Dr. Snehal is a developmental therapist who owns and leads SNEH, an institution dedicated to improving the quality of life of children and their families. She is passionate about spiritual well-being and actively drives the Heartfulness CME initiative for healthcare professionals across India.

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Dr. Snehal Deshpande

<h4 id="h-dr-snehal-deshpande-is-a-developmental-therapist-and-certified-life-coach-from-mumbai-she-leads-sneh-an-institution-dedicated-to-improving-people-s-quality-of-life-and-actively-drives-the-heartfulness-cme-initiative-for-healthcare-professionals-across-india-here-she-shares-some-tips-on-what-we-can-do-to-keep-ourselves-healthy">DR. SNEHAL DESHPANDE is a Developmental Therapist and Certified Life Coach from Mumbai. She leads SNEH, an institution dedicated to improving people’s quality of life, and actively drives the Heartfulness CME initiative for healthcare professionals across India. Here, she shares some tips on what we can do to keep ourselves healthy.</h4>



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<h4>What does health and wellness mean?</h4>



According to the UN, health is a complete state of being –physical, mental, emotional, social, occupational, and spiritual well-being. And health is a fundamental right of every human being.



For me, wellness is a state of oneness that you can feel; a feeling of joy whenever you’re doing something. My definition of wellness is to give yourself to the task at hand completely, with joy and an awareness of what’s happening.



<h4>What are the different aspects of oneness?</h4>



My career centers around children. Where I live, I will often see a little child playing with a toy, or outside on the grass, or talking with their mother. They are simply one with what they are doing. They are not concerned&nbsp; with anything else in the world. It’s so natural.



We are all endowed with that natural state, but we disturb the cycle by our own doings. Wellness is the journey of returning back to that state of naturalness, the state of ease; from doing things because the world expects them of us, to doing them with the heart.



We have gone against nature and built our own little worlds. We have created mini universes within, when we actually have a macro universal complete nature. And it has its own rhythm. Our body cells vibrate at the natural frequency of the vibrations of the universe, but we have moved away from that original vibration or state of existence.



<h4>How to choose a lifestyle of oneness?</h4>



First, find moments to “unplug” yourself. Like our mobiles, we run out of battery and need to recharge. We think our batteries are never going to run out and go on abusing ourselves. We must find a way to take care of our body and our inner self – because that battery is within us. We don’t need to look for it elsewhere. We can derive so much energy from that.



To keep naturalness alive, it helps to be very soft and subtle from within, so that this energy can show itself in our life. Instead, we are so caught up that we are “holding on” in order not to feel lost.



Second, let go and feel one with nature. It’s fun to let go and see what happens. Letting go is very important. It is something that kids do. They may like a toy, but the moment they see something else they forget about it. They don’t hang on to things.&nbsp;

Third, make time for human connection. Across the globe, loneliness is becoming a big problem. It’s because we don’t connect honestly. We need to communicate not because of some artificial need to connect, but because there is a need to be together.
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<h4 class="has-text-align-center">We must find a way to take care of our body and our inner self – because that battery is within us.</h4>
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Spreading wellness

<h4>
 DR. SNEHAL
 DESHPANDE is a Developmental Therapist and Certified Life Coach from Mumbai. She leads SNEH, an
 institution dedicated to improving people’s quality of life, and actively drives the Heartfulness CME initiative
 for healthcare professionals across India. Here, she shares some simple tips on how to create wellness.
</h4>



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How do naturalness, stillness, human connection, and letting go come into play when we are trying to establish habits
 and make changes?



It can be difficult to build up a natural routine, like getting up early in the morning, enjoying the sunrise,
 watching the sunset in the evening, and stopping work after that. We are constantly distracted. So, the first thing
 I try to do is avoid distractions.



Human connection enables us to give and receive support. If we don’t maintain our social connections with all our
 heart, we lose the ability to ask for help from people. Because every time we are in need, we think, “How can I
 suddenly ask for help without having a connection.” It’s great to have deep and meaningful connections, even if a
 person is not in your inner circle of friends.



How to go about this? The first thing is self-reflection. 



Reflect upon:



What you have, What you’ve done,&nbsp; Who you are, Who you want to be, and What you’re going to do about
 that.



We often forget we have to use our own resources. Sometimes we depend on external things, or we blame situations and
 people. The moment we self-reflect, we can answer all these questions.



Another habit to develop is connecting with ourselves. Spend a couple of moments with your palms together in a
 prayerful pose. With this small activity, a connection is established between the left brain and the right brain.
 When you establish this connection, and reflect on yourself, you give yourself a new level of commitment and the
 deep potential within.



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<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Make an effort to take
 out time for yourself. I think the busiest
 person has
 the most leisure. It is about creating
 those little pockets of time for yourself
 within your
 schedule.</h4>



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Make an effort to take out time for yourself. I think the busiest person has the most leisure. It is about creating
 those little pockets of time for yourself within your schedule.



In a general sense, the moment you are aligned with the universal vibration – the natural energy or super
 consciousness – things start happening the way the universe wants. Each of us is unique, and it is our abundant
 uniqueness that the universe wants us to feel and express. Instead, we seek abundance outside. So, if we can allow
 the universe to express that abundance, there is nothing like it.&nbsp;



<h4>Find your natural
 vibration</h4>



I believe we need to understand what takes us away from our natural vibration, and what gives us an inner awakening.
 It’s very essential. We end up going into a dangerous and unhealthy phase when we try to run away from our reality.




Suffering is an integral part of life. We cannot take that away. In fact, it is suffering that makes us. Wellness is
 all about integrating ourselves in our world, and our reality. It is about allowing healing to happen in a natural
 way. If every one of us, or even a few of us, start thinking like that, the world will be a better place to live in.




There is something to live for, there’s something to feel!



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<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Wellness is all about
 integrating ourselves in our world, and our
 reality.
 It is about
 allowing healing to happen in a natural way. If every one of us, or even a few of us, start thinking like
 that, the world will be a better place to live in.</h4>



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<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4>



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Create wellness

In search of a new world

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">DR. SNEHAL DESHPANDE has been a developmental therapist in the field of Pediatric Physiotherapy for 30 years. She deals with families whose children explore their potential in a very different way, and working with these families has given her resilience and helped her learn adaptive mechanisms. She is the Director of CME and other Healthcare initiatives for Heartfulness Institute, and here shares her insights on work-life balance with her team.</h4>&nbsp;Q. You have been a professional for more than 30 years, what does work mean to you?SD: As a physiotherapist, wife, and mother, work has been an integral part of what I call “me". My mother instilled in me that work is worship; if you want to worship God, worship what you are doing. Having this ingrained in me from childhood, I decided that whatever I did in life, I should work. There was no difference between what we call work life and family life. Work is work, joy, and happiness.Most of us spend 40% of our lives working. We should like our workplace, because it’s another home. But do we really treat our workplaces as home, where we can relax? When we are relaxed, we can give our best. When we compare our behavior and attitudes at work and at home, we realize that we need to change things to lead a life that is aligned and balanced.Q: Treating the workplace as a second home is an amazing way to enjoy our work. Yet many people find that difficult. What are the possible reasons for that?SD: We think that work is different from the rest of our lives and create a distance between ourselves and work. Work is not different from us. The question is: why do we do a particular job? Undoubtedly, there is no “impossible” in the human spectra, but sometimes we do things which we don’t want to do. We do it because we want to earn a livelihood, or because of our parents, our peer group, or other social pressures.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">If you want to worship God,&nbsp; worship what you are doing.</h4><hr>As an example, we may say, “Because she is a CA, I want to become a CA,” or “Because my father wants me to be a doctor, I will become a doctor.” But what do we want to do?&nbsp;What does the inner self want to do? Do we ask ourselves these questions? And “What is it that I want to do that will improve the greater good of humanity?” If we ask these questions, and treat our work as something that allows us to make the change for which we are here, I’m sure our work-life balance, the core of work life integration, as we say, can be solved.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:71.13%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/striking_balance2_97ea59c17a.webp" alt="striking-balance2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_striking_balance2_97ea59c17a.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_striking_balance2_97ea59c17a.webp 500w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/striking_balance2_97ea59c17a.webp 500w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;Q: Why do you think it is necessary to have integration between work and life in this generation?SD: Stress. It’s the biggest word that hits Google. How do we build stress? How do we build work-related stress? In the beginning it is unimaginable. When we take up a career, we say, “Oh, wow, I’m a doctor,” or “I’ve become an engineer,” but when we start really working, it becomes a tragedy. We meet friends and say, “This is happening at work,” or “Shifts are there,” or “I’m not liking my job.” Work-related stress is now one of the biggest concerns.Work-life balance is ultimately created by our choices. By agreeing to take on more work when we don’t have the capacity, or cannot delegate that work, we create stress for ourselves. Improving our work-life balance improves our mental health, because it helps us to become organized. It helps us to compartmentalize; our wardrobes becomes user friendly, our houses become neat, etc. Having balance means having better physical, mental, emotional, occupational, and intellectual health. Wellness covers all aspects. And even working on one of them definitely works on all aspects of well-being.Q: Can you share some well-being tips with us?SD: Accept that this is going to be the life I will lead.Be creative in your workplace. Feel free to do something good every single day at work. Simple things like a bunch of flowers and keeping photos of your loved ones will make you happy.Seek support at work. Asking for help does not mean you are incapable. It says, “I’m here. I’m new. Let’s walk this way together.”Create a schedule, something that modern life thrives upon. Include your morning wake up time, your exercise routine, meditation time, and travel time. A schedule will help you make use of that travel time, and arrive at work 15 minutes early.Chart out where you want to go. Think about what will help you to do better. What really helps you do better is to give of yourself. Then you feel like you are contributing and you feel happy about it. Find purpose in your work, and your workplace will automatically become a happy place.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:70.17%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/striking_balance3_ab01b2c3d1.webp" alt="striking-balance3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_striking_balance3_ab01b2c3d1.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_striking_balance3_ab01b2c3d1.webp 500w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/striking_balance3_ab01b2c3d1.webp 500w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;Create boundaries so your work does not creep into your home space.&nbsp;Switch off your gadgets to give yourself some “me” time. Your brain need time to rewire. Instead of scrolling through your mobile, talk to a friend or family member, or just be quiet.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Work-life balance is ultimately created by your choices.</h4><hr>These are a few tricks I follow to integrate my personal and professional life. By fine-tuning things we can maintain harmony and joy in the long run.&nbsp;

Dr. Snehal Deshpande

Dr. Snehal is a developmental therapist who owns and leads SNEH, an institution dedicated to improving the quality of life of children and their families. She is passionate about spiritual well-being and actively drives the Heartfulness CME initiative for healthcare professionals across India.

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