Dipa Shivani
‘Be positive as it reflects your soul’ – DS
How many times have we heard people around us complain – ‘oh my luck is always bad!’, ‘whenever I am happy, something bad happens’, ‘I am ugly’, ‘ I am fat’, ‘I hate myself’….
We tend to forget that we are the outer cover of our soul within. How difficult is it to inculcate a positive attitude in ourselves?
When you are facing a tough/critical situation, DO NOT PANIC, make use of common sense and logic, believe in your self, take help from your relatives/friends (and even strangers at times) if required, note down all possible solutions and start working on the problem with a positive attitude. REMEMBER – the situation will be with you till you want it to be. It will not last forever.
Positive attitude brings happiness to life. How many times have we seen people looking for happiness in materialistic things like making money, buying luxurious commodities, expensive dine-outs. Happiness only comes from within. You and only you can be happy if you choose to. Take charge of your mind and begin to fill it with healthy, positive, and courageous thoughts. We all have lovable qualities and we should know how to use them.
Here are few tips that will help you to develop positive attitude within ourselves and create a positive aura around you.
Sleep Well
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb
Sleep helps to improve/increase and maintain our energy levels. It boosts the immune system, helps to maintain emotional and mental balance and increase overall quality of life.
In order to get a good sleep, follow the below tips:
1) Take a hot bath before sleeping as it will relieve stress
2) Plan your next days activities
3) If possible, perform meditation
4) Listen to soft music
5) Decrease mental activity before sleeping
6) Turn off the lights, keep the room well ventilated
7) Lighting a candle in one corner of the room. It creates a soothing atmosphere
8) Imagine your dreams coming true
Listen to your Inner Voice
The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings. ~Henri Frédéric Amiel
All of us have an insight but many of us fail to listen to or acknowledge it. Our inner voice is the positive side of us speaking to us and trying to make us cautious so that we do not follow the negative path. But mostly our EGO wins. In this battle between our ego and inner voice, we have to make sure that our insight has on upper hand. Take a piece of paper and jot down all the negative statements that you make on daily basis. Then try to change those phrases into positive statements, keep practising this until it becomes a habit. For example, “I’ll never finish this on time!” could become, “I will probably get most of this finished on time.”
Communicate:
" There are two types of people - those who come into a room and say, "Well, here I am!" and those who come in and say, "Ah, there you are." ~Frederick L. Collins
Effective Communication is one of the keys to success. Replace the negative language with positive words. If you have a problem, talk it out. Do not keep the anger and frustration with in you as this will hurt your soul from within. By not saying what and how you are feeling will add on to your depression and frustration. You will end up throwing unnecessary tantrums; playing blame-game and getting angry with people you love the most.
Strong Foundation
The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
To lead a positive life, keep in touch with reality
1) spending quality time with family
2) going out with friends
3) pampering your self
4) helping the needy and listening to others (and their problems)
5) admiring nature, contributing to the environment by indulging in environment saving activities
6) reading any book
7) developing a hobby that relieves stress
8) occasionally going to a religious place
9) allow yourself to be loved and have a special person in your life
10) discuss your problems and feelings
11) read out jokes loudly and act childish at times
12) look at the world from a child’s eyes and love the little ones around you
Holistic Healing
Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~Francesca Reigler
Follow the principles of holistic health - body, mind and SPIRIT harmonization. Include meditation in your daily routine. It improves confidence level and coping mechanisms. It helps to reconnect the inner self with the world around us. It changes your outlook from negative to positive.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright, quoted in Reader's Digest, June 1995
Dipa Shivani, is a regular member at Illuminations and works for Emirates Airlines.
You may contact her on dipa.shivani@emirates.com
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Dare to Dream...
By Dipa Shivani
Dreams are like stars…you may never touch them, but if you follow them they lead you to your destiny.
We all have numerous expectations from our life and ourselves. When we were young, we had dreams that became expectations from life. Expectations encouraged us to plan our life. We used to dream of what we want to do, what we want to be, what makes us happy, how we can please our parents. Our childhood was very naïve, at that stage we used to dream of getting good marks so that our parents can keep up their promise. Promise to take us to a park, to buy us chocolates, to buy new pair of Barbie sandals, to buy a spider-man bag. These promises encouraged us to dream.
As we grow up, our life seems to move in its own direction. Circumstances around us don’t seem to listen to our inner voice. They don’t seem to understand that we want to achieve our dreams. We accept success and failure and we move on. Circumstances like work pressure, family responsibilities, break-up in love or any relationship, busy lifestyle all these kill our dreams and derail us from our plan for life.
Things change, but don’t let these changes steal your dream. Get-up, move on towards the vision and achieve your dreams. People around you will encourage or discourage you. The encouragements will speed –up your run towards your goal. But the discouragements will lower you morale. Consider such discouragements as obstacles and just walk through them bravely. There are countless examples of people who have hung on their dreams and have seen them come true. Hugh Hefner of Playboy magazine did not put a date on his first issue because he was not sure that there would be another one. Helen Mirren had won her first Oscar when she was past 60! Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, suffered ridicule and rejection for more than 50 years before his work was recognized. It’s not the age that counts but having ability to dream and the courage to pursue that dream.
You don’t have any dream? Then find one! If you can not dream for your self, then dream for the ones you love and work towards accomplishing that dream. Make that dream a giant one, put a dead line on it and put all your efforts towards achieving it. Initially you will face hurdles, but eventually things will fall in place and finally you will achieve your dream. Keep dreaming because dreams will keep you alive. You have to understand that to achieve something, have faith and belief in yourself. Know your worth, work hard with determination, dedication and sincerity, you will see your dream come true. All this is not magic but it’s your efforts that are putting life into your dreams.
“To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.” - Bernard Edmonds
We all have numerous expectations from our life and ourselves. When we were young, we had dreams that became expectations from life. Expectations encouraged us to plan our life. We used to dream of what we want to do, what we want to be, what makes us happy, how we can please our parents. Our childhood was very naïve, at that stage we used to dream of getting good marks so that our parents can keep up their promise. Promise to take us to a park, to buy us chocolates, to buy new pair of Barbie sandals, to buy a spider-man bag. These promises encouraged us to dream.
As we grow up, our life seems to move in its own direction. Circumstances around us don’t seem to listen to our inner voice. They don’t seem to understand that we want to achieve our dreams. We accept success and failure and we move on. Circumstances like work pressure, family responsibilities, break-up in love or any relationship, busy lifestyle all these kill our dreams and derail us from our plan for life.
Things change, but don’t let these changes steal your dream. Get-up, move on towards the vision and achieve your dreams. People around you will encourage or discourage you. The encouragements will speed –up your run towards your goal. But the discouragements will lower you morale. Consider such discouragements as obstacles and just walk through them bravely. There are countless examples of people who have hung on their dreams and have seen them come true. Hugh Hefner of Playboy magazine did not put a date on his first issue because he was not sure that there would be another one. Helen Mirren had won her first Oscar when she was past 60! Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, suffered ridicule and rejection for more than 50 years before his work was recognized. It’s not the age that counts but having ability to dream and the courage to pursue that dream.
You don’t have any dream? Then find one! If you can not dream for your self, then dream for the ones you love and work towards accomplishing that dream. Make that dream a giant one, put a dead line on it and put all your efforts towards achieving it. Initially you will face hurdles, but eventually things will fall in place and finally you will achieve your dream. Keep dreaming because dreams will keep you alive. You have to understand that to achieve something, have faith and belief in yourself. Know your worth, work hard with determination, dedication and sincerity, you will see your dream come true. All this is not magic but it’s your efforts that are putting life into your dreams.
“To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.” - Bernard Edmonds
Dipa is working as training officer with Emirates Airlines and is settled in Dubai for past 29 years. She wants to thank illuminations for giving her an opportunity to post her first blog.
You may contact her on dipa.shivani@emirates.com
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Laugh, and the World Laughs With You
Dr. Pavan Nihalani
The universe always reinforces your belief systems.
To be even more emphatic, the universe does everything in its power to reinforce every single one of your belief systems, every single time.
When you believe something, you take great pleasure in noting that the circumstances around you seem to reflect that very same belief, thereby validating it. You then strut around with your chest out, claiming to have understood something very important about the way the universe works, and cite your experiences as proof. You call the kettle black, and then actually see that it is black, and then tell everyone around you that you always knew the kettle was black. Rarely do you realise, that if you had called the kettle white in the first place, the universe would have shown you a white kettle, and you would be just as justified in telling everyone that you always knew the kettle was white.
To put it in real terms, many of you have a person in your lives that you just don’t like. For one reason or another, there is always tension with this person and every experience with said person can be an excruciating ordeal. Miraculously, you find that nobody around you likes this person either. One by one, your families, friends, colleagues and acquaintances all come up to you and relate some story about how this very same person has screwed them over too. This makes you even angrier at the person, but now a sense of vindication creeps in – I knew it! I knew that there was something wrong with this person and look, everybody else thinks so too. Unfortunately, all this does is lead you into a downward spiral of contempt and anger and coldness, from which it is difficult to extricate yourself.
But, you have a choice.
You can continue to exist in this glutinous quagmire and condemn this person, and feel justified and proud each time someone comes along and reinforces your belief. Or you can change your belief system. You can step back and understand that the universe is just showing you a black kettle because you believe it to be black. And that if you want to see a white kettle, then all you have to do is start believing it is white. Many of you don’t want to see a white kettle. Your lives are just fine with a black kettle. But for those of you who want to change, you simply have to change your belief system about the person, and one by one, your families, friends, colleagues and acquaintances will come up to you and tell you about something nice that that very person has done to them.
It’s up to you.
PVN is partner at Illuminations and conducts workshops, therapies and awareness seminars on a variety of different holistic modalities. Contact him on pavan@illuminationsworld.com
The universe always reinforces your belief systems.
To be even more emphatic, the universe does everything in its power to reinforce every single one of your belief systems, every single time.
When you believe something, you take great pleasure in noting that the circumstances around you seem to reflect that very same belief, thereby validating it. You then strut around with your chest out, claiming to have understood something very important about the way the universe works, and cite your experiences as proof. You call the kettle black, and then actually see that it is black, and then tell everyone around you that you always knew the kettle was black. Rarely do you realise, that if you had called the kettle white in the first place, the universe would have shown you a white kettle, and you would be just as justified in telling everyone that you always knew the kettle was white.
To put it in real terms, many of you have a person in your lives that you just don’t like. For one reason or another, there is always tension with this person and every experience with said person can be an excruciating ordeal. Miraculously, you find that nobody around you likes this person either. One by one, your families, friends, colleagues and acquaintances all come up to you and relate some story about how this very same person has screwed them over too. This makes you even angrier at the person, but now a sense of vindication creeps in – I knew it! I knew that there was something wrong with this person and look, everybody else thinks so too. Unfortunately, all this does is lead you into a downward spiral of contempt and anger and coldness, from which it is difficult to extricate yourself.
But, you have a choice.
You can continue to exist in this glutinous quagmire and condemn this person, and feel justified and proud each time someone comes along and reinforces your belief. Or you can change your belief system. You can step back and understand that the universe is just showing you a black kettle because you believe it to be black. And that if you want to see a white kettle, then all you have to do is start believing it is white. Many of you don’t want to see a white kettle. Your lives are just fine with a black kettle. But for those of you who want to change, you simply have to change your belief system about the person, and one by one, your families, friends, colleagues and acquaintances will come up to you and tell you about something nice that that very person has done to them.
It’s up to you.
PVN is partner at Illuminations and conducts workshops, therapies and awareness seminars on a variety of different holistic modalities. Contact him on pavan@illuminationsworld.com
Saturday, July 4, 2009
From Manifestation to Miracles: The Art of Spiritual Surrender
By Soniyaa Kiran Punjabi
It was three years ago, a day after my 22nd birthday, when I moved from the helpless victim to the powerful creator. After my fateful meeting with Dr. Yuvraj Kapadia, a renowned Hypnotherapists in Bombay, In spirituality, I finally found logical answers, to all the illogical situations in my life.
Through knowledge of the power of the self, mind and consciousness I was able to understand that everything in my life was a result of my own thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and perceptions.
The empowering idea that I could create anything that I wanted, be it a dream relationship, wealth, a life purpose got me racing ahead on a journey of visualization and manifestation. With each workshop I did, and the fascinating insight I gained, I felt one step closer towards divinity. I lived, breathed, ate spirituality and all the holistic concepts I learned from the angels, to meditation, yoga, hypnotherapy, soul, karma past life etc…
In less than a year, I catapulted myself into a new universe in which I manifested an amazing relationship, a new life path and purpose of spreading awareness through the Illuminations platform, a special gift from the universe. Not to mention a life full of travels, adventures and epiphanies.
I was spreading the word like wildfire amongst my circle of friends, family, and pretty much anyone who crossed my path. I felt I was being guided through inspiration. I believed in every word I spoke, and did my best to apply the knowledge in my life with love and integrity. The outcome of my actions, were always in my favor so it was easy to operate out of passion without focusing on the end result.
And just when I thought I cracked the game of life, racing ahead to reach the illusionary finish line I set in my mind, things started to change.
I felt like everything I was experiencing was not good enough. I wanted more, and I was no longer satisfied with the result of my creations. I remember an event in which I set an intention to manifest forty people in a training program. When it soon happened, I didn’t even realize, because I was so busy focusing on new goals I was trying so hard to accomplish. The so called long-distance relationship of my dreams became an obligation, limiting my growth, and soon fell apart. These are just few examples.
Everything I wished, visualized and manifested was no longer fulfilling enough to make me happy. I slowly started experiencing situations in my life where I was no longer in control of the outcome. I could not understand why it was happening. Dr. Yuvraj would always joke with me that I was the bratty child of the universe, because of its unconditional love for me, I was easily able to manipulate it, into giving me anything I wanted. I felt justified with this attitude because I had worked hard for the universe, so there is no doubt the universe would bend its back to work for me.
Little did I realize it was my ego which began gaining momentum, and my loving universal father soon had a great learning in store for me. I recently read, “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan, or stubbornly hang onto your idea of how the plan should manifest.”
I soon started facing challenges situations, which left me frustrated. It wass as if I changed lanes, from the path of least resistance to the most resistance. This is not how its supposed to be I thought! The idea of not being in control was scary. The universe was humoring itself, at my expense!
I began spending a lot of time worrying about the outcome I so desperately wanted, and the manifestation model was working to no avail. I was holding on to my own ideas of happiness, of a specific plan I thought would be best for me, and I held tightly. I started restricting myself and these limitations began reflecting in my life. At one point, I felt I was back to square one. With all the awareness I had, I was feeling like a victim all over again.
I am a strong believer in signs, synchronicity and divine timing. I questioned the universe, and once again began my search for answers. Every message I received from books, friends, guides, teachers and even my own intuition, came with one simple message. LET GO!
Set an intention, surrender it to a higher power, and trust that the universe will bring to you what is in your highest good. I began to realize that, up until now I was manifesting based on what my ego or intellect thought was in my best interest. However, the intellect is rooted in logic, past conditioning, and driven by fear, therefore very limited in its perspective.
In Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book, the Power of Intention, he states, based on our social conditioning, the ego/intellect often convinces us to believe the following:
1.) I am what I have. My possessions define me
2.) I am what I do. My achievements define me
3.) I am what others think of me. My reputation defines me.
4.) I am separate from everyone. My body defines me as alone.
5.) I am separate from all that’s missing in my life. My life space is disconnected from my desires.
6.) I am separate from Universe.
When we strive towards our set goals based on our ego, all we end up with are manifestation intended to fill our voids and eventually cause us more fear. When we surrender to the high power of divinity, we allow miracles to happen, which are filled with happiness, love and contentment.
So what and who is this higher power?
This higher power, is a powerful version of yourself on the mountain top, who sees the broader perspective with love, and knows exactly the way to a path of least resistance. The Higher self, has all knowledge of your original life plan/purpose.
The ego, which is the restricted aspect of you, way down in the valley, sees only one path. The higher self, guides us lovingly through our intuition, but our ego rooted in ignorance turns a deaf ear. It is only when we fall flat on our face with no where else to look but up above, we begin to hear the inner voice.
Our job is to surrender our intentions to the higher self and remain in a state of being as if our miracles have already happened. The Job of the How? Why? is not our responsibility, and when we take them on, it often leaves us feeling burdened, stressed and weighed down.
From victim to creator, I feel I have entered what Joe Vitale describes in his book Zero Limits, the third phase which is surrender. I am now in a situation where my ultimate faith in the power of the universe is being tested, and how! I must admit, initially I had doubts, as the first thought was whether I was simply accepting defeat and giving up. Especially when only recently, circumstances with Illuminations were not working out according to the my plan of action, causing me a lot of initial pain, but ofcourse a great learning.
As I now begin to practice the art of surrender, I see powerful miracles happening to me everyday. The outcome is turning out to be way better than my intellect can comprehend! It's as if I happen to be at the right place and time, with minimal effort! The intuition within me is guiding me towards actions of love, which I know will yield the most appropriate results, even though at times the intellect finds it challenging to follow.
Earlier, I only believed in the power of the universe. When I now listen to my favorite tune by Guru Josh project, I feel totally in sync with the lyrics, “...Take your time, to trust in me…and you will find infinity....” I smile, being reminded of this deep sense of knowingness and comfort, that this higher power resides deep within us, is working out our divine plan, and we don’t need to operate out of false ego to run behind it. In the end, as commonly as we use this phrase, Everything does happen for the best!
It was three years ago, a day after my 22nd birthday, when I moved from the helpless victim to the powerful creator. After my fateful meeting with Dr. Yuvraj Kapadia, a renowned Hypnotherapists in Bombay, In spirituality, I finally found logical answers, to all the illogical situations in my life.
Through knowledge of the power of the self, mind and consciousness I was able to understand that everything in my life was a result of my own thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and perceptions.
The empowering idea that I could create anything that I wanted, be it a dream relationship, wealth, a life purpose got me racing ahead on a journey of visualization and manifestation. With each workshop I did, and the fascinating insight I gained, I felt one step closer towards divinity. I lived, breathed, ate spirituality and all the holistic concepts I learned from the angels, to meditation, yoga, hypnotherapy, soul, karma past life etc…
In less than a year, I catapulted myself into a new universe in which I manifested an amazing relationship, a new life path and purpose of spreading awareness through the Illuminations platform, a special gift from the universe. Not to mention a life full of travels, adventures and epiphanies.
I was spreading the word like wildfire amongst my circle of friends, family, and pretty much anyone who crossed my path. I felt I was being guided through inspiration. I believed in every word I spoke, and did my best to apply the knowledge in my life with love and integrity. The outcome of my actions, were always in my favor so it was easy to operate out of passion without focusing on the end result.
And just when I thought I cracked the game of life, racing ahead to reach the illusionary finish line I set in my mind, things started to change.
I felt like everything I was experiencing was not good enough. I wanted more, and I was no longer satisfied with the result of my creations. I remember an event in which I set an intention to manifest forty people in a training program. When it soon happened, I didn’t even realize, because I was so busy focusing on new goals I was trying so hard to accomplish. The so called long-distance relationship of my dreams became an obligation, limiting my growth, and soon fell apart. These are just few examples.
Everything I wished, visualized and manifested was no longer fulfilling enough to make me happy. I slowly started experiencing situations in my life where I was no longer in control of the outcome. I could not understand why it was happening. Dr. Yuvraj would always joke with me that I was the bratty child of the universe, because of its unconditional love for me, I was easily able to manipulate it, into giving me anything I wanted. I felt justified with this attitude because I had worked hard for the universe, so there is no doubt the universe would bend its back to work for me.
Little did I realize it was my ego which began gaining momentum, and my loving universal father soon had a great learning in store for me. I recently read, “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan, or stubbornly hang onto your idea of how the plan should manifest.”
I soon started facing challenges situations, which left me frustrated. It wass as if I changed lanes, from the path of least resistance to the most resistance. This is not how its supposed to be I thought! The idea of not being in control was scary. The universe was humoring itself, at my expense!
I began spending a lot of time worrying about the outcome I so desperately wanted, and the manifestation model was working to no avail. I was holding on to my own ideas of happiness, of a specific plan I thought would be best for me, and I held tightly. I started restricting myself and these limitations began reflecting in my life. At one point, I felt I was back to square one. With all the awareness I had, I was feeling like a victim all over again.
I am a strong believer in signs, synchronicity and divine timing. I questioned the universe, and once again began my search for answers. Every message I received from books, friends, guides, teachers and even my own intuition, came with one simple message. LET GO!
Set an intention, surrender it to a higher power, and trust that the universe will bring to you what is in your highest good. I began to realize that, up until now I was manifesting based on what my ego or intellect thought was in my best interest. However, the intellect is rooted in logic, past conditioning, and driven by fear, therefore very limited in its perspective.
In Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book, the Power of Intention, he states, based on our social conditioning, the ego/intellect often convinces us to believe the following:
1.) I am what I have. My possessions define me
2.) I am what I do. My achievements define me
3.) I am what others think of me. My reputation defines me.
4.) I am separate from everyone. My body defines me as alone.
5.) I am separate from all that’s missing in my life. My life space is disconnected from my desires.
6.) I am separate from Universe.
When we strive towards our set goals based on our ego, all we end up with are manifestation intended to fill our voids and eventually cause us more fear. When we surrender to the high power of divinity, we allow miracles to happen, which are filled with happiness, love and contentment.
So what and who is this higher power?
This higher power, is a powerful version of yourself on the mountain top, who sees the broader perspective with love, and knows exactly the way to a path of least resistance. The Higher self, has all knowledge of your original life plan/purpose.
The ego, which is the restricted aspect of you, way down in the valley, sees only one path. The higher self, guides us lovingly through our intuition, but our ego rooted in ignorance turns a deaf ear. It is only when we fall flat on our face with no where else to look but up above, we begin to hear the inner voice.
Our job is to surrender our intentions to the higher self and remain in a state of being as if our miracles have already happened. The Job of the How? Why? is not our responsibility, and when we take them on, it often leaves us feeling burdened, stressed and weighed down.
From victim to creator, I feel I have entered what Joe Vitale describes in his book Zero Limits, the third phase which is surrender. I am now in a situation where my ultimate faith in the power of the universe is being tested, and how! I must admit, initially I had doubts, as the first thought was whether I was simply accepting defeat and giving up. Especially when only recently, circumstances with Illuminations were not working out according to the my plan of action, causing me a lot of initial pain, but ofcourse a great learning.
As I now begin to practice the art of surrender, I see powerful miracles happening to me everyday. The outcome is turning out to be way better than my intellect can comprehend! It's as if I happen to be at the right place and time, with minimal effort! The intuition within me is guiding me towards actions of love, which I know will yield the most appropriate results, even though at times the intellect finds it challenging to follow.
Earlier, I only believed in the power of the universe. When I now listen to my favorite tune by Guru Josh project, I feel totally in sync with the lyrics, “...Take your time, to trust in me…and you will find infinity....” I smile, being reminded of this deep sense of knowingness and comfort, that this higher power resides deep within us, is working out our divine plan, and we don’t need to operate out of false ego to run behind it. In the end, as commonly as we use this phrase, Everything does happen for the best!
SKP is the founding partner of Illuminations and a certified, practicing Holistic Healer
Learn more about spiritual surrender through the following resources:
Zero Limits, Joe Vitale
Letting Go, Let Miracles Happen, Kathy Cordova
The Shift: From Ambition to Meaning (DVD)
The Power of Intention, Dr. Wayne Dyer
Bashar Video's on YouTube, By Daryl Anka
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