Invisible No More 5 Steps to being your best self

[Applause]

thank you

thank you everybody i’d like to start

off with an

intention an intention that i hope

you’ll

join me in doing let’s connect with our

breath

to center to ground you’ll find out why

in a minute

so let’s count breathing in for three

one two three

and exhaling for a count of four one

two three four

breathing like this calms our mind and

relaxes our nervous system

it’s good for us but how often do we do

it

just notice how you’re feeling that

you’ve taken this deep breath in

and out our breath enables us to clear

the fog in our mind

and raise our consciousness over what is

not serving us

and what is serving us

and after the year that we’ve had and

the pandemic

this is one simple gift that you can

give yourself

your breath as higher education and life

continues to adjust to the new normal

never has there been a better time to

focus take stock and reflect on all of

the lessons learnt

all of the wisdom that you’ve gathered

each and every one of you

and continue to breathe

the climate forced us into action

propelling our activator muscles and

giving us

no choice but to innovate and create

under such humongous pressure

often we were reacting from a place of

fear and obligation

there was no time we had to deliver

people were expecting results

at the same time coveted made us look at

our lives and our relationships

at a microscopic level

what were we eating what were we

drinking what were we wearing

what are we long for what did we miss

what did we have and what didn’t we have

we are all such doing creatures with an

appetite of being busy of

activating of delivering of making an

impact

but often for many of my clients

globally

and for the students that i come across

and also the professors that i come

across

and myself at times it can leave us

feeling stressed

and burnt out we are exhausted

we’re just so busy doing we’re not

busy being

if we were to relish in the art of being

it would be called dolce fanente

in italian which is the sweetness

of doing nothing

we are flooded with 2.5 quintillion bits

of

information every day yet we are

lonelier

than we have ever been

so i’m going to ask you a few questions

now and if you want to write some things

down you can

if you want to reflect you can

how many of you struggle to make time

for yourself through all of this

and i wonder how did that leave you

feeling

how did the feeling of knowing

that you were on this hamster wheel of

doing

sit in your body where was that

feeling located

and what is at stake if you continue to

operate like this

yes clearly you’ve produced results

however what was the impact on your mind

and your body

and within yourself were you at your

best

were you really at your best when you

went to sleep at night

did you feel elated or were you just

exhausted

could you say that you were honestly

being authentic to yourself

these questions interest me and as a

psychologist have always done so for as

long as i can remember

i’ve been fascinated with the power that

we have as humans

our mind our potential all that it can

conceive all that it can create all that

we can manifest

we have so much within us to do that the

perspectives we take

the attitudes we form and our overall

attitude and state of being

a lot of it had to do with my

grandmother here she is

her name was devi which means goddess in

sanskrit

she played a huge part in my life

raising me

for 30 years of my life yes that does

make me over 30.

can you believe it nani practiced

meditation twice a day

and i loved how grounded and calm she

always seemed

it made me feel so safe and loved

she had lived through a lot of her life

from being a refugee at the age of 10

and losing her husband when she was just

19

moving to england from india completely

illiterate

not knowing how to read or write english

but somehow she made it work

she not only survived but she thrived

she had a tenacity that was calm and

rare

by observing her at such close proximity

it was like conducting a longitudinal

research

observational research from my living

room sofa

subconsciously nani’s teachings resided

in my mind and inspired me to go and do

my first

and my second degree in psychology it’s

what i’ve used over the years with my

clients and also on myself to unlock the

potential

to open the doors for people where they

feel they cannot get ahead

however getting onto my degrees was not

smooth sailing

i went on and i went on and her

teachings really helped me to get there

as time’s gone on i have worked with

hundreds of individuals

in the midst of their own life pandemics

and i have distilled five ways

that each and every one of us whether

we’re a child or an adult

whether we’re a professional or we’re an

at-home mum or dad

connect with your inner peace at times

of absolute chaos

how we can access our calm to be fully

present

and authentic to who we are

unprecedented times give us such a

unique opportunity to reflect

and there’s something truly beautiful

and deepening

when we explore the wisdom that we’ve

gathered

sometimes the hard times and the pain

can be our absolute strength

and if we’re able to leverage from that

place

there’s potential which is awaiting

identifying with mind body

heart breath and truth will enable you

to stand in your chaos

and not be a part of it it will

simultaneously

keep you in absolute connectivity with

yourself

so let’s start with mind my narrative is

my

choice when you are focused on the mind

by the way these are all friends mind

body heart breath truth that you have

within you

we don’t need to go to a mall to get

these things we don’t have to pay anyone

to give us

these things we have each of us have

these gifts within us

we just need to access them so for mind

it’s to reflect in the moment

what am i noticing what am i thinking

what is my belief system

how aware am i of that little niggling

voice in my head

is it being kind or critical listen to

that voice right now

what are you telling yourself are you

focused on

inwards or are you focused on outwards

mckinsey coined a term called

integrative awareness

which is being aware of the changing

reality on the outside of us

the staying calm despite the pressure

if you are easily provoked you are easy

to control detach with compassion

and you can see a plethora of

opportunity

open up in front of you when you

contemplate these questions and

consciously detach

it makes you more resilient and

adaptable

to take on the knocks that life might

throw at you

body i honor and respect

my body how is your vitality

the harvard business school coined four

types of vitality

leadership vitality they studied

astronauts in space and found

what was the very minimum that they

needed to do to stay

agile fit and full of vitality in space

and they found that there were four

types of vitality and they all come

under the umbrella of

body spiritual vitality

mental vitality emotional vitality

and physical vitality how is your

vitality

did you exercise today for a minimum of

30 minutes

did you run stretch do a mindful walk

psychologists have found that when we

when we experience failure whether it’s

in life or academia or at work or in

general

we tend to self-silence and hide away

these experiences

these are expressed as tensions shame

and guilt

which reside in the geographies of our

body

exercise provides a beautiful release

cathartic release from the tension that

we’re holding on to

raising the quality of our sleep the

quality of our lives and experiences

and reducing stress and ultimately

making us live longer

heart your heart shape

is as distinctive as your fingerprint

you are special and the wisdom exists

within you cardiologists have found that

our heart is the only muscle

in our body that imprints the story of

our life

ask yourself how am i feeling right now

what are what are you what am i

struggling to let go of

what are you holding on to what does

your intuition tell you

a recent study by bagel and denise

showed that intuitive responses are

based on correct

logical responses from the start which

means

we should absolutely trust our intuition

so if that little voice in our mind

when we stop to listen is telling us

to do something that we’re not doing or

to face something that we’re not

facing this is based on absolute logic

let’s stop doing and let’s start being

so we can actually

access this wisdom this golden nuggets

of wisdom that reside in our mind

that’s giving us the direction that we

absolutely need

as the world changes around us at rapid

speed

are you driven by the word on the street

and what everyone thinks is right and

what you should be doing or something

deeper like an insight that’s helped you

carry the light through

a dark time

this is a great way of acknowledging

yourself

breath i feel calmer and peaceful with

each breath that i take

how much do you use your prana prana is

a sanskrit

term for life force energy

simply put our breath

anchoring as deeply as you can with your

breath by the way are you still

breathing

i hope so in for three and out for four

deep abdominal breathing makes us very

mindful to the moment

which is now this is where we have the

most power

this moment is where we have the most

influence

right now shapes tomorrow

when we focus on our breath we improve

our balance

we activate our parasympathetic nervous

system

which relaxes us it gets us in a better

mood

so if you find yourself feeling

frustrated or negative

take a couple of deep breaths and anchor

yourself you will find

that things shift around for you for the

better

conscious breath work will lead to

higher levels of insight

when you become conscious of your

breasts

you lose the risk of getting any disease

breathe it until you feel it

truth i have the power to go

within before reacting how true

are you to yourself remember you’ve got

the answers

what are your beliefs and values and how

conscious are you to them

have you ever written them down how

honest are you about your reality

is it serving you is it working for you

or is it a little bit uncomfortable

do you lean into things that you

struggle to face

or do you move away what is the idea

that you’ve been trying to burst but no

one’s listening

don’t give up face your truth

your hair for a reason

by aligning our mind body heart breath

and truth you reach a place of knowing

a feeling of doing what is authentic to

you

when you connect with yourself then the

environment starts to connect with you

but you see how it all links into you

being present

and connected to yourself first and

foremost

so as the structures and the systems

that we once knew fall down around

us this is the perfect time

to recognize the system that exists

right within you it won’t leave you

in fact it’s always been there right

under your nose

and will continue to be there for as

long as you live

paying attention to this system makes

you more agile

it makes you more resilient it makes you

clearer

it makes you healthier when we are

mindful of our five

friends mind body heart breath

and truth we stop doing and we start

being

we really have the ownership and the

power

to create the reality and the future

that we would like to

see

so i’d like you to question your

limiting beliefs

top up your vitality listen to your

intuition

anchor in your breath and act from a

place of self-integrity

let us not search for an external fix

but identify with a solution

from a place of serenity that always

and already resides in us now

thank you

you