Smile from the heart…
Help without expectations
Care without agenda
Paint with love
Sense the love!
Express yourself!
Share the love…
You do not live each day to discover what it holds for you, but to create it!
Lets start by creating some positive thoughts in and around us!
Savvy
A Matter of Fine Tuning :
Intuition is defined as the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning.
Your cells are intuitive and have a memory bank of information that is stored experientially.
How they synthesize and process that information may depend on many factors especially on how healthy they are and what kind of nutrition they continue to have.
However, they are continuously in communication with you. Your sense of intuition is a part of their communicative process. So is your gut feeling and perhaps maybe even a hunch or a sense of dejavu…
That familiar feeling of knowing someone or something before even meeting them.
The rush of emotions amidst certain memories may be your intuitive sense of your cellular being getting a higher intensity of messages.
The tense feeling before a certain situation or place person or thing maybe you are getting a message across from your own survival mechanism.
Your clenched fist or the butterflies in your stomach, the knotted feeling deep within… are all perhaps a forewarning to be more present in this now than you actually are …
There is always much listening to do if you wish to decode these flashes of thoughts and feelings. In fact, they are your inbuilt guide and gifts of life. Acknowledge them for what they are.
Here are a 5 ways towards strengthening your sense of intuition.
1: Sense what you feel ... often we may never care to sense the fleeting feeling that may come along about something or someone at the first connect … That is often your intuitive self trying to send you a message.
2: Spend some time reconnecting with your self in meditation or even walk silently for a while every day being one with nature.
3: Be expressive of what you are, never stifle your thoughts and bottle up. Allow yourself to manifest freely. Remember your life is precious in itself. Live life lovingly.
4: Be trusting and trustworthy. If you can accept the world around as it is and work on evolving yourself for the better perhaps then the way you see the world will change. Positivity will emanate in your ways and that will ease up any rigidity from within to a flexible state of being.
5 : Remember to differentiate between your overthinking which is simply creating patterns of thoughts in anxiousness and your sense of intuition Intuition comes from the place of a calm knowing.
Most importantly acknowledge your intuitive feelings. For without that intuition remains underdeveloped.
How much do you value your intuition?
How much do you allow it to manifest itself?
Do you care to nurture it?Do you care to listen when your intuitive sense talks to you?
Or do you choose to ignore it and move on?
Do you recall any instance of how you listened to your intuitive self?
Do share your thoughts.
Savvy
Indian food at Maharaja Bhog
For a complete Indian thali experience.
Culturally India has seen many influences from the past to the present times. One of the fascinating things about Indian food is the variety of tastes distinctive in form and appeal from a melting pot of influences and different cultures.
A recent visit to one of the famous traditional Indian Thali eateries with my daughter in tow turned out to be quite a delightful experience…
The Plating: An experience in itself.
The Thali is a distinct offering of varied dishes served on a platter.
The thali or the round plate of food depicts the unique way food is consumed. A visual treat of an assortment of delicacies laid out a plate served in many small little cups, bowls or katoris as they are called.
The richness of the food prepared makes it food fit for a king. For the Indian kings were known to have a history of cooks or Maharaja as they were fondly called had a special place in their lives. The Maharajas thali is a reflection of the opulence of those times.
A plethora of foods prepared in copious amounts and served in unlimited ways back then formed the foundation of the thali experience in today’s times.
The taste: What can be said but the words… A privy to the pleasures of the palate. its all taken care’ of as truly every taste is blended in beautifully in the thali from sweet salty sour spicy, bitter pungent astringent and more …
Found this proudly displayed for those interested in selfies! Replete with a grand turban… A (Maharaja ) king’s chair for a king’s (Maharaja’s) meal.
Cushy and comfy seating in a neat and well-maintained arrangement.
The Service :
Very unique and almost in a meticulous and methodical precision. They have unique sign language to communicate nonverbally between themselves as to how and where what needs to be served. It is such a refined and discreet practice when you actually begin to take note of it.
The result is a smooth rollout of flavours in a flow and you are left flabbergasted at the number of items on the menu.
The typical meal ensures a heady sensory experience on your palate. The usual all-time favourites have been the Gujarati Kadi and Dal and Khichidi as well as the Bhakri and Dal Bhatti. The sweet tooth cravings get deeply satiated with the often repeated Moong Dal Halwa and Basundi which transports you a few steps to heaven and back makes eating a thali like this all a totally unforgettable experience.
To top it all up and wind up a perfectly fine traditional Indian meal, is the refreshing pan they offer as soon as you are done with the meal which works well as a digestive and as a mouth freshener.
A sumptuous feast indeed! Do visit if you want to experience the abundance and flavours of the’ Great Indian Vegetarian Thali.’
Savvy
Artwork by Savvy Raj
Someone asked me why I dance… and I said I dance to create myself.
I like to dance in my thoughts, words and deeds. By that I mean I enjoy the harmony of movements whether in thoughts or action.
Personally, I respect and value all forms of creativity and believe in the immense value of it in our daily lives.
We are all creative beings but some have to find their path themselves while perhaps for others the path is laid out for them.
We need to honour our creativity we need to find avenues to let go express and share what comes naturally to us. In that is a healing and restoring beyond compare. Have seen a single dance light up a dancers eyes or a single song or a painting stroke change the mood not only for the viewer but for the artist themselves.
Creativity is who we are and lets never forget it. The challenge though is to understand techniques of channelising creativity in a form that is valued and shared by many and that comes from practice. It is a path of immense possibilities each having the potential for soulful connects with self as much as others.
Dancers: An Artwork by Savvy Raj
What we create is meant to be and hence we learn to channelize the flow in more meaningful ways. Just the other day standing before a painting of just two vertical lines symbolised many possibilities… a bridge, to a tube, to a scale, to a road and more… infinite mind, infinite imagination, a fodder for thought in the letting go.
Yet to channelize the thoughts is a task for many demanding ardours and disciplined approach in thinking and streamlining strategically to enhance the end product be it any art form in life and living
Creativity must never be suppressed or repressed as then it manifests in disease of the body and mind. Immense is the power of creative movements to balance the body mind and spirit.
Express with every cell of your being the magnitude of your being… cos that’s what you are meant to do here.
Savvy
What makes a job well done?
What makes excellence a standard?
What makes one stand out a cut above the rest?
What is aesthetics after all?
What differentiates the good better and the best?
All is a matter of approach in every field of life. A shift in the perspectives brings home, amazing solutions. An approach that is creatively expansive than confounding, opens a box of possibilities. We are all equipped to reach out into our own creative potential by just empowering ourselves with techniques of approaching a situation at hand.
Every one of us is endowed with the potential to develop our artistic abilities and approach with a creative eye. It’s a matter of putting the principles into practice and taking that giant leap of faith.
Artist and Creativity:
Creativity blooms in every acknowledgement of interconnectedness. To profess any creative reflection as just mine alone is too limiting in the larger picture. As any exercise to envision beyond, needs to step beyond time frames, to flow along in the subtlety of the eternal wisdom. In fact, our creative enrichments are a reminder of the beauty within that is as unique as every one of us in its similarities as much as the differences and yet deeply aligned to learnings in the consciousness of the interdependence.
Although as an artist we may give a shape to thoughts, its destiny is the result of the bubbles of thoughts in the connected flow. As soon as the clarity of the interdependence reigns in the hearts, all thoughts transform creatively as per the seeing beyond looking, in the gratefulness of both the subtlety and starkness of the interdependence.
Creativity is a tool and treasure for the taking in your hands. Do something with it that only u can.
As no one possess your uniqueness.
And do that which calls out from your being.
Trust creativity for its latent powers that can be unleashed in the acknowledgement.
Explorations in creativity at play or work by chance or in a structure boosts the chances of emerging into patterns of successful design.
Classic learning by trial and error, doing and undoing in a repetitive way also offers a lot of scope for creative breakthroughs
Whether it is the movement of our bodies and our thoughts that get stirred creating new correlations and understandings on a simple nod, a tug, a tap, a touch has immense potential to create waves of energy.
And thus in thinking with our movements, we can bring out nuances of many complex relationship patterns to notice.
Ingrained points of reference can be a hard thing to let go once you have them in you as trained dancers musicians or artists. To allow things to settle in without internal or external interference can be quite a disconcerting task for most of us. As we are often used to creating a connected flow of thought …thought tend to arrange themselves in the pattern by habit.
To find your own sense of flow and then create needs more than a receptive mind which is open to possibilities. Creativity flourishes in moving beyond the box stepping out of the emerging visages in the interpretation, time and time again.
Every creative endeavour is rooted in a dance of the energy within and around us … the dynamics of integration embodies the creative output. A movement that is influenced in the tidal wave of both gravitational and centrifugal force of thoughts.
Create, with all of you
For that’s what it takes
All of you!
Savvy
#creative #artmatters #creativity#life #exploration #artworks #creation #artists #arteducation
Rut of Routine
Are you feeling you are living a routine life
You get up and you do things mechanically without a trace of being alive to it.
Do you feel life is boring and just another day to rise and do your duties as a chore?
Do you sometimes wish for the day to end before it even begins?
Do you feel life is too complicated and desperately want a change of scene…
Perhaps then you are passing through the path of nowhere.
Life often hands you wisdom at the time you are in the path of least resistance because it wants you to listen keenly.
It wants you to understand you are your own path maker and path breaker, you are your own teacher and tutor.
You are your best friend and guide.
It wants you to sense the futility of living so that you can finally bridge over and honour the living you. And perhaps then strive to nourish the moments of life left with you willingly.
Going berserk in helplessness, sensing pain or loss and loneliness are part of phases we may all move through…. at some point in our life. The choice is with us how to find ourselves than lose ourselves. Some find solace and comfort in others along the path when the going gets too tough. Some are givers and some takers in the interbeing of life and living And travellers we all already are.
Here are 5 steps you can take to shake free from the rut of routine.
1: Work on Self-observation:
Observe more of your environment. Develop healthy interests in the world you are living. Care to understand more. Be open to learning.
2 Value & acknowledge one another:
Many times life feels like a standstill and as if its caught in a rut of routine and mundane because it is truly how one is living. When moments are given value over things, when people around start to matter, life starts to change and evolve for the better. Make an effort to greet people extend polite courtesies without expectation and acknowledge another as they are. Life starts to transform vividly as you start showing interest.
3 Love your self & cultivate gratitude:
Balance the relationship with yourself and others. Show self-respect and care to love the person you truly are. Cultivate the habit of being grateful for the blessings of life …. it holds you in good stead.
4 Trust yourself more:
Develop your sense of self-worth and self-esteem as you value your thoughts you will learn to trust yourself more in your deeds.
5 Share more. Reflect the positive:
As you learn and engage with the world you will come across much that inspires and intrigues you. Share the positive messages from the universe and send the world your goodwill in care.
Someday when you truly need, the world returns it back to you manifold…such is the way of this circle of life and living as we are strengthened simply is raising of our positive interconnects as travellers in the interbeing.
Savvy Raj
I came across this story and it touched my heart … do take some time to read.
“I hired a plumber to help me repair an old farmhouse.
He already had a rough and tiresome day.
* a flat tire
* his electric drill fault
* his old car broke down.
* his tiffin was spoilt
* he lost his wallet
* his bank was calling for loan repayments
In all the tension and stress he finished my repairs.
Since his car broke down, I drove him home.
While I drove him home, he sat silently, but I could mark his agony and restlessness.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family.
As we walked toward the front door, he paused at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands and closed his eyes.
When the door opened, he was smiling and happy.
In seconds he underwent an amazing transformation.
He hugged his two small children, gave his wife a kiss, laughed, and never even slightly made them feel the troubles that he had encountered that day.
I was astonished and curious. Seeing my inquisitive eyes he said, “Oh, that’s my Trouble Tree. My best friend. My trouble carrier for the night”.
He replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure. Those troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”
He smiled and shared a secret. He said, “when I come out in the morning to pick ’em up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging there the night before!!”
Life may be a burden of worries, but there is a way to keep our loved ones untouched from these worries.
Time will heal every wound.
Whoever is tensed today,
look for a tree 🌳
Great advice indeed!
Feel like sharing a few reflections on a tree..
The tree symbolises the supportive grounding in the rootedness.
A tree is a friend for life.
Always there by you growing with you through the trials and tribulations.
A tree has few needs but gives so much.
It’s shade protects and it’s bearings nourishes.
There is much depth to this wisdom of being in touch with nature especially a tree … but more of it in my next article.
Have you ever taken the time to embrace a tree for a while . If you haven’t I suggest some time off with just you and a tree. You will certainly feel more collected in your thoughts connected in your heart with yourself in time.
So care to spend some time nurturing a tree if you can . Your life will be better for sure!
A few reflections of life and living…
Life is truly unpredictable!
Vagaries at work is part and parcel of life. Stressful living and tensions seem at an all time high. Sometimes we all need a shoulder of support.
It takes consistent effort by one and all to build a thriving atmosphere in the family.
On power equations:
A gentle reminder to those who bring home the moolah! Simply ensure you do not take the loved ones at home for granted and use them as punching bags to vent out your own frustration from work .
There are many so called powerful people who seem successful in professional and social circuit who get on by downloading their insecurities and problems to their families. Nothing wrong in it. In fact the family is your strength and support and they will truly care and pray genuinely but as long as there is no violence attached.
Often domestic violence can be traced to a failure in a profession as much as a faulty upbringing or most often triggered by influence of alcohol. And as for alcohol well it cuts through barriers the rich and poor divides.In fact the addicted know no class under its influence. Then there is remorse and regrets but the memories of deeds done cannot be forgotten. At best perhaps, they may be only be forgiven.
An angle not much talked about is of the emotional and mental wounds… for such torture is inflicted especially on the financially dependent . As in knowing that the family cannot escape because of societal pressures there is more power to the aggressor in question.
What is relevant is knowing how to steer clear of passing the baton of worries to one and all and creating chaos confusion and at times utter despair. Besides developing patience to bear the inevitable truly one needs to learn the strength of equanimity in all situations.
Time heals all.
The truth is we will get on by in time. The pain and problems of today become small matters tommorow. And new experiences will occupy our thoughts and vie for attention. Such is the circle of life.
Savvy
You are a tiny speck in the multitude of multiverses around. Your life circle is what you are bound to create in your lifetime.
As life happens you will be drawn from your roots in various ways. New people and experiences will in time add new thoughts and dimensions of behaviour and you may perhaps feel a little or a lot away from your centre. In fact you may find yourself lost in your way . Rest assured that it can happen to one and all.
The patterns you draw are unique to you. You are your own choicemaker.
And as for the challenges in the paths that open…they are your life’s way of testing your faith in your path and providence. As you move forth to spread your wings to take the flight and experience time, be sure to keep a track of your center of being. Let it be your internal guide to bring yourself into balance.
The so called paths are open to all explore. The truth is out there and within you at the same time in the same moment. All is found is striking the balance.
The circle of life bears the wisdom of balance. The centre is the core and as you strive to balance the self towards your centre, your circle is strengthened by the interconnects of one’s own circle of being. And yet as you strive to reach out to others circle’s of being in the grids of connection, the circle of connections gets stronger in between while new dimensions are interpolated.
A few reflections…
Your life is not your own. Thinking so is an illusion.
You are meant to be all that you can be.
You have a purpose that is larger than your self .
You are meant to live and reach out and expand the self
You are meant to to merge and emerge in the new circles of connection.
The choice of being in true to yourself is yours to make
The patterns you create help expand the universe .
The connections you make in your lifetime leave a pattern in the grid for another to sense and evolve in time .
No two patterns are alike as the patterns are unique to your being.
Your purpose then is to live your life to the best of yourself.
Reach out to make connections and experience the realms while staying true to your centre.
As you learn your way back home, more will to find their way back home in time and space continumn.
Savvy
To be Continued.
Every writer has many or no reason about what and why they write …
It is the most natural thing to do or it is a task to even bring two words together. It is an integrative experience or a chore to get done with depending on our attitudes, to begin with!
Any artistic expression like writing is always very interconnected with the emotions an emotionally charged experience especially when you express anguish through words.
Writing can set free deep-seated emotions and in such freedom is the underlying responsibility…
Writing is a responsibility as once writ, the words have great power to stir emotions and touch hearts , to enthuse or infuse hope or hatred . So it is imperative to exercise awareness through every word written and published.
“It’s only words and
Words are all I have to take your heart away…”
And so the beautiful song ‘Words’ goes on but the truth is undeniable.
Words wield power and the choice of what you say or write matters a great deal than one can imagine.
Write to express
Write to share
Write to heal
Write to enjoy!
Savvy
Positive change begins with us.
Every living being is making a difference to the environment in every moment. The question is how and in what way can it become sustainable.
Like the Great Barrier Reef, once the coral reefs are affected there the entire ecosystem stops thriving, and less fresh water will flow through the lakes…
Closer home the topography of the Great Himalayas are changing as well.
With melting ice-caps, the collapse of vegetation and wildlife, and violent surges of hurricanes droughts and frequent wildfires are all concerns for our world.
And there is really not much difference in the apathy that is happening in the name of sustaining the future… only much similarity in the situation of corruption and deceit through politics of governing people whatever the part of the world we are living in.
What we can do for our Sustainability:
Besides the regular ‘Reuse, Recycle and Reduce’ advice that comes to mind immediately I am sharing a post I chanced upon recently https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/stopglobalwarming.php
I realise I am perhaps contributing in my little way by ‘Spreading Awareness'(Tip 35 on the list ) on the need for Environmental Sustainability … but I found a lot of the tips here pretty much adaptable and relevant to us as an individual …
For the true change starts from each of us.
Savvy
About the Author:
The keen observer in the picture is the little girl I have written about 🙂
The power of observation has no age barrier, some are gifted and some have to develop the latent power within, but we all certainly have it within us to reap the potential of this power.So do care to see a little beyond the denials and negations just trust and believe you can dance and then You Most Certainly Can Dance!
Savvy
This was first written for my dance students and future learners, a couple of years ago .But I felt it can be shared for the power of perseverance and belief makes all the difference !
Be a lamp or a lifeboat or a ladder
Help someone’s soul heal
Walk out of your house like a shepherd
Rumi
Precious words from Rumi which are empowering, to say the least, awakening in us to respect the innate potential we all possess to reach out to help another …
To help is to empower the mind body and spirit of another.
Empowerment is a powerful factor in building lives. Given the choice of transforming lives with the abilities, you own…if you are ready to help another…
What would you choose to be?
Being a Lamp :
A lamp lights up itself to light the way for another It is selfless and expansive . The light of a lamp lets you envision the strengths within the self as much as the others For to enable sight is to allow the envisionment. Being a light enables and empowers, as it throws light without fear or favour.
It is simply the quality of light to shine graciously!
Being a lifeboat:
It is the very purpose of a lifeboat to help save lives to allow another to hold on, to never fail in protecting from drowning in the voyage of life.
The lifeboat is a survival tool and is built to weather the storms without giving way. It floats on relentlessly without giving up to reach to safety.
Being a life boat in an emergency is like a godsend!. To save a life is to value its preciousness of the being.
Being a ladder:
Allowing the self to be utilized for another is the very nature of a ladder. In fact to be a ladder is to allow another to reach and aim higher to develop and evolve further.
A ladder is constructive in its very core essence, to build up another towards a goal.
Being a builder of another’s dreams and helping propel another to a cause greater than the self is the sign and strength of being a ladder. Being unmindful of the treading over of another in their attempt to reach their aspirations is a tall order indeed. The ladder provides the way without any personal gain.
Here are 3 beautiful sayings worth remembering always…
HANDS THAT HELP ARE HOLIER THAN LIPS THAT PRAY!
HELP EVER HURT NEVER.
ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS!
Self-empowerment &healing :
To help transform lives is to empower from the heart and make a difference!
However, it is about healing the self-first enough to let light in that helps others to see!
A friend in need is a friend indeed! ;
Whatever is your way to reach out and help, what is truly significant is the one who helps in time and need. For such a help is a hand of God in divine grace.
So make a choice to reach out to the world in your own unique way for it needs all the help it can get!
Sharing a beautiful story that will make us sense and acknowledge our inner feelings and help channelize its expression in a more evolved way with deeper understanding.
*The Empty Boat -A Story of Anger.*
A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation. After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own.
With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation. But when he opens his eyes, he sees it is an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.
At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.
From then on, whenever he came across someone who irritated him or provoked him to anger, he reminded himself: ”The other person is merely an empty boat. The anger is within me……”
In reality, we all have the anger within us, all the time, All it needs is someone, like the empty boat, to provoke it.
This story makes us think on many levels especially so on anger management.
Is our anger innate?How deep does it delve?
How much is our responsibility in acknowledging our true selves.
Acknowledgement is a step towards a response than reaction .
Acceptance leads to greater self-awareness.
Savvy
The question is not only why feel provoked with anger but how to manage it. How can it be circumvented? Is there a way to do so?
Every time we recognize where the anger resides we will learn to accept the source is the self than others. And then make an effort to not suppress or repress but channelize it in more productive ways.
In our wheel of human behaviour and emotions, Anger sits in the opposite spectrum of joyousness. It is a negative emotion that propels further negative thoughts. There arises the backlash of discontent and disorientation in various degrees depending on the level of anger that manifests.
Anger truly serves no purpose than destruction
For true peace, it can be a bone of contention
So let go of all anger and false pretensions
And value the calm that you actually are.
Savvy
On a lighter note here are a few reflections towards channelling arising negative emotions in awareness
and some amazing quotes from the great souls to go with it !:))
Think Humorously:’ If red is the colour of anger it is the colour of love too!’
Think Happy: ‘For every minute of anger you are losing 60 seconds of happiness ..’.Ralph Waldo Emerson
Think Creatively:’The Greatest remedy for anger is delay!’
Think Practically: ‘He who angers you conquers you’.
Think Logically: ‘You will not be punished for your anger but by your anger…’ Buddha
Think Peacefully: ‘Anger is the ultimate destroyer of your own peace of mind’. Dalai Lama
Think Kindly: ‘Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you…’ Bible
Think of changing the wavelengths:’ Anger makes you smaller while forgiveness forces you to grow
beyond what you are!’
Paying attention to your breath: Breath in the now…to release resentment
In the inhale and exhale.: Pause to respond and delay a reaction
Express Positivism: Let your past make you better, not bitter
Express Humility: ‘Angry people are not always wise…’ Jane Austen
Express Gratitude: ‘ Anger won’t make your problems easier but gratitude will make you stronger.’
Whenever you can …
Because you always can!
Getting to the truth of it all!
Beyond time is the eternal truth.
As time is caught in its own warp and loop,
Mirrored in their dimensions
Of patterns and pathways
Of their own making…
To aspire into the yet unknown,
To reach beyond existence,
Of knowing what lies beyond mortality
And all in the vulnerability and irrationality
And touch the core of creation
In coherent contemplation
As connected in continuum
In the interweaving of this interplay
Arises the dawn of consciousness.
To care to fine tune your skills to artistry
Is to perfect the preciseness of the point of view.
Envision this profoundness in the spaces between
Thought and action
In conviction and creation
Of a dimension that is but a mirror
Of its own very existence,
Bringing the fallacies and the facade
Out in the open to sift out the truth of it all.
Savvy Raj
About me:Wellness Mentor, Artist ,Dance Educator & Trainer Motivational Speaker, Writer, Freelance Designer
Creativity stems from the acceptance of your authentic self. It is a never-ending journey of endless possibilities that is much beyond the pursuit of a hobby or craft and is a habit of a lifetime. So besides being a Dance Educator as a Wellness coach, I offer a variety of Personal Effectiveness Programs for Self-development. Being a Writer and a Designer creating art gives me immense satisfaction with the infinite ways of expressing myself as I believe in enjoying the journey as much as the destination.
Care to paint, write, draw, dance, sing and smile and simply let yourself be your authentic self and you will find the extraordinary in every moment.
Savvy
Artworks Savvy Raj .
Savvy Raj 
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