When you lose your sense of Self
You find yourself
©Savvy Raj
Finding You
Category Archives: lifestyle
To share is to learn
Unconference, the word piqued my curiosity for a while until I checked it up on the internet, only to find that the idea has gained tremendous momentum across the globe.
The idea of un-structuring the ingrained structure seemed interesting to say the least, in creating spaces and possibilities to honour the learning.
Suffice to say recently, when I came across an Unconference event in the local newspaper I decided I must make a visit.
The venue of this Unconference was the well known Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts in Pune. I reached just in time for the proceedings to untold.
A customary registration ensued and I was greeted by a few volunteers with a relaxed warm and welcoming attitude. Clearly, the Unconference had started right there.
The word Conference kind of stiffens people up. There is a formal attitude, a thick air of competition to perform at their very best. There are fees and strict rules to adhere to. There are super busy organisers scurrying through and tension is writ large on their faces and their bodies as well are stressed out with expectations of the outcome of the event. Suited men and women whizz through looking super important. And yes there would be a Chief Guest of honour and a coterie of important people who need VIP handling… Adherence to their whims and fancies and most importantly their speeches which may or may not be of interest to any. But all must endure as to get up and leave is an offence to the speaker.
On the contrary here, there was a prevalent free-spirited feeling in the first place that all were in it together. The sense of community always takes time to build so I stood in that room with a small group of people waiting for the (informal introductory practice,) the opening circle.
The Opening Circle :
Someone from the group had taken an initiative to design a pretty pattern made of flowers in the centre of the space and light a lamp there.
A few introductory rounds later which turned out to be icebreakers with a few games to let loose and get into the flow.
There was a board set up with a mention of few rooms and a time slot to boot. The participants were encouraged to choose to attend or conduct workshops or just wander around and network.
A few people got up to mention their workshops and claim their slot. On a moment’s impulse although I was not exactly in the right attire for a dance workshop I simply decided to go with the flow and offered a Dance connection workshop by me.
Encouraged by a decent number of participants I let the moment take the lead. As I began teaching I witnessed the flow of the energy in the exchange.
I spoke about the dance, hold, frame and positioning and started introducing them to partner dancing and some basic steps. Bit by bit people shed inhibitions as they were getting tuned into the moves.
The moment strangers began to hold hands and face one another… for many, there was harmony to be found in the mirror imaging. For after all the lead and follow were simply an extension of each other dancing as one unit.
The energy in the room turned up a notch with the Achy Breaky Heart country cha sounds of Billy Ray Cyrus for company.
All started sensing the tuning in to the rhthymic expression of music & movement with their partners at that moment.
After the dance workshop I asked what they felt in that moment and here is what they shared immediately…
Deeply grateful!https://video.wordpress.com/embed/oSaZbzqt?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=1&loop=0&preloadContent=metadata&muted=0&playsinline=0&controls=1&cover=1
The Give and Take
Truly to immerse yourself in that which you love all you have to do is to take a step … for your own good as much as for the others.
Essentially the whole experience was to me simply about honouring life energy in all its uniqueness of expression.
Great experience being a part of this interesting initiative!
Hope to see more of such initiatives across the country and our world.🙏
Savvy
#unconference #innovative #unconventional #life #positivity #appreciation #inspirations
Author: Savvy Raj
Dance Educator, Writer, Artist, Designer, Wellness Mentor & Consultant
Strengthen your feet
Sitting for long hours at work can be rather stressful for those who have sedentary work. In such cases taking good care of your feet health is very important for your heart and overall health.
What can you do besides wearing comfortable shoes, soaking your feet in warm salt water after work,
massaging your feet from time to time.
However when at work you can
incorporate a simple practice of taking a short walk every one hour to break monotony and reduce the impact of long hours of sitting in a chair.
As a Ballroom dance teacher I used some simple props for my students to help strengthen their feet.
Elevating your feet when ever possible, can reduce pressure on the blood vessels, lowering fatigue and release stress.
One is simply rolling a tennis ball under your feet for a few times in a day to release the strain and
tension.
Another easy way is to
have a small terry towel under
your feet and to try to lift it by
scrunching your toes.lt helps
tone, stretch & ease your feet
muscles.
They are both easy to carry and can help you do a feet workout as you work.
Do try and let me know if it helps.
©Savvy Raj
Music & moods
Play on…
When you are in the mood for music, play on
When you are feeling low, play on
When you are exhausted and tired and you want to revive your mood play on
Music is therapeutic and the healing
nature of sound energy can be tuned
into to change your mood & manage
emotions and lift your spirits.
Take some time to create an upbeat
playlist that perks you up and
engerizes you and get up from your
chair to move arounda bit.
Take a short walk every once in a while. with some great music for company..It will
bring a spring in your step and smile
in your heart.
In fact for every part of
the day, you can have a playlist of
your own choice. Take time to create
yours… if you haven’t already and do
listen… The right music makes a
powerful difference.
Play on…
Savvy
Love Life Live
©Savvy Raj
To you my readers
Every day I write
It’s been so for more than six years now
I don’t plan on what to write
I just put the words as they come
But somehow from somewhere
From deep within they flow
Through me…
And then one look at what I wrote
I get the title immediately
Many times the title comes first
And I begin to write
And then I just happen to share with you all my readers
Some of you engage with me all most daily
And I am so full of Gratitude for your presence here.
Thankful for your likes and comments
You readers really make my day
Especially when you leave a kind & thoughtful word.
It’s truly special to see an old reader drop by chance and connect again
It’s a wonderful feeling…
When at the fag end of the day
I sit to read your thoughts
It makes me motivated to want to write some more.
Words are all I have
To share with you
I hope to share the best of them & I hope to read and learn from yours…
And hope to stay connected
With you in times to come
For I believe to share is to learn some more…
Thank you for the love you share here.
©Savvy Raj
When the truth tumbles…
Life as a couple
Has its own challenges
Yet what matters is trust
In a loving relationship.
Trust that makes you feel safe
That makes you sense security
And value for being you.
To be heard, & loved as you are.
Often expectations from one partner
To toe the line and accept everything
Brings in uncomfortable silences
Or unwanted arguments and conflicts
Breaking a relationship gradually.
Perhaps it is about negligence
Or lack of consideration & care
Perhaps it’s about lack of empathy
Or even inequality that creates a gap
That widens in time and cracks
The strongest of partners.
Compromise or need
May keep them staying together
Just existing not living a life.
The show goes on…
Until it one day becomes unbearable.
And the inevitable truth tumbles.
These words above are deeply interlinked in the flow of thoughts that arose after I read a translation by my mother from a Tamil quote forwarded on Social media.
Interesting to note it is from a divorced husband after 10 years of realization.
‘Don’t show your pride before your wife.
She came to you just believing in you
Not your relatives.
My property
My earnings
My will
Then who is she?
What is the meaning of her life with you?
Can’t she have her dreams, her desires, to be fulfilled with you?
On reading this message
Something more rankled my mind
The question of expectations
To be fulfilled by the partner.
It’s never about needs
Being fulfilled by the other
But with one another.
In todays world
It’s about finding time
To be present in the now
With one another.
How many agree?
Savvy
Ladders that lead
I wrote this piece with respect for so many entrepreneurial spirits and their enterprise. Who catapult to fame and recognition but then often find themselves unable to sustain themselves. And the heart-wrenching truth is that not all have the resilience and the capability to bounce back.
But life is a circle and change is the order of nature.
In the toughest of rounds
Keep the faith and patience
And trust time to show the way…
Ladders that lead
The climb is a chase, but the fall is steep.
So persevere on beyond just the achievement.
Be tenacious in ascent & resilient in descent.
Ladders that lead you higher in the name of career success, fame and glory lead you to so much more than just that. As you climb each step gradually, you inch closer to your dreams.
You are chalking your life in every move. And then in the pinnacle of your success…
You realize you have reached your goal.
Here is the point of discernment
As you observe, check the signs around you
Are you ready to play the game of survival?
You will receive less warmth here than ever before.
Your colleagues will change their minds
Think twice before supporting you.
Fear not and keep on going
Stay mindful in the moment.
Ladders are meant to go up and down. If you have climbed up you must know to establish your survival modes else there is the ladder that brings you down.
But it’s twice much harder to bear, on the way down than the challenges you face on the way up.
What do you do when ladders do the disappearing act?
Sometimes the ladder vanishes
And there is no clear way to step down
Except for a blind leap of faith.
There may be darkness and uncertainty
Sadness and silence
Shame and blame
All devastating effects
Of loss and failure
Yet the trick is to go on
Correcting your ways
Learning from the experience
And letting go of past foibles.
Mistakes make you more aware
Hurt a little and you are cautious
In pain there is understanding
It’s what to watch out for!
Paths that may seem easy
May get you embroiled in complexities.
Watch yourself along the way
For the journey takes all of you!
You will encounter much support on the way up
But once you are catapulted into the halls of fame…
You will find many critics and judgments
From those watching with interest
How you are managing it from here.
With all those judgemental eyes on you
One slip is a sure fire miss and costs a lot!
Watch your every stepand move
For you are being followed
Here is where your resilience is tested!
Stay true to who are.
Look ahead as you trust yourself.
Paths can appear out of nowhere.✨🙏✨
Savvy
Finding our pathway
In this rut of routine…
That’s our so called lifestyle
In pursuit of our dreams,
We forget the purpose of our existence.
When the limbs and mind get tired
we start searching,
the meaning of our life.
It is never too late.
In just a little effort
To step out of our own ways
Many paths open up…
That leads us to walk on
Until we find our own way.
Life the divine teacher
To the divine teacher
Called Life.
Who continues to teach
Until the lesson is learnt
Who tests us at the most unexpected moments.
In the many paths that lead us home
Who is the teacher of true meaning of freedom
From assumptions & limitations to true liberation
To develop our awareness & resilience.
To thrive on in this moment from now…
Namaste🙏
Savvy
Harness your Potential
Whatever they are
List Your Strengths
Like so…
Creative thinking
Aesthetics
Integrity
Balance
Calm
Vision
Focus
Patience
Empathy
Compassion
Kindness
Generosity
Trustworthiness
Loyalty
Dignity
Self Confidence
Writing
Poetry
Language
Loving kindness
Diplomacy
Symmetry
Simplicity
Organization
Mindfulness
Management
Collaboration
Connection
Clairsentience
Care
Flow
Positivity
Enthusiasm
Faith
Respect
Resilience
And so on…
What about them?
Will life become successfully lived by just having them.
What are we doing with them?
We all have the power and potential to create change.
Have we recognised our potential within by nature or nurture and assimilated our inner strengths to manifest our deepest intentions?
Take a moment to write your own list of strengths
Whatever they are…
There is a purpose to you having them.
Unlock your uniqueness harness your potential
There is great power in your own potential…
But realize that you are the one who can harness the potential within.
Savvy
On stress & destressing
It’s not the stress
That is dangerous
But the what we do not do
About the stress that is.
And if we do try to do something the question then is…
Do we really know what we do
Is the right way to destress?
When we suppress
What is stressing us
We are creating pressure
Within us that will burst out in time
When we get angry
Lose out temper
Not only we lose dignity
But we lose our own health
So whether you are a caregiver
Or having chronic ailments
Whether you are feeling burnout
Or finding no way out.
Suppression creates disease
And anger creates heart problems
So between suppression and outbursts
Is a fine edge of balance
To not tilt to the extreme
But to create a pathway to unblock
To vent out without flare ups
To open the door without break it up
It’s all about channeling the flow…
Whether you are battling a crisis
Or feeling lonely on the inside
Whether you are on the edge of rage
Or you feel you have no clue in life…
Remember
There are as many channels as there are challenges
Consider these as a sample of options.
Conversation and dialogues
Socialisation and friendships
Any activity, Art and creativity
Or passion in perseverance.
Workshops and events
Programs, Therapies galore
Hobbies interests, support groups
Community service or mentorship. Education & self learning.
Meditation and mindfulness
Alternative Healing modalities.
Would you like to add more…
Savvy
What face do you want to choose?
In the journey of life, love appears, it shows many faces…
Love is matter of perspective.
It can pick the color of one’s mood.
It can make us generous.
It can make us selfless.
It can make us strong.
It can protect.
It can bind us
It can make us happy & can bring us bliss and blessings.
It can do magic and wonders.
It can make us feel light.
Another face of love
It can be possessive.
It can make us jealous.
It can make us angry.
It can make us weak
It can hide the loved one’s faults.
It can blind us
It can make us vengeful.
The extreme negative expression of love is hatred.
Choosing it positive or the other way is in our hands.
Which face do you want to choose ?
Divine love can make you see light.
Embodying this light, keep the journey on.
The path will be illuminated.
The journey will be a blessing.
Keep the love and light in your heart,
To make this journey pleasant .
A poem by my mother Anjana
Seeing light
Your yesterday may have seemed very tough
Your entire body may have taken a toll
Your head and heart may have felt heavy
Your eyes may have welled up in tears
Your emotions choking you
Your breathing may have been constricted
Your muscles may have felt tight. Your steps laboured and dragging
Perhaps a sense of resignment may have reigned all through the day…
Yes it may have been more than you could handle
But handle you did
For you are alive and kicking.
Today your heart is lighter
And you are breathing easy
With a song on your lips
And a dance in your steps
Your body willing
And in enthusiastic spirit Looking forward to another day
To put in your very best
And make it another great day!
The question is then, what is happening in you, one moment to another
And what are you doing to alter the effects of the moment.
And what actually alters everything.
Simply put, your own thoughts
And the power of your choice
Choosing one thought over the other.
Trust life to show many colours every day but know you have the choice in how you choose see and perceive it.
Every day can be good or bad day…
But it’s in the way you chose see it… That changes the day!
Savvy
Pune 8th July 23
Savvy Raj 
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