Body

 

New route please

Heading out to the same destination every day? Understandable. No escape from that! But what you can change is how you get there. Try a new road, a new bus, a new short-cut, long cut, diversion or even off-road. If you take the highway, opt for the by-lanes. And if the route can’t be rediscovered, try changing the mode – If you drive, walk. If you take the bus, cycle. If you take the train, try another mode. There will always be that tiny something that you can change in your daily path. The effect is macro, no doubt. So take the road less travelled.

Go , trek

When man and mountain meet, a new force is unleashed. While you may not always find a mountain, you can always find a trail, nestled in nature, waiting to be discovered. Get into your boots and embark – far away from the concrete jungle and urban madness. Feel the mud, breathe the air, soak in the sun, climb uphill, slide downhill, brave the rough path  and  you will wonder why you didn’t embrace the hills earlier! Trekking also has an element of the ‘unknown’, a sense of adventure built into it. You never know what you may discover! So trek not to escape life but so that life doesn’t escape you.

The Risotto afternoon

There’s something about awakening the inner chef. There’s a peculiar rush in sourcing and curating special ingredients, looking up the out-of-the-routine recipe and donning the chef hat! Choose the Italian risotto or the Lebanese Tabouleh or your very Indian dal makhani. The choice of cuisine is less important than the act itself. Once you start the process, your own creative juices will overtake the sauce and before you know it, you could be dishing out a mouth-watering delicacy, after having let yourself go with complete abandon. They say, a kitchen has  secret ingredients to form great character!

 

Mind

Learn a new language

It’s not about the fascination of trying to add new sounds and accents to your existing vocabulary. It’s not about flaunting ‘foreign languages’ at social gatherings or even wearing a chip on your shoulder. In today’s interdependent and interconnected world, it is imperative to know languages that will enable you to engage with the world in a deeper and more meaningful way. Plus, you would be every employer’s top preference the day you enter the job market.  People who speak more than one language are known to have improved memory, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, enhanced concentration, ability to multitask, and better listening skills. The bilinguals or multilinguals as they are called can easily switch between competing tasks and monitor changes in their environment more easily than monolinguals, as well as display signs of greater creativity and flexibility. Lastly, it opens a whole new window to so many cultures that otherwise would stay hidden beneath an unknown language! The advantages far outweigh the lethargy! Being able to connect with the world is just the beginning.

Simply watch the sunrise and sunset

It’s time to pay attention to the wonder of nature – and what better to admire than the sun. We wake up every morning and get on with the day and end the day with may be a few hours of television. What if you were to wake up in the morning, just at the crack of dawn, run outdoors and watch the sun slowing breaking through the sky- The first rays of the sun: what a sight to behold. Repeat the same in the evening- just when the sun is about to set. Drive off to a scenic spot and give yourself the beautiful treat of watching the majestic beauty of the sun as it rises and sets. There is a reason that sunrise and sunset have been a constant source of inspiration for poets, writers and romantics alike. Allow the mystical hues of the sky inspire you to paint your life’s most beautiful picture. And watch your mood suddenly change.  The timeless and powerful experience has a positive, healing, creative and restorative effect. It has been proven that watching the sunrise or sunset instills a better sense of gratitude for the earth. When you are engrossed in the natural beauty of the Earth (like a sunset), you move away from any distractions and feel higher levels gratitude for what's in front of you. When you are captivated by the awe-inspiring colours of the sky, it is a form of meditation and allows you to clear your mind of all that’s pulling you down. Like they say, nature is natural fuel for the soul.

Read a story meant for a 3 year old

A great fallout of being an adult is that we often leave childhood pleasures behind. Logic and reason take over ‘sillyness’. Did you know that ‘sillyness’ is often the cause of great joy simply because it has no meaning? It tickles the bone of spontaneity that is often lost as we grow older. The ‘sensible’ takes over and there goes ‘simple, meaningless joy’. So for a change, go back in time. Pick up a story book for a 3 year old. And relish those innocent stories of hippos and monkeys, islands and hills and winter coats and fairies! It sounds like a crazy thing to do but once you do it, you will find yourself cackling and smiling all over again just like you did at 3! No rhyme or reason. Just a little trip to a land where magic and simplicity live. And you will discover just how easy it is to get back the zing and pull yourself out of the boredom. That simple. May be there is an elf waiting to tell its story while you are whining away. So why not give it a chance. It’s a trip worth taking. 

 

 

Spirit

Create a self-love list

We have only been taught to love others, love the world, love your parents etc. But what about loving yourself? Just the way you are. Far from egoism, vanity or narcissism, loving yourself is the greatest revolution. It’s almost like embracing your own self. It is only when you love yourself can you love others. So gather some TLC (tender loving care) for yourself, open up a page and start listing everything you love about yourself. Caution: the self-critic may prevent you from looking at yourself with kindness but ignore that voice of judgement and march on: Put a gentle awareness on your body, going through every aspect of your physicality with love- make a note of what you love, then move on to your mind and make a note of all the habits, attitudes, intellect, knowledge etc that you pride yourself in. Let the list go on and on. It may happen that the things that others don’t like about you may be the very things you love about yourself. For once, listen to your voice and   focus on you- not the judgements of the world. The world may pronounce you thin, fat, ugly, stubborn, difficult and annoying but you need not pay attention to it. All you need to pay heed to is your own self- Deep dive into yourself that is actually infinite. The journey will not only enable you to discover a ‘lover’ in you but will also enthuse you to love the world around too. After all, it’s all a reflection of yourself. So make that beginning to strike a relationship with yourself. It’s far from boring!

Be part of a cause

Life is good as it is, isn’t it? Wake up every morning, go about your daily tasks and chores, eat and eventually sleep. But is it great? Does it give you a kick every day? Does it get your adrenalin surging? Probably not. So what is missing? Perhaps meaning and purpose are missing. Getting hold of it is not a herculean task. Today, we are surrounded with groups and organisations that are dedicated to some cause or the other- from climate change and water harvestation to making the world poverty-free and disease-free to offering solutions for abuse and mental health. The list is endless. Pick any one of them that your heart is drawn to- look up the group or NGO, connect with them and be part of that cause that links you with something beyond yourself. It’s a great feeling to be a contribution to the planet, in whatever way. How big or small or how popular the cause is doesn’t matter. What matters is you expanding your little world and belonging to a larger galaxy. Now decide which is more exciting- sulking in your corner or going out there and cleaning up a beach to make the marine life happy and in turn serve the planet, making it safer for us all.

120 second solutions: 2 minute refreshers

Sometimes the way to rejuvenate one’s spirits is as easy as steeping yourself into the moment and allowing the present to open pathways. There is no complicated process to this. All one needs to do is suspend one’s logic and reasoning. Close your eyes and allow your mind or rather your intuitive self to choose what you want at the moment. It could be as simple as making a banana smoothie. Or switching on your favourite music. Or just taking an impromptu walk around the block. It could even be giving someone a hug. Choosing these ‘two minute ‘refreshers sets a different kind of energy into motion that makes use of your ‘intuitive’ muscles which are seldom used as we are so used to functioning from reason. Ask in the moment what that could be and then follow the energy- and what a creative exercise this could be- as it is a fun exploration of tiny tasks that are potent in shifting the energy from ‘dull’ and ‘bring’ to ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’. These split-second ideas or refreshers have great power as they come from an unplanned space and are little divine sparks that instantly transform the mood and engage our senses. They come from nowhere but take you some pretty place-that’s far more enchanting than a boring castle!