Santosh Joshi's Blog, page 3

Question life at every step

Don’t follow society’s laws blindly. Each life is different.

At the age of 4, your parents enroll you into school. After you pass out of school, you go to college. Even if you graduate, you just have to get a masters degree because you won’t get a good job until you have one. If you can get an MBA, even better! You’ll score an awesome job! After that, you have to get married and within a few years, have children. Now get them admitted into the best schools and colleges, their life depends on it! After that’s settled, get them married. Once you have grand children, hurrah, your life is complete! You can securely retire from your job so you can rest and spend time with your grandchildren. Maybe even use this time to finally think about spirituality, God and death; until the day finally arises, where you have to leave this planet. That’s life, as society dictates it.

Sounds quite fair, if that’s what you want to do in life. But millions of people go through this pre-decided process even without giving a single thought to whether they really want to go through it. Have you ever questioned yourself about what you want?

Think about this, if you only had one year to live, what would you do? In an instant, you would forget everything that anyone has ever told you and think about yourself, your needs and goals. You’d probably make a list too. So why not think about it now?

As a past life regression therapist, I have taken people into their past lives to relieve the negative emotions of those memories. I have noticed that during these sessions, most people die with the regret that they could not do what they wanted to.

That is why it is so important to question ourselves at each and every step. Are you doing something because you really want to do it or because it’s the norm? I have myself faced such a situation and made the wrong decision.

When I was in school, I liked painting, playing cricket and singing more than math and science. After every result day, I’d spend my time cheering up friends and making them smile. I was very happy doing this. But at the end of school, when I had to make a decision about what to study in the future, I was confused. My family said that boys do not take up arts, so that was out of the question. According to them, I should become an engineer or a doctor. All my friends in school signed up for the pre-engineering test, and so did I. To my surprise, I passed the test and got into an engineering college, and became an engineer by default. After passing out of college, I was offered a job in a reputed company in Mumbai, so I took it up. After 17 years in the corporate world, I realized that I am meant to do something else. But it wasn’t too late. I made a correction and became a life coach.

Like me, there are so many people who say they took up the wrong job, made wrong decisions and ended up at the place, far away from where they wanted to be.

This is why it is so important to ask, is this really what I am meant to do? Do I really want to get married, and when? Do I really want to have children, and when? Am I studying something I am interested in? I have finished my education, do I really want to get a job now, or do something else? Don’t follow society’s law blindly. Each life is different.

As parents we need to always support our children with their decisions. The upcoming generation has the potential to break society’s barriers and dogmas which have existed for thousands of years. Don’t label children, who ask why or do only what they want to, as rebellious. They are giving rise to a more inquisitive and progressive society.

 

Understanding health and healing

Don’t shy away from spirituality; it is the doorway to unlimited possibilities.

The build of the modern world is such that most people are fixated on their physical health but completely ignore every other aspect of health. People eat and drink the right things, work out regularly and consult their doctor for the slightest physical problem, yet they manage to fall ill. How could that be? The reason being, the state of our physical body is not the best parameter to judge our health. World Health Organization (WHO) describes health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’

According to me, there are two more aspects to health – emotional and spiritual well-being. A healthy person is one who is complete and whole in all these five aspects:

Physical
Emotional
Mental or psychological
Social and
Spiritual

These five aspects are intertwined and an imbalance in any one causes a setback in health. The first and largely understood aspect is physical health which is maintained with proper nutrition, hygiene and exercise. Emotional health depends on letting-go, forgiveness and gratitude. Psychological health depends on one’s attitude, the right thoughts and passion. An often ignored aspect is social health which is dependent on giving back to society, helping others and leaving a legacy. Spiritual good health can be achieved when you find your purpose, understand life’s patterns and live in the moment.

Only when we are complete in all these respects can we call ourselves healthy; however, if we lack in even one of these, then we are unhealthy. For instance, when we are physically ill, we feel low emotionally, can’t concentrate on what we do and temporarily lose passion for everything. On the other hand, when we go through an emotional turmoil, many a times our physical health gets affected. Also when you perform a good deed you feel lighter, emotionally you feel content and physically charged up.

The significance of the spiritual health is often understated. It is the binding factor between all the five aspects. This can be understood easily if compared to a pyramid. A pyramid is said to be one of the more stable structures. But this stability depends on the five vertices. Our health too, depends on five vertices – physical health, emotional health, mental health and social health being the bottom ones and spiritual health, the top. The bottom four vertices may seem the most important but without the top vertex, the structure will have no shape. Similarly, spirituality gives energy to the other aspects of health.  It is the guiding force.

Jyoti Matange, a Mumbaite, attended my SKY healing workshop last year. She had high blood sugar levels and was on medication however, her intention of joining the workshop was spiritual growth. After practicing SKY for 21 days, her stress levels came down drastically and she felt peaceful and content. Her goal of spiritual progress was achieved and in her words, her ‘blood sugar levels came back to normal as a bonus’. She is off the medication now.

Stress is the biggest challenge our generation faces today. It causes an imbalance in all five aspects of health. So, always try to keep a balance in life. Forgive and let go of your past baggage, be thankful for what you have, do what you love, and don’t shy away from spirituality; it is the doorway to unlimited possibilities.

Déjà vu and memories of past lives

Being a past life regression therapist, I am often asked, what real evidence is available to prove that we have actually lived before? My answer has always been the same – there are many! The most convincing evidence is the déjà vu experience. In fact, I would say that 50 per cent of my clients started believing in reincarnation because of a déjà vu experience.

Scientific explanations talk about how the experience is actually caused by a person having a brief glimpse of an object or situation, before the brain has completed “constructing” a full conscious perception of the experience. Such a “partial perception” then results in a false sense of familiarity.

Sure, that could be true for a few cases, but how does one explain déjà vu when a person visits a place so familiar they feel they’ve been there before. Some describe the experience as déjà visité.

During a business trip to Johannesburg, I once took a walk. After 45 minutes, I could no longer remember which way I came from. I kept walking. Something told me that if I turn to my left, I would reach a blue chapel. I took a few steps to my left and there it was. This was my first visit to the city, so obviously, I was surprised. How could this be? This wasn’t just a fluke. During that walk, I also knew how to get to the spice market and an old worn-out garage. It was like I knew the streets of the city very well.

And I’m not the only one who’s had such experiences.

A close friend once talked about his trip to a gurudwara in Punjab. He was only 9-year-old when his parents took him there. As soon as he entered, he ran inside found a large portrait of a granthi, in the passage and stood starring at it. When his parents asked what happened, he said that the portrait was of him. The parents tried to explain that it was not possible, but my friend disagreed. He told them about how he sat at the gurudwara and gave sermons. By then, a few visitors and gurudwara helpers gathered around and started asking the boy questions. Surprisingly, he had all the answers. He even led everyone to a room that the granthi lived in. This room had been locked for years. Without even entering, my friend described the contents of a box owned by the granthi. The gurudwara staff later checked and confirmed the contents just as he described. Later, he even met a son of the granthi. They rejoiced at seeing each other and caught up on lost time.

The déjà vu experience is one of the biggest evidences of the theory of reincarnation

How can these experiences be scientifically explained?

According to the theory of reincarnation, we store our memories (of the present life and past lives) deep in the subconscious mind. These memories travel along with our soul from body to body. So, when we see a place in a present life that we’ve been to in a previous life, a memory from that life activates itself and we have a deep inner knowledge or feeling that we’ve been there before.

In my case, I even confirmed having lived in Johannesburg in my immediate previous life through past life regression session. That’s the best part of this therapy; whatever we suspect can be validated and confirmed.

Random acts of kindness heal your soul

During one of my Delhi workshops, a participant Rakesh Suri had told me about his initiative for street children. Along with a few like-minded people, he had started a computer literacy programme where underprivileged children were being trained to use computers. I was very inspired by this initiative and decided to meet the children of these schools, the next time I was there. That moment came in January. Before entering the school, Rakesh introduced me to another core member of their team – Arjun Verma.

Now I was told, 70-year-old Arjun Verma, for several years walked with a huge hunchback and needed the support of a walking stick. His health was very fragile and he was always irritable. However, there was one thing that would make Arjun smile, his dream to help destitute children. Arjun had been talking about doing something but this thought remained a dream for a long time. One day, he decided to follow his dream and with the support of a few people, *Computer Shiksha became a reality.

I was happy to hear this story. The only thing I was confused about was the description of Arjun. In front of me stood a healthy, charismatic and charming man, who looked nothing like the description given of an old, fragile, hunchbacked man who could not walk without a stick. That’s when Rakesh explained that a few weeks after he started this initiative, Arjun’s life changed drastically. Without any medical treatment or support, he started walking straight. All his health issues vanished. He felt more energetic and enthusiastic towards life. He identifies more with his new self than the man who walked with a hunch back.

Truly inspiring. And a real example of how healing takes place. All Arjun needed to do was give back to society. The law is indeed true – “whatever we give others, nature gives us back in manifolds”. Teaching computers to little children not only improved his overall health but also gave him joy, peace and inner satisfaction.

After Arjun (gentleman seated on the right) started this initiative his life changed drastically

*Computer Shiksha is a team of like minded people working towards computer literacy among underprivileged children in Gurgaon. You can find more information about the noble initiative on http://www.computershiksha.org.

Don’t curse the teacher, learn the lesson

In my profession, I have come across many people, who are so disturbed by the challenges in their life that they often blame God, the universe or destiny. Yes, some people go through a lot of trauma and in their place, it is very difficult to see the silver lining. But believe me, everything happens for a reason.

We burn our karmas with the fire of wisdom and go higher on the process of our soul’s evolution.

33-year old Mansi Singh (name changed) once came to me disturbed, because of her bitter divorce. She truly loved her husband and sacrificed a lot to be with him, but 5 years into marriage, he had fallen in love with someone else. Even though they had a 3-year-old daughter, Mansi’s husband abandoned them. Mansi was completely depressed and wanted to know why this was happening to her.

We decided to do a regression in order to find her answers. Mansi quickly went into trance where I lead her to a past life that will give her the reason. She was drawn to a life 200 years back where she was a powerful zamindar (land lord) in North India. This zamindar was wealthy, and had several wives, one of whom was Mansi’s husband of the present life. In that life, the zamindar ill-treated this wife and she went through a lot of trauma and grief.

In the life-between-life state, Mansi learnt that the wife of that birth came in this life as her husband to settle the karmas between them. Once she learnt this, she had a totally different outlook towards life. She took her life head-up and accepted all the issues and challenges she was facing.

In another case, a woman complained about being ill-treated by her mother-in-law. During regression, she saw that her mother-in-law was her sister in a previous birth. In that birth, she did something bad to her sister and made her life hell. So in this life, the sister came as a villainous mother-in-law to settle the karmas. After undergoing the therapy, she understood why she was facing this challenge and could empathise with her mother-in-law. In fact, after a few weeks, their relationship improved too.

This is how Karma works. It is a natural process and an infallible law that governs the universe whether we are conscious about it or not. It may take years, even lifetimes, to fructify, but it eventually catches up with you.

However, each challenge or difficulty comes in our life for a reason. Bearing that in mind, one should know that Karma is not a law one should be afraid of. It is a gift that brings one lessons for the soul’s personal growth, and will continue to bring these lessons back around until one has learnt them. Once the lesson is learnt, the problem related to that karma vanishes. We burn our karmas with the fire of wisdom and go higher on the process of our soul’s evolution. So we should make it our endeavour to understand these lessons and not despise them.

Breathe into an extraordinary life

As soon as we start living from our inner consciousness, we start on the upward emotional spiral; at the peak of which is the feeling of freedom, love, joy and peace.

It is human tendency to neglect things that we do not control. For instance, have you ever wondered how our digestive system works? Not the science behind the mechanism but have you ever appreciated how it separates all the nutrients from the food we eat and manages to digest even the most complex food that we eat. These days our body has to even deal with the diverse range of chemicals that accompany our food. Of course, at times, our digestive system does not cooperate and we suffer from illnesses. But most of the time, it functions without a glitch, whether we are conscious about it or not.

The same goes for our breath. We are never really conscious of our breathing pattern or how it is helping us in our day to life.

Take a few moments to reflect on this statement – 70% of our metabolic waste is eliminated through breathing; the balance 30% is eliminated through perspiration (19%), urination (8%) and defecation (3%).

The fact is astonishing; most people are surprised at this statement. Our body gets the energy to purify, getting rid of toxins and stresses, and to rejuvenate us because of our breath. Yet very few of us pay attention to our breath, rather how we breathe. However, correct breathing allows us to access unlimited amounts of energy, which we can use to carry out the repair work within us, and also to take us at higher levels.

SKY Healing technique is one method which allows you to do just that.

Most of the time, we are living from our outer consciousness; which is made up of our karma, experiences, memories and conditioning. Practicing SKY helps in breaking the layers of conditioning and living through our inner consciousness or soul.

As soon as we start living from our inner consciousness, we release our fears, stresses, insecurities, and all the other worldly worries. No matter how depressed or angry we were, we start on the upward emotional spiral; at the peak of which is the feeling of freedom, love, joy and peace.

The one feedback I have received from maximum SKY practitioners is that they feel this peace. Their life is no longer governed by negative emotions.

Since it keeps us completely free from negative emotions, which is the root cause of our physical diseases, we also heal the physical issues. I have heard of people healing phantom pains, diabetes, blood pressure issues, among others.

SKY has the potential of bringing harmony in our body, mind and soul. One can heal and also experience inner transformation and spiritual growth. All because of practicing a 12-minute breathing pattern. That’s the power of breath.

Finding answers through Past Life Regression

My journey in the mystic world of past life regression started way back in the 90s. After I heard about a near death experience of a close friend, something changed inside me and I was driven on the path of exploration. I was intrigued by the question, “Is there life after death?” My search led me to a lot of books on this topic by various psychics. All the books were a good read but somehow I was not convinced. Being an engineer by profession, my mind would not accept anything without a strong reasoning.

The search continued. They say, as soon as you have the a query, the universe answers. I experienced this when the universe answered through teachers, books and various sources. One day, I stumbled upon Many Lives, Many Masters written by Dr. Brian Weiss. This book somehow appealed to me; more so because it came from a qualified doctor, who himself was a sceptic before he got all the revelations and it contained a real life story with validated facts and figures. This is how I was led to the science of past life regression. When I experienced it, I also found my purpose of life – becoming a healer. The journey has been beautiful, full of excitement and revelations.

Past Life Regression Therapy (PLRT) is based on

The Law of Reincarnation
The Law of Karma

Past Life Regression Therapy answers a lot of questions about life

This therapy gives all the answers that one would have about life and life after life. It explains that whatever problems we have in our present life, in the present moment are due to our past – the decisions we took, the experiences we went through or the unresolved emotions attached to certain memories. The problem could be on a mental, physical or emotional level.

In PLRT, we go to the root cause of the issue troubling us in the present and resolve it there. This experience could have been in a past life or even the present life. By doing this, we loosens its grip over our present. The symptoms slowly disappear, making our present and future better.

The additional benefit of PLRT is that karmas associated with that particular incident also burn or get nullified. This leaves you feeling lighter and makes your life better.

Through my practice as a past life regression therapist I have found that it miraculously heals unexplained fears and phobias, common ones being claustrophobia and vertigo.

It is said that at the time of death i.e. when our soul leaves our body the emotions that are intense or predominant get attached to our soul. These emotions travel with our soul through various lifetimes. These intense emotions which have tremendous energy, if not resolved over time, start meddling in our day to day life and can drive us crazy. Many times, we are at a loss to understand why things are going wrong. This is where past life regression comes as a handy tool.

Meditation – A way of life

Meditation is perhaps the most talked-about word amongst today’s ‘spiritual’ populace. The problem is that it is also the most misunderstood word. Each person will have his or her own definition or understanding about what meditation stands for. There’s nothing wrong in this as long as everyone is practicing what is being preached. However, most often the truth is otherwise.

Few thoughts on meditation we all get from time to time…

I know meditation is great for my mind, body, and spirit. I deeply feel the need to practice meditation daily.
Many times I think randomly, “I should meditate at-least sometime,” but when it comes down to it, I really don’t.
I strongly suspect I’m not the only one who feels this way.
I’ve read many books on how to meditate or I have attended many meditation classes, however it doesn’t help.
I also know all those ways to meditate feel like work

If you get similar thoughts as well, you are definitely not alone. In fact, you will be a part of the majority. If that makes you feel good… great! Most of us will be feeling the same way about meditation. Meditation is work; meditation is boring; meditation is time consuming; meditation is only for a few special people; it’s for people who love mysticism; Meditation is a part of religion or religious activity. These are all the examples of common misconceptions about meditation. These are also the most often used excuses for not meditating.

But let me tell you, meditation is not all that hard. Believe me. Once we make up our mind, we just need to find a quite place. That’s it. We don’t really have to do anything. As a matter of fact meditation is actually going from ‘doing something’ to ‘not doing anything’. Even if we are able to experience the present moment to its fullest by just “Being”, that’s enough. Meditation is a process which takes us from “doing” to “being”. After reading many scriptures, books, practicing various types of meditations and interactions with masters, my personal experience is that whatever is hard to do is simply not meditation. I have found that the simplest and easiest way, which is also very effective, to meditate is through introspection or “just being”. It takes away the importance normally given to the knowledge of doctrines, scriptures, etc. before starting to meditate, making it extremely simple for a first timer. I have observed that most of the time, lot of importance is given to what you know about meditation or how it is practiced, or it’s good, bad, and side effects. This really creates a false aura around meditation, which makes a new comer really think whether this should be taken up or whether this can really be followed regularly; or what if one is not following or practicing it regularly. In reality, anyone… I repeat, “anyone” can practice meditation, whenever he or she can, without any limitations of place, time, type of clothes, method, posture what so ever. It’s that easy. Let’s not make it complicated… really. Even a little child can just be… or an old person for that matter. Lao Tzu, a mystic philosopher of ancient China said, “The way to do is to be.” We can call this self observation… meaning just observing the breath for example, or the how beautifully the wind flows making the leaves of a tree sway, or the blueness of the sky, or sound of a bird. We can even observe our own thoughts, how beautifully they are woven; one leading to the other.

DIFFERENT KEYS

Why are we humans always experience conflict with our past self, present self and future self? I discovered that the key to a great life is harmonizing these vital parts or dimensions of our personality. I am an HLP practitioner and I vouch for its effectiveness as it integrates the three dimensions of life into one.

The H of HLP or healing of the past sets the foundation for an enlightening inner journey. Never look back or regret, but keep moving forward. Whatever happens in our life, happens for a reason, which are our lessons. We should always remember that even failure is a path towards success. Thus, acknowledging that we have erred and forgiving ourselves is the basic tool to faster healing. I have introduced several techniques and exercises in the book that gently nudge the hidden hurts from the subconscious into the open, showing you the right way to tackle them. I have extensively spoken about the path towards forgiveness and self-acceptance, through chapters like letting go of past burdens, embracing the inner child and the gift of forgiveness.

The L of HLP; living your present is the second part of the book, which highlights the wonders of living here, now, at this moment. People forget that life actually means the ‘present’ moment. Past and future are not really the life we should bother about as they don’t exist. Through the book I help you find out your true purpose of life. Without that knowledge, the satisfaction of living the right life is lost. One needs to therefore realize the paramount importance of the “here and now”, in the best way possible. In a sensitive way, I give the myriad secrets of discovering your life’s passion and purpose, the power of doing things right now, the secret to being happy any time, and the power of gratitude.

The third section of the book talks about the P of HLP, which is planning the future. For many of us ‘planning for the future’ means either saving money or following a set pattern planted in our minds by elders. Like in the recent movie, Ye Jawaani Hai Deewani actor Ranbir Kapoor says, why would we want to follow a mundane life pattern when we can have some fun? Like finishing studies by a specific age, getting married after you turn 25, then take care of your kids, retire and wait for the angel of death. That doesn’t mean you don’t have this life. However, life is much beyond this monotony. In the book I have made it clear that saving money or following a conventional lifestyle forms only one part of the whole planning process. The really crucial treasures of planning one’s life are: being your own navigator, listening to your inner voice, inviting yourself to practice better faith and acknowledging and cherishing every relationship in your life. I often hear people say they work for 18 hours a day. My question to you: is that success? Spending 80% of your life at work means having 80% of problems at home. Do not choose between your work and family, rather create a balance.

I would quote something that author James Patterson and former Coca-Cola CEO Bryan Dyson has said, life is a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. They are work, family, health, friends and spirit; and you are keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball and it will bounce back even if you drop it. But the other four balls are made of glass. Dropping one of these means they will be irrevocably damaged or even shattered. One must understand that and strive for balance in our life.

Door that led to KEYS

Though it is an age of fingertip technology and advancement, with solutions to mostly any problems in our life, emotional traumas are not handled easily by us. These days, emotions are the major culprit behind all the issues in our life. Even if the problems are physical like lifestyle related diseases, relationship and situational issues, the root cause has to be our emotions.

These emotions can be the guilt, regrets, anger from our past we are not able to let go off, or the anxiety, fear and insecurities of the future, or jealousy and hatred that can play havoc to ourselves. It is therefore very important to manage our emotions, as our everyday problems like parent-child issues or even suicides and terrorism around the globe is caused by it.

However, I want to make it clear that we are the masters of our own destiny. We can manage our emotions. I wanted to make people realize this. This was the reason I wanted to reach out to people and say that we can heal our emotions. The best way was through my book explaining the same.

I cannot find happiness anywhere but within myself. It is a state of mind. Don’t be sad if you don’t want to be sad. The ‘keys’ are in your hand. You feel how you want to feel.

Through my workshops I realized that people need help in managing their emotions. Also, they don’t understand that every moment that passes becomes past and cannot be retrieved. We are adding a bit to the ‘past’ every second of our life. It is very difficult to get our history back. So instead of worrying about the past, we should embrace the present moment to contribute to a better future.

Thus, the idea to write my book came through my workshops, my friends and people I counsel. Keys was indeed the key to reach out to all of them. I had to make people understand that a balance is very important in life. Whether it’s the balance between the past, present and future or between your work and family life. KEYS gives you that.