Amid the constant stimulation and distractions of modern life, the power of silence has never been more important, as health and wellness influencer Pradaini Surva tells us in an interaction
Words by Sakshi Dhingra
How can we balance digital connectivity with mindfulness in our yoga practice?
Balancing digital connectivity and mindfulness requires 2 things. One is intention, the other one is boundaries. Setting an intention to be present. Setting boundaries on using the device. For example, being present requires intention and total involvement in the moment. zssde
If I’m practicing yoga, I make sure my phone is off, my phone is on silent and all my gadgets are kept away. There’s absolutely nothing that interferes in my practice. And also yoga is not just on the mat, it is off the mat. If I’m involved in doing any kind of work, then I allow myself to be wholly involved. So, my intention would be involvement.
And at the same time, I set boundaries. When I use my phone, I use it mindfully. And yes, of course, I scroll. It’s a part of our life. I get inspiration depending upon the pages I follow.
But at the same time, I watch how far I go with the scrolling and set timers on when I need to stop and proceed on to what I’m meant to do. So striking a balance between this and that requires setting an intention as well as a health healthy boundaries for us to be able to access as the best of both.
What role does silence play in our noisy world, and how can we cultivate it through meditation during yoga?
Silence requires intention. Our life gets busier and busier. The simpler we try to make our life, somehow, the more complicated it gets. With all these distractions to dive into so many different streams of information and data that’s available, that’s so easily accessible for us, we do not allow ourselves to sometimes go into the mode of doing nothing.
Practicing doing nothing can really help us, even if it means to sit and just listen to someone speaking. Silence does not always mean just being completely quiet and switching off from everything. Silence could also mean simply being present in the moment or simply listening to somebody speak.
But in our silence, as we are able to hold ourselves with total presence, that could also mean silence. And that helps us practice being comfortable in being present with only ourselves, with absolutely nothing, even if it is without a phone or without a book; to just be able to look around, to be able to look at landscapes, to be able to look at something far.
What advice would you offer those who are new to the world of yoga and meditation?
The first thing to understand is that yoga and meditation is accessible. There isn’t a goal. It is a path.
It is a process, and it is the experience. It’s the journey itself. It is not the destination. It is not for the achievement of any particular asana. It’s not about losing yourself in meditation so that makes you like an edge gives you a feeling of having achieved something in the meditation.
The whole concept of yoga and meditation itself is a journey and a process that we can very softly start to bring it into our everyday life through each moment. It offers a lot more than just a sense of achievement or just something for us to conquer. The more we dive in, we realize the more there is to learn. So there is no end to how much we could learn and expand, And yoga really is a lot more off the mat than on the mat. And meditation is a lot more in our everyday life than in the silence that we experience.
