The fabric was quite an unusual vintage sky blue and beige combination. With seven different shades of silver threads, the embroidery was turning out to be quite exquisite. It had to be. It was one of my first big projects after opening up the studio – a high profile wedding. Add to that; the entire wedding decor was supposed to match the bride’s outfit. We were also designing the groom’s outfit to match her’s. There was no way we could let anything go wrong. Just then, I get a call from the workman stating a problem. We were running out of material for the embroidery, and they couldn’t be sourced anywhere in hyderabad.
Nine months pregnant, hormones raging, moods swinging, you would think this was the perfect time to flip over completely. The deadline was looming large on us, and we had to find a reliable solution very soon. Strangely enough, I was my calmest best. I locked myself up in my office to come up with a plan. Rang up a contact in mumbai to see if he could help. Munna, my driver from my modelling days in the city, turned out to be an angel. He hunted down the material and couriered it to me in no time. I couldn’t be gladder that we were able to avoid a near disaster situation for my new business. Not to forget, the possibility of disappointing a soon to be married happy couple who trusted me so much as not even to have a backup!
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Many small instances like this one helped me reflect on the transformation meditation has brought into my life: a sense of calmness in stressful situations, a feeling of control over my happiness, and an extremely heightened sense of self-awareness. I found myself feeling more in control of challenges by seeking solutions within me rather than getting bogged down by external difficulties.
The gift of pregnancy was the best privilege bestowed on me. While being physically fit was already a part of my life, I wanted to have a healthier mind too. The growing belly can easily throw you off balance, literally, and figuratively. It made me think of how my emotions, my memories, my moods would all have an imprint on my child. So while most people ask you to eat for two, I knew I had to feel good for two. I dove straight into a guided meditation cd for pregnant women that my sister had given me. Before I knew it, it had become my daily routine. I used to wrap up work in time every day just so that I could rush home to feel the high of connecting with my inner self and my baby.
The meditative state of mind created such a happy and comfortable space for me. I would imagine the sun rising from behind the hills; the first ray of light shining brightly on my womb; the feeling of my breath and pulse nurturing a beautiful soul, flourishing and growing into a healthy body. Breathing in more love and affection to the miracle that was growing within me — and breathing out any stress from work and other worries that didn’t deserve space in my mind. By the end of each 45-minute session, I found myself in a state of euphoria, and I am not even exaggerating. The journey of meditation brought out the strongest urge to be the best version of myself. Our children incorporate our personalities into theirs, and I wanted to leave no stone unturned in becoming a good mother.
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Let’s be realistic. Becoming meditative does not happen overnight – it’s not like any other kind of learning or like honing a skill. It sure takes practice to train your mind to attain meditativeness. So start now and don’t wait! In my case, it helped that I wasn’t a sceptic, to begin with. I wanted to try it out because of its innumerable benefits. Most people assume that meditation is religious or that it requires you to shut out your thoughts completely. For some, it just feels like a waste of time, and so they never end up trying it. Contrary to all of this, meditation has been scientifically proven to preserve the ageing brain, reduce anxiety, and help you become conscious of yourself, among a lot of other health benefits. The practice lights up parts of the brain that we don’t otherwise use in our daily rush.
Meditation is especially helpful to balance all the emotions that a woman goes through during pregnancy. And while meditation or yoga being religious is not valid, most versions of it are in fact, religion agnostic. Even the “Aum” sound is cosmic, not religious. It produces vibrations that pass through your body and stimulates your brain, and your nervous system, and more. It’s pure science that works for our well-being. In short, all you need is faith and some quiet time to meditate. And quiet time doesn’t mean you leave your thoughts outside the room. That’s neither easily possible and nor is that the purpose of meditation. Meditation is coming to complete awareness of your self. Being able to watch your thoughts, emotions, behaviour patterns without getting attached, entangled or rolled over in them.
I wish I had known about the isha foundation back then. Today, I am an ardent isha meditator and recommend starting meditation with the simple and extremely effective isha kriya (guided meditation), chit shakthi meditations, and simple upa yoga methods which are made very easy to bring into one’s life.
Don’t fret if this is something you can’t relate to at first. Working out won’t give you a flat stomach overnight, a tree won’t flower a day after you plant the seed. So persist, you must. It takes at least 90 days to fully understand how to be meditative. I strongly urge you to use a guided meditation program to assist you in starting this incredible journey.
A lot of the credit for my smooth pregnancy experience goes to meditation. I rarely felt any inner struggle to do what was right for my baby. I had absolutely no urges to eat or drink anything that was unhealthy for my baby and me. In fact, I found myself gravitating towards the most nutritious food. Most importantly, I had a tighter grip on mood swings and emotions.
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For a model, who always had great skin, even the terrible pregnancy acne that started in my 2nd trimester (and continued for more than a year), didn’t rile me up as much. Vanity had always been a huge priority for me, but I knew there was little I could do than to handle this phase positively. What mattered most to me were all the good things in my life, and the best one being the little life growing inside of me and the joy that it would bring to our lives.
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