Spain Travel Diary #1: Barcelona

Spain had always been on my list of countries to visit. Everything about that country has been very attractive to me - culture, language, cuisine, people and more! It was literally calling out to me this year and we finally made a trip there is month! The weather was just perfect, not too hot, not too cold, just pleasant and nice. I am so glad we didn't go there during peak summer or tourist season. Not that there weren't many tourists now but it would have been way more crowded in summer.

So according to me, the best time to visit is October/November.

 

As always, when I plan a trip I ask which places would be the most contributing to visit and I look at which one invites me energetically. So the itinerary started with Barcelona to Madrid, Seville, small towns in Andalucía mountains, Granada, Murcia, Valencia and back to Barcelona. The trip was a combination of trains and car. Driving around in southern spain has an advantage as you get to see these small villages which are not accessible by train or bus easily.

 

Started this awesome journey in Barcelona. Having spent just 4 days in that city I would still call it one of my favourite cities in the world. I loved everything about it. The city has it's own charm, even though it is seen as very touristy, you can get the local flavour of Catalonia everywhere you go. Apart from visiting the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral, we lived there like the locals, exploring restaurants, cafes/bars and relishing on the delicious tapas, shopping in La Rambla, strolling through the markets and the neighbourhood. This is a totally different way of enjoying a place when you travel, rather than visiting the museums, standing in long queues at the attractions, taking guided tours which most people do. Try it, at least in Barcelona and you will fall in love with the city for sure!

 

As we didn't visit all the touristy attractions, obviously I will not be listing all the places to visit, on this blog! ;-) You can find that on google or any travel book in the store. But what I am writing here is the way I experienced the city and hopefully that would inspire you to go there too!

 

What we did -

 

1) Sagrada Familia - is the famous Roman cathedral by Antonio Gaudi. This church is a UNESCO world heritage site and I didn't know about it until I visited. (There is something about UNESCO world heritage sites that always attract me!) You will find loads and loads of cathedrals all over Spain but this one is truly unique. The gothic architecture is extraordinary and stunning to say the least and I stood there just admiring the building from outside for a long time! This place can get very crowded, so if you want to go inside, then highly recommend buying tickets in advance from their website. They have limited/fixed slots too.

  

2) Montjuic mountain - If you want a beautiful bird's eye view of Barcelona city and the coast, then definitely don't miss going on top of this mountain. It's extremely beautiful up there! You can either take a cable car up, a train or even a cab. We took the cab as it was the fastest. There can be an hour long queue to go up the cable car!

 

 

 

 

3) La Rambla - a very popular street in Barcelona, for food, drinks, shopping, artwork, galleries, flamenco shows  and more! Just taking a walk up and down the street is an amazing experience. Even though it gets very crowded, there is still an ease and joy in strolling through. It is beautifully lit, very lively even past mid night and so much to do and explore. There are people who do sketches by the street side and you can get some caricatures/ sketches of yourself done as a souvenir!  Do not miss the La Boqueria market on this street. Never been to a market which was this crowded! Watch your bags/wallets while you are here. You will find the best local fruits and fresh fruit juice here along with many other local delicacies and pizzas and tapas bars.

 

 

 

4) Eat tapas, tapas, and more tapas - yes, you heard it right! Spain has a popular tapas culture which is small portions of finger food/starters served along with your drinks. If you are a vegetarian like me, don't be disappointed, there are still good variety of them to try. Patatas Bravas, fried padron peppers, stuffed olives, croquettas, bread with tomato and olive oil, and so much more! Try them with wine /Sangria for sure.  I went crazy happy eating all of these. Just for tapas I would go back to Spain again. Simply loved this culture!!!

 

 

 

5) Plaza España - Barcelona has a lovely night life and it is best spent in Ramblas and Plaza España! There is a building called Arena at this plaza where you can go on the roof top to get a view of the entire plaza. Even the elevators going up here have great views. The fountain in the centre of the plaza is worth a look!

 

 

 

6) Take a day trip to Montserrat - When you have soaked in the city enough, consider taking a day trip to Montserrat mountains, which is about an hour by train from Barcelona. You can even do it in half a day but a full day is a better option. The serrated mountains, monastery, trains going on steep slopes, cable cars, hiking, shopping and so much more. It's truly a memorable experience, to be missed and you get to see the outskirts of Barcelona too. I will be writing another post with more details on this trip...watch this space!

 

 

 

7) Watch a live Flamenco show/Opera - We did this in Seville where Flamenco originated but if we hadn't planned it there, Barcelona would be a place where we would have watched it. There is a theatre in La Rambla which had great reviews. Flamenco is unlike any other dance form and gives you a great experience of Spanish culture! And if we had an extra evening we would spend it watching Opera on La Rambla for sure....

 

 

When in Barcelona, be a local and soak in the culture!!

 

 

 

The true gift and power of Vulnerability

Have you ever been around someone who is completely vulnerable, in total allowance with no judgements or points of views and being who they truly are? Well, I did get an opportunity of being in a class with one such awesome person for 3 days in India last week and oh my god, did that change my world?! It showed me a completely different way of being which I had never imagined was possible. It is so interesting that someone can change your entire life just by the vulnerability that they embrace and that vulnerability actually shows in every molecule of their being AND their body! It was such a blessing and joy to be around, work with and learn from someone so amazing and I have no words to express how grateful I am for the contribution he has been to my life. I sure did get lucky!

In this reality vulnerability is seen as a weakness but on the contrary it is the biggest source of strength, which I have slowly begun to understand. It is all about being in complete allowance of you and everything and everyone around you with absolutely no barriers or judgements, like an open wound. You are not hiding anything about you and completely fine with every aspect of who you are. Most of us are forced into vulnerability by circumstances and we assume it is being something it isn't, like being a doormat. It is just the willingness to be open to receiving anything and everything, including you with no judgement. 

So what if we could choose vulnerability consciously? We could then be that space every moment and create everything in our lives from this space of no judgement. When you are truly being vulnerable and in allowance, you become the catalyst to changing the world, which I noticed and experienced in those 3 days of classes. I saw how someone can actually receive the insanities and stupidity that people function from and transform it completely through their space of vulnerability and kindness!! We think that being angry, frustrated and using power can create change but I was shown the complete opposite. There is more strength and change possible through vulnerability, kindness and allowance. This is the true gift of vulnerability!

So at that moment I made a demand that I am going to be and have all of that in my life and there has been immense peace and calmness around me, just by making that choice. Because being vulnerable starts with YOU. You cannot NOT love you or reject you and still be vulnerable. You love and receive ALL of you with no barriers no matter how much you love to judge yourself. It is only when you are in total allowance of you can you be in allowance of everything and everyone around you! The more I started to embrace this space, people are seeing more of ME, my power, my potency, my abilities and talents. I even got an opportunity of shooting for a Television show where I was just being me and spoke about what's true for me, there was no rehearsals, no practise, just 1 shot and before I would have judged myself for not having been perfect but this time I chose to be vulnerable and in allowance. The crew actually noticed that and rather than having judgements they saw me as confident, potent and talented. And I have had my clients and friends tell me that my potency and who I be, inspires them to choose greater for themselves and create the change they desire. When you are vulnerable you begin to attract people to you who are inspired by your openness, allowance and no judgement.

It is easy for people to connect with you when you are vulnerable because you have no barriers. Connection cannot happen with barriers pulled up. Have you ever tried talking to or connecting with someone who have huge (invisible) barriers up and it felt like hitting against a brick wall? Was it fun for you? Did it contribute to your life? Was it a gift? I can easily answer that for you. NO! So would you rather be that or be the gift of vulnerability that can change the planet?  Just a CHOICE :-)

I love this quote from Brene Brown ...

Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.

If you haven't watched this Ted Talk by Brene Brown on 'The Power of Vulnerability', I highly recommend it! It is mind blowing.

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.reviveholistic.com

www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com

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Your elusive creative genius..

I watched this Ted Talk recently by Elizabeth Gilbert, the famous author of Eat, Pray, Love and it continues to amaze me. One of my favourite talks of all time! If you haven't watched this you are really missing something!

She has a completely different take on creativity. What if creation is totally different than what you think it is? What if every single thing in your life - whether its your  business, projects, job, poem, music, book, song etc is an entity and has a life form of its own and you could invite it to play with?

Cambodia Travel Diary: Siem Reap

Cambodia is one place that had been on our minds to explore for over a year now.  Why? Because it has one of the world's wonders and it is a UNESCO world heritage site! My husband and I finally planned a trip there to celebrate our anniversary few weeks back. One of the advantages of living in Singapore is that it makes all of South East Asia easily accessible. It was just about 2~2.5hrs flight and visa on arrival for Indians (you will know what a relief that is, only if you are an Indian!)

What is one of the top 5 things you do when you plan a travel? You check the weather and the best time to visit the place. And we being very cute, forgot to do that and ended up there in the HOTTEST (note the bold letters) season of the year. It was around 38~39 degree Celsius but felt like 45deg. Not a smart choice, considering that majority of the places you have to visit are temples made of stone which heat up like crazy! So please don't go there in May/June unless you want to get a tan, sunburn or badly roasted.

Siem Reap is a small town and thrives mainly on tourism. So be prepared to be hounded by the local sellers, tuk-tuk drivers and tour guides wherever you go. We stayed at the Royal Angkor Resort which was a French colonial building, on the national highway slightly off from the town centre but the tuk-tuks make it accessible to get anywhere around easily for just under $5, if you know how to bargain with them. It had a lovely ambience and very friendly staff and I highly recommend it!

We had just about 4 days to explore and we started off with the Bayon and Angkor Thom temples as you get the best sunset view from near there. We got a 3 day Angkor Pass which would allow us to visit the entire set of temples for 3 days as many times as we wanted and cost about $40.  It was an adventure exploring this during peak afternoon with scorching heat and we were so dehydrated that I thought I would faint anytime  (which is why you have to be smart and not go there during summer time!) But it was worth all of that hardship as the temples are beautiful and the guide we hired gave us a lot of the history which made it more interesting. Hinduism and Buddhism are very predominant there and as I am familiar with both, it kept me very engaged while I gulped down 2 isotonic drinks, 3 bottles of water and some tender coconut water. 

We went on later to explore the famous Ta Prohm temple also known as the Tomb Raider temple as a small part of the movie was shot there with Angelina Jolie. So it is a major tourist attraction and it was completely packed with people, especially the Japanese tourist groups (we see them in action everywhere :))

Another full day was spent exploring the main Angkor Wat temple, both at the time of sunrise and sunset. They look very different as the temple gets fully lit up for a few minutes at the time of sunset and the sun rises behind the temple during sunrise if you are at the west gate, so you can capture some amazing photos. It is very important from which entrance you go in if you are looking to do photography based on the sun's position. So make a note of that! As it was summer, there was hardly any water in the mirror pool in front of the temple, so we couldn't get great pictures of it with the reflection in the pool, which are the signature photos taken at this location. But nevertheless, managed to capture a few decent ones!

During Sunrise

During Sunset

Honestly I was a bit disappointed with the Angkor Wat temple maybe because I had huge expectations. So it didnt take my breath away or made me feel like I should come back here again. I was happy to just tick this off my list of places to see. 

Apart from the countless temples to visit, you also have the old market to explore in the heart of the city. There is a night market if you are someone who loves to shop till you drop, like yours truly! There is nothing unique to buy except for some wooden handicrafts and regular clothes and decorative stuff. Cambodia uses USD as their main currency even though they have their local cambodian currency. So all transactions are in USD which means no hassle of exchanging currency. People work really hard there, manage to speak english and are very polite as their economy thrives on tourism. So you will feel at ease while you are travelling there.

There is also a pub street nearby which as the name suggests has loads of pubs and restaurants to tingle your tastebuds. Make sure you don't miss tasting Khmer cuisine, which is the local cuisine of Cambodia. It is mainly non-vegetarian but if you are a fussy vegetarian like me, you can go to this restaurant called Chamkaar near pub street which serves only vegetarian Khmer cuisine. To my surprise, I loved a couple of their dishes! And if you get bored there are many Indian, Italian and Thai restaurants as well to explore.

Apart from the above, you can visit the cultural village on the national highway and a floating village to do some boating and other short trips all of which we skipped simply because of the weather. Instead we chose to indulge and pamper ourselves in the spa with some amazing body massages, head massages and foot reflexology. You have to use your awareness and choose a good place for this to have a nice experience.

Overall it was a good vacation. Will I go back there? May be during winter just to see if the experience would be different. 

Do you love being a control freak?

(Image courtesy: Google)

Most of us love being control freaks. Yes, me included!. I have been there done that all my life in my relationships, with my business, body, money, career etc. and continue doing it even now (maybe less often as I step into more and more awareness). Whether it works or not and creates what I desire is a different question, I still do it!

In the last few months I have been looking at creating a life and future that I truly desire and also specifically creating and actualizing something in particular. And the more I have tried controlling it, the more frustrating and difficult it has become. And this made me look deeper into what  goes on when you are trying to control.

First of all, what is control? Anywhere you are trying to get a specific outcome based on what you have concluded is right or wrong, good or bad, you have decided how it has to show up, when it has to show up and you have projections, expectations and judgements associated with it, you are being a control freak!

I was wondering what is the value of wanting to control? What do we all love about being control freaks? The answers maybe different for each one of you. For me, it was about ..

• cutting off my awareness of the present and future, so that I could be stuck with the conclusions and limitations that I have built up around the situation
• not wanting to let go and trust that the universe has my back
• Focus on what is going wrong so that when the outcome is not as per what I desire I can judge the hell out of myself, feel bad, feel pathetic and do all the trauma and drama (We all love judging ourselves, don’t we? The one person you judge the most is YOU!)
• Mimicking somebody else so that I can create the same result as what they created, giving up ME and my essence in the process (Not a smart choice, I know! But most of our choices are insane, yet we keep choosing it)
• Wanting to be perfect in what is created. Well, perfectionism is a huge lie that we buy into as real and true. It comes with a lot of judgements too.

So after coming up with the above list, I diligently worked towards destroying and un-creating each of it and letting go until there was no charge on it. Slowly I became aware that when we get into controlling a situation, we are actually stopping the process of true creation. It is actually like living in a conflictual universe where you desire to create something and you are trying to control it which eventually stops the creation process. That's why I call it an insane choice, because it doesn't make any sense why we choose it!


Another huge realization is that when you are being a control freak, you have eliminated all of the choices and created a choice-less universe for yourself and everyone involved. You cannot see any other choice other than what you have decided the outcome should be. Would you have a fixed menu with one choice or a buffet of multiple choices to play with? I definitely prefer the latter!

Now I am more willing to be aware of things, in the present and future, rather than be in control. Awareness always opens up more choices and more possibilities!

Just like in the picture on the top, you know the balloon can fly high, but you are holding onto the rope so tightly and then wondering why it is not flying, maybe there is something wrong with the balloon, it is faulty etc.  But forgetting that you are the one controlling it. Letting it go is what is required, for it to work. If only you are willing to be aware, you can clearly see the rope and what you are doing with it :) That's exactly what I am trying to say...

So think of a situation in your life currently, where you feel stuck or you wish you had more choice. What has being in control of it created for you? Would you like to let it go today and choose a different possibility? Would that create something far greater for you than you have imagined?!

If you are reading this, I would love to hear if you have anything to share regarding this, in the comments section.

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.reviveholistic.com

www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com

Connect with me
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Joy and tranquillity of Sunset

#InspiringPhotos

#PhotosThatSpeakToMyEssence

These are some of the photos of sunset and the sky at twilight that I have clicked over last few years. There is something about watching the sunset that gives me immense joy, pleasure, peace and calmness. I love watching the beautiful sky and I can do it for hours, marvelling at nature and admiring The Creator for creating something so gorgeous! 

Sunsets contribute to me in several ways! Every time I witness a sunset, I expand, as big as the infinite sky, as big as the universe, and realize I am an infinite being with no boundaries and I am one with everything and everyone. It truly speaks to the core of my being, my essence , which is expansion, happiness, pleasure and peace. And 'creation' in my life occurs  from this space of expanded consciousness, whether it is creating my business, my financial reality, my relationships or anything else. If anything makes me feel contracted or less than this space, I know it is not true for me and I don't choose it. Choosing has become easy every since I have been able to tap into this space as I simply follow the energy of whatever creates this expansion in my life.

Who would have thought that sunset and nature could be such a huge contribution to our lives?! It can, only if we are open and willing to receiving from each and every molecule of this universe.

Reminds me of what Gandhi said,

"When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, 

my soul expands in the worship of the creator"

~Mahatma Gandhi

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.reviveholistic.com

www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com

Connect with me
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What if writing is nurturing YOU?

There was a phase in my life where I used to write a lot and I used to love it 'coz it gave me the space to express myself. But gradually with other things taking priority like business, home, relationships, travel etc. writing took a backseat completely. And after a while when I wanted to start over again, the words would just not flow and as most of us do, I concluded it as having the "writer's block". It's funny that I didn't even ask a question at that point which would have given me the awareness of what was going on underneath. Questions open up possibilities and we tend to avoid that the most 'coz it is so easy to go into conclusions, as an automatic response system. So I used the excuse of writer's block and stopped doing what I loved and what truly gave me joy. And slowly that turned into a resistance towards writing. Anytime I opened my blog I would sense huge barriers and resistance coming up instantaneously and I would not even venture into typing a single word. And this continued off and on for the last few years until recently when I started asking some questions around this (which means, finally I was willing to look under the carpet!).

Some of the questions I asked were…

What does writing mean to me?

What contribution is writing to my life?

What is the value of avoiding writing which I truly enjoy?

What do I love about resisting something that expands my life?

 

These questions started clearings the heaviness and crap that I had created, shifting the energy around it which is when opportunities, workshops and people showed up in my life who matched the energy of what I wanted to create. With the tools that I have been using, I have slowly begun to realize that writing to me is extremely nurturing. It is what gives me the space to be ME, who I truly am, without any pretence or image. So by telling myself the lie that I have resistance to writing, I had actually been resisting being ME. My demand for me in life has been to step into my true power and potency, be willing to be seen and heard and to really know what Being ME feels like and here I was avoiding something that actually contributed to being ME!! It is insane how we create conflictual paradigms in our lives where we resist something that we love the most and what gives us pleasure and happiness and then keep asking for that pleasure and happiness and wonder why we are not finding it! If you are reading this, am sure you can relate to it too. We have all been there and done that :)

 

 

The other aspect that came out loud and clear to me is the judgements that we buy into from others about our writing, as to how the words were not perfect or it was not structured well, presented properly, grammatically incorrect and blah blah. So most of the judgements I had was not even mine. They were what I bought into from others as real and true and allowed it to run my life. That's another way you give up being YOU! I realized it was not working for me anymore, so just made a choice to let that go and choose something different, which is the willingness to not be perfect in what I write :)

 

 

When I let go of these limitations and fixed points of views I had created, I now see 'writing' in a totally different way. It feels different too. It feels like meditation and an expansion of consciousness. There is so much space, peace, calmness and joy that I experience and gratitude for every word that flows. The more I write these days I can see more of me blossoming out. How does it truly get better than this?!

 

So what if writing is not about being perfect and grammatically correct but about getting your voice out into the world? What if you could write just for the joy of it and to express the energy that you are sensing? What if what you write could be a huge contribution to at least one person who reads it and changes that person's life? Last but not the least, what if you could write just for YOU, just for FUN and just because it nurtures YOU and your body?!

 

The more you nurture yourself, the more joy you create in your life!

Are you willing to take time off and invest in YOU today?

 

 

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.reviveholistic.com

www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com

Connect with me
Facebook - www.facebook.com/pratima.nagaraj
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* Some of the tools and questions mentioned in this post are from Access Consciousness

What's your story?

Stories. We all create them. Myriads of opinions, thoughts, beliefs about us, everyone and everything else. And they are intricately woven such that we can never get to the real issue. We are smart, aren't we?! To me, stories are nothing but layers and layers of crap that we create in order to not get to the heart of the problem or to acknowledge what we are aware of. Stories are also reasons that we use to justify the choices we made in the past or making currently. It is simply a way of distracting ourselves from what is real and true....As long as you are with that distraction it's like a dog chasing it's own tail. You will be stuck in a loop forever until you choose to get out of that story....

 

A couple of days back someone pinged me asking for guidance. He spent 15 mins giving me the entire details of the situation and how he was wronged, how he felt awful, used and disappointed etc. At the end of the conversation what I realized was that the entire thing was a nicely crafted story and the heart of the matter was just that he didn't trust himself and didn't want to acknowledge his strength and capacities. Instead he was trying to prove the rightness of his point of view and entire focus was on how someone else betrayed him, didn't stand up to his expectations et.al. He enjoyed being in the victim space. The moment I brought this to his awareness and we destroyed and un-created the entire story, he immediately felt light and joyful and his entire energy shifted. All this in a matter of 20-25mins! How does it get better than this?! It is all about accessing the power within you and acknowledging how valuable you are.

 

How many of us actually spend days, weeks, months and years telling the same story to others or to our own selves ....so much so that it starts feeling real and true? The more you tell stories, the more you buy into it and start abusing yourself by going into the victim space which makes you feel like you have no other choice. So how do you know when you are getting into a story? Usually whenever you use the words "because..." or "but..." what follows after that is a story/reason/justification. Example.. I can't do this because.... , or I would love to do this but..... etc. So it just takes a certain amount of awareness and being present to notice when you do this. The moment you become aware, you just destroy all those stories and make a different choice which will open up infinite possibilities!

 

Another question that might pop up in your universe is...how do I know when I am telling a story and when I am just using it as an example to explain something to someone? Well, in my point of view, when you are in a story, there is a "charge" associated with it and when you are giving an example, it is just an interesting point of view with no 'charge'. What do I mean by charge? Anything that makes you feel emotional/ heavy/ uncomfortable/contracted etc. So all you need to do is be aware of where the charge is...and destroy and un-create it and let it go as it comes up. Is it as simple as that? Yes! We love to make things complicated and hence assume that what is simple doesn't work. Welcome to a different possibility! You are the creator of your life and you have the power to change anything and everything! What would it take for you to acknowledge that right NOW? :)

 

We may also assume that stories are usually negative reasons/justifications/beliefs. We can create stories that are positive too...like having Utopian ideals. It's like living in 2 ends of a battery. Positive or negative, both are polarities. So stories that appear 'positive' can also create a limitation. For example, I had a story where I had done certain things in my business that created a good result once upon a time and I had assumed that was the right process to follow to succeed each time. With this story, I eliminated all other infinite possibilities of creating my business in a totally different way. The moment I gave up that story, my business started growing in a way that was beyond what I had imagined!

 

Stories are like carrying heavy baggages everywhere you go.... Imagine when you go on a nice walk in nature, you have to drag around huge and heavy bags with you (this could be anxieties, fears, worries, old wounds, losses, regrets etc). How much freedom would that give you to enjoy the scenery around and have fun?! Get the point? :)

 

If you are still wondering how to work around with this, here are 4 golden questions from Byron Katie's "The Work" which really helps you break out of a story. It has helped thousands of people around the world and it is AWESOME!

 

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1. Is it true?
2. Can you absolutely know that it's true?
3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
4. Who would you be without the thought?

After answering the four questions, you go back through each one again and experiment with turnarounds: (1) State the opposite of your thought; (2) State the thought as if the positions between you and your problem person were reversed; (3) State the thought toward yourself, as if it is you that you are having the problem with. Turnarounds help you consider alternative perspectives to consider whether they reveal a truth you've been missing.
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So what would your life be like if you gave up ALL your stories/reasons/justifications today?!
Who would you be without your story?

 

Lots of love, ease and joy!
Pratima

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.reviveholistic.com

www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com

Connect with me
Facebook - www.facebook.com/pratima.nagaraj
Twitter - www.twitter.com/pratima_nagaraj
 

 

Living by BEING...

While I talk about the paradoxical state of BEING vs DOING, I am reminded of this 47th verse of TAO and I absolutely love the way Lao Tzu has explained what it is like to just BE. Tao means 'The Path' or The way of life. Not religious, no dogma attached, no rituals...just connects you to the infinite being that you are.

 

Without getting out the door,
know the world.
Without looking out the window,
you may see the ways of heaven.

The farther one goes.
The less one knows.

Therefore the sage does not venture forth
and yet knows,
does not look
and yet names,
does not strive
and yet attains completion.

 

In this reality, we are all focussed mostly on 'Doing' rather than 'Being'. Heck, we are even called Human 'Beings' and not Human Doings and yet it is all about effort, striving, hard work, fixing things et al. It took me a while to actually get that BEING is just a space, a vibration, a frequency that you embody. It is what comes to you naturally. As an infinite being, we all are unique; there is no one else in this universe who is exactly like you. You have your own set of capacities, talents, abilities and potency. But in this reality people are busy trying to out create others, compete, mimic other people's thoughts, feelings and emotions rather than just be who they are. Mimicry is a huge thing. When I started asking the question - 'Whose reality am I living?" and "If I were to live my life the way I desire, and not based on other people's points of views, how would it be?" , I realized how much, unconsciously, I was mimicking other people, which includes my parents, friends, teachers, culture, society, religion etc etc. Once you acknowledge this and stop buying into other people's fixed points of views, you start to show up as more of YOU, who you truly be.

When you do things because you think it is right based on what society or family has told you, you are shifting your life into 'Doing' rather than 'Being', because you are not tapping into your own awareness or knowingness and instead getting into a path which is not natural to you. BEINGness is not a force. It comes to you effortlessly. If you feel as if your life is like an uphill climb, then it is time for you to shift from DOING into BEING. Keep choosing what makes you feel lighter, joyful & happy and expansive and you will tend to show up as more of who you truly are.

This one powerful tool of Access Consciousness, founded by Gary Douglas has helped me tremendously to let go of the crap that I had bought into from everyone and everything else around me so that I could figure out what Being me actually feels like. It is this simple question -
"WHO DOES IT BELONG TO?"
Every belief, point of view, thought, feeling, emotion that you have , just ask who does it really belong to? Is it yours or are you just being aware of what is going on with someone else? If it is not yours, just return to sender, whoever it is, doesn't matter! The more you return, the more you step into being YOU. You may dismiss it thinking it is way too simple so it won't work. I had thought so too because we love things to be complicated. You only know if it works when you use it :)

 

Very often I get asked, what is it that I actually do to have a successful business and live a fun filled life, as if my life is a long vacation. My response is always the same. It is not what I do but who I BE that actually creates a life that I desire. We are so used to logic and analysis that the mind always looks for a step by step process or a formula to create everything. But BEINGness does not have logic or a "how to". It is just a vibrational frequency that you operate in. Hence even my effort to define it here is futile! So just keep following your awareness/intuition/knowingness which usually comes like a feather touch and stop mimicking this reality, to get started :)

This doesn't mean you don't take action, but you never give up on your internal knowing. Awareness is always there, even when your eyes are closed and you are sitting still....

 

 

Happy BEING!

 

 

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com
www.reviveholistic.com

Connect with me
Facebook - www.facebook.com/pratima.nagaraj
Twitter - www.twitter.com/pratima_nagaraj
 

 

 

Japan Travel Diary: Kamakura & Nikko

This is a continuation from the previous post - click here

 

We kept Tokyo as our base and did day trips on the last 2 days of our journey, to Kamakura and Nikko - which is a UNESCO world heritage site. These 2 cities do have good hotels to stay if you want to explore the place more, but we were quite happy just spending a day each.

 

KAMAKURA

 

The fastest and best way to reach Kamakura is by train. While you are in Japan use the trains everywhere. They are super fast and super easy!! Take the JR Yokosuka line from Tokyo station which takes about 90 mins. If you feel adventurous then get down at Kita Kamakura then you can trek down the next 2 places till you reach The Great Buddha statue, Daibutsu. It may take about 3 hours. While we were there it was raining due to Typhoon, so we chose not to trek and changed over to the Enoden train line to see the Buddha statue. Daibutsu statue has it own charm. You can just sit there and keep looking at the peaceful Buddha and you won't realize how time flies. The energy of the place is very positive, peaceful and serene. If you are going all the way to Tokyo then I highly suggest visiting this statue; energetically it can contribute a lot to your life :)

There are 3 really beautiful Zen temples near Kita Kamakura station (Engakuji, Kenchoji, Tokeiji) and the most important Shinto shrine - Hachimangu shrine and the Hasedera temple near the Buddha statue. These are a must see. Engakuji is right behind the train station and it is surrounded by a canopy of lush green trees as it built on the slopes of the forest trails. The moment we entered the temple it felt like the temperature dropped down by 2 degrees. It is extremely peaceful and truly Zen like (pun intended) inside!




Engakuji Zen Temple Main Gate

 

 

If the weather is good and you love beaches then you can continue your journey all the way to Enoshima on the Enoden train line where there are popular beaches for surfers. But we skipped it due to lack of time and not so favourable weather.

NIKKO

Nikko is a world heritage site which is about 125kms north of Tokyo and can be easily covered in a day trip. Again, the easiest and fastest way to reach is by taking the Asakusa line from Tokyo/Ginza station to Asakusa station. From here, there are hourly rapid trains to Nikko which take about 2 hours. There are also few limited express trains which take only 105 mins, if you want to reach faster.

All of Nikko's shrines and temples are clustered around the Nikko main station. So we just took a bus from the station and got down 10 mins away and explored everything on foot for the next 4-5 hours.
The temples are worth a visit and the carvings and gold colour decorations are extremely intricate and very impressive! It is a treat to the eyes. Some of these temples allow you to go inside the prayer room and there will be a monk to explain the history/culture inside. If you can understand Japanese then you can follow him else you can just admire the beauty inside (like we did) ;-)

If you keep sufficient time (shops usually close by 4pm), then on your way back to the bus stop to go to the train station, you can do a lot of shopping in Nikko. Apart from the usual good luck charms and souvenirs, you get a wide variety of green tea, ceramics, incense sticks, kimonos, antiques and more!

Don't forget to visit this famous red bridge. I have no idea why it is famous or why you need to buy a ticket to walk on it, but nevertheless, when in Rome be a Roman! :)

The temperature in Nikko can be much cooler compared to Tokyo, so make sure you carry some warm clothes if you are on a day trip (lesson learnt from experience!). Nikko also has some traditional Ryokans, Japanese guest houses if you wish to spend a night there but I felt a day was good enough to explore the entire place.

 

Being the Gift that You are

 

 

Just a couple of days back I did an interesting exercise, where I picked about 25+ people who know me pretty well - among friends, clients, acquaintances and asked them some of these questions about me.

 

What am I an invitation for you? What is it about me that invited you to choosing my classes/sessions?

What about me do you enjoy and like the most?

What is it that is unique and different about me that you connected with?

What space and energy did I create that allowed you to shift and change and choose a different possibility for you?

 

I had no expectation of what should come out of this and I was literally bowled over by the comments/feedback that I received! Sometimes we just assume that who we be, what we do and what we contribute to people around is a very common trait and everyone else probably functions the same way, so we take ourselves and our talents/abilities/gifts for granted and never acknowledge that we are unique, definitely different and what a gift we are being to everyone around us.

 

Interestingly all 25+ people I asked these questions to, had 2 things in common to say - (i) that they don't feel judged when they are with me, which gives them the space to be who they are without judging themselves and (ii) that I embrace a very feminine nurturing energy in my classes & sessions which is assertive but not aggressive and this is what created the space for them to choose greater possibilities and change. Wow! and some more wow! In these 30+ years of my life I had *never* acknowledged that this part of me was actually a gift and an invitation for people to choose change! I am so darn grateful for this!!!!

 

Doing this exercise changed a lot of things for me and shifted perspectives drastically. First of all I realized I am the one who least acknowledged my talents/capacities/unique gift that I have and be. Secondly, I learnt how to actually receive these flooding acknowledgements from people and their gratitude towards me, without getting overwhelmed. Thirdly, now that it has come to my cognitive awareness and I have fully acknowledge this, I am now being more of this and including this energy more in the invitation I am creating for people through my sessions, classes or just by BEING :-) Completely shifted my space and gratitude overflowing in my universe even at this moment. How did I get so freakin' lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people?!

 

 

So how many of you truly acknowledge the contribution and gift that you be to the people around you, to this world, this planet?

 

What if what you be and what comes to you naturally and effortlessly is actually a unique talent/capacity/ability that you have that creates an invitation for others to change and choose something greater for themselves? Are you willing to acknowledge that TODAY?

Are you willing to be unique and different, even if that means to be seen as a weirdo?

 

What would it take for you to try this exercise and see what shows up and how it rocks your world? I am keen to hear what shifted for you. You can leave comments below if you choose to :)

 

 

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com
www.reviveholistic.com

 

 

Journey to Awareness: #3

When something doesn't exist when you stop thinking about it then it is not real. It's just a mere projection of the mind. How many such projections, expectations and inventions do we create every moment in life that keeps us trapped in future or past and never allow us to be present fully for this moment?! What if you chose your life every moment? If it doesn't work then choose something different...because there is no right or a wrong choice....it is just a choice!

So For today would you be willing to let go and destroy all the projections, expectations and inventions you have about what/how your life, relationships, job, business, body, finances etc should or shouldn't be like and allow it to show up as something far greater than you could imagine?

 

I wonder if this would change something for you!

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To know more about me and what I do, my sessions and workshops, visit
www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com
www.reviveholistic.com

Japan Travel Diary: Tokyo

This year has been adventurous in terms of travel. We managed to squeeze in a 2nd vacation to visit the land of the rising Sun. I have been lazy to write the travelogue for the Europe trip and I am positive that I will get to it before this year ends :-)

 

The best time to visit Japan, obviously, is the Cherry Blossom time in April/May. But we missed it, hence chose the 2nd best which is during Autumn season in October. The leaves become colourful while the trees are preparing for winter and it looks vibrant and a gorgeous treat to the eyes. And the best thing is it is still not full blown winter, so it is not too cold; just pleasant and perfect weather!

 

Japan is a huge country and definitely you can't do justice to experiencing it all in 1 or 2 weeks. So for a week's travel we chose Tokyo as our base and visited Mt.Fuji, Hakone, Nikko and Kamakura.

 

Tokyo is the current capital of Japan and interestingly there is no airport in Tokyo. So you have to either land at Narita or Haneda International Airports which are a couple of hours train ride from Tokyo. And considering the super fast trains in Japan, this surely isn't something you would mind :)

 

How to get around?

The best way to get around in Tokyo (or anywhere in Japan for that matter) is by trains. Taxis are way too expensive and we saved it only for occasional use. It does take a while to comprehend the complicated maze of the train map. So make sure you have done your research on how to get to your hotel from the airport, well in advance :) Also if at all you end up in the trains during peak hours then trust me, you will not miss Mumbai!! There is such a huge crowd that when you are walking and you happen to stop for a second or change direction suddenly, someone will bump into you.

 

Where to Stay?

We chose to stay in Tokyo's most upmarket Ginza district which is the shopping centre. So it is no surprise where literally every brand name in fashion and cosmetics can be found here. Ginza is also the most expensive real estate area in Japan. I loved it. It has a very vibrant energy and feel. You just walk out of the hotel and there are loads of restaurants, cafes, shops, bars etc. And every street seems to have an exit to the train station. But prepared to pay a lot for a room that is less than the size of a matchbox! We stayed in the Ginza Nikko Hotel which was way too small than even words can explain but the Courtyard Marriott was at least worth the money.

 

What to do?

Some of the must see things in Tokyo according to me are

 

1. Metropolitan building, on top of which there is an observatory to get a lovely view of Mt.Fuji and the entire Tokyo city skyline

 

 

 

2. The Asakusa temple, has a Shinto shrine and definitely worth a visit

 

 

 

3. Some of the freshest seafood is found right here in Tokyo. So what better way to savour them all than to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market?. Although certain areas have now been made off limits to tourists due to sanitisation and food safety, you’re allowed to visit after 9am and have the freshest sushi breakfast or lunch at the local restaurants there. If you are keen (and lucky), you may be one of the 120 visitors allowed into the tuna auction area to view the transactions. Supposedly Application can be done at the Osakana Fukyu Center at the Kachidoki Gate, starting from 5:00am on a first-come, first-serve basis.

4. Meiji Shrine /Yoyogi park - the moment you enter, temperature drops by 2-3 degress due to the thick green cover of the trees. The park is very peaceful and the Meiji shrine is 1 or 2 kms walk inside the park.

 

 

 

5. Shop for electronics - visit the Sony showroom in Ginza district and the Yodobashi camera/ Bic camera shops for great deals on electronics. Sony has an international section where the gadgets are tax free and have good promotional offers.

 

6. Roppongi area is one of the popular party areas but you are warned to be careful as you can get mugged there. The recommended club in this area is NEWLEX Edo, 1 3-13-14 Roppongi, Minato-ku, 03-3479-7477, though we did not visit this place. It is also apparently one of the best nightspots to spot international celebrities and models alike.

 

7. Tokyo tower (Skytree) also has some breathtaking views of Tokyo

 

 

 

8.Do Not Miss Shibuya Crossing

It is said to be the world's busiest crossing where all 4 traffic lights go Red at the same time and people cross in all possible directions. As a friend of mine pointed out, for a directionally challenged person this can be the toughest challenge! You definitely should experience this well organized chaos (pun intended)!

 

 

 

And if at all you are a vegetarian like me and end up with least options for food, you can try this really good Indian restaurant called MUMBAI in Ginza, which is few blocks away from the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. They serve absolutely delicious food and trust me it's a treat to your taste buds when all you can get is margarita pizza!

 

 

 

Journey to Awareness: #2

What if you could create a new beginning for all your relationships without having to destroy or get rid of…with out having to punish…without having to be punished?
Would you be willing to ask for more? More of you. More for You.

If you were to stop cutting off your awareness, your capacities, your caring, your kindness, how different would that be for you and all those around you?
Imagine what it would be like to never deny you or your knowing again?





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To know more about me and what I do, visit
www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com
www.reviveholistic.com

Journey To Awareness: #1

How many of us are truly willing to be responsible for our lives? The extent to which you deny your creatorship in creating your world, to that extent you actually rob yourself of the power to create your life the way you desire.

It simply ...means, no matter what shows up in your life, you no longer come from a place of being a victim...no blame, no complaining, no justifications. Rather you take responsibility and ask 'What points of views did I have that created this situation' and 'What can I be or do differently now to change this'?

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To know more about me and what I do, visit
www.reviveholistic.com
www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com
 

Addiction to Perfectionism

Addiction need not necessarily be to a substance, we can be addicted to certain type of behaviours, feelings/emotions or thought processes like addiction to being right, being wrong, being perfect, to judgements etc.

A couple of weeks back I was listening to some of the talks by Marilyn Bradford, who has created The Bradford System of Right Recovery for overcoming addictions. Some of clearings made me realize that I have been addicted to perfectionism for a large part of my life. I have heard Gary Douglas (the founder of Access Consciousness) say that one of his daughters wanted to join the beginner's Ballet class but she wanted to have private ballet lessons before she even went to the beginners class. Oh my gosh, I was like that too! How many of us want to be perfect at the things we do even before we start doing it?

Perfection is a lie, it is not real. It is a judgement that we buy and then defend for or against it continuously. Because of this point of view I realized I had limited myself so much with starting new things. There were so many ideas to implement but it was not done simply because I was not sure that it would be perfect. It was almost like my life was put on hold. When I realized that I was defending this perfectionism, and cleared my beliefs around it, life has been unfolding in a different way. With every new idea I now look at it as how imperfectly can I do this?! That just takes away all the projections, expectations and conclusions out of it and interestingly things turn out far greater than I imagine it to be. Many of us limit our potential and what we can achieve because we want it to be perfect and if it isn't perfect then it isn't good enough for us. If you are one of them, then maybe it is time to change the belief and let go of that judgement NOW?

What if your imperfect self were the perfect invitation you’ve been looking for?  The very imperfections that you judge and allow to stop yourself could be your best selling point!  How could that change your life and what you create?

"How would my life expand if I was willing to do things terribly?" is a question I have started asking everyday and that has allowed me to simply jump into create new things in life. How does it get better than this?

Here is a tool you can play with. If you could pick ONE thing that you could do terribly this week, what would you try? when you start doing this by picking one thing each week, you open up your potential to explore your talents and abilities and do all those things which you didn't start just because you thought you won't be perfect at it :-)


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To know more about my work and what I do, you can visit my website www.reviveholistic.com or www.pratimanagaraj.accessconsciousness.com

What is Access Consciousness?

"Access Consciousness is a set of tools and techniques that allow you to create a dynamic change in any area of your life and change anything in your life that isn’t working for you. It is one of the most transformative healing modalities which is not widely known in the East compared to other techniques like Reiki, Pranic Healing or Hypnotherapy. Access Consciousness was developed by Gary Douglas about 25 years ago and has been co-created by Dr Dain Heer along the way. The target of Access is to empower you to know that you know! There is nothing new that is being taught here.

 

It is all about realizing that you are an infinite being with infinite potential and empowering you to realize your potency and power so that you can create a life and reality that YOU wish to"

CLICK HERE to read more of this article that I wrote -
http://www.glad2bawoman.com/category/spirituality/access-consciousness



You can also visit my website www.reviveholistic.com for details

Being Grateful...

This famous quote by Phil Collins -
"In learning you will teach and in teaching you will learn" is what I always have believed in and live by it as a facilitator of various healing modalities. But it made even more sense to me when I facilitated a class recently. It is so amazing to witness the insights that I personally received from teaching these classes that I really felt like I have to return the course fee to all participants as I seemed to have got deeper learnings from the sessions than them! :)

As a healer/therapist/trainer I am already aware that there is a reason why I attract the clients and participants to my sessions and classes. This time the learning for me was very subtle and came in a totally uncanny and an unexpected way and there were a couple of participants who were catalysts to trigger that within me at a very deep level. It took me some self-exploration and going within to figure out that it was all about Being Grateful to myself , to show immense gratitude to ME just like I am grateful for everything and everyone else in my life! Contribution is a two-way street...it has to have a balance of giving AND receiving. So I realized the imbalance I was creating in my life by being grateful to others whereas I had forgotten the most important person - ME!

Strangely, I teach Gratitude as one of the 'Five elements of intimacy' in my classes and I was always under this impression that I am grateful for myself, for who I am, the way I am. But the love & respect I have for myself was not necessarily the element of gratitude. When I was just being present there receiving the gratitude from everyone I was extremely overwhelmed. It was totally unexpected and it bowled me over completely. It got me thinking - if I can be so easily grateful for people showing up in my life and they are grateful for the contribution that I am in their lives, why am I not willing to show that gratitude to my own self, for who I am?! I had cut off my receiving in this aspect completely, without even being aware of it. This realization was the beginning of self-love without judgements and I feel absolutely awesome after this revelation!! This is one of those things that you think you know and do but when it finally happens, it is a completely different experience.

So....if u desire to change a relationship, then for the next 7 days write down at least 3 things u are grateful for, for the person you are in a relationship with, even if that person is YOU :-) . If it is someone else then you can write down the things you are grateful for to that person and for you, both! At the end of the week you have a huge list of items in your gratitude box which you can keep referring to for the rest of you life!

In order to create a great relationship you need to have the intimacy with YOU and gratitude for YOU to start with because every relationship that you attract is just a mirror of the kind of relationship you have with yourself.

So where are you unwilling to be grateful for yourself today?

What would your life be like if you could truly have intimacy with you and gratitude for you?!

What if you being YOU truly are the gift and change that the world requires?!

Enjoy some food for thought! :)



**The questions referred here are from the tools of Access Consciousness™ by Gary Douglas