Fly Free:

Bipasha, imagine yourself standing at the edge of a cliff. When you heal yourself completely, you will feel so light and free that you will want to fly.

My body had felt dense in those days. For years I had been ruthless and focused on owning up to and facing my mental demons, that I did not realize my physical body needed attention as well. While accurately pinpointing the physical areas of my body that needed healing, the shaman master gave me a prognosis of being just 67% healthy. And this after a decade of either playing tennis, running, cycling, or walking as my weekly dose of exercise!

In due course, I realized that even though you think you are healthy – both mentally and physically - you are not healthy in the real sense. Even though you face up to your mental demons and do your daily meditations, you are still not Really over your mental demons. And just exercising your body, ofcourse, is never enough. You are free only when you have stripped and cleansed every cell in your body, and mentally and emotionally so true to yourself that the outer, external realities cease to matter. Only and only then you can feel light and be Free.

I have also realized that we put a lot of effort in eating right and exercising well, but we are nowhere connected to our bodies. I have also realized that we are way too attached to our past, we cling onto our hurts, grief, injustice or notions of injustice etc. like the veritable last straw – the pain or hurt by now such a familiar space that its difficult stepping out into the unknown.  

Imagine then, how experiences keep adding layers to your body and mind as you age, making your energy dense and heavy. Now imagine, over 90% of 7 billion people on Earth living in similar conditions. The millions of ‘like’ that one can see for hundreds of poignant stories on just one page of ‘Humans of New York’ are an attestation of that. What a dense base-level world we are living in!

Well, life can be unrelenting. And add to that the omnipresence of toxicity. We owe ourselves and our bodies a chance to do what they are supposed to do. Here are a few things I do now, and hence can suggest the same to others:

• Connect with your body. Your body will tell you what you need to eat and what you need to avoid. For regular, small ailments like cold, cough, upset tummy etc. practice home remedies as a start. The body is an amazing healer; allow it to do its work. 

• Let loose. We are very rigid when it comes to thoughts, opinions, ways of work, and even how we move our bodies. Dance, do yoga, or headstands – anything to get rid of that rigidity. 

• Keep your body active. Walk that 500 meters rather than hailing a cab or auto. 

• Eat only when you are hungry, and eat just as much as required. Ideally we should go back to what our ancestors followed – t wo meals a day, last meal around sundown. Give your stomach some rest. 

• Be aware of what you are eating. Be mindful of the water you are drinking. Show your gratitude. 

• Develop your daily morning or evening routine, a time just for yourself. You can exercise, meditate, do your art, say your mantras, or whatever brings you back to yourself! 

• Go and heal yourself of all your chronic ailments. There are hundreds of alternative therapies – pick one and stay the full course. Most ailments are inter-connected, so just trying to resolve one and not the others might not work. 

• Resolve your mental and emotional demons. It’s difficult but doable. Again there are various forms of therapy, keep at it until you break your patterns. Each experience – bad or good – has something to teach you. Learn from them, show your gratitude, and let them go.
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• De-clutter and clear your space regularly. There are many ways to clear spaces; I use mostly rock salt in ‘pocha’ water. It might sound mumbo-jumbo, but trust me, it works. But always over a period of time. 

I am still a case in progress, and I have a long way to go. But I have glimpsed that lightness of being when I released one of my chronic problems. Then I had felt I could run up twenty flights of stairs. Now I am waiting to fly - light and free.