Early 2012. I am behind my desk in London, Old Street, chatting with my colleague Michaela who was sitting in front of me and was always a great support in anything business or personal.
“You should definitely go to India!” – Michaela said unexpectedly.
She knew I was going through real life challenges, my marriage was not going very well. I was in needed of a fresh look on myself, my life and the World in general.
However, I have answered, that “I am not so fond of Indian food and never done a single yoga asana in my life. Why would I go there?..”
Then she suggested just call and speak to the Ashram in Kerala and it was Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari. I think she knew what she was getting me into.
After that one conversation with her, and the energy I felt from the volunteer who picked up the phone in the Ashram, I felt being invited to submit my visa papers… Two weeks later at 4am I landed in Thiruvananthapuram. I went by myself. It wasn’t a holiday, nor a business trip. I was on a mission!
Next day after exploring some water channels ( a pleasant touristic attraction) I reached Ashram on TukTuk. Before that I was never on a TukTuk so it was fun already. By the way, the Ashram was right next to the dam with a lion sanctuary on the other side of it. And you could actually hear them roar at different times of the day. Also .. there were crocodiles, but this we learned later after we swam and I took photos.
In a matter of roughly two weeks, from a big round zero I went all the way to the headstand and variations of it. I started to understand the concept of Yoga (the union) and I fell in love with Ayurvedic cuisine. Sitting on the floor and eating with my bare hands from banana leaves became natural and so real, so authentic. What I also learned is that if the food is too hot to hold with your fingers, you should definitely not put it in your mouth. Also focus on eating only fresh cooked food, no re-heating. After awhile I started understanding the difference and crave for it wherever I go.
Being quite rigid in body and mind, I started to introduce more and more practices and exercises in to my life. From Yoga to running, I started doing half marathons, full marathons, trail runs, cycling, swimming in open water 12 months of the year, ice bathing. I wasn’t doing it all by myself. I joined people who were doing it and did my best (or sometimes my worst).
I was familiar with the energy works of Reiki and was happy to see how everything blends in together for me. I would say I became a bit more conscious.
With consistent practice of different disciplines I have relieved myself from many symptoms that were accompanying me:
- Neck pain
- Lower back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Headaches
- Hernia
The above simply do not bother me at all or not as much. As a child I was the one who always gets sick: pneumonia, appendix, Gilbert syndrome, acetonemia, jaundice etc etc. At a time I was so fat the doctor said “he won’t be able to walk”. So for a change I walk and run!
That whole experience in India did not save my marriage, but it made the transition much more pleasant and less stressful for everyone.
Now, after so many years, I feel that exercise, mindfulness and work-life balance is not a choice but a must, a crucial ingredient to my existence.
By now I worked with over 76 countries and visited lager part of them personally and I saw how despite the environment and upbringing people get stressed, anxious and sick and die. Yes die. I was shocked to learn that my friend who I followed to England in 2006 has passed away suddenly due to stress.
We don’t talk about it much whilst we work and do not feel how we get gradually more and more tired and frustrated and one day it is all over for us.
Every idea starts and ends in our heads. When we learn to change the emotion that we attach to the problem or situation we breakfree.
Same as everyone I do get resistance to change, I like doing things that are familiar to me, but I also learned to find ways to undo the damage I cause myself with my own thinking.
For each of us the way is different we are all unique. That is why I am excited to talk about mental health in and keeping it up in the corporate lives and show that you cannot separate your work from life because it is you in both.
Just before we go and carry on with our day, I would like to share some moments below that are dear to me from India in early 2012. It may not look like much, but to me they convey the peace and tranquility which I carry within me. This was a powerful anchor and still is.
With peace,
Audrius
