Stress (less) Seasons

T’is the season to be Jolly ..Tra la la la la la la la la

Have you noticed that this is the one time of the year when everyone seems to be in a good mood. 

Everyone seems Happy. 

Everyone is Smiling. 

Everyone has a twinkle in their eye. 

There’s just Joy everywhere. Children and Parents are laughing. People are shopping, singing. There are beautiful Christmas markets .. There’s music playing everywhere. Yes, You get the picture I am sure. Happiness, Joy, Love, Laughter …

Isn’t is a Lovely picture even in your mind? Just thinking about all of this brings so much Joy. To our hearts, to our faces, to our energy. 

But my question is Why? Why do we have to wait till December for this?

Why do we get into a great mood only at his time of the year? Or when it’s time to celebrate something? 

What about the rest of the year? I think the other months will feel very sad ( ha ha )

So what do we need to do to stay in this happy state throughout the year? Or at least 300 days, come on. :)

It’s a state of being. It’s a state of mind. So if we can change our state of mind for this one month, what will it take for us to change our minds through the year? 

First, let’s start with what we need to release for us to be in this beautiful state. 

No.1 is definitely stress. I call 

STRESS -

Something

That

Erases

Super

Scenarios

That is my definition of stress. I do not want anything that is disturbing my peace. Not allowing me to get into my Happy space. I could be in such happy scenarios and this stress comes along and ruins it. Hmph!! No more. 

Easier said than done? What isn’t? 

Think of something You are really good at. Anything. Could be a game on your phone, a skill, with your health, at the gym, writing, a sport, loving, teaching ..anything. How much practice did that take? I am sure You did not excel in that in the first attempt. To excel at anything You need practice. You need to do it regularly. You need to excel at it, right?

To accomplish anything - even being good in a relationship, you need to work on it. 

When You go to the gym and you start doing your reps it takes practice and repetitions to build your muscles right? 

I absolutely love this saying by Zig Ziglar “ Repitition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment “ 

It is absolutely the same thing with stress. 

To release this stress we have nurtured over the years, we now need to work on getting it out of our systems. I think we are all ready to out in some work for this right? I am. Are You? 

So lets work on simple ways we can release stress from our lives so we can be in a Happy state most of the year..most of our life. And the rest of the time, we will not let it effect us the way it has been over the years. 

The simple ways that one normally reads about are 

• Deep Breathing

• Mindfulness

• Meditations

• Regular exercise

• Healthy diet

• Good sleep routine

• Seeking support 

Yes ..These are awesome and they do work. I have tried to incorporate all these in my life. 

But there are many people I know who say they cannot do deep breathing or meditations. People are happy with their diet and do not want to change it too. 

I have learnt a few things which I will share with You which I implement in my life now. I even did this today. 

One of the techniques is GRATITUDE. How? Ok, Please right now, before you read on can you stop for a minute and just think of 4 things You are Grateful for…….. Did You think about it? ….. Do not read beyond if you haven’t. When You are thinking of these 4 things, how are You feeling? 

Just keep that feeling with You. Stay in that state. So I call this a SHIFT. A shift of state. A shift of being. When You shift, You move to a grateful state and there is no space now for any stress, hurt, anger. Be Honest with yourself and give this a try and see the changes start to take place.

The other one is your STATE. Ok, So I want You now to think of something that made You really Happy. Think it, Feel it. When was it? What was happening? How were You feeling? Who were the people around? Where were You? Stay there ……………………. Now if I ask You to please name that state, what would You name it? One of the times I did it I remembered my son’s Mehendi function. So I called mine “The Mehendi State” What have you named yours? Name it Please. So now every time you go into a low state, a state of stress or anger .. Please think of this state. Think of the feelings .. and shift yourself into the STATE. 

Have You noticed there are times you are talking and you can actually laugh over something that stressed you like crazy at one time? So it is a laughing situation as it’s in the past. Make your situation feel like it’s in the past too .. 

Take an existing stressful situation. I was so upset with my husband this morning because … Now seriously find either some Gratitude there, Shift into your Happy state or laugh over it. 

Give it a try. It can be done. 

This is Lightness of Life. We just make it really serious. 

What I am trying to share with You’ll is that we focus on so many things that do not need our attention. Instead,

Focus on things that matter

Focus on things that bring You joy

Focus on memories that life You

Focus on moments where You felt empowered

As Tony Robbins says “ Where Focus goes, Energy flows “

So where is Your focus?

What You focus on, you begin to believe. So what do You want to believe?

I want to believe that I can be Happy everyday and share my Happiness too.

I believe there will be ups and downs in life and this is all teaching me something for my highest good.

I believe laughing is good for my soul

I believe I never need to “grow up” what does grow up mean?

I believe music soothes my soul

I believe in living and learning and giving and sharing and Being. 

And I hope that You can incorporate these little steps into Your life to make some BIG Impactful changes. 

Join me for some fun  and learning on Happiness in our Happiness Forum.

GRATITUDE FORUM

“The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” — Norman Vincent Peale.

How many things can you share that you are grateful for? 

Let’s practice our Gratitude and fill our lives with so much more to be Grateful for.

Do post what you are grateful for in the ‘Comments’ below starting with ‘I am Grateful for….

Spiritual DJ

Music and Me connect on a very deep level. I honestly do not remember where and how it started. Over the years we heard so much music, so many different types of music. Growing up, I heard a lot of music introduced to us by our parents, siblings, friends. As the years passed, I ventured into discovering all the music I loved. Abba, Bee Gees, old Hindi, Disco, Pop .. I heard some kirtans, bhajans, mantras during those years too.

As I am sitting and writing this blog, I can hear music my Dad is playing and the song “My Way” is playing. So I am going to write this blog My way.

Many years pass. I am now married , have 2 children and I walk into a store and heard some music. I asked the lady who was singing. She checked and said it Deva Premal. I went home, googled and found her music. I simultaneously discovered Krishna Das too. That’s it! I was addicted.

Every morning I would play the music all over my home. The music for me shifted the energy, lifted my mood and basically started the day with a lovely energy. I held some sessions at home where we just sat and listened to this music and ate parshad after. We even had groups where we did the 21 day chanting program of Deva Premal. It was Awesome.

Even today wherever I am, I start my day with some beautiful new age kirtans, chants and mantras. That’s my way of starting the day on a happy high. What means the world to me is that my Parents, Siblings, so many friends and clients have also have started the same thing.

This morning I was at my Sisters home and my brother in law asked me to play my chants too. Awww!!! 🥰

What I absolutely love is how they have all made this a part of their lives too. 🙏🏼

There are so many different types of music we all listen and connect with. Each of us has our own choices, likes, dislikes. Different music impacts us differently. Here are some for you to think of.

Sharing my answers in brackets.

Can you think of a song that lifts your mood instantly? ( Hindi - Aaj phir jeena ki tamana )

Which song makes you nostalgic? ( Unforgettable )

Which song makes you want to get up and dance immediately? ( So many Abba ones but Dancing Queen )

Which song makes you feel calm and peaceful? ( All. My chanting playlist )

In April of 2020 ( Yes, we will all remember that period in our lives ), I was in Malta with my husband in a lovely little apartment. I meant an apartment with my lovely husband. ( hee hee ) We started every day listening to our music. I started discovering so many new ones and absolutely loved it. You see the problem with me is that when I love something, I have to share it with others too. ( Please note I said something, not someone 😉)

That’s when I started playing music online for people. I was on Instagram every single day playing music for whoever was Interested. I had a bunch of people who became my regulars and were on every single day. ( Not that one could do anything else, or go anywhere those days ) But I am so grateful to each of them who came and encouraged me to find more music and create a new playlist for them everyday. It was just one hour of Soulful, uplifting music. I played Deva Premal, Manose, Simrit, Ajeet Kaur, Meditative Mind and others.

It made me feel So Alive, so wonderful and during that period so connected with people too. One of my regulars Bhavana was talking to her daughter and she is the one who said Anjana is our “Spiritual DJ” I remember that day so well.

What is a Spiritual DJ? The same as a DJ but one who plays Spiritual music I guess.

I sometimes wonder is that my calling in Life.

I really loved it ..I do miss it.

And if any of You feel You’ll would like me to start again even once a week , do let me know and I will definitely restart.

Music can change our mood. It can elevate our moods. Raise our energies. Today so much is available on You Tube to cleanse energies, raise frequencies etc.

“ Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato 

Signing off

Anjana

Today I ..

Do You wait for the beginning of a year, a month or a week or a specific day or time to start working out, or a new project, or to do something new for yourself?

I will start working out on Monday .. I will start making the calls next week .. I will start my routine at the beginning of the month. 

This I think is just our regular pattern.
Don’t we all tend to do this?

I definitely used to and sometimes still do till I make myself aware of this. When I want to something new or start something new now, I don’t wait, I just start immediately, wherever, whenever.

I have realized that every single day that we are blessed to wake up, we have an opportunity to do something different, something new, something extraordinary. 

Seeing all that has happened around and with us over the last 30 months, I know that I want to  live every single day extraordinarily. And that could be something big or something as small as listening to a new genre of music. I want to change the energy around me and within me. 

I want to do, feel, learn, experience something different, something new every day if possible. 

What stops me from doing this .. my limitations and my fears obviously. It’s Me. I cannot blame any person or situation for it. If I want to start meditating and I tell myself I can’t because I’m busy travelling,it is not the fault of the travel. I can wake up a few minutes early and meditate if I really want to, right?

After all we have been through, seen and experienced I am ready to put all these limitations behind me. I am not going to wait any longer. This is the time. 

Fear is another thing that often stops one from doing what they want. Fear of failure, of not being good enough etc. But the one lovely learning over these years has been that fear cannot be present if you are in a state of Gratitude. When you are grateful, you are living in the present. You are living in the now. Fear has no place in our lives when we are in the now and in a space of gratitude. ( Watch out for my blog on this ) 

Try starting a Gratitude journal. As you wake up or  as you are going for a walk or sipping on your cup of tea focus on all that You have in your life. Thinking is one thing, but writing it down makes it much stronger. When you start your day with gratitude that is the energy you carry with you throughout the day. And that is such a beautiful energy to spend your day in. 

So decide what makes you comfortable and start small or big. I start every morning listening to certain kind of music as I have been doing that for the last 10-12 years. To make a small change, I started with making a change to the music I listen to when I wake up. It’s a little shift of energy but a nice one. 

A routine is wonderful in certain aspects of our lives, but shaking up energies is wonderful when we want to make changes or start something new.

The most important bit I feel about having a a Gorgeous / extraordinary life is having the faith that we can do what we want to. You feel what you give energy to. If you decide right now that you are upset and give it the energy, trust me you are going to feel more upset. Let’s do a little exercise to change that quickly. Think of 11 things You are blessed with in your life. Start counting now  …1, 2, 3, 4, 5…… How are you feeling ? It does change the energy within You too, right?

There are outside influences that effect us - it’s natural. But you have to decide how much are you going to let that influence your life or how much power will you be giving that situation or person. That, is entirely your choice. 

I want to create more love and happiness and laughter and good health in all aspects of my life and that is what I am going to give my attention to. I can only feel what I focus on. So we must be aware of how and where we are spending our energy. What are we thinking, watching, reading. No news can make me feel happy so I do not watch the news. 

Today and Every Today 

I  am in control of my thoughts and my feelings.

I am in control of how I want to create my Today.

Today I want to share happiness and feel happiness

Today I want to share and feel my compassion 

Today I take my time to meditate so I am in a good state of mind

Today I want to create and feel something new

Today I an even more grateful to have you all in my life

Today I laugh and share my smile and laughter

Today I pray for peace 

Today I ….. 

What would you add to this?

My Pandemic Learnings

There I was, happily skiing ( after 30 years ) , when I heard the ski instructor say that he is not going to take any Italians skiing as the corona virus had hit Italy blah blah. I was a bit annoyed with him, I must admit.

But that evening the talks had started as a lot of events had started getting cancelled.

The next day we had to take a flight to Malta and honestly, there was a sense of eeriness in Zurich airport.  Every flight to and from Italy was cancelled .. we luckily got on flight ( with one person wearing a mask ) and left.

On arrival all our temperatures were checked .. we were luckily fine and got home.

BOOM … This was 1st March 2020 and we decided to quarantine ourselves for a few days, not realising it would be 4.5 months. 

And a very Interesting four and a half months in Malta it was. Locked up in an apartment, just my Husband and Me. We went out once a week for a short walk.

1st week we tried to stock up on all the rice,dals. pasta, beans, frozen foods we could. 

2nd week I decided to start my chanting sessions online. Yes, it’s been nine months.

3rd week we realised we could not step out so bought ourselves the only exercise cycle we could find so we got a bit of exercise in.

4th week we turned Vegan 

I was trying to make sure that Physically, Emotionally and Spiritually I was in a good space.

The one thing that helped me tremendously were my Chanting session which I was doing everyday when I started… now its 3 times a week.

This got us into a routine – living, laughing, laundry, cleaning, cooking, chanting, meditating and Netflix ( ha ha ) of course. 

What I began to understand during this was that there is definitely a lesson for Humanity in this. We were abusing Mother Earth, Nature, all our natural resources and so much more. 

But each one of us has a personal lesson here too. And each of our lessons was ours alone. 

So what did I learn? 

I learnt to Live everyday ..to laugh, to love, to dance, to whirl, to sing and be and do what I wanted to… not wait for tomorrow to do it.

I learnt how precious so many friendships and relationships are. 

I leant how little we really need to be truly happy.

I learnt that we can make life difficult or easy with how and what we think. 

I also learnt how I love spending time with Myself. 

I converted a room into my little haven. 

I would meditate here, host my chanting sessions, do my workshops and just loved my Me time here. 

I learnt to appreciate all that I had, who I was, where I was. 

 Through my chanting sessions I created beautiful new bonds and friendships… which I still have today. 

I learnt that sharing a smile can change a persons entire day so imagine if we could share more than a smile?

So I thought here I am sharing what little I could This was a time I really thought of all those people who needed me more than I needed them. May sound weird but ..There’s a little parlour next to my home in Bangalore and these people do not get a salary but survive on a day to day basis. My home staff .. the gardener, the construction workers across my home. These were the people really scared and suffering. I did all I could from there to help them. This made me realise even more how much I have to be grateful for.  

4.5 months later, we decided to go to see our Children in London. We sat in the car ( with our masks ) and my husband and I looked at each other as it was so strange sitting in  a car after such a long time… not that we were sitting in a car with masks!

The journey was surreal as we were 12 people on the whole flight!! Everything was empty and eerie! 

Sitting with a mask on flight, in the car, in a train …  Finally I did get used to it .. Am used to it now but it did take a while I must admit. 

Seeing the children and having with conversation with them face to face was Amazing. My husband and I had spent 4.5 months only talking to each other .. and maybe the grocery store owner! 

A week later we met some friends in the Park .. that was delightful. Earlier we would have met at a restaurant or cafe. But a picnic in the park was the new and more fun way forward. 

Why did we not do more of that earlier? Sitting in the park, listening to music, lovely sunset and a beautiful walk. So while we were there and weather permit we tried time in the park as much as possible. 

Things had changed – Things have changed -Things will continue to change.

This is Life .. the only constant is change. 

So why fight it?

I want to wake up and Be Grateful that I am are here today. 

I want to live for today and not wait to do what I want to do or say for another day. 

I want to  share my smile and cheer everyone in any way I can. 

I want to laugh and play and sing and dance. 

Yes, I do want to be safe too.

But I can live, love, share, experience and do everything safely too. 

And that is another story, 🙂 

So till then ..

Sending you a virtual hug

Stay safe and Stay smiling

What am I waiting for?

A new Year, A new decade and I have made a long list of things I want to do, be, have ..

Once I made the list I thought that I needed to make a 5-10 year plan for myself too.

An hour later I was on the phone with my brother discussing some plans and he said “ When we were in our 20’s and 30’s we had to plan ahead and think differently about our lives. But now in our 50’s lets plan for now and do what we really want to “

And that’s when the tube light went on!

“ WHAT AM I WAITING FOR ”

I should do what I want to now and stop waiting / procrastinating .. I am only being dishonest with myself by not doing what I want to do.

We always find some excuse , some story , some reason to procrastinate.

But the only person we are harming in this process is ourselves. We have this craving in our heart which is not fulfilled. If we cannot feel fulfilled then, how can we be totally and completely happy with ourselves?

As Dr. Wayne Dyer said “ Go for it now. The future is promised to no one “ 

I am not saying that we have to do everything we want to right now .. But if You can, then why not?

Often I hear myself saying – Ok let me wait .. I really want to do this, but let me wait till next year as there is quite a bit happening now. But there will always be quite a bit happening in our lives as that is what life is all about.

There are so many things we all feel we want to do, we want to feel, we want to have, we want to be. And the longer we wait, all we are doing is making the list longer.

Life is beautiful .. so let’s enjoy and cherish and stop waiting ..

Do you also find that all our lives have become busier over the years?

The years seem to be passing by faster?

There just don’t seem to be enough hours or days to do all that You want to?

And we try and juggle so many things in our lives ..in the bargain not giving importance to what we really want to do, say, be, have ..

So now, as I turn a year older soon, in my heart I have decided to take steps to start Living more in the Now.

Often we don’t share what we want to express to people. So I will start by saying A BIG THANK YOU to all of You who read my blogs and encourage me in the process to write and share more.

I want to have more discipline in my life for myself .. more balance and that You will read about in my next blog 🙂

Spending time in whichever way possible with friends and family is something I always do .. And now I have promised myself to make sure I spend quality time with myself too.

I have been thinking about going for a quiet retreat the last 3 years .( the last one was 3 years ago a 10 day Vipassana course )   I keep reading and researching all the different places. Today as I type this I have booked my flight, my retreat and am off the end of this month for a 7 day retreat.

Now that I think back – What was I waiting for?

Nothing in my life can change unless I decide to change it. 

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. - Barack Obama

So I have decided to motivate myself and YES!! I do feel fantastic when I feel motivated.

Would You like to be motivated to?

Don’t wait till tomorrow .. Start today.

Today, take the first step towards doing , being, having, saying all that You have been wanting to.

Ask yourself, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Here’s to a Motivated New Day, New Year and a New Decade.