De-stressing is possible in the Office

Inspired by a book I read twenty years ago, Camino by Shirley MacLaine, I decided to walk the Camino in May 2013; from Ovido to Finstery in Spain. The walk was approximately 400km over twenty days in complete wilderness. It was utterly silent except the sound of your breath; or very rarely, the sound of a bell round a cow's neck; a truly novel experience. The pilgrimage mostly consisted of walking mediations, however, I did experience moments of truth which came from what can only be described as mystical coincidences. For example, at some points I was lost in the wilderness, feeling parched but had ran out of water and suddenly I would find an arrow of stones that would put me on the path to a stream, or I would bump into another pilgrim walking who would happily share some water with me. There are no agendas during the day except walking and arriving at your destination, mine being Santiago. At the end of everyday, the highlight for me was staying in Alburgues (guest houses) where you meet like-minded pilgrims. We would commune at the table, dividing up our remaining food and drink, and telling the stories of our individual experiences. Each conversation was unique and one would not hear them at a mainstream get-together. This adventure gave me a true appreciation of simple living and the beauty of nature. When I reached Santiago I had a great sense of personal achievement and felt blissfully at peace. These feelings evolved into elation as I was able to experience Botafumerio, the massive hanging incense holder that dates back to 800 AD. The incense was lit in these times for Pilgrims arriving in Santiago that hadn't washed during their journey and therefore it reduced the smell. I felt a strong soulful connection to all the previous passing pilgrims and realised that the beauty of this journey had no time barrier. Book details are below: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AHEKNPQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Every Full Moon brings its own unique aura, offering us a powerful energetic opening to birth our intentions of new possibilities, of surrendering patterns that do not serve us and of making closures to old stagnant beliefs. Do not miss this powerful invitation. We held our monthly Open circle of Meditation and Chanting. As a bonus, I took the opportunity to attend a Gong bath at Sikh missionary society (held every Sunday at 6pm) which felt like it had sealed within me the full moon's cosmic bath. Staying in the gratitude for these beautiful vibrations and sharing subliminally with one and all. Love and Light

In May 2014, I decided to partake in the holy pilgrimage around the Kailesh mountain and Mansarovar river. This can be done via both sides, Tibet or India but because of my Indian passport, I chose to trek via Tibet. The excursion took 15 days mostly on foot ( a vehicle is only used when the terrain means it is no longer safe to walk). You do a circumambulation around the river and the holy mountain staying in rustic places along the way. I can only describe this experience as the 'embodiment of Shiva' meaning there is everything in nothingness. I chose to swim in the Mansarovar river, the purest form of water ( -1°C) which was a true spiritual awakening. As I was walking most of the time, I was able to connect with myself beyond my comfort zone. Finally seeing the mountain sparkle at Sunrise (5am) as pictured above was well deserved after the long journey.

In October 2018 for the whole month, I ran yoga and meditation sessions for the in-house guests and private sessions for the guests on request at the Gaya Island Resort. This was a non-monetary exchange as I got to stay in ultimate luxury at the resort. Whilst I was there, I also ran a partner yoga session fora couple on their honey-moon. It can only be described as paradise, I was completely in touch with mother nature and I felt very grateful to stay here. During my stay I had the opportunity to do a range of different activities including; Jungle trekking, water sports – kayaking, snorkelling, scuba diving , in house cultural activities etc. Full details of the resort are at the following address: https://www.gayaislandresort.com/index.html

During the Afghanistan war, through the art of living community page, I cam across Edwina, an American lady who was doing some work there and I decided to join her. It was a moment of truth for me, my birthday was coming up and I'd had so many lovely days but this year I wanted to do something different and loved worked with children. Edwina did initially dissuade me for security reasons; the war had just ended and me being with an Indian passport at the time because of safety and implications of red tape. However I felt a strong sense of longing which overpowered my fear and collected clothes and money for the children and flew out. As I was flying with emirates, they decided to cover the story in the India corporate newsletter. I stayed at the humanitarian centre which was in a half bombed-dilapated state and was challenging. However I taught stress management in Orphanages and refugee camps to children, they were all strangers to one another between the ages of 5 and 18. I used a translator to interact with them (they spoke pushtu) and how honestly they were listening, smiling and engaged moved me. They were beautiful children in tragic conditions. On my birthday, I managed to get a proper birthday cake from the American residential community, the handicapped children danced and sang and I gave out chocolates from my layover in Dubai. After 15 days left,I didn’t want to leave them, I wanted to take them with me, I loved them. They said it was so lovely to have you here, they’ve never seen a cake before and there were tears and hugging, I was overwhelmed. Every now and again I look back on this experience and I feel truly grateful to have met and helped these children.