Samatva - Finding The Balance

08/09/2025

I had the privilege of meeting Matthieu Ricard …it was a reminder of the power of kindness and the joy that comes from serving others… Often called the “happiest man in the world” due to scientific studies on his brain, Matthieu continually reminds us that real happiness comes from compassion, simplicity, and caring for others…
Born in France in 1946, Matthieu earned a PhD in cellular genetics before devoting his life to Tibetan Buddhism, studying under eminent masters in the Himalayas… He is the author of several best-selling books including “Happiness” “Altruism” and regularly collaborates on scientific research about meditation and well-being… Matthieu has translated and published several works, serves as the Dalai Lama’s French interpreter, and supports over a hundred humanitarian projects across Asia through his charity Karuna-Shechen…(do visit their website to see the work they are doing in India, Nepal and for Tibet) and donate if it calls out to you 🙏🏽 https://lnkd.in/gz8e-kG6
It indeed was a blessing to be in his presence, listen to him, feel his energy…got to listen to him again at the Ignition talks…gratidue and thanks to Shveitta Sharma for making this possible and for her generosity.

01/09/2025

Who is responsible for your healing… your therapist, your coach, or you?

Standing before Frida Kahlo’s work, I was reminded… no one could have lived her life for her. Despite immense pain, she kept picking up the brush … not by outsourcing it, but by facing it herself.

It’s the same with healing. A therapist, coach, or healer can guide, hold space, and offer tools. But if you need to be chased for sessions, fees, or basic practices, pause and ask… am I truly committed to my growth, or waiting for someone else to carry me?

Irvin Yalom reminds us transformation happens only when we step fully into the present. Jung said the privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are… a path no one else can walk for you.

My role as a coach or therapist is not to mollycoddle or cushion resistance. It is to equip, to mirror, to challenge… and then to let you free.

Healing asks for self-honesty, persistence, and discipline. At some point, the compass must return to your hands… only you can choose the direction. As for me, I learn to let go…

30/08/2025

My heart feels full. Almost like a quiet journal spilling onto these pages here…

Celebrating my kiddo’s birthday… her laughter with friends, the joy of being surrounded by people who care, the staff who helped with such grace, the Burmese kitchen that filled our home with fragrance, the serving team who kept everything flowing so smoothly. Touchwood, it reminded me of how much support and love really holds us…

I feel grateful every single day for my spouse… my best friend, partner, anchor… for our dog, tmy lifeline of unconditional love. For friends who make cakes with their whole heart, for new friendships that feel like fresh pages, and for the gratitude circle that keeps reminding me of love and presence…

There’s also joy in the quieter comforts… the chance to meditate, the wisdom tucked into books, the way certain shows soothe and inspire… travel and food shows…from Rick Stien wandering through little towns, to Stanley Tucci savoring Italy, to glimpses of Hawaiian life and mountain life… have been companions too, teaching me that joy is not always in grand moments, but in simple slices of culture, food, and shared humanity.

Deeply thankful for work and clients who trust, for teachers like HH Dalai Lama, Nithya Shanti, Sukhwinder Sircar and many more who offer pathways of light, for doctors who listen with rare kindness.

Hope and gratefulness through it all , a reminder that life, in its everyday ordinariness and little celebrations, is already whole. 🌸 PC- Sanchi Sawhney

29/08/2025

Musings of a restless mind…on friends and ships…

There was a time when friendships felt open and effortless…

When dinners at home meant collective menu planning… “Should we make rajma or biryani?”

When outfits were a joyful discussion … “Does this kurta look better?” “Which dupatta matches?”

Now, I notice something different…

Dinners planned in whispers. Invitations hidden.

Friends meeting quietly, only to be discovered later at the same restaurant, the same “secret” gathering.

Why the hiding?

From a behavioural psychology lens

Social comparison (Leon Festinger) makes us measure our worth against peers, creating envy where joy used to be.
In-group/out-group bias explains how subtle groupism emerges… belonging for some, quiet exclusion for others.
Micro-aggressions in the form of secrecy, body language, or even silence
Abraham Maslow reminded us: “The need to belong is among the most fundamental of human motivations.”

And Carl Rogers wrote: “What is most personal is most universal.”

When we withhold, we not only disconnect from others but also betray our own authenticity.

Friendship, at its best, is psychological safety in action… a space where we can share openly without fear of judgment.

Some prompts I have been journaling on

• Do I invite people into safety, or into comparison?
• Do I shrink in hiding, or expand when sharing?
• What kind of friend do I want to be remembered as?
Rumi said: “The soul sits at its own table.”

Maybe friendships are meant to expand that table… not make it smaller…or maybe it’s all a reflection of the world we are living in… using a happy,,random picture from the past of divine feminine energy and vibes 🤩

16/08/2025

Our Mindful Retreat is now full 🌿
Deep gratitude to everyone who felt called to join…Looking forward to gathering as a sangha, to sit in silence, breathe together, and open our hearts in practice…May this retreat be a space of presence, healing, and joy. 🙏✨

13/08/2025

If you find a calling for some space to meditate, relax, breathe… we are headed to the this November… for a Mindful Retreat…next to the river, sacred land of His Holiness… connect with me… only 1 cottage is left…

06/08/2025

A gentle reminder that sometimes, all it takes is one mindful breath to return to what we truly know…

In a corporate workshop that I had facilitated to introduce mindfulness practices…

The intention was for participants to experience what has been deeply meaningful for me…

+ Thich Nhat Hanh’s gentle breath meditation
+ The Brahmaviharas of Buddhism
+ Krishnamacharya’s mindful breath with movement

It felt exciting, my sense was it worked well…

However,

A few participants passionately insisted,

“Breathing in, belly expands – breathing out, belly contracts? WRONG!” ( for them it’s the opposite)

“Abdominal breathing is cheat breathing!” ( chest breathing is according to them the right way, which maybe in certain situations)

They thrust their source…Google in my face, literally 😅

For a brief, bewildering moment, I almost believed them…

Questioning all my teachers – Thich Nhat Hanh, Swami Sivananda, Krishnamacharya, Donna Farhi…until I realized I was letting feedback based on overconfidence, google, perhaps limited experience and practice overwhelm me…

Later, shared a few credible links with HR (no response).

But my reflections…

+ In a world full of “instant experts,” it’s easy to doubt yourself.

+ Mindfulness is as much about holding your ground as it is about softening your mind.

+ Sometimes the real practice is breathing… through the comments. 😉
So now, I smile, breathe, and remember… Google may have answers, but wisdom has roots…
PC: Rahul Sood & Rohit Samuel at Norbulinga Monastery

31/07/2025

On Sensitivity, relationships, forgiveness and more…

For the longest time, sensitivity was labeled a weakness.

Too emotional. Too intense. Too much.

But I have come to see it differently. Sensitivity is not fragility… it is awareness. It’s what allows us to notice the unsaid, to invest deeply in relationships, and to care in a world that often rushes past what truly matters…Yet, the same depth can hurt… We invest in people who may not meet us the way we hope. We misread closeness, only to realize it wasn’t mutual…Sometimes, others misunderstand us…trapped in confirmation bias, or what I call the “expert trap,” where we assume we already know. There’s also the Dunning–Kruger effect, where misplaced confidence can dismiss the quiet truth of another person’s experience…

And so, we learn.

We learn that not everyone walks the same path or speaks the same language of connection. That doesn’t make anyone wrong. It just makes us human.The gift, I have realized, is this…

To forgive, not just others but also ourselves for the roles we have played in these stories. To look inward without judgment. To move on with kindness.

*This is mindfulness in practice*

This is faith…in people… in the ebb and flow of life, in the quiet knowing that every relationship, even the unreciprocated ones, adds texture to our journey.

Sensitivity is not something to outgrow.

It is something to grow into.

✨ Because feeling deeply isn’t a liability…it is how we touch life fully…

22/07/2025

Hi, join me for a 40 day journey to Gratitude, Thanks, Happiness… will be sharing a new prompt everyday on a WhatsApp group… 🙏🏽💛🧡it’s a gift…💝…free

04/07/2025

01/07/2025

As I prepare for the upcoming retreat on mindfulness and meditation, I find myself returning to the book … Search Inside Yourself by Chade- Meng Tan, an engineer at Google…He designed this course on mindfulness for Google, rooted in neuroscience, emotional intelligence and psychology.

What I love most is how gentle and scientific it is at once … a reminder that compassion, focus, and inner clarity can be cultivated just like any other skill….love the way Chade adds humour to his rational, engineering mind yet earnestly believes in this ancient practice…even though his logical mind needed backing from science 😄

It’s a book I often recommend to retreat participants…not because it has all the answers, but because it nudges to begin asking different questions.

It offers evidence, not just hope that practices like breath awareness, compassion, and presence can literally rewire the brain, improve relationships, and help with more clarity and calm. I return to it often as a reminder that mindfulness isn’t just a spiritual idea…it’s a deeply human one…

This November, we gather again to reconnect with these practices. The retreat is almost full, and I am holding space for those who feel called. If this speaks to you, do reach out…