A Curated Guide to Slow Living in India
Looking back at Indian summers in the simpler decades I moved to Delhi when I was four. Plucked from the gentrified confines of South Mumbai, I was deposited gently in the wild north, Delhi with its thick swathe of greens and blazing summers. June was…
The lime is the small desi sibling of the more robust lemon, from the Citrus Aurantifolia tree ( Nimbuka in Sanskrit) , found widely in India. The acidic fruit comes from the short, squat, shrub like tree with short stiff twigs and many small prickly thorns. These tiny thorns have a spiritual meaning, says Anthony Williams, the Medical Medium. You can’t just pluck it, it takes mindful appreciation to gather the fruit. This self-protectiveness is reflective of real-life relationships, which one should approach with mutual love and admiration for those around us.
At the cusp of Australia’s north eastern coast lie swathes of ancient, emerald green, tropical rainforests, yearning towards the skies. I’m standing under a canopy of palpable leafy loveliness, looking skywards, when the unthinkable happens. A single sliver of sunlight pierces through the hushed thicket,…
Are we making ourselves sick by being over critical and not looking after ourselves, especially when the going gets really tough? You can heal yourself by being true to your inner guidance.
Lagom, or the Swedish lifestyle of balance and joy is all the rage. Sweden brings a slice of it to India. Earlier this year, before the Royal Swedish couple King Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus and Queen Silvia Renate Sommerlath visited the country, the Consulate General of Sweden hosted Swedish Style Mumbai, a lifestyle event throwing a spotlight on Sweden’s creative industries from fashion, design, architecture, photography, fine arts, film, technology, gastronomy and music.
What is Slow Living and why is it so important for the next decade? We reflect on the future. We’ve reached the tail-end of a tumultuous decade. What next? Many people still ask me what is slow living? Here’s why we need to embrace the…
One of our favourite botanical illustrators and authors, Nirupa Rao is out with a new nature and science book. Her latest tome, Hidden Kingdom, features botanical illustrations of fascinating plants native to the Western Ghats—from carnivores and parasites to flowers that smell like rotting flesh. You’ll encounter familiar species (like pepper) as well as the more obscure (like the colourless ghost orchid), all certain to make you see the natural world with new eyes.
Homegrown beauty label Global Beauty Secrets (GBS) brings a deep understanding of global cultures and rituals for skincare and haircare The first girl child to be born in her family, Aishwarya Sawarna Nir was pampered by her grandmother who shaped her values and beliefs. In…
Sumitra Daswani is the founder of Born From The Earth – a natural healing company – and is a holistic health practitioner, trained in Ayurveda, medical botany, nutrition, meditation and sound therapy. She guides others on how to heal themselves naturally and achieve optimal well-being. She writes about her journey to becoming a healing practitioner and how everyone has the innate capacity within themselves to to heal.
Are we making ourselves sick by being over critical and not looking after ourselves, especially when the going gets really tough? You can heal yourself by being true to your inner guidance. Crystal Therapist and Akashic Reader Aarti Kalro writes about her healing journey
Everyone knows the saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” In my case, the teacher has always been life. When I made a resolution to find Nirvana as a kid, I had no idea what the journey entailed, but I believe my soul certainly did.
I was diagnosed with Lupus (a long-term autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue) in 2002, and in 2017 I found myself hospitalised for DVT – Deep Vein Thrombosis. My health was declining since a year, and I knew it was primarily related to losing my father three years ago. His death brought about major transformations for me. Right before his passing, I was beginning to have spiritual experiences. They pointed me to a direction that was the path I had been searching for all along. So, with great excitement, I left a career in fashion design and jumped into the world of crystals and energy healing.
The mind-body connect
The more I studied energy, the more I found myself connecting with my body and receiving insight through books, meditation and working with the crystals.
The well-being of an individual is not just related to the physical realm, it compromises the body, the mind and the soul. You can put the most expensive creams and eat organic food, but if the other two are not aligned with our actions, there is going to be a dis – ease. In addition, before we are born, our soul chooses what we wish to learn, experience and heal. We are given free will on a day-to-day basis, but our actions lead to experiences. This is what karma is. Not some form of punishment from God.
A crisis of the soul
When I was hospitalised in December 2017, I was exhausted on all levels. I just wanted to be looked after, because I wasn’t doing it myself. As a friend joked with me – there are cheaper ways to relax, like taking a vacation! He wasn’t wrong, but I had to learn what I needed to.
My time in and out of hospital over a year – 5 trips all together – helped me understand that on a spiritual level, I had been extremely resistant to the change that life was bringing me. I was going about the motions on the outside, but inside I seemed to be dead.
Accepting the flow of life
Blood is all about flow and the circulation of nutrients and prana (energy) in your system. The legs signify movement ahead. I was clearly afraid of moving forward and leaving my past behind. Whether it was a career, old thinking, and past issues – everything that led up to that moment was chosen by me and my soul.
As I started to work with these issues on an emotional and spiritual level, I found that my leg which was previously swollen so badly that I couldn’t wear shoes, started to return to normal. I used crystals, affirmations (Listen to Louise Hay!) and I did my physio with a ‘this is going to heal’ attitude. I was learning to ask for help, something I found really hard to do. I was discovering I was so much stronger than I gave myself credit for.
Finding the right balance
Of course, I was on medication and I still am. While allopathy does have its downside, I would not be sitting here if it were not for the timely intervention of my doctors and treatment. Allopathy has been a support on the physical level, while I work on my mental and emotional states through alternate therapies. Today I can do yoga, sit cross-legged without pain and move freely. To me, that is the recovery I was looking for after being bed ridden for three months.
The healer within
In case you are wondering if the healing was by fluke, I know that healing through conscious self-introspection works, because for over two decades I struggled with chronic depression. I lost my mother to depression as a teen and that sent me spiralling into a dark place. Lupus and other life events kept me there, but it was only when I finally made a resolve to come out of it in my 30s, did the healing begin. I was able to get off the medications and find a love for life again. Today, instead of being in the dark hole, I feel blessed to help others find their own way.
What have I learned from my journey?
Get in touch with Aarti at Arura Crystals or follow her on Instagram @aruracrystals
