Divya Kohli - Finding Peace in Difficult Times: Grounding techniques for inner calm

This edition first published in the UK and USA in 2020 by

Watkins, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited

Unit 11, Shepperton House

89-93 Shepperton Road

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Design and typography copyright Watkins Media Limited 2020

Text copyright Divya Kohli 2020

Divya Kohli has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the Publishers.

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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78678-511-4

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Publishers note

The information in this book is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice and treatment. If you are pregnant or are suffering from any medical conditions or health problems, it is recommended that you consult a medical professional before following any of the advice or practice suggested in this book.

Watkins Media Limited, or any other persons who have been involved in working on this publication, cannot accept responsibility for any injuries or damage incurred as a result of following the information, exercises or therapeutic techniques contained in this book.

Contents

Introduction

How are you doing? How are your sleep, home life, work, bank balance, relationships, family and friends doing? And whats the state of your mind?

The world has undergone a huge, unprecedented transformation recently in terms of the emotional atmosphere and the physical restrictions on people and services, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For me personally, it began with having to limit people coming to my yoga classes, and then enforcing ways to prevent physical contact. Soon I was advised to not visit my mother (who is 72), nor other family members. I live alone, work alone, but enforced aloneness is a very different feeling.

Things escalated quickly over the course of just a few days: my business, yoga and meditation teaching, that Ive devoted every day to in some form for the last 16 years of my life, had to pause; every yoga studio and venue I teach at had to close; colleagues and business owners I know well lost their work overnight; one of my dearest private clients had to let me go because of their own financial hit; organizations where I deliver meditation (to help keep everyone calm in their pressured work environment, ironically) shut up their offices.

It was with disbelief that country by country we witnessed a shutdown of life as we knew it. For me, seeing the city of Londons thriving, incredible, insatiable business, retail, leisure, entertainment, cultural, tourist and financial centres all close in the space of just 24 hours, was something akin to suffering a bereavement.

Whats more, the closures that became obligatory, were, we were told indefinite, leaving us in a state of limbo physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Humans dont like change. We find transitions scary and unsettling. And currently we are in a state of global transition through to what will ultimately emerge a new normal. Working practices, social etiquette, family life and our spare time there is not one area of life that hasnt been affected and touched by this crisis.

Carving out time to nurture your emotional self has never been more important.

Social media and relentlessly updating news feeds overwhelm the nervous system and compound the grief, uncertainty and anxiety we are all experiencing. The stress response that our body is producing is dangerous to our health in the long term, so to counterbalance the effects of these challenging times, we need robust self-care strategies but also ones that are accessible in the moment.

We needsimplewaysto lift us out and pull us through, which will help soothe us not just in the hard times, but to keep us nourished in our normal life too.

Ive learnt rapidly that doing all the yoga, spiritual practice and work on oneself possible will still not make you immune to the events of the world. Suffering, loss and disruption are an inevitable part of life, and sometimes they hit such a peak that its not possible to re-route or sail through it untouched. In times like this, you need to find the lifeboats.

Thats what this book Finding Peace in Difficult Times will offer you: tools which are easily built into your days to optimize your wellbeing when things are fine, but really come into their own when youre in the thick of a stressful or distressing situation and need immediate relief and grounding.

The Busyness of Modern Life

Before this globally enforced abrupt halt, had you ever wished time could pause? Giving you the space to be with whats there, the generosity to not have to do but be, and the invitation to savour a positive experience or give room for a problem to breathe.

My hope is that this book, while not offering a magic button for you to stop the busyness of modern living, will offer accessible and effective ways for you to reconnect and find calm in mind and heart in daily life. It seems no one is immune from feeling caught up in the rapid waves of an incredibly fast-connected way of existing. Yet current-day science and psychology, and our own intuition, tells us this is disorientating our health and wellbeing. Perhaps this is why now, in the wake of a global pandemic and the restrictions this has bought in, people all over the world are experiencing a deep stillness they may not have felt in a long time or perhaps ever before.

What happened to make life so busy?

Since the birth of electricity, followed by industrialization revolutionizing landscapes and society, the pace and fullness of daily life has accelerated. The breaking open of the information age and the galloping change of technology is affecting the minds and bodies of all.

Other than abandoning a life in the modern world that has us connected 24/7, or choosing to step out of the current and live wholly differently or having a different way of life come out of tragedy or loss is there any other way to be in this life we are in without bondage to its trends, pace and changes?

Having spent the past two decades exploring that question through the vehicle of my own lifes ups and downs and in-betweens and in my work as a yoga teacher and meditation guide with clients and students of all ages and backgrounds, I have documented experiences on what has transformed me and benefited the mental and physical wellbeing of others.

The purpose here is to assist you in regaining your own connection to a steady inner centre. To also offer simple ways of navigating the pressures, demands and ebbs and flows of the times we are swimming in, ways that are unremarkable in their method yet alchemical in their effect.

Ive been motivated to write this book by a paradox: there is such a volume of information coming at us and from a click of a finger away, that the last thing I want to do is add to the noise of info-advice that is rife in the ether.