Spiritual Magazine | Wellness Magazine

April 2020, In the Field, VOLUME 5 / 03 Apr 2020
Sport, excellence and joy
GIUSEPPE DOTTORINI recently travelled to New York with the Italian National Basketball Artists to participate and also to offer Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation to all the players, coaches and spectators, of the Italian Brands Basketball League. He shares the experience of combining relaxation and meditation practices before each game of the competition. The month of February marked the beginning of a collaboration between Heartfulness and the Italian National Basketball Artists, when we flew to New York with the team for the opening game of the Italian Brands Basketball League (IBBL). It all began with Simone Barazzotto, President of IBBL, who had the idea of launching a “never-ending basketball tournament” in New York, involving the National Basketball Artists. They are a team of former professional players, journalists, actors, singers and others from the world of entertainment, and they compete with other teams representing brands from around the world wanting to expand their business in the United States. Heartfulness joined the initiative as a partner with the aim of bringing its own special contribution to an event rooted in the values of sport, excellence and joy. Not only did Heartfulness send a team, but also offered players and spectators a relaxation session and a few minutes of meditation at the beginning of each event. The purpose was to create a feeling of unity and to bring a subtle inner awareness to the competition. The inaugural event took place on February 5, at the Barclays Center in the heart of Brooklyn, home to the NBA league team, the Nets. The match was between the Italian National Basketball Artists and an All Star team from the brands that have joined the initiative. Before the starting whistle, all the players gathered in a circle in the center of the court and were led through guided…

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April 2020, Focus, VOLUME 5 / 03 Apr 2020
Poise under pressure
Youth icon, sportswoman, and multi-award recipient, P.V. SINDHU has many national and international titles under her belt, the latest being the 2019 World Badminton Championships. A never-say-never attitude, a magnetic smile and twinkling eyes, she is an epitome of humbleness and graceful poise. Here she speaks with SATYA SAHAY at the inauguration of the P.V. Sindhu Badminton Academy at the Lalaji Memorial Omega International School in Chennai, India. Q: I’m very grateful and super excited to have a heart-to-heart conversation with you. PVS: It is a great pleasure for me to be here at LMOIS in Chennai, where I’m coming for the first time to inaugurate this new badminton facility that is named after me. I hope that those youngsters you take up badminton will come here to practice and train hard, and in future be more successful. Q: You have ignited so many lives by being who you are, and you have inspired so many girls to take up sports and dream of reaching the same heights. This is an encouragement and support to them all. PVS: Thank you so much. It’s nice to be told that, but it’s not just my hard work; it’s a lot of people’s hard work who have supported me. My parents have been very supportive, and my coach, and I’m thankful to them. Parents’ support is much needed by anyone who gets into sports; it’s not just a few months of hard work, but years of hard work, and success is not immediate. But with hard work you will definitely get there. Not only in sports, but in other things like studies, ups and downs are always there. Some might find success early and some find it late, but there’s a process and it will take time. You have to be patient and…

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April 2020, Interview, VOLUME 5 / 03 Apr 2020
Spreading happiness
In this exclusive interview, MICHEL LECLERCQ, the founder of DECATHLON, speaks with CHRISTINE MOLLE. DECATHLON is the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, and has over 1,400 sports shops in 47 countries. Michel’s motto for DECATHLON is, “The pleasures and the benefits of sport for the greatest number.” Q: Bonjour Michel. What would you like to speak about today? ML: I am more a man of action than reflection. Sometimes I compare myself to Lucky Luke, because I tend to think after I act. But I also like the fact that the company has a vision. Vision feeds on past actions. I can recognize the meaning of my life by looking in the rear view mirror. So, what I see in the mirror of the past I project forward into new projects; I project myself. If a new project makes sense to me, it becomes an additional freedom. If it does not make sense to me, it becomes a constraint. I like to be a free man, so I like it when projects make sense to me. I also like it when the people with whom I am associated in these projects can be free; it is important that the majority of the people who are associated with any project share the meaning of the project. If they share the vision, then they share the “why” and they will be free to invent the “how.” I really like to reflect on how to support as many people as possible to find meaning in their life in their professional activities. It is important that the majority of the people who are associated with any project share the meaning of the project. If they share the vision, then they share the “why” and they will be free to invent the “how.” I really like…

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April 2020, Taste of life, VOLUME 5 / 03 Apr 2020
Expressions – part 1
In this delightful interview, BHAMINI SHREE shares her journey of expression through painting – both Madhubani folk art and abstract painting – with MEGHANA ANAND. Through art, gradually she was able to manage her depression, expand her selfexpression, and also develop her art as a career. Q: Hi Bhamini. Tell us about yourself. How did your journey with art begin? BS: When I was in grade 8 or 9, I was diagnosed with depression. After that I started doodling. Then, one fine day when nothing was working out and I had a lot in my head and could not express it at all, my mom gave me a canvas and colors and said, “Whatever comes to your mind, start painting.” And that is how I started. I learnt Bihari Madhubani painting from my aunt. She taught me the basics and I became interested in that. That is one part. The other part is that I have always been very vocal about what I think is right and wrong. All of us have our own understanding of what is right and wrong, and there are no fixed parameters, which is why it’s a mess. I was very vocal about women’s rights, freedom, being liberated, the equality of all genders – and I was spiritual more than religious. Right now I don’t follow any religion; I am a spiritual person. So that is what I started expressing through my art. Later I did an MBA. I thought I would never be able to pursue art as a career; that I wouldn’t be able to meet ends. How was I going to live on my own, unless I had some other form of support? The truth, according to me, is that you can’t. That’s how the condition of art is in our country right…

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April 2020, Be inspired, VOLUME 5 / 03 Apr 2020
A user’s guide to living – part 4
WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL IN LIFE? DAAJI continues his series on daily living and human transformation. In this article, he introduces the third universal principle of the user’s guide – the science of goal-setting, and of connecting with our life’s ultimate purpose. Within the five elements are ten universal principles: In his much celebrated book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, published in 1989, Stephen Covey outlines habit #2, “Begin with the end in mind.” This habit is the ability to envision in your mind what you really want, or want to be, even though you cannot presently see it with your eyes. In the yogic literature, this ability to imagine and visualize a goal is known as kalpana. It is based on the principle that what you create in your mind is what finally manifests in your life. Per contra, if you do not consciously envision what you want to be, then you will be shaped by the influence of others and the environment around you. Covey’s book has had a huge impact on how individuals and companies proactively set their goals and work towards fulfilling them. But the scope of their goal setting is limited to achievements and values in the worldly domain. It is easy to observe that when we don’t fix our goals, no matter what the endeavor, we may fail to reach the mark. Often, we mistake an intermediate stage as the final destination, or we get sidetracked. Those of us who have clear goals are more likely to succeed than those who do not. In today’s world, this seems so obvious, but when Babuji wrote his book in the 1940s, it was not well understood in the context of modern management theory. In fact, it was not until 1960 that some of…

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April 2020, In the Field, VOLUME 5 / 03 Apr 2020
The Audi FIS alpine ski world cup
In La Thuile, Italy, the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup was held from 29 February to 1 March 2020. Here, SYLVIE BERTI ROSSI and RUBEN MONTAGNOLI share their experience as Heartfulness trainers at the event. In the heart of the Alps, a few minutes from Mont Blanc’s shining glaciers, the Heartfulness team gathered for three days of snow and joy in La Thuile, a town in the Aosta Valley of northern Italy. We were supporting the athletes, teams, and the general public at the Alpine Ski World Cup, as an official partner, in what turned out to be a special time in the history of international ski events. We provided special support for the ski teams in their hotels, offering the experience of Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation practices. We were also able to present Heartfulness activities and values through various press conferences and presentations, social activities, and interactions with the public. Some of the athletes had been practicing Heartfulness for some time. One of them, Frederica Brignone, the winner of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2020, shared her positive experience in an interview published in the newspaper La Stampa on 12 March. She said that thanks to this meditation she had reached a state of grace that made her more conscious. The shadow of COVID-19 virus threatened to impact the World Cup event one week beforehand, so the organizing committee, along with the regional authorities and the International Ski Federation, opted for a safety protocol imposing a reduction in the number of people in and around the event. Despite these restrictions, 66 athletes from 24 countries gathered late on Friday afternoon to compete on the most technically challenging ski slope of the circuit of the women’s World Cup. Neither the virus nor fifty centimeters of new snowfall could…

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In this exclusive interview, MICHEL LECLERCQ, the founder of DECATHLON, speaks with CHRISTINE MOLLE. DECATHLON is the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, and has over 1,400 sports shops in 47...