Pradnya Shinde, Author at GOQii

March 3, 2021 By Pradnya Shinde 1 Comment

5 Powerful Ways Of Meditation

We know that meditation is very very good for health, especially mental health. But sometimes, we get confused about what exactly to do. So here’s a guide to help you begin. Try these powerful ways of meditation to improve your health and wellbeing!

Powerful Ways Of Meditation

1. Concentrative Meditation
As the word suggests, you are supposed to concentrate on one point so you won’t think about other things. When thoughts are scattered, it creates no impact, but sharp attention is a powerful tool. One way to do it is to focus on your own breathing cycle. See how you inhale through the nose, how you feel inside the body and how you exhale. Another way is to focus on sounds like any word or phrase or the sound of a bell. You can also focus on a candle’s flame. Sit in front of the candle, look at the flame and close your eyes. Behold the picture of the flame in front of your mind. When the picture fades, open your eyes and repeat the process.

2. Contemplative Meditation
Instead of trying to stop thinking, contemplative meditation includes focusing on a single thought. Instead of too many different thoughts, it’s thinking about one subject and one thought with complete awareness of the thought. For this, you can contemplate any sentence from a religious scripture or contemplate objects like a flower or a tree. Think about the shape of a particular flower.

Another way is asking a question to yourself, believing in your inner instinct and waiting for an answer to come up. The questions can be:

What am I looking for?
What is it I am resisting?
Knowing I will die, how should I live?
What is my greatest mission?
What do I love?
What do I have fear of?
Who am I?

3. Witness Meditation
Watch your thoughts as if it’s a movie. Let the thoughts come, simply observe them, but do not react or try to reject. Be neutral. This is called being the witness of your thoughts. What does it do? It reduces your attachment from your thoughts. You no longer feel pain with those repetitive thoughts. This is a great technique to let go of resentment from the past.

4. Chanting Mantra
Chanting mantras repeatedly is one way of meditation. Mantra is a sanskrit word. Man means mind and Tra means release. Mantra is supposed to be a set of words which releases your mind from all it’s anxieties. It has been said that chanting mantras provides spiritual growth. But make sure you are paying attention, because that is all what we want. You can chant OM or Gayatri Mantra.

5. Movement Meditation
If you think you can’t sit at one place and focus, practice meditation through body movements. Self defense practices like Tai chi and Qigong are used as a form of meditation for a very long time. Yoga is one excellent example of movement meditation. Yoga involves being fully aware of your breathing and understanding the basic nature of self. But not only this, we can also practice meditation through simply walking or dancing. Just be attentive, pay close attention to your steps, body movements and surroundings.

Next time, when you sit to meditate, you can try something new. Keep it mind, sometimes we might get a little restless but be patient. Don’t get frustrated. Slowly get back to your point of concentration.

We hope these 5 powerful ways of meditation help you! Do leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. For more on meditation and yoga, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by our yoga and meditation specialists on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce

November 13, 2019 By Pradnya Shinde Leave a Comment

Benefits of Minimalism You Need to Explore to be Happy!

In my last article, we saw what minimalism is and how to begin the process. Moving further, let’s see how minimalism can add quality to your life and health!

Benefits of Minimalism

Less Anxiety and Stress: There is a direct correlation between material possessions and the amount of stress that a person experiences. When you own less, you worry less about losing it or keeping it organized. More so, a clean and tidy home keeps you at peace.
More Happiness: It’s never wise to rely on things for happiness! More so, giving away things you don’t need will make you feel more satisfied and happy instead of hoarding them with no purpose! It’s awesome to know how little we need to be happy.
More Time: When you don’t spend time organizing your stuff or buying new items, you get more time to do things that really matter. You also get more time to exercise, explore your hobbies or spend time with friends and family.
More Energy: Minimalism definitely saves a lot of your energy. That’s because you don’t need to exhaust yourself while taking care of too many things! You have to make fewer decisions while shopping, which prevents mental fatigue. When you shop and clean less, you are more focused on things you want to do. You live with a better purpose!
Increased Fitness: When your mindset shifts to minimalism, you prefer going for eco-friendly options. For instance, walking instead of taking your vehicle or even cycling! Fewer household gadgets mean that most of your work like washing clothes, cleaning the house, etc. will be manual which will definitely help you burn more calories!
Better Diet: When you choose quality over quantity, you avoid the bulk storage of food and grocery. You will eat fresh and even avoid storing junk and processed food at home. Eating clean and fresh home-cooked food is way more nutritious and healthy!
Environment-Friendly Lifestyle: Getting rid of unwanted things doesn’t mean increasing waste. Think about how you can repurpose used items into something functional. When you feel there is no more use of the item, you can donate or resell it. It promotes the reuse of goods and creates less waste.
Saves Money: This is the reason many people get attracted to minimalism. When you spend on only what you need, you end up saving a lot of money and who doesn’t want to do that?
Getting over Materialism: You’re confident without an expensive car or fancy clothes. You understand you don’t need to own something because someone else has it. You get less attached to things because you don’t rely on things to be happy.

In Minimalism, you start spending on experiences rather than stuff. For instance, instead of gifting something material to your kids on their birthday, you can maybe plan a camping, hiking or rafting trip which will add more experience and perspective to their lives!

In short, Minimalism is more of a mindset than a lifestyle, it is empowering. There is no rule of how many things you own, it is about your mindset. You can explore more of your own benefits in your journey.

#BeTheForce

October 8, 2019 By Pradnya Shinde Leave a Comment

Minimalist Living – Why Less is More!

“If you don’t know what you want, you end up with a lot you don’t,” – Well, if you have read Chuck Palahniuk’s masterpiece Fight Club, you’ll be familiar with this quote. It is funny how a work of fiction can hold so much relevance in the world we live in and maybe Tyler Durden, the film’s protagonist, was right when he said, “The things you own, end up owning you.”

How many times have you browsed through an online shopping portal and thought, “Oh! I might need a new phone”, “Wow! This is on discount. I should get this,” or just bought something that you don’t really need and it just sits on a shelf till you forget about it? No one would blame you. We’re living in the peak of consumerism where everything you need and don’t need is just a finger tap away.

Does happiness really exist in a big home with perfect flooring and matching drapes? Does it exist it a fancy car, smart electronic devices, furniture, fashionable clothes, jewellery, footwear et al? What if the answer was in the opposite direction?

When it comes to living a wholesome, healthy and holistic lifestyle, anything which is in excess is bad! Be it food, exercise, thoughts and even the things we surround ourselves with. One of the best ways to achieve good mental health is to declutter and take up minimalist living.

What is Minimalism?

Minimalism, in essence, is living with less. The whole idea is to live a life based on experiences rather than worldly possessions. This includes decluttering or minimum usage of things such as furniture, clothes, accessories, etc. It is a personal change one makes to add value to their life. You can choose what is important to you and throw away things which are not.

What are the Benefits of Minimalist Living?

Minimalist Living does involve sacrificing things you think you might need. Not necessarily the best life choice for hoarders and might seem a bit unnecessary but it needs to be done! Trust me, the pros most definitely outweigh the cons!

For instance, decluttering and reducing the number of things you own helps you focus only on the important things in life. With less distractions, you can pay attention to things that require it. This does not mean you throw out things important to you. Keep the things you really need and thrown away the things you don’t.

More space and less junk will definitely help you be more productive. A clean and organized house definitely reduces a lot of stress! More so, you have a lot less financial burdens and avoid unnecessary expenses.

How Do You Do It?

Let’s get started! Observe your home and your belongings. Make a list of things which you have not used in a year or two. There are less chances you will need it again so get rid of it.

Here, I am sharing a sample list to help you out:

Unused and worn out clothes, shoes, socks, etc.
Excess clutter in wallet
Unwanted receipts, bills, papers, books, manuals, etc.
Old electronics/ wires/ chargers/ batteries
Unused and expired beauty products and medication
Unused stationery that doesn’t work
Unused cleaning products
Broken or unused furniture
Damaged plastic containers
Kitchen gadgets and appliances you don’t use
Extra towel/ cushions/ scarf/ gloves
Junk drawer
Extra bags
Anything that you don’t know the purpose of

Remove all of it from your home. You can donate the things you don’t need to somebody who might have use for it or just resell, recycle or repurpose it.

You’re all done! Does it feel good?

Furthermore, you can also make additional changes to keep this habit going by thinking before you buy. Don’t purchase it just because you might need it in the future or because it is on sale. Buy only when you need. Regularly keep a check and see if you’re cluttering again.

In the next article, we will explore the wonderful benefits that minimalism offers and how it can help your health and life!

Stay tuned and #BeTheForce!

August 28, 2019 By Pradnya Shinde Leave a Comment

Should You Go Grain-Free?

In the past few years, imperical evidence emerged, coaxing us to stay away from all the foods we enjoyed so much in order to live a strong, healthy and disease-free life. Now, along with sugar, fats and diary, you even have grains joining the list of dietary outcasts. How did this happen? Is it necessary? Let’s find out if you should go grain-free!

What is Grain-Free?

Have you ever thought about skipping rice, chapati or your favorite rotis for losing weight quickly? Ever skipped all grains which includes wheat and its products, corn, rice, jowar, ragi, and bajra? That is called going grain-free. It is when you eliminate all grains from your diet.

If you have followed a specific diet like Keto or Paleo, you know that they involve skipping grains. Another reason people avoid grains is the discomfort in digesting them. The specific known culprit is Wheat! But there is hardly any reason enough that suggests grains are unhealthy or promote weight gain.

Are There Any Benefits of Going Grain-Free?

The immediate benefit of going grain-free is that you will notice some weight loss and reduction in bloating. 80% of dry matter of grains is carbohydrates. Reduced intake of excess carbohydrates helps in reducing weight quickly as it also reduces water retention. Hence, skipping grains makes you feel light. It works for short-term weight loss.

However, if you want to go for long-term weight loss, skipping grains might not be such a great idea as it may lead to nutritional deficiency. Whole grains are a major source of Vitamin B in our diet. Restricting it for a long time may lead to deficiency and cause problems. Going grain-free is not for every person. You can get the same benefits by skipping sugar and processed foods. For long term weight loss, go for grains!

What to Watch Out For!

If you are insistent on going grain-free, then plan your diet in such a way that you can cope with the vitamin loss. For instasnce, include green vegetables in your diet. You can go grain-free for a specific period but avoid going long term. Remember that eating whole grains is good for your heart and it reduces the risk of cancer as well.

If you are skipping grains due to digestive discomfort, then take the IgA anti-gliadin antibodies test to see if you have gluten sensitivity followed by endoscopy to check for celiac disease.

Gluten is a protein present in wheat and it will cause you discomfort if you have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. If you have either of these conditions, avoid wheat, rye and barley. You can safely eat other grains.

To sum it up, you can enjoy eating rice, idli and parathas in moderation. Avoid refined cereal!

We hope this article helps you come to a conclusion on whether you should go grain-free or not! Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

#BeTheForce