Intro
Just like most people in the world, I struggled to gain control of my negative internal chatter for many years. It’s amazing how much time you can spend attempting to be in control of your thoughts, often feeling that there may be no end in sight! Through the ancient practices of meditation, yoga, and mindfulness, I have been able to achieve a semblance of inner peace, along with many other blessings in my life. You too can find inner peace and a deeper meaning in your life through the simple wisdom, intentions, and exercises outlined in this book.
If you have five minutes to spare in your day—and let’s be honest you do, we all do—this book will help you on your path toward finding more focus and balance in your life. You will learn through the tangible tools and simple exercises I outline how to dial down that constant internal negative narrative and turn up the volume of your true positive inner essence. My favorite saying I have coined over the years is the wallpaper of your mind becomes the landscape of your life. Join me on this journey toward revolutionizing your mind to transform your life.
I am not claiming to be a guru or a yoga master. I am also not proclaiming to be an “expert” at meditation or mindfulness. I am simply sharing what I have learned in my own personal practice and in my professional life. As the daughter of Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu immigrants, this book marries East and West together and was inspired by my own experiences with meditation, yoga, and mindfulness over the years.
I was born and raised in the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma, or Hinduism as it is more widely referred to post colonialism. Sanatana means eternal and dharma means duty or path of right conduct. This eternal spiritual path has made up the fabric of my life since birth. I have also studied Hinduism and Buddhism formally under a number of different lineages around the world over the past three decades. These practices have made me the woman I am, and it is a blessing to be able to spread this ancestral wisdom instilled in me by my family to the world.
Writing this book is especially meaningful to me as there has been so much cultural appropriation of yoga and meditation in the West with such few works written by authors who are south Asian and Hindu, and in particular female authors. It is wonderful to see that we are in a time now where authenticity and representation matters. We are experiencing a shifting tide where people want to hear from genuine voices they can resonate with, relate to, and learn from in an authentic way.
In today’s political and cultural climate, authenticity, inclusivity, and diverse voices are what needs more representation in this genre in particular. Yoga and meditation are lived experiences that are not just about saying the right things but much more importantly about actually doing them. Having this knowledge from childhood as a foundation is vital to me in spreading the true message of these practices in an authentic and inclusive way.
In my professional life as a clinician, I have utilized my lifelong study of the practices of meditation and mindfulness to pioneer a meditation program, currently being used in clinical research at Hoag Hospital in Orange County, California, one of the leading hospitals in the United States. The program I created for this study explores the use of meditation and pranayama breath work in reducing perioperative pain and distress in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. We are tracking use of narcotic pain medication postoperatively as opioid addiction has become an epidemic in the US. We will also be exploring continuation of a regular meditation practice after the acute surgical period as a way to reduce anxiety, fatigue, and depression.
In addition, I am a professional speaker around the world on the science of meditation and mindfulness. I am also the wellness consultant for Hoag Hospital, where I lead the mindfulness and meditation initiatives for their Women’s Health Institute. I am actively involved in their maternal mental health program, breast cancer survivorship, and breast and ovarian high-risk cancer prevention program. I am a certified yoga and meditation teacher alongside being a certified professional life coach with a private practice.
Meditation changes lives and I have witnessed this firsthand with my patients and clients who have struggled with a multitude of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, as well as alcohol and drug addiction. I have also seen the impact of meditation and mindfulness on women I have worked with battling breast and ovarian cancer. Bringing the ancient wisdom of my ancestral practices to these clinical programs and my own private practice brings me great joy as I am very passionate about empowering people to lead their best lives.
My main goal is to inspire others by sharing what has worked for my patients, clients, and myself through the power of meditation and mindfulness. These practices have certainly aided me on my journey with feeling more love, compassion, and nonjudgment toward others and myself, and isn’t this what life is about after all? Breaking down our own barriers within to create more joy and peace in our lives, and then being able to spread this love to others in an authentic way. The good news is that these practices are available to everybody and all it takes is just five minutes a day.
Nobody can honestly tell me that they don’t have five minutes. We spend far more than five minutes scrolling through social media, watching YouTube videos, or just filling our time with endless conversations, mindless television, and reading the tabloids. Those things all have their purpose and we all do them and enjoy it, but again we have five minutes to spend in a mindfulness or meditation practice alongside doing all of the other things that we find the time to do in our day, especially when this five-minute practice can and will transform your life.
I can guarantee you that spending five minutes scrolling through your social media feed or looking at cat memes will not have this impact. Don’t get me wrong, I love an animal meme as much as the next person, but if you have time to look at cat memes you also have five minutes to spend in your day doing something that will lead you toward a happier and more fulfilled life.
This book is offered as a source of knowledge and wisdom to my readers and the wider community, on how you can bring ancient Eastern wisdom to life in a modern world and transform your mind and life to find lasting peace from within. So if, no matter what you do, you can’t seem to slow down your mind, stay present, relax, or go to sleep without the aid of multiple glasses of wine or sleep aids, then this book is for you.
In this book, I offer simple accessible tools to help you develop and commit to a daily mindfulness and meditation practice that will assist you on your journey toward creating peace and happiness from within. Each chapter has a specific intention and five-minute exercise associated with it. The intention set at the outset of each chapter is the theme that you should carry with you as you move throughout reading the chapter. Each intention is tied to the simple five-minute exercise that concludes the chapters. The exercise outlined at the end of each chapter will enable you to start fully living in the present moment by becoming unchained from your past and cease worrying about the future.
You can revisit the intentions and five-minute exercises as often as you wish; the more you do them, the easier it will become to incorporate them into your daily life. Through dedicated commitment and effort comes change. May the words in this book have as much meaning and significance to you as they do for me and aid you on your journey toward creating lasting transformation from within. We all deserve inner peace, self-love, and self-acceptance in order to be our best selves and find a deeper purpose in our lives.
Warmly,
Anusha