Disconnecting to connect

A lot is written about yoga and how it connects the mind, body, and soul to not only help
destress your life but to also help you practice your personal and professional values with
integrity. I experienced this type of awakening through the age-old practice when I visited the
Swami Kevalyadham Nanda Yoga Ashram (Kaivalyadham) in Lonavla earlier this year.

Nestled amid the natural beauty of the Western Ghats, Kaivalyadham is spread across 172
acres and aims to heal by fostering the best practices of Ayurveda, naturopathy, and yoga.

You can choose to stay at the ashram for eight days or more depending on what you seek to
gain from this alternate style of medicine. During the stay, residents are encouraged to follow
the rules of the ashram, which include strict wake-up and lights out times, adherence to a given
diet chart and of course regular yoga and meditation sessions. While most residents remain
busy throughout the day thanks to a packed schedule that is customized to the person’s needs,
they do get a chance to socialize for a few hours every day.

During my time at the ashram, I introduced myself to other residents who had joined for similar
week-long courses. As is the case when one socializes, our chats frequently turned to routine
topics such as politics, the stock market’s performance, the COVID-19 pandemic and many
more. On my part, I chose to remain a listener rather than participate in these topics. It was by
really listening to these conversations that I came to two conclusions:

1. A trend towards nuclear families has created loneliness. So many parents who may have
achieved a lot during their younger days were now dependent on their children and felt
an acute sense of loneliness from not being close to them as their child, as taught by the
parents themselves, spread their wings and flew out of their nests.

2. You don’t need to do much to stay happy– just learn to slow down, look within, and
Search for the light.

We live in difficult times and as we strive to grow ourselves professionally we often tend to give
lip service to values such as integrity, authenticity, credit, helpfulness, honesty, and dignity of
labour. My week-long sojourn at Kaivalyadham helped me reconnect with these values and
brought myself back to me. I would recommend this kind of break for everyone to get in touch
with their “swayam” and return healthy in mind, body, and spirit.

Be healthy, be wise and the wealth will follow.