We have been reading about climate change; have felt the weather become more unpredictable, the sun more relentless with every passing year. The news, choked with inexplicable natural disasters, warns us every day of what scientists have been warning against for decades.
Earth is melting.
Everyone needs to step-up their sustainability game if we want our planet to survive. Here are a few things I have been following to make more eco-conscientious/sustainable decisions. They are small steps but they are in the right direction.
Re-purposing and reusing plastic containers – we give the bottles that can be recycled to our local raddiwala. We repurpose spray bottles, empty alcohol bottles, small cosmetic plastic containers and take-away containers. For example, spray bottles are very practical to carry liquid hand sanitizer/diy facial mist/diy body moisturiser/diy home cleaners; empty alcohol bottles make excellent water bottles.
Switching to DIY recipes where I can – cosmetics create a lot of plastic. I have switched to a DIY facial cleanser (gram flour + turmeric) in the morning. It suits my sensitive skin and stored in a repurposed glass jar, it sits right next to the sink. A DIY light summer moisturiser (mix of rose water and glycerin) in a repurposed spray bottle is another hack I enjoy.
Switch to sustainable brands – we are more aware shoppers now. I still end up buying a lot of plastic, directly or indirectly, but the effort to look for brands that promote sustainable products with eco-friendly packaging is real. Earth Rhythm is an excellent sustainable brand. I have switched to their charcoal soap to wash my hair and could not be happier.
Bamboo toothbrushes and biodegradable q-tips, I recently tried these from Becoand would recommend them.
We use stainless steel and glass for water bottles and kitchen storage and lighter, smaller stainless steel bottles to carry around while travelling.
Have you taken any sustainable/eco-friendly steps lately?
A thousand factors impact our lives; influencing and carving a mark on it. As children we are dependent on others and most of our behaviour is learned through direct or indirect observations. Our trials, victories, heart aches and needs all are bundled up inside us. As we grow up, we find coping strategies that fit the expectations of society. However, emotions are not concrete blocks but fluid energy that needs release. Since we are not equipped to deal with pain, disappointment and anger in a healthy way (that is to acknowledge, accept, feel and release them in a positive way) these feelings simply lurk beneath the surface and they make us more reactive than responsive.
A powerful tool and one of the most effective ways to heal is to get in touch with our inner child, our roots. Imagine a child throwing a tantrum over and over for attention but never gets the love they need. Our emotions are representative of our trapped, tantrum throwing inner child. It needs to be acknowledged, loved and allowed the freedom to express in a positive way.
Through meditation, guided meditations, or being aware of the reason of our reactions we can tune into the unfulfilled needs of the inner child and give it the love and support it deserves.
Start by –
1. Listening to the inner child with an empathetic ear
2. Acknowledge their pain and allow self to feel it
3. Watch when the inner self reacts or is afraid, breathe and imagine that you are talking to them, even hugging them. Ask the inner child what it needs. Give it validation.
These few steps will bring up a lot of emotions to the surface. Its like purging your life of unfulfilled emotional baggage that you might not be even aware of. Accept, forgive and let go. Assure your inner child that it was the past, and now we are in it together. Although these few steps have helped me tune in, I would recommend therapy for any unresolved trauma or conflict. Mental health is not a joke. Mental health is not a taboo.
Have you tried connecting with your inner child? What was your experience?
When was the last time you truly connected to yourself? Where the chaos and the noise of the outside world drowned into a peaceful lull. You can feel your body from within, its rigour, pain, and energy. A sense of gratitude takes over, after all, there’s so much to beauty to experience.
I would want to stay for as long as I can in a state of peaceful bliss but it doesn’t happen all that often. A focussed meditation is not for everyone. It takes serious commitment and is very intense. If you are keen on exploring connecting to your higher self and taking out time for meditation seems impossible, try Mindfulness to begin with.
What is Mindfulness? I am heavily going to quote ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’ by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh for this piece because its the simplest yet the most effective book written to understand and practice Mindfulness, according to me. I recommend that you read this little gem. I assure you there are no heavy philosophical and spiritual discourses that might give you a migraine. Mindfulness is simply “keeping one’s consciousness alive to the present reality.”
Mindful is no easy feat, in fact, mindfulness in everyday life requires as much commitment as a sitting and focussed meditative practice. I recommend it over a sitting practice to start with because –
1. we can incorporate it anytime we need to.
2. With continued practice mindfulness becomes easier to recall and experience.
3. We are more present and conscious to the moment
4. Is very effective if one is trying to be more responsive than reactive.
5. It’s more evident in practice, so the application in a situation would encourage one to go deeper into the practice.
6. Makes you aware of your thought patterns while going about your everyday life.
There are many other benefits to Mindfulness. If you are embarking on your meditative journey, the easiest points of bringing awareness into your body through the technique of Mindfulness are –
1. Using Breath as a tool
In ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’ by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh he explains “Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again. Breathe in lightly a fairly long breath, conscious of the fact that you are inhaling a deep breath. Now breathe out all the breath in your lungs, remaining conscious the whole time of the exhalation.”
2. Making everyday activities Mindful
Thich Nhat Hanh explains that every activity we carry out should be done with awareness. If we are in a hurry to finish the chores like washing dishes, it means “that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes”. When you are washing the dishes or carrying out any work be aware of it and give it importance.
3. Creating space between thoughts
This is a lazy persons cheat hack that I learnt from a workshop I attended about being Present in the moment. When you want to give your thought a break, pause and reflect but there’s constant turmoil, ask yourself, what is it that I am going to think next? What would be my next thought?
When we put the attention and mindfulness on our active brain, it feels it’s been put in a spotlight and you create a little window between thoughts. It’s easier to be more mindful of the next activity you take on thereafter.
Mindfulness is a great way to examine your thought patterns. My advice would be to take it easy. Focusing on a task as mundane as washing dishes is not a party in the backyard, when there are a hundred other things to take care of. I began my mindfulness journey by bringing my attention back whenever I recalled the tool, which was not that often at the beginning. The key is to be gentle with yourself, keep reminding to check in with the breath, and try to find joy in whatever you are doing. If watering plants, don’t rush the process, listen to the water quenching the thirst of the life that gives us life. Reflect on the beauty of the leaves of the plant, the texture of the soil, how your breath is relaxed because this brings joy to you. Breathe.
At the onset of Covid, we began our day with a sense of drudgery. Watching the news, following the alarming increase in the number of cases world over, powerful leaders at their knees, saw thousands of migrant workers broken in spirit, many starved to death. The economies around the world plummeted, unemployment rampant. We carried on with what we could, trying to make sense of what was happening around, realising we as a race are so frail, without power.
Covid has its entourage of consequences that we have to deal with, mental health being one of them. I have been looking at what meaning we can derive from this suffering.
Victor E. Frankl, in his beautiful book, Man’s Search for Meaning, explains “What is demanded of man is not, as some existential philosophers teach, to endure the meaninglessness of life, but rather to bear his incapacity to grasp its unconditional meaningfulness in rational terms.” Suffering like happiness is a part of life. We often ask ourselves, others and in our prayers, ‘Why do we suffer?’ It’s a question that can find resolution in philosophical, spiritual or religious understanding, but never in concrete terms, but yet, it remains a fact based on collective and individual experiences. If we do try to apprehend meaning out of our suffering in a rational way and try to apply our derived message by giving it some direction, to help ourselves and others, our suffering would hold to have some logic to it.
In the movie Collateral Damage (starring Will Smith in the lead, got terrible reviews) a mourning father retreats from life and is angry with God. Spoiler alter – God sends him angels who try to make him see the collateral beauty of pain and suffering. You only get to know the angels are not humans toward the end, but that’s besides the point. I am not talking about angels descending on Earth and God answering all our prayers, but about the movie that makes us want to live a more purposeful life even after losing a child. (I have goosebumps and a nasty uneasiness just writing about it. The cast is brilliant, give me Helen Mirren in any role and I am all senses in)
Away from our super fast paced lives, sheltered somewhat from the societal expectations of being a superhero in a human costume, I have certainly felt a change in me. I have looked deeper, and have formed a more meaningful connection with myself and with my family. I craved space from my children, who I felt demanded too much of my time and energy, I missed the time for myself when they were in school. Six months into lockdown, I look forward to them going out and enjoy the fresh air and space to run around and just be messy kids outdoors, but I no longer crave a space between them and I, that would turn me into a restless mother, and sometimes even a frustrated ill tempered one (well frustrated and tempered, sometimes, Covid didn’t turn me into a saint, yet!) We have learnt to live together with a renewed respect of each other’s being. They have accepted their mum needs alone time, is a mild case of OCD and I have accepted that they like to be all over me all the time and have no interest in keeping a clean house. That’s just how is it. It’s a messy, most of the time feel good situation, without the need to keep up with any pretences. Temper tantrums are taken care of by lending an empathetic ear by both parties (children and parents) the by-product of which is to realise that our engines are running fast and are hot, and we now give each other time to calm down. We read a lot of books together, make up stories and play board games. Sometimes we admit to one another that we are bored or upset and just need to be grumpy.
I started reading again, realised I hate multitasking and love cooking, joined a few workshops online that I always wanted to do, have been watching documentaries, listening to audiobooks, doing a lot of home chores, learnt to roll sushi! Looked for what really brings me down and keep my distance from it. My relationship with my husband has gone through tremendous changes too. We are more honest of our expectations of each other and voice it out more often, than letting it simmer with our high and mighty egos intact (usually mine more than his). Now that I am writing this, maybe I did need this break. This time away from the world, yet, understanding how important true connections are. How important gratitude is.
I long to be with my family in Delhi, I want to hug my parents and tell them I love them, sit with my siblings and nieces and nephews and laugh over desserts and shawarmas late into the night. I don’t know when we will be taking that trip but I speak to them more often than I did on the phone. Being an ignorant consumer doesn’t interest me now, I am more aware of the choices I make. I am more accepting of myself, just being in my body and connecting to a higher self, not certain if I’ll cross that threshold but there is some more clarity. I am certain we are nearing an oncoming revolution, this time it won’t be of land, property, greed, power or fragile egos but of morality.
Maybe the universe is giving us a chance to look within and really evaluate what’s happening around, Earth is better off without a parasite called homo sapien, the other elements say, but we have been given an opportunity to find our roots again. We have no power, it’s an illusion. Accepting what is and living our reality with a higher sense of purpose is then the collateral beauty of suffering.
Sharing a few quotes from Eckhart Tolle, one of the most influential spiritual leaders of our times. He explains that the only way to be alive is to live the present moment well, with awareness and in connection with our inner Being. Highly recommend to start with his book The Power of Now, if you are interested in reading his work.
“If you cannot accept what is outside, then accept what is inside.”
Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.
The Banyan Tree Project 