The Word: 2020

word of the year for 2020

I’ve been choosing a word of the year since five years – this is my sixth – and it has been an intensely transformative journey. Which is somewhat magical, really, considering that the very first word I chose for myself five years ago was Transform.

Words, after all, are spells. They have an inherent magic and power that can work in ways you may never have anticipated to bring you the exact medicine you need at any point of time. And Transform is a spell that’s been woven into the very fabric my life, impacting it far beyond just one year.

Which is why I don’t take the word of the year practice too lightly. I need to be clear on at least some aspects of what I’m drawing towards me with the word that I choose. perhaps for this reason, it was much harder for me to tease out the word for this year.Continue reading→

Looking back at 2019: Reflections on Flourish

Reflections on flourish

Flourish. That was my word for the year. It felt like the perfect combination of growth and ease after the very gentle energy of Bloom in 2018.

And a perfect combination it has been. So much has happened in 2019, that I’m still wrapping my head around it all.

Flourish helped me to deepen and expand my art practice.  I spent much more time at the painty table – even during the summer, which used to be my leanest art period, and my artistic voice and vision grew louder and deeper.Continue reading→

The Visioning workbook is here!

Year end planning made simple with the visioning workbook

It’s that time of the year again! The time when you cozy up with pen and paper, a hot cup of your favorite beverage {black coffee without sugar for me, please}, some soft music, and start your year end planning: reflecting on the year gone by and planning for the coming year.

As an avid journaler, I really cannot let this time of the year go by without spending some time in quiet reflection. But I haven’t always been super successful with making new year plans – not by a long stretch! There have been many years when the change of the year was met with a dreary ho-hum, couldn’t care less attitude. Because just idle reflection and day dreams are really not enough to help move you forward in any sort of direction.Continue reading→

It’s not that time of the year without…

It's not that time of the year without...the mindful break mindfulness practice

October wouldn’t be October without….The Mindful Break!

Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking. It’s festive time, with Diwali – the largest Indian festival – around the corner. But for me, October has become synonymous with mindfulness.

Why I needed a mindfulness practice

October is a crazy-busy month at work. I’m usually up to my eyeballs in deadlines, with reports coming in to be edited faster than you can say Jack Rabbit. It’s also festive time, and I’m usually stressed about work, moping about not being able to enjoy the festivities, scrambling to keep up with Diwali shopping and decorating, and generally losing my sanity one moment at a time.

Continue reading→

The Mindful Break 2019

The Mindful Break 2019 Instagram Challenge

Ladies and gentlemen, The Mindful Break is back! What started out four years ago from my desire to cultivate a mindfulness practice, has become a regular feature that I – and many of The Mindful Break regulars – look forward to each October.

The need for a mindfulness practice

And for good reason. For one, it gives us a chance to connect on Instagram in a stress-free way, taking a moment to pause and breathe and share a slice of our life and thoughts with one another. It feels like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stressful environment, as we juggle work, home, studies, families, social duties, and seemingly endless to-do lists. Instead of just vegging out on the sofa and binge watching Netflix, which just numbs us out and does us more harm than good, The Mindful Break encourages us to take a pause.Continue reading→

#WordlessWednesday: Through the window

I love taking photographs through the window of a moving car. As I point and shoot, I end up with a roll full of images – some blurred; some without any focal image or meaning; and some, like this one, that capture a sense of timeless, stark beauty.Continue reading→

#FreewriteFriday: What is the meaning of life

What is the meaning of life?

“At least three times every day take a moment and ask yourself what is really important. Have the wisdom and the courage to build your life around your answer.” ― Lee Jampolsky

We lead busy lives. Caught between work and home; juggling the needs of our family; and the incessant noise from addictive social media platforms clamoring for our attention, we often end up numbing out by binge watching serials on Netflix. It’s just so much easier to give in to the siren song of these companies after all.

And why wouldn’t it be easy? All of these companies – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Netflix – use subtle and not-so-subtle psychology to keep us constantly scrolling and addicted to their platforms. We’ve become used to the instant gratification of a flurry of likes as soon as we post that photograph on Instagram, or to finding the next awesome series on Netflix.Continue reading→

#FreewriteFriday: What if

What if...reflections on life and living

Can you imagine a time when you will go to theatre to watch a play. That you will meet the actors afterwards and compliment them on their acting. That you will forget that one of those actors is your daughter.

That’s what Alzheimer’s does to you.

Can you imagine a time when you will want, more than anything else, to go for a walk with your beloved. In the cool, crisp air. Eyes soaking in the greenery around you. But your legs cannot support you any more, they have the tremors. You may lose your balance and fall at any time.Continue reading→

How to bloom where you are planted + an intuitive painting demo

how to bloom where you are planted

As motivational quotes go, bloom where you are planted is one of the most ubiquitous phrases. But what does it mean? And more importantly, how does one know that they have it in them to bloom where they are planted?

The phrase stems from the natural world, where you can find plants, flowers, and trees blooming wild and free, often times in areas where you would least expect them. Like the Ginko trees in Hiroshima, Japan, which survived the nuclear blasts. Or the deodar trees that grow at the Tarkeshwar Mahadev temple near Lancedown, but are not found anywhere else in the area, because they actually grow at higher altitudes.

What this seems to symbolize is that with the right attitude and resilience of spirit, we can find within us the  strength to survive almost any adversity.Continue reading→