Situational depression is not the same as clinical depression. It is usually triggered by an event or situation, such losing a promotion or a job, a breakup, failure, or a traumatic event. Situational depression can be overcome with counselling, mindfulness, meditation and through practices that change our attitude, behaviours and responses. Situational depression can pass in a few weeks, but can turn into clinical depression if left unattended for long. Read what Oprah has t

Not every thing has to be a reflection of our mental health...certainly not the aesthetic choices we make! The problem is that too many rookie opinions, and all kind of flimsy research projects, come up every day, showing people more and more ways in which they are/ can/ will/ or should be depressed. Making things worse, are journalists and bloggers, who pick the most sensational lines and concert them in to sensational headlines. These then get read fleeting by an audience w

Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Sometimes joy is the source of your smile. At other times, your smile is the source of your joy.” For ages, spirituality and science have been trying to understand what really makes the human heart sing. Finally, there seem to be some answers! For starters, there’s some truth is old clichés like “money can’t buy you happiness.” Apparently, once your basic needs are met, all the delightful frills do little to raise your sense of satisfaction. Youth? A go

Ever wondered why most people are more stressed than ever before? This is a pretty huge question, the answer to which lies in a complex web of changing social beliefs, systems, dynamics and technology! To begin with, the very fibre of our social fabric had changed. Gender roles are no longer well defined in most modern societies, and that changes the way family units operate, interact and negotiate the course of their relationships. Often people are caught in a trap of deeply

Most people really grapple with accepting that they have a mental illness. There is understandably, a huge amount of fear about 'losing our mind,' and people and society at large, does not help. There are stigmas attached, people’s reactions include horror, severing ties, making mockery, and even treating a person with a mental illness like an outcast. Often relationships, marriage and job opportunities dwindle and all this makes coping with an already tough situation, even t

Everyone seems to be scrambling to crack the Happiness Code. It is after all, the one thing every human being desires. Once you your basic food and shelter needs are met, all other pursuits are fuelled by your search for happiness. A good partner, professional success, competitiveness, good health, travel, friends, prayer, spirituality, even addictions and consumerism have their roots in the quest for happiness. No matter how fleeting. In the numerous workshops that I conduc

We all face situations that put us in a tizzy, make our blood pressure rise, push stress levels up, or make us panic. The next time you find yourself in one of these situations, just follow one or a combination of these simple steps that will make your stress levels dip down and pave the way to a calmer you. 1. The 2-minute Calming Quick Fix To calm down in under two minutes, try diaphragmatic breathing. It’s a quick relaxation technique. Start by breathing in through your

Cutting Energy Cords is a two-part procedure. The first part involves introspection. And the other, de-cording. The reason you start with introspection is because when you allow others to have power over you, it's usually because there is a vacuum, complex, fear or disfunctionality that exists within. This allows for forming and nurturing of energy cords that tie you to people. Till you don’t find, recognise and acknowledge this, you will not be able to successfully cut the c

Cording is the sharing of energy between two individuals who have had a strong emotional or physical connection. Two people who are corded can have brief telepathic connections between them. Thy can often sense when something is wrong or amiss with the other, and even have their moods or health affected by the others emotional or physical state. Photo: Andrew Magill What are energetic cords? Cords are energetic attachment points that get created between the two people, and a

Although you can meditate in almost any posture, there is an ideal posture to achieve best results. As meditation is a practice that is meant to control, heal and awaken your mind, and the mind and body are inextricably connected, your physical posture does play an important role. It promotes peace, control and strength of mind. It balances the energies in your physical body. Meditation Guide & Therapist Bindiya Murgai while conducting a Healing Hideaway Meditation Retreat Me

2016 has been about many fulfilling connections -- workshops, talks, lectures, and a wide range of energizing engagements on mental health and healing with the most diverse groups of people. These are pics from one of my interactive lectures on counselling and therapy, with Psychology students at a Spanish University, IE in Segovia. Loved that I could do that sitting in my little mountain village in the Nilgiris. #workshops #talks #lectures #mentalhealth #healing #counselling

Guided Meditation is an extremely powerful way of being mindful and eliciting change in your life, due to the nature of the way the brain works. It is a process by which participants meditate in response to the guidance provided by a trained practitioner via a combination of music and verbal instruction. This is a secular, non-sectarian method that brings attention to our inner and outer experiences with acceptance, patience, and compassion. It helps with anxiety, stress, att

Here's an article on my practice that appeared in the leading National Daily newspaper, The Hindu. You will have to go to click on the image to read the entire piece. Post the article, people from all over, and from all economic and social stratas have been calling and sharing their problems and issues. These range from depression, to loss of a child, addiction, mental illness within a family that no one wants to address, domestic abuse, bad relationships, and even perversio