SAMIA: Oh, that's awesome. Can I ask you, how do you define spirituality, like, what is spirituality? Because different people think about it and understand it in different ways, so what does it mean to you?

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: ...then I'm going to leave the stage. So they don't get too attached… Maybe while they are playing out the act, then they are involved, fully involved, fully engaged, they are showing the expressions, maybe they are also feeling the expressions and emotions. But as soon as the play has ended, they come off the stage, and they are like their usual selves. Spirituality in the most basic form is that you don't get so attached to this human life and these human experiences, so that once it is time for you to leave this earth, you'll be easily able to go.

SAMIA: Right… that's just a very, very interesting analogy... wow! That is a really, really interesting analogy. It's like... as if you were an actor doing a play, and you don't want to get too caught up in the character. Like, you don't want to get so caught up in the play and the character that you're playing that you think that's your only, only reality… because then, when you step off the stage, then your life will be dysfunctional off the stage.

PRACHI: Yeah.

SAMIA: Oh my gosh, I love that analogy. That is so awesome! Cool. Okay, tell me more. So I heard you… earlier when you were sharing, it seemed like you were making a distinction between spirituality and religion. Is there a distinction, and what's that distinction for you?

PRACHI: Okay, so to begin with there was no difference between religion and spirituality. Now there is a difference because, like, there are people who are blind followers, right. And also there are people who... the… I think the only word I can use is corrupt, right. So the people who are corrupt, they use religion as a way to control other people. And the people who are blind followers are not able to see those things, right. So religion came up... religion was actually not something that was out of the ordinary, it was a way of life, it was the way you live, so that you are able to remember that basic thing that, yes, you are a spiritual being, you are just here having a human experience. So whatever in Indian culture… if you are doing worship, that is also to sort of remind yourself every day that there is a Creator and I am a soul, I am just here to have this experience. In your culture you have prayers, right? As far as I know, you have prayers five times a day.

SAMIA: That’s right.

PRACHI: So mainly it is like, you know, you are sort of giving thanks to the Creator for giving you this opportunity to come here and have this experience, because essentially we are all part of that... that whole, the Creator, right. We are not really separate, but we have been given this opportunity to have this experience, to also experience being the creator. So we are here also creating our life. But when we forget that, then we go into this mode that, you know... I have to control the situations, the world is against me, the world is an unjust place, or whatever those kinds of experiences you have. So religion was just a way of life. Religion was just a reminder that, you know, this is the absolute truth, and what you are living is probably sort of like a dream or an illusion, right. And then, when it became like, oh, if you don't pray five times a day you're going to go to hell, or if you don't offer sacrifices to some kind of a deity then you are going to go to hell, or if, you know, you don't donate to the church or the temple then you are a bad person, or this... So that is where religion and spirituality became distinct. So for me, because I started with reading the scriptures, I could see, like, those differences, because I read scriptures from different... let's say authors, right, or let's say different spiritual leaders. So some would have that innate sort of you know bias. Some texts will say that, you know, women are, maybe… need to be put down, or… So I would be able to see that, you know, there is a distinction, there is a bias, and there is one leader who is speaking only the truth, right. So for me, I was able to make that distinction between religion and spirituality. And I was able to go to the thing that seemed like the more logical thing I would say, because at that point of time it was more like I was using my human logic to say, "Okay this is logical, so I'm going to accept this". And much later on when I went deep into my healing, that's when I realized that, you know, the logic part is actually also an illusion, right. And if you understand… there is something called the "Dual Dichotomy"... and things are black but things are also white, things are dark but things are also light. So if you think that this is logical so this is true, there is a universe, or there is a part of the universe, where the other thing is also true.

SAMIA: Can you give an example of that? <

PRACHI: Absolutely. So if you feel, like you know, being a good person or being a generous person is a good thing, there is also a place where being a thief is a good thing, right? So for example... like you know, if even in this universe and even in this world, if you were raised by parents who said that you should be generous, and you should give to others, and you should be there for others, you understand that to be a good thing, and then you operate out of that life. And there is a parent who is teaching the child to be a thief, to be dishonest, to be corrupt, or all of those things. And for that child those are the morals, right? And then in the world... because I said, like you know, black and there's white, everything is a balance. So in a way, when you understand karma and all of those things, those people and these people are both equally important in the world. They were both created by the Creator. So it is not that...for the Creator these are good and those are bad. For the Creator the definition of good and bad might be different. For the creator punishment and awards/rewards, all of those things might be different, right? So that is my understanding now, that whenever I feel like I have been wronged, I reflect that, you know, there might be some day that there was an imbalance and things are coming back in balance now.

SAMIA: That is a very, very interesting perspective, it's... and one things that I love about it, is that it allows you to see beyond just a black and white perspective. You know, one of the concepts that I love, love, to talk about and teach and apply... really important to apply, is go beyond black and white thinking. Because, as a happiness expert I recognize that black and white thinking is one of the biggest causes of unhappiness in our lives. Because when you see something like black and white, meaning like good and bad for example… if you see everything in dichotomy of, it's either good or bad, and… when you see things that are good you feel good. But when you judge something to be bad then of course that makes you feel bad. And there's so many things that, you know, we can judge to be bad, or anything we can take and find things that we can judge to be bad about it. And so it gives so much cause for us to be unhappy with things, our life, with other people… And if happiness is your goal, if… certainly happiness is my goal, then you know, I have to... I have to give up this kind of black and white thinking.

PRACHI: Yeah.

SAMIA: And begin to look at shades of grey… And the perspective that you are sharing is one way to help us move beyond this good/bad dichotomy, this black/white dichotomy and begin to appreciate the shades of gray. I love it.

PRACHI: Or even just appreciate that, you know, the black as well as the white are important.

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: Not, not discard one of them because they don't go with your values.

SAMIA: Yes. So what is, what is important about the black side or the side of things that we think of as bad?

PRACHI: So for me, basically… like, obviously to be able to understand the whole spectrum, I would have to live more years with, you know, acceptance of this truth. Because right now I would say, like, most of my life I have been in the sort of suffering mode, or survival mode where, you know, I was just trying to protect myself, fight for my rights, all of those things. So I haven't lived the spiritual aspect as much to really appreciate, like, the whole diverse spectrum of colors, or all sorts of creations, and all of those things. So most of the things that, you know, I'm still talking about and still applying in my life, I'm still appreciating or learning from them. So I would say that, you know, what I understand is like the basic… the most basic thing for me is that, if I feel that something is unjust right now, right, so there must have been some kind of imbalance in the past that is now coming into balance right now. So this is the most basic sort of mode of thinking that I'm operating from.

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: Apart from that obviously, like you know, to be able to accept all people, all different kinds of people, some people are moody, some people are thinkers, some people are talkative, some people are outgoing, some people are angry, some people are bitter, some people are really joyous… So we need to be able to accept all of them. Instead of saying that, you know, the person who is angry all the time, I don't want to be with that person. Yes, definitely you want to conserve your energy, you want to maybe protect your energy. But if you go into too much of the protection mode, that is a survival mode. At that point of time you’re thinking of yourself as a human being, right.

SAMIA: Right.

PRACHI: When you think of yourself as a spiritual being, you are able to embrace others no matter what kind of person they are. So this actually reminds me of a meditation, I think it's called a "Tonglen"... So you must have heard of Pema Chodron. She teaches this… she used to teach this method of meditation, where you basically like, you inhale and take other people's pain. How interesting is that?

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: Like here we are when we talk about protecting ourselves. You're like no, that is that person's shit and I don't want to have anything to do with that.

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: She's saying that you inhale it all, you take other people's pain and suffering, and then you give them peace. So that is like... I think for me that is a very advanced level of spirituality. I'm not there yet.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah… no but, you know, oh my gosh... In this form of meditation, this... do they talk at all about, when you inhale all of the pain from… that other people are experiencing, what happens to it? Like how does it impact you because you're inhaling all of that pain…? Is there any talk about that?

PRACHI: So I haven't tried it. That is why I wouldn't be able to comment on that. So this is all I know. Like I said, you know, this is some advanced challenge stuff. So I'm still at the level where I'm thinking that, you know, okay I will protect my energy. But I will not try to get rid of people… in the sense that, you know, you don't say that things are good or bad.

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: I don't say that, okay, these emotions are good, I'm only going to be happy all the time, I'm never going to be angry… So it's similar with people.

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: So when you say that, you know, these are the kind of people I'm going to just remove from my life, they are toxic, and all of those things… somewhere you know you need to reflect within. Like, how am I in my own self, how am I when I am in my head, and… you know, how I'm behaving with other people etc., Or why does this person appear toxic to me, or why does this person appear harmful, or, you know, bitter or angry to me? So you need to do that reflection. And then obviously it comes down to acceptance. So you are able to accept, like you said, all the shades of gray, you are able to accept the black as well as the white. And that actually comes from radical self-acceptance I would say.

SAMIA: Oh yes, yes.

PRACHI: All of that is a reflection of your inner world. So you accept all parts of yourself and naturally you'll be able to accept the world as well.

SAMIA: Yes, oh my gosh, oh! Self-Acceptance…you really hit something there. For me they're... one of the forms of meditation that I love to practice… they're actually two that are sort of similar in this way… so I will mention both because I love both, and if people want to sort of google one or the other or both and try them out… I will mention. So the first is the "Loving Kindness Meditation" and that comes from the Buddhist tradition. And the second meditation is called the "Open Heart Meditation". And, well, I learned it from a teacher, like a spiritual teacher, who's based in Indonesia. But I don't know if he has any specific religious tradition that he's associated with. He has never talked about it, I've never asked. But the sort of one commonality between the loving kindness meditation and the open heart meditation, is this understanding or this approach of... you first start the process, the meditation process, by praying for yourself, for your own peace, and your own happiness, your own healing, you know. And then you sort of expand that to include other people. So when you start to pray for other people and you're like, "okay, I just prayed for peace for myself, and I'm going to pray for peace for other people. I prayed for more happiness for myself, I'm going to pray for more happiness for other people", you know. And so you... you're trying to, sort of like, to start with yourself. Because if you are angry and you're full of jealousy, or hatred, or, you know, any other quote-unquote "negative emotion" like that, how will you be able to care for others? It's not going to happen. So first you have to take care of yourself, you have to get full of peace and love within yourself, and then you can even begin to think about other people. And so when you're praying for yourself, like, that's an amazing act of self-love, and an act of cultivating greater self-acceptance, because it's you know... Like, we are full of things inside of us that we blame ourselves for, that we judge ourselves for, that we might be ashamed about ourselves, that you might feel guilty about. And so you know, definitely these forms of meditation, these prayers, they are practices in self-love and self-acceptance, and I find them so healing.

PRACHI: Absolutely, and this reminds me of, like you know, when you were saying about the prayer for yourself and then you pray for others… that reminds me of the adage that “healed people, heal other people”. So you have to start with your own self first, and also, like you know, you can't serve from an empty cup. I think that is what is also said, that you have to fill your cup first, and then you are able to serve other people. So it's definitely important, like, I would say, you know, self-care… A lot of people might feel like I also used to feel, like you know, all of a sudden people are talking about self-care, people are talking about taking care of yourself, resting, all of those things. I think somewhere there is a sort of shift, because a lot of people are talking about the shift from the masculine dominant to a feminine dominant. So earlier there was more of a masculine dominance and energy all across the earth, which is why we had like patriarchy, maybe oppression of women, all of those things… And at that point of time masculine energy is basically, you know, doing things, getting things done. So there is no concept of taking rest or taking care of yourself, etc. Now we are seeing this feminine dominance, now feminine is going to take over. So feminine is all about taking care of yourself as well as taking care of others, right. So, there is this very huge need, and you know that masculine dominance had caused a lot of these kinds of things… Like people were doing so much, they were trying to do maybe multiple jobs, or jobs, side hustle their own business, all those things, and people were burning out, right. So now there is this huge importance of taking care of yourself. And when you are well taken care of, when you are happy, then you are able to make other people happy. I hear a lot of people, you know, when I ask them, what do you want to do? They say I want to make other people happy, but they themselves are not happy right now. They themselves think that I will make others happy, and then that will make me happy. Whereas, it's actually the other way around. Or maybe, you know, you are able to make a couple of people happy when you are not happy, and that gives you some type of temporary happiness.

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: And then you go back into a low state, you are negative, or whatever. But, when you are happy your state affects more people, instead of other people still affecting you.

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: So to care of yourself at this point of time I would say is very, very important. It should be top priority for everyone, put it on your list. Like, have a morning routine, just pamper yourself, and then go and meet other people. You will definitely be able to have a much better reception of other people, their behaviors, their moods, and everything.

SAMIA: Yeah, for sure. Like, when you are feeling more happy, more peaceful, more calm, it's easier to be more compassionate, to be more empathetic... Like if someone is having a hard time, and you are grounded, strongly grounded in your own peace, you'll be able to sort of... see that other person having a hard time and be like, "Hey! Why are you having a hard time? How can I help you?" But if you are also in a place where you're agitated, where you're stressed, where you're unhappy yourself, and then you come across this other person who's also unhappy, who’s stressed out, in trouble, you're like, "Oh no, but I can't deal with this. I can't handle it." Because now it's trouble on top of trouble and...

PRACHI: Yeah.

SAMIA: ...there's actually some...

PRACHI: Or you both sort of...

SAMIA: ...Yeah.

PRACHI: ...Or you both, just... you know, become more miserable by talking about your misery.

SAMIA: Yeah… and you're not able to uplift each other, you just sort of drag each other down. That's so true. So do you have a form of meditation, a favorite form of meditation, that you do practice in your life right now?

PRACHI: So I would say I do multiple kinds of meditation, depending on what is the, like, mood or what is the requirement. So when I am able to just sit in silence, then I don't have to put in any effort… when my mind is naturally calm or I'm naturally able to just let the thoughts be, let the emotions be, and just sit there and be in silence. So that is the type of meditation I do in those situations. But when I'm not able to do that, I don't force myself. So this is very... this was very important for me. Like, when I began meditating I used to have very anxiety and racing thoughts all of those things.

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: And it used to be so difficult that… I would try to push myself to quieten my mind and it would make me even more crazy, it would make me even more anxious. So I learned Qigong at that point of time, and I had an amazing teacher. So Qigong is like a moving meditation. So when you are doing those things… and because I had a good teacher and he was engaging us in conversation, he was giving the right amount of pauses, and the right amount of conversation, or information, all those things… it helped me to connect with my body and stop being in my mind, right. So the mind is going to think.

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: When we try to stop it from thinking, that's when it kind of rebels. It's like a child, I would say, right. You tell it not to do it, it will do more of that. So what I need to do in those moments is connect with my body. And when I am connected with my body, when I am sort of with my inner eye I am looking within, I'm looking at the different parts of my body… how are my hands moving, how my hands moving is moving my spine in a different way, all of those things… so at that point of time that really helped. So I do that even though my morning routine is actually Qigong, plus yoga, and then I do meditation. So I really find that, you know, that creates my beautiful self-care routine. And then I'm able to, you know, meet anybody, do any kind of work, all those things.

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: The other kind of meditation I like to do is where it's more like a… just like sitting there, and I'm just talking to my body. I'm just talking to my inner child, and just talking to my various organs… If I feel like, you know, one of my organs has not been taken care of, for example, like I feel like the heart does so much for us… Like the heart is one organ that is just pumping all the time, right. And we don't do enough for it. And the heart actually... When you go into Qigong, you learn about the emotions that your different organs take up. So your heart takes on sadness, right. And your heart needs to be loved, it needs to be full of love. So you give love to it. So I just sit there and I'm like, you know, okay, I communicate with my heart… "is there something I can do for you? I'm sending you love. Please tell me how I can take care of you". And some people might feel like this is crazy, but sometimes I actually get sort of, you know, one line phrase or sentence or guidance from my body where it tells me how to take care of it. And I would definitely say it doesn't come right away, because I remember when I was first told to talk to my body, I was like but my body doesn't talk back to me. And at that point of time it was just impossible… my body doesn't have a voice, it's not going to talk to me! But now it does. And it won't talk to me constantly...

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: ...But I have to be patient, I have to be there in stillness. I have to ask the right questions. How can I take care of you? Is there something that I need to know right now so that I can take better care of you, or so I can be a better person? So I have to ask the right questions. And then when I am patient enough, when I am silent enough, then I get the guidance. So it's really amazing. I love that also. I don't do that on a daily basis, but yeah, I would definitely recommend it.

SAMIA: Oh, that's really cool! It actually... in some ways, sounds a little bit like a meditation practice that I do, that's also a form of… So one of the main goals of it is to become more aware of our body and listen to our body, without any expectations necessarily of hearing words or thoughts… but more like listening to our body in terms of noticing how it's feeling. And, you know, one of the teachings is that... I'm sorry... one of the teachings or understandings, or what you call, like, assumptions… that we're making about the body, is that our body actually does talk to us and it's always trying to communicate with us.

PRACHI: Yeah.

SAMIA: And the way it communicates with us is through, through feeling… like, how it's feeling. So ideally it wants to be relaxed, it wants to be free of any sense of tension or stress or holding. And so any… when your body is feeling relaxed, it's saying "Ahh! You're doing something good, do more of it". And any part of the body that's feeling tense or in any kind of pain or discomfort, that sensation of pain, discomfort, tenseness etc., that's telling you, hey, there's something you need to release, let go, do different…

PRACHI: Yeah.

SAMIA: ...because it's causing us pain, it's causing tension, it's causing the thing, the pain.. and so just to become more and more aware of how your body is feeling… And the way that I practice this is actually through walking. So like walk… we're walking, but we're walking in a very sort of like deliberate conscious way. It… and like each step, we break it down into six parts actually. And you know there's a way that you raise your heel off the ground, how do you swing your leg forward, when you swing your leg forward, like you know, you're trying to be aware of, you know... are you swinging from the hip, are you swinging from the knee, and then when you put your foot down, you know, where is it landing? You want to land on your heel, you know, and then move from heel to toe. Like, there are all these like little, little aspects of, like, if you're walking in a completely relaxed natural way, there's a certain way you would walk. But if you're tense in any way, if you're stressed in any way, if you're holding any part of your body, then you will walk in a different way than this completely relaxed natural way. And so learning to become more aware of, "okay, what am I doing, how am I moving my body, am I walking in the most relaxed natural way? And if I'm not, what can I do so that I can walk in the most relaxed, relaxed natural way?" And it's just one way to gain more awareness of your body and learn to listen to your body more and better. And I find it so helpful, so helpful.

PRACHI: That actually reminds me of so many things. So definitely like your body is communicating all the time, right, like through feelings and emotions, through aches and pains… Everything is just a communication from your body. So if you can be mindful of everything all the time that's so amazing, right. In every moment if you're able to understand that this means this, and I should be doing this differently, or I should continue to do it the way I'm doing… so that would be amazing. But because we don't do that, you can probably take out time during different intervals of the day. Like, for example, Sadhguru says that whenever you sit down to eat, don't start putting the food into your mouth. Just sit there with the food in front of you. Your body will tell you actually, you know, whether you should eat this or not, whether it is the right amount of food or not, whether it is the right kind of food or not, whether it is the right time for you to eat or not. Your body feels...

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: ..and similarly like you talked about walking… So I read this book by Thích Nhất Hạnh, and the book was “How to walk”. He also talks about mindful walking and he has different books… “How to sit” also...

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: ..so he said when we are relaxed, we sit in a different way. And we want to bring that awareness to other moments also so that now I realize, "okay, I am sitting in this way… probably my back is a little stressed, right, so what do I do?" And I either… I am in that state where I'm able to listen to my back, when I'm able to understand that “okay, this is the requirement… or do you remember when I was relaxed I was sitting like this…”. So that mindfulness, that awareness, has to be practiced first so that it can become a habit. And then once it is a habit then you try to make it like a continuous thing instead of just doing it at a particular time of the day.

SAMIA: Exactly.

PRACHI: And that reminds me of a walking meditation that we do. So in India, in some cultures, there's this thing called "Parikrama". And it's a walking meditation and it's circular paths. So we do this, I think, once a month. We try at least. And we... it's basically like five to eight hours. If you are a fast walker you can complete it in five hours. But I am a slow walker and I complete it in eight hours. So like you know in eight hours I'm just walking.

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: Just walking, walking… And that brings up so much. Like, even if I'm not mindful the entire time, at some point of time the body kind of screams. So you are able to see where exactly those tensions are, where exactly those holding… all of those things are, and where exactly your body is fine and not fine, and how you should bring the balance. Because right now maybe you're so used to walking the wrong way that you won't be able to notice the difference, right. I remember when earlier also I used to have this problem of neck stiffness where, you know, if something out of the blue happens or if I perceive some kind of threat, my neck would stiffen. And it had become like a daily thing, I never noticed it. Like, I would probably notice it when it was really hurting.

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: But once I started the Qigong/yoga practices and my body was more relaxed, now as soon as it happens I catch it and then I'm able to relax it right away, so it doesn't become a medical condition. So similarly when you do the walking meditation eight hours, it tells you that, you know, you're walking in the wrong way very quickly. Like you know within half an hour or one hour. You will be like I'm saying very quickly, but for other people one hour wouldn't be a long time. So one hour walking you know that I'm walking in a very wrong way because my right hip is hurting, my left hip is not hurting, right. So then you bring yourself into balance consciously and then you try to keep that balance. And again if you lose balance, then your body will give you the indication and then again you bring yourself back into balance. So I love doing these kinds of things. Like, if you're not able to do it on a daily basis then you do it in one day,... then you take sort of a retreat and then you say, okay, today I'm just going to listen to my body, today I'm just going to do things for my body.

SAMIA: Yes, I love that. I mean they're... I mean, I doubt, except for very few people who must… who are like super super dedicated on the path of spiritual development and meditation practice, maybe like the monks of the world, they... it's probably, they… actually not probably… They actually do spend hours and hours and hours and hours and hours every day doing this amount of meditation and stuff. But for normal people, you know, we have responsibilities and lives and, you know, kids to take care of, and all these kinds of things. And so what can you recommend for people who are, you know, maybe more beginners…? So, what are some baby steps that you can recommend for them to start on this path of meditation and developing the spirituality more?

PRACHI: So, I think the first thing would be to, you know, connect with yourself. And that is actually something that you would probably be doing for a long period. And then you can probably, you know, take on other kinds of meditation etc. So what I mean by connecting with yourself is not necessarily just sit there and try to listen to your body. Because if you are not used to doing that you might not be able to understand. You'll be like, “what does this mean? What is my body trying to tell me? But this is just silence, I can't hear anything”. So you know, what it means is basically that you have to try different things. And then you need to look at your body and say, "okay, right now my body is relaxed… all right, now my body feels energized… So this is what I need to be doing more". Like, I have done gyming, I have done yoga, I have done Qigong. I have also done pilates, zumba... And for me the combination of Qigong and yoga that I do right now is the most effective, is the most nurturing for my body. Gyming is definitely… it has a different sort of high. But I can't really do it on a daily basis, so I won't do it. If I want to do Zumba, Zumba again, if I do a lot it feels like a lot of effort like, you know, I'm not... I don't want to dance through every kind of song. There are some songs that I like, but when I have a teacher the teacher decides what kind of songs you're dancing to. So it becomes like an effort then and I don't really enjoy that. So for me that was the sort of experimenting phase where I was listening to my body, I was trying to see what works for me. Obviously the mind comes in… mind says, okay this is… this seems logical… Zumba seems illogical, gyming seems logical, so I will go gyming… So there will come that sort of a conflict as well.

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: But you just need to do the experimentation. At some point of time the answer will be very clear, the answer will be loud and clear that yes this is the thing. You will be like... it will be like a light bulb moment, aha moment, that yes, I have found what I need to do. Just keep at it, don't fall off, don't give up. Those are the important things. And I think, like, having this routine in the morning is very important. You can do it at any other point of time in the day also, but like I said, you know when you do it in the morning and you are refreshed and you are calm and happy from within, then meeting other people and all those things, it's an easier thing as compared to like what right now might be happening. And then eventually you can move on to stillness meditations. I definitely recommend doing, like, guided meditations. There's something called as "Binaural Beats", and that music has a different sort of effect as compared to normal music. So you can... if you are a more logical person, you can read about binaural beats, the particular frequencies etc. That will help you understand which one you want to use and not just, you know, go into all sorts of different music. And guided meditations where the other person is talking, what I feel like happens in those situations is that you are focusing on the other person talking, so you are not focusing on your mind chatter, right. So that helps you to sort of become calm and relaxed and then you are able to meditate. So beginners would definitely benefit from, like I said, you know, if you are able to understand what kind of self-care routine works for you, then you pick up that one that is the most effective for you, that is the most nurturing for you, and then you keep doing it.

SAMIA: Yes, I love that… Experiment, figure out what works best for you. Because so often it's not that you just like what you like, it's that you like what you know. So the more you know, the more of a conscious aware choice you can actually make, and the more likely it is that you're actually making the best, most optimal choice for you. I love that. And the second thing you said was the guide... the aspect of guided mentions for beginners… I agree with you that's very very helpful. Awesome! So we need to unfortunately begin to wrap up, because… I say unfortunately because I've been having so much fun talking to you. Do you have any last words of wisdom you want to share right now?

PRACHI: I would say, something that came up right now when I was talking about, you know, you will have the light bulb moment, you will have that aha moment… so a lot of people, like, ask me… when? Because your body is communicating with you all the time, right. You have your gut intuition, you have your heart intelligence, all of those things… How do I understand that it's not mind chatter and it is this, right? So because when you start out, the mind chatter will be louder...

SAMIA: Yes.

PRACHI: Right. And what the mind chatter does is it creates doubt. So when you get intuition it's like a light bulb moment. There is no doubt at all, it's like a loud and clear message that this is this. So whenever you have any kind of doubt then you just say, "okay, this is something that I'm not going to think about much because this… there is some doubt, there is some fear, this is mind chatter…”

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: ...okay, and I'm just going to wait for that light bulb moment. I'm just going to do more self-care so that my body speaks louder than my mind.”

SAMIA: Yeah.

PRACHI: And then that intuition will happen. So it all comes down to your self-care routine. I would definitely say that is a very, very important part of your daily practice. If you are able to do that in the morning, it would be best. I would definitely say, like, earlier I used to be a night owl. And it was impossible for me to think that, you know, I can be a morning person. But I really made an effort because I understood why doing it in the morning is good. Also from the spiritual aspects of, like, in the morning the sun rays are the best. So if you do your self-care routine in the sunlight it gives you even more benefits. And also like there are particular timings… if you wake up at this time your body energy is a different way. So that is why if you do yoga... really sorry... yoga at that particular time, it is more important. So we're going from that sort of rigidity that I can't wake up in the morning, I can't do this so I won't do this… to that, “okay, this is best for me and I need to do this”. So that understanding, that sort of awareness will help you go there. So don't try to push yourself immediately. But yes, like I said, listen to your body, understand these things about your body. It's not possible for everyone to read so much and go to so many coaches or to spiritual leaders, etc. Because I have had a lot of teachings from my spiritual leaders and my teachers. So for you, if you are a beginner you might not be able to go that deep into everything. So take, like I said, you know... small steps, baby steps. Understand yourself, give yourself time to understand, and also do the practices, experiment… and then find yours... I'm really sorry… find your most nourishing practice.

SAMIA: Yes, that's awesome. Thank you so much Prachi. We are going to wrap up now but I hope you will come back and share more of your amazing insights and wisdom with us.

PRACHI: Yeah, I would love to answer any questions if anybody has… they can probably leave them in the comments.

SAMIA: Oh, awesome, yes, we will for sure put your links in the chat and in the show notes. So people please get in touch with Prachi. If you have any questions you will be able to contact her. And so do, do that -- contact her. And thank you once again Prachi, and I will see you again soon.

PRACHI: Yeah, this was a very lovely chat. I'm so happy that we could do this. Thank you so much for your time as well.

SAMIA: You're so welcome. :)