Health, Inspiration, Yoga

No pain, Yes gain – that’s Yoga

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If I had a dollar every time I heard or read about the “No pain, no gain” rule for losing weight, I would be one rich yogi. Frankly, I am a bit tired of articles and fitness gurus preaching about the need to endure pain and “feel the burn” if I needed to lose weight. While there are multiple, legitimate and healthy ways one can lose weight, my basic premise is that you DO NOT need to endure pain to lose weight.

A popular misconception is that while yoga may be great for managing stress or to increase flexibility, you need to hit the gym or the streets, push yourselves, and sweat like crazy if you want to lose weight. After all, yoga does not burn as much calories as an hour at the gym or running in the park does. Nor will it build muscle quickly which ensures you burn more calories when your body is at rest.

It is time to bust that myth.

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Humor, Rants and raves

FOUR things I intend to forbid if I become the Prime Minister today

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Indians are the new black. Wherever we go, there WE ARE, just like that only. We are on top, doing jugaad and taking the world by storm in sports, movies, business and pretty much everything in between. But if I was made the Indian Prime Minister today, and I had unlimited power, here are FOUR things I intend to forbid. Granted that the chances of me becoming the prime minister is pretty remote, but I want to vent. So here goes:

#4: Indian men cannot wear shorts:

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Health, Inspiration, Rave Reviews, Spiritual, Spirituality, Yoga

The Lost Art of Eating

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Eating well is a form of self-respect – Colleen Quigley

The appetite comes during eating – Russian proverb

I used to visit my paternal village at the foot of the Western Ghats near Mysore every summer. Grandparents, one uncle and six aunts and their families, distant relatives, neighbours who came to see us – the house was filled with people at all times. And as you can imagine, feeding 30+ people for a very minimum of twice a day would have been utter chaos.

Not really.

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Humor, Rants and raves

Of leaders – the heroic and not-so heroic

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As part of the Stanford SEED program, our management team is required to read some pretty deep articles, case studies and management papers so we can all get on the same strategic page and create the Business Transformation Plan for Suyati. One of the articles that I read included a couple of chapters from “Power Up: Transforming Organizations Through Shared Leadership” by David L. Bradford and Allan R. Cohen.  The essence of the article is that Heroic leadership, the kind that gets things done by sheer will, command, authority and knowledge is slowly and surely giving way to not-so heroic leaders (the actual term used is Post-Heroic Leaders). These leaders do not lead per se. They create environments where individuals step up and take responsibility for their success. This guarantees the maximum contribution from every employee as they become more empowered, take charge, step up and meet and exceed expectations, in turn becoming catalysts for others also to become like them.

Hmm. Hmm.

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Humor, Inspiration, Rants and raves

Hiding in bathrooms. And other lovable traits of an Introvert

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Image: You know things are serious when the Introverts show up!

As a child, I was painfully shy. And that’s not a phrase I casually use. I would pinch my wrist, bite my nails, or keep prodding the pimples on my face to ward off anxiety attacks caused by having to meet new people. Hiding in bathrooms when the company become too much to handle was something that I did naturally. Even today, most of my ideas for blogs or articles rightfully stems from the time I spend in bathrooms!

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Inspiration, Rave Reviews, Spiritual, Spirituality

How the Supreme Court and Aster Medcity helped my mom die peacefully

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My mom passed away just 2 weeks ago. But I really feel the need to write my thoughts down as quickly as possible before routine, daily duties, and the real impact of her death hits me.

Two momentous things happened in the week before my mom passed away. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court passed a verdict allowing passive euthanasia and declared the validity of a living will. Ironically, I was reading the newspaper headlines as my brother, his wife and I were heading to Aster Medcity to see Dr. Ramkumar, Pain and Palliative care specialist. 

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Humor, Inspiration, Spiritual, Spirituality

Live in the moment or plan for the morrow? Yes!

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Image courtesy: http://everythingfunny.org/tag/humorous-comics/page/69/. All rights reserved. 

When you are here and now, sitting totally, not jumping ahead, the miracle has happened. To be in the moment is the miracle – Osho

Plan your work, and work your plan – Napoleon Hill

Sounds contradictory, don’t they? Live in the moment? Yes do. Plan for tomorrow? Yes, of course. So what do we do? Both.

Is that possible? When you are in the moment, your breath and your mindfulness is focused on what you are doing now. If you are watching TV, that is the only thing you are doing – not planning for the next day’s meeting or worried about your kid coming late. On the other hand, planning for the morrow means taking a long term view of your objectives and life goals, working them backwards with timelines and to-do lists, and executing them based on the schedule. Are both possible? Let’s see.

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Inspiration, Spiritual, Spiritual Rants, Spirituality

Four signs of a highly spiritual person

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Spiritual Intelligence is the Intuitive knowledge of the Self, others, situations and techniques to achieve the desired objectives of the world. – Awdhesh Singh

We had IQ. Now we have EQ. The day is not far off when we judge a person based on his spiritual quotient (SQ). We do not need to search far and wide to seek the qualities a spiritually aware person must possess. Our religious books abound in them. In fact, The Sreemad Bhagavatham extols 28  qualities of an enlightened soul or devotee. (SB Canto 11, Chapter 11, Verses 29-32). The Bhagavad Gita details upto 28 signs of a person who is dear to God (BG Chapter 12, Verses 13-19).

But are these qualities possible in today’s world? Aren’t they impractical and outdated? How about ambition, fire in the belly, and a go-getting attitude that every person needs today to succeed?

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Inspiration, Rave Reviews

Is women entrepreneurship the real need of the hour in India? Yes!

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Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist: While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!” — Lori Greiner, inventor, QVC host and ‘Shark Tank’ investor.

The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world – Charles Malik

No country can truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens – Michelle Obama

Every year, November 19 is celebrated as Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. It celebrates the momentous strides made by women all across the world, and reminds us of the collective efforts that must be made to realize the untapped potential and the hidden opportunities. Every venture needs the right ecosystem –  infrastructure, network of mentors and supporters, access to cheap financial resources, great employee base, a target market that has the critical need that your product or service needs. The list is endless. And Women’s Entrepreneurship Day celebrates those women who have entered (willingly or otherwise!), fought, and succeeded in their respective businesses as entrepreneurs.

Now for a reality check.

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