Do something different

There's a new resident "yogic lifestyle trainer" at the Oriental Spa at the venerable Bangkok hotel. Neelam Khatri, 28, from Jaipur, India, is here on a two-year assignment to get people out of their stressful, ragged rut and into a fresh suit of healthy cheer.

"My guru always emphasises that health has to develop from inside out, not the other way around," she says, referring to her own mentor, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of India's Art of Living Foundation.

Physical and spiritual wellbeing was far from Neelam's childhood dreams. She wanted to work in Germany, and studied the language as well as marketing. When a relative coaxed her with the benefits of yoga, she declined.

"I was very sceptical, but they kept urging me to try it and I did. Something opened up in me - it made me really happy."

That was six years ago, and yoga has since transformed Neelam's way of life completely.

"Yoga dynamically exposes you to a life lived in good health. It's not just about avoiding illness - good health includes being calm and living in the present moment. If you are always stressed out, your health is not good."

Neelam's yoga instruction always begins with a few questions - she refers to it as svadhyaya, or self-study.

"The most basic question to ask is, 'What is yoga?' It makes people think and look for the appropriate answer. It's a good way to promote self-awareness in all of your activities."

She leads chanting at the beginning and end of every class.

"My guru always says the universe was created out of words. The sound of a word can create silence in the mind, and if it doesn't, its purpose is not served."

Neelam stresses that physical health is just one part of wellbeing. Spiritual, mental and social health are also integral components.

One of her lessons is to avoid doing the same thing over and over again. It can puzzle people at first, but the idea is to break out of set patterns, at least long enough to notice aspects of life that you might be missing.

"Most people just stop looking for meaningful things in life once they get into a familiar routine. They don't even stop to wonder whether they still enjoy life. They feel no enthusiasm for their own life or other people's lives."

Neelam is a volunteer at the Art of Living Foundation, which she says is a non-governmental organisation active in 140 countries.

"I'm doing many youth projects with the foundation, especially with Indian youngsters. They face so many pressures in the modern world, and it can be difficult for them to find their own direction in life. I lead one project on spirituality, using a very light approach."

Another youth activity takes Neelam into a slum area where she cleans children up as well as teaching them. A programme called Prison Smart has volunteers teaching prisoners how they can live better lives and contribute to society on their release.

Through such helpful work Neelam believes she's found the meaning of life. She's taken a two-year break from the volunteer work to come to Bangkok, but she brings along the same goal: "to put a smile on people's faces".

"I now teach hotel guests, and I want to make them feel happy too," she says. "I want them to find out how easy it is to let go of the stress. You just have to use your wisdom to approach things in the right way.

"The right understanding is important. If you think that life goes one forever, you get stressed about what's going to happen. But if we believe that change is the natural way of life, we look at everything completely differently."

Vipasai Niyamabha

The Nation