who had recently become a grandfather, writing about his experience of being in a hospital waiting for his daughter to give birth. Another person documented children’s textiles. We had really diverse contributions. In this way we’ve set up projects to bring in new people.Womanifesto is very agile. We frequently change format, and we tend not to decide on the next project while one project is coming to an end. It’s never preconceived. One is a stepping-stone to the next. We went from a community-based workshop, to a publication, to a web-based project, to establishing a residency in the same community where we did the workshop.&nbsp;Our next project, the workshop residency, is a bit more thematic. We’re concentrating on ceramics and earthenware pottery, because it’s close to a UNESCO World Heritage site called Ban Chiang. Their pottery is well known and valued, and there’s still a community of mostly women potters. So we’ll probably only bring in four or five outside artists, and mainly invite potters from the local community. We don’t differentiate between those who’ve been brought in as contemporary artists and those from the local community. We are all partners.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/2008_Residency_Students_workshop_f254be6415.JPG"></figure>Q: Recently, Womanifesto had its work included in the Asia Art Archives in Hong Kong, which is a huge deal. How significant is this for the collective?VN: We don’t always realize how valuable it is to gather our material, our documentation. While working with the archive, I’ve realized that every single bit of paper created from 1997 onward is so valuable. It was a fantastic process to archive it, and we did it mostly during the pandemic lockdown. At Womanifesto, we’ve always had to talk about ourselves, so as not to become invisible, and this has helped us do just that. These days, you cannot talk about art in Southeast Asia without mentioning Womanifesto.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/2006_No_Mans_Land_web_project_postcard_front_75b0c851fa.jpg"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">We don’t differentiate between those who’ve been&nbsp; brought in as contemporary artists and those&nbsp; from the local community. We are all partners.</h4><hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/2003_Pro_Post_publication_2a1214788c.jpg">We’ve kept meticulous records, and beautiful photo albums with hand-stitched covers that are works of art in themselves, lovingly put together. We have every slide, every negative, every project proposal, every application for funding – we’ve kept it all. Already there are researchers who’ve reached out, for example, the Cooper Gallery at the University of Dundee. We were part of a project called the Ignorant Art School, which is looking at artists engaging in alternative modes of education.&nbsp;Q: So the next big thing for Womanifesto is the exhibition coming up in September at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.VN: Yes, and simultaneously there is an online anthology of Womanifesto, called the Womanifesto Way. Now there is a recognition of our “way,” which is to be hospitable, caring, open, engaged in community conversations, and with the capacity to be agile.&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/2008_Womanifesto_Residency_open_day_89f53f298f.jpg">This anthology project was spearheaded by the Power Institute at the University of Sydney. And in the meantime, we were approached by the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center to showcase Womanifesto in what they call their Master Series of exhibitions. It’s a massive project.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/2020_Varsha_Nair_performance_for_Gatherings_2020_Baroda_She_found_herself_standing_there_e26dde5192.JPG"></figure>There was a hiatus for 10 years, from 2008 to 2018, because of various personal challenges for the team members. Early on we had decided that we would would not push ourselves beyond our limits to ignore all the other things that we needed to take care of in life. And ironically, just when things started to revive, and we planned a physical gathering, we were hit by Covid. During that time, we came up with the idea of the Digital Courtyard, where a team of artists from multiple locations had small gatherings. We met over Zoom from Bangkok to Baroda, Berlin, Sydney, Basel, and London. And we realized what it meant to have this connection during the lockdown, to be able to gather and to be able to exchange our stories.&nbsp;www.varshanair.studio/ <a href="http://www.womanifesto.com/">www.womanifesto.com/</a> <a href="http://blog.womanifesto.com/">blog.womanifesto.com/</a><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Interviewed by VANESSA PATEL</h4><hr>&nbsp;

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