My experience of the sessions on Integral Health helped me further enhance my awareness and acceptance of the mind-body connection in health and wellness. As I go through my session notes and reflect on how the experience changed me, I realise there is a lot of work to be done. As Dr. Yogesh stated, the real work starts after the sessions are over.

However, some learnings came naturally right after the session or were reinforced as they were already a part of my life and learnings. Some of these are to spend time in nature every day and especially if my days are busy and cluttered. Something about just sitting on the grass helps me declutter my thoughts and my days. I found myself doing this with greater determination often accompanied by my pet dog and even my daughter who feels the same affinity for nature. Quiet moments spent on the grass with loved ones listening to a melodious tune or bhajan are deeply healing. Dr. Yogesh’s sessions further strengthened by will to ‘be with nature’.

The session offered many meditations to help heal our body and mind. Many times, during the workshop, I have observed Dr. Yogesh take a very meditative stance wherein he is trying to connect with the participants at an intuitive level. I honestly felt at multiple times that he was trying to understand what our unspoken aspiration in healing was and guided the session accordingly. I feel this is a very divine ability and am very grateful to observe and experience this at first hand.

The Kriya on working with the right wrist was a godsend. At the time of the session, I was experiencing a sharp pain on my right wrist and it seemed just the right meditation for me. The Kriya also worked very well as I have not experienced much pain there despite a lot of exertion in travel and work lately.

Soon after the session, I had to fly to attend a family wedding. I was meeting many people after over two decades. Such family celebrations often demand a lot of compulsive eating and social obligations. However, south Indian wedding rituals and food are usually more sattvic. So, this was my grace, the food served was always accepted as good by my body. The sessions helped me check in before I ate and this was a great way to avoid over-eating. The fatigue that is caused by the hectic activities and travel was also addressed by a quiet prayer of gratitude and care for my body every morning and evening. However, leaning into caffeine to counter fatigue and sleep is one of the ways I abuse my body and I need to work on this aspect.

Dr. Yogesh shared that the root cause of illness is identification with our ego being. This ego being can be our gender, age, profession, physical form, mental thoughts, family line, etc. These identifications narrow our existence, our obsessive identification with these is the root cause of all strife and suffering.

The first baby-step we need to take is to disengage with our surface ego, keep a little distance and become more aware of your deeper selves.

I always heard that all suffering comes from the ego, however when he defined it as the ego being or identity it made much more sense to me. The journey from illness to wellness is then to expand our consciousness and detach from the ego identity. I am yet to discern exactly what this will translate into in my life, but there is a greater opening in me to explore and understand.

As I read my notes, I realise yet again that implementing the learnings from this session is a life-time journey. A small excerpt of a meditation he suggested I hope to practise as often as I can. The instructions follow: “Oh Mother!”,

• Transform all restlessness and agitation into an inviolable calm and peace
• Transform all attachment into a deep stainless purity
• Mother, liberate and change me, perfect your child.
• With each breath we invoke her in our heart, our psychic and in our minds
• Call the Divine Mother with each breath and offer your entire being to Her

I accept that the journey will be long and there will be many parts beyond my intellectual understanding. However, I will strengthen my aspiration and seek Grace from the Divine. Gratitude for the beautiful sessions and space to reflect and share.

Feedback:

“Calm and peace.”

“It was wonderful and unexplainable.”

“Establishing peace within.”

“Well structured, the ultimate benefit I see is, feeling the mother's presence in you, by completely surrendering.”

“Removing all impurities and attachments and make us ready to receive Mother's blessing and presence.”

“Deeper understanding of the healing power of consciousness.”

“Experience of peace and wellness.”

“Remaining within, Invoking the Divine presence always, Be in Peace and inner consciousness.”

“I enjoyed this workshop as it gives me various inner experiences.”

“Remain in Consciousness and Within.”

“The meditations are lucid and simple, can be done anywhere.”

“I am amazed by his intuitive ability to incorporate the stated and instated needs of participants.”

“Peaceful. I haven’t been able to see or hear anything when I meditate.”

“I found a space between myself and food.”

“Yes, appreciate the focus on where pain is, where the healing can be - how to breathe from various body parts and organs.”

“It paved a way ahead.”

“It taught that the consciousness has powers that can be tapped into.”

“Wonderful to be a part of the deliberations .”

“It made me realise the value of a higher power.”

“I want to write a letter, daily or weekly, to my body, about goals, feelings, encouragement, partnership, appreciation…”