Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Chapter 10 - Management & Meditation  Day 20 5. Yoga and the Breath - Our breath can play a vital role in cleansing us of our negative emotions. We have experimented with this and tested it in many prisons around the world.  120,000 prisoners around the world practised a few breathing exercises and they were able to get rid of the hatred, anger and vengeance that clogged their minds and hearts. Within every culprit is a victim crying out for help.  It is stress, the lack of a broad outlook on life, a lack of understanding and bad communication that foster violence in society. If we observe a baby, we will find that from the time of birth until the age of three, it does a lot of exercises, exercises which we, as adults, don't do.  In fact, a baby does a lot of yoga exercises. If you closely follow what a baby does, then you won't even need a yoga teacher. Each of us has practised yoga as a baby.  For instance, one of the things that a baby does is...

Chapter 10 - Management & Meditation Day 19 For a good manager, it is important to be in the present moment with patience and poise. If you are intelligent, you may not be able to bear the lack of intelligence in others.  The management profession requires dealing with diverse situations and people. To be able to deal with them justly requires a sharp intellect, patience, endurance and presence of mind. How can we develop patience? We have never been taught how to handle our mind. The tendency of the mind to be in the present moment needs to be cultivated and nurtured, so that one can develop patience and sharpness.  This can be done by attending to one's breath and by meditating. Breathing exercises help in improving our perception, observation and expression and this is vital for good management. Every time you expect some perfection in other’s speech or action, you should take care not to lose the balance or perfection of your own mind and to pay close atte...

Chapter 9 - Combating Corruption Day 18  The big °C' of corruption can be countered by five other C's. Let us look at these other C's. 1. Connectedness - A lack of connectedness or sense of belonging breeds corruption in the society. That is why people often look to form connections, to avoid corruption.  That explains why corruption is at its lowest in the villages and much greater in the cities where there is, at best, a poor sense of community and minimal interaction between people.  Creating this sense of belonging is one of the greatest ethical challenges we face as a society. Corruption cannot be rooted out without this bonding. Today, we do not believe in investing in friendship. We only believe in investing in currency notes. Our security has shifted from friendship to currency.  Half a century ago, a person would feel very secure when he had a lot of friends. Friends were his constant social support system, so he was not easily corruptible.  He did not...

Chapter 8 - Ethics & Business  Day 17 Now in an NGO, this is even more difficult. Do you know why? Because you do not pay them but you expect them to do the work. When you are not paying and they have to work, they are their own bosses.  Nobody can tell them what they should be doing or how they should go about achieving their goals. You can only give broad guidelines. But what really makes a person work?  Whether it has been a flood or a tsunami situation, I only get the reports later. I do not even have to tell them that they have to go and work there.  People come with such a high level of motivation. They get together and say, "Hey there has been a disaster, we have to immediately rush to help out."  And so when there was a disaster in Surat, about 5 lakh people volunteered just like that. No governmental machinery could match the work that these volunteers did together.  And what makes all these good people come together and work so har...

Chapter 8 Ethics & Business Day 16 To follow ethics in business, we need to be free from stress. Let us now examine ethics and business. Think about why people generally pay attention to ethics. People follow ethics out of fear - fear of losing their job, or fear of starvation, or fear of prosecution. People also behave ethically out of a natural sense of commitment to their work.  Sometimes they may be tempted to resort to unethical means in the false belief that they will benefit more or gain favour with others.  But that is not the case really, when we see the broader picture. It is short term benefits and long term problems that we get every time we follow unethical means.  It is best to always act on the right side of ethics. Though it may feel tough initially or though you may find it difficult keeping up your efforts in the long run, rest assured that it keeps up your spirit, that it keeps you happy and healthy always.  When people realise the ...

Chapter 7 - Environmental Management  Day 15 All things that make up our environment, the plants and the animals are sacred. Everything that exists on the planet is valuable. It is not just the spirit, but also the instrument through which the spirit manifests itself, that is important.  Knowledge and money are sacred too. It is human beings alone who pollute this planet. In a forest, there is no pollution. No animal ever causes pollution.  No animal uses plastic. Birds know how to take care of the environment. Cats know how to keep their surroundings clean and pollution-free. We have forgotten how to be this way because we have moved away from nature.  We live in a mechanical, conceptual world rather than in the real world. When we are tense and agitated, we pollute the environment by emitting vibrations which are not harmonious.  Environmental damage is not caused by external objects alone, it is also a product of subtle factors within human natu...

Chapter 6 - Social Partnerships Make Business Sense Day 14 We need to give people a vision. Those who have a vision or a dream can go ahead and develop society. The health of a society today seems to be determined by the number of beds and cells available in hospitals and prisons.  The prisons are filled and overflowing in many of the developed countries prison occupancy today stands at 160%. They have to build new prisons in the so-called 'developed' countries.  This does not denote a healthy society. A society where a significant percentage of the student population is jailed at least once, where one in five children consults a psychiatrist, is not a developed society. So, the health of a society depends on the smooth functioning and availability of space in hospitals and prisons. We do not need to build more hospitals or prisons.  We need to teach people how to be healthy. Charity does not seem to be a part of the language of today. We have to build the sel...

Chapter 4 - Methods Of Developing Leadership Skills  Day 7 9. Building a Team - These 5 principles will help you build a strong and effective team :  i. Never underestimate your team members. If you do, you will not be able to win their trust. ii. Defend your intentions and not your actions. Often people defend their actions and lose sight of their intentions. Then they feel sorry and weak. There is no need to feel sorry. You should defend your intention to do right. iii. With teamwork you will achieve more than you can individually. Some kinds of work are best done alone, and some others, as part of a team. You should find a balance between working alone and working in a team.  In either case, you will face obstacles. The skill lies in not developing an aversion to either and instead, focusing on the goal. iv. Do not defend someone's mistakes. It does not do justice to the team and stops the person from learning. Soft-heartedness and misplaced compassion in a...

Chapter 5 - Innovation  Day 13  Breath definitely brings about the required change in us. Breath can change the doer, the person within you, the one who is depressed into someone who is enthusiastic, creative, who can withstand any drawback, resolve any conflict. Another issue that we need to look at is the way many people cannot stand criticism. I think this is a serious lapse in our education. We simply do not train people to withstand criticism.  The moment someone criticizes us, suddenly we bring in a mental barrier. We shut down all levels of communication, become defensive and stop learning.  I am of the opinion that if we can train people to take criticism and give constructive criticism when needed, then we will find such a huge difference in their attitude, in their behaviour in their approach to any situation, and towards people as well.  We need to inculcate an inclusive attitude, rather than encourage an attitude where we shut people out....

Chapter 5 - Innovation  Day 12 So what does it all mean? It means that you are so formal, you are walking around with a glass gaze all the time. It means we are content to remain in our shell and not really connect with one another, each time we communicate.  As a result, there is no real communication, no bonding happening. We need to create that informal environment around us, wherever we go, for authenticity to blossom.  We need to truly understand the difference between motivation and inspiration. What can we do for motivation offer our employees a raise in pay, give them some bonus.  Now this works for a couple of months maybe, and then that is it. It will not be enough to make the person's enthusiasm sustain over a longer period of time.  But if people are inspired from within to take up a mission, to see a job through to successful completion, they will put their heart and soul into it and their efforts will bring success.  This is what i...

Chapter 5 - Innovation  Day 11 Our body is like the wick of a candle and our mind is like the glowing light all around the wick. Just as a candle lives on oxygen, the flame needs oxygen to keep burning.  If you cover the candle with a glass, the light remains only as long as oxygen is present. The moment the oxygen runs out, the flame is extinguished.  In the same way, we are also completely dependent on oxygen, or what we may call the life force. This life force is what our ancestors called the atma, the jivatma. Are you still reading the words on this page? You know, when someone talks in deeply scientific or philosophical language, the mind just takes a break and goes for a cappuccino.  But if you are a thorough scientist, you truly understand spirituality. If you know about dark matter, dark energy, if you know about the origin of universe, if you reflect on the magnanimity of this universe, you will become spiritual.  In our universe, there are ...

Chapter 5 - Innovation Day 10 When your mind is at peace, your intellect becomes sharp. If your mind is clogged with a million worries or desires or sorrows, you are unable to achieve anything.  Some calmness in the mind, some pleasantness, is essential for the mind to function at its best. Do you know why children are so sharp? It is because they are happy.  As you grow up and as your happiness graph declines, that is when your ability to learn and imbibe also declines. You smile less.  It is spirituality that makes you smile, that allows you to keep the smile that nobody can take away from you, and not just when you greet somebody, but a genuine, lasting smile that springs from the depth of your mind, your heart.  That is a pleasant mind. The intellect becomes sharper, then it gets re-established. If you are not coordinated within yourself.  If you are not integrated within, if body, mind, breath, awareness, life, is haphazard, then neither is ther...