Meditation – Way to Transform your Life !!!

Meditation – Way to Transform your Life !!!

Thoughts….. Our mind is always full of thoughts. We keep on thinking one or the other thing. This thought process either cause us anxiety as we are thinking negative or leads to over confident illusions where we fail to see reality, leaving exhausted, losing peace of mind.  Have you ever recognized these thoughts are sometimes leading you nowhere? Big mess in mind and no clarity. 

Very well term “Meditation” is here for your rescue…..

“Ya ya Meditation, heard about it. Who has time for this???? I am so busy, going for work, looking after household stuff, kids, so stressed out, no time for pampering myself and you are talking about practicing meditation – really? Give me a break.” OK seriously you want to keep living same life or looking for change?

Well are you really not interested in living life having peace of mind, developing great personality, positive attitude, and clarity of thoughts???? Have you observed your mind when turbulent situation arises? Our emotions are on high and we tend to react impulsively. We are getting anxious and worry a lot, loaded with so many thoughts. This continuous bombardment of thoughts reduces our ability to think clearly and we often end up reacting to situation instead of responding. Uncontrollable thoughts drains away our energy and we feel exhausted. Neither we can order our mind to stop thinking nor we can demand. 

But you can prepare your mind to calm, practicing meditation prepares mind to calm down effortlessly. It helps to release the stress, leaving your mind completely peaceful and fresh.
Curious to know how it works?

According to me, meditation can be done at time of the day as per your convenience. Prerequisite is a place where you can sit quietly and practice it and your stomach is not full else you can fall a sleep. 

• Sit in a comfortable position (you can also lay down straight, however beginners please avoid as chances are high that you fall asleep)

• Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing – in and out. (This is one of the technique of meditation)

• You have to enter state of No thinking. You simply watch your thoughts, not getting involved in it; you remain conscious that you don’t think. 

As soon as you will start meditating, thoughts will start to enter your mind, it stops only when you become more and more aware. Keep yourself alert, don’t get involve in thoughts. No thinking. Multiple times thoughts will try to enter your mind, be at peace and again focus. If you become really integrated in your awareness, thoughts will not enter; they will come and will bypass having no effect on you. Your mind becomes impenetrable citadel. Once you reach at this stage, your body will show you some movements. When body becomes deeply relaxed in meditation, muscles also relaxes and energies take control of your body. Don’t react or think, simply observe. If the movements don't disturb you, just let them happen without trying to manipulate them in any way. Just let them happen spontaneously on their own, not resisting them and not getting involved with them. In a sense, you can treat them like thoughts in meditation. On opening your eyes meditation comes to end.

One suggestion, when you get up from meditation – do not immediately check your mobile phone or rush to some other activity. Take a moment to stretch yourself, drink water, relax your body, just lay down on bed, etc. You will realize that your mind is at peace and very relaxed, leaving sweet smile on your face (I usually feel this).

Beginners don’t get upset if you are not getting immediate results, keep practicing. Soon you will able to meditate. To achieve something, you need to have confidence in yourself that you can do it. Yes tell yourself – “I can do it.”

Early morning time said to be best time to practice meditation before you start your daily chores (it gives energy to your body and helps to keep you active for rest of your day). Daily try to practice meditation for at least 20 minutes. Make it part of your routine. Preferably try to keep your meditation time same on daily basis as your body cycle gets habitual of it.

Meditation makes life more fulfilling because it helps you hear your heart’s yearning. When you are happy, you can complete even the most mundane of tasks in no time and are also able to find personal time to do things that define you. When you find fulfillment in life, it shows on your face, and in your personality. Meditation brings clarity to our thoughts, sharpens our intellect and helps us perceive situations without judgement. We are therefore able to express ourselves in a way that makes sense and able to make decisions on sound facts.

Our personality is an expression of who we are and not just how we look or appear. Meditation blossoms your personality; it brings out the best in you. When you meditate, you glow. That’s because you are able to delete stress from each cell’s memory and give your skin a direct boost of energy. When you look beautiful naturally, you tend to feel more confident about yourself, and that shows in the way you carry yourself. Needless to say, you will leave a mark in the minds and hearts of people around you.

Do yourself a favor, meditate. It’s a nutrition supplement for the Mind & Soul.

Add Positivity to Your Life

Add Positivity to Your Life:

We are surrounded by energies around us. These energies can be positive or negative. I have seen people who are so pessimist in their life; as soon as they try to speak they will talk something negative. Either they are not happy with situations or person or anything. They are just negative in approach; they fail to see positive side of any scenario. Such people always release negativity and you start feeling negative as their energy is influencing yours.

You can be one of them. It’s not your boss, colleagues, parents, kids, spouse, lover, ex, traffic, but your own perception that creates stress and negative energy. Why? So negative, is getting stressed out is going to solve anything? Your problems are appearing horrible; possibly they are not that big, your negative approach towards it making them appears big. Ideally what should you do? Very first thing calm down yourself; Try to study your scenario, why are you upset with certain situation or person? What could be worst thing will happen? After having your answers, you know your worse situation that has to be faced. So try to find solution to it. Try to see positive aspect of that situation. I am sure you will come up with very sound solution and if there are no solution than at least enough energy and mindset to face that problem or let go it.

Do not dwell on negatives. Things happens, its how you respond to it matters. If you choose to victimize by what happens then your negative energy will gain momentum. Stop thinking about it if there is nothing you can do to improve it, if thought comes up about the situations, do not allow it to continue, force yourself to divert. Try to find blessing and lessons from the situation.

It’s not easy, it will take time but you will surely stop dwelling in negativity further. 

For instance, “This job is terrible! My boss is a jerk and nobody appreciates me!” Don’t think this way, instead think: “I’m looking for a better job and meantime I’m trying to learn as much as I can so I benefit. In fact, my boss is the perfect example of how not to treat employees!”  You can’t undo anything. It’s done. Forgive others, forgive yourself… learn from your mistakes, learn from others’ mistakes. The Unkind or thoughtless actions are not outcome of love but they are from your deep inner pain, release this energetic burden you are carrying, grudges, resentments, pain, hurt, sadness, anger, guilt….. Let it all go.

Whenever you criticize, judge or blame others, you are choosing to focus on what they are doing wrong or what’s wrong with them. And you give these people power to control your mood and state of mind. Ask yourself why someone’s behavior irritates you so much that you allow yourself to get upset about it? Why give them power to control your happiness? Instead of criticizing, judging or blaming, find something you can compliment them on and you cannot do that also than stop thinking about it and let it go.

So how positive approach affects us? Positive people are optimist people; who are full of life and zest. Its not that they don’t have problems or issues, but the most important thing they have is their approach towards life. Their mindset works on positive thoughts. Whenever any situations or people come into their life, they try to avoid their negative sides and focus on positive aspects. They accept the world as it is. They will generally say good about people, you will hardly find them negative about anything unless it’s damn annoying or disturbing their peace of mind. Positive energy is contagious. When you constantly take in positive energy from your surroundings, it will be visible in the outer world. You will get to see that people love to be around you and your company, as you are great source of positive energy. They love to share things with you, spend time with you. Your mere presence makes their day, you make them smile, and make them feel good. You are not doing it purposely; it’s just your positive outlook that sees good in everyone and make them feel good about themselves.

Life is so busy these days. We are caught up in our day to day activities that we forget to think about others.  But small gesture of kindness or love can make someone’s day, make you feel good about yourself. Its could be anything, like hold an elevator door for someone, appreciating your colleague for good work, plan a vacation for your parents or someone dear, buy food to beggar who comes to you, complimenting someone that they are looking great, wishing good morning to your people, telling your maid - you are lucky to find her, great food mom, appreciating others, etc. These all things are possible if you have positive thinking.

I would like to mention here well know quote by Buddha,

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” ~Buddha

The things you say, the things you think, the things you do—even the things you don’t do—all produce energy that impacts you and the people around you. If you work on creating more positive energy, you’ll see improvements in your life and you’ll touch more lives than you thought possible. 

Good luck and stay positive..... 

Love and Relationships

Love and Relationships:

We come across many people in our life but we are not falling for every individual from opposite gender. Why only someone different or special clicks our mind? Your heartbeat rises when u see them? A lovely feeling isn’t it?

Is it Attraction or Infatuation or Lust or Love?

Well to be very frank, when you like someone it always starts with Attraction and nothing to do with love. 

Attraction, suddenly you find someone so pretty. Oh wow so beautiful! Love at first sight feeling. They are picture perfect for us. Say looks; physic all seems great, even their thoughts sounds amazing…..hahahaha! Getting attracted to someone is normal and very ok, but falling in love solely on the premise of that physical attraction is a what? A relationship failure, break-up.

Infatuation, looks like love, feels like love, includes romantic feelings…best suitable word is Lust. Whatever you are feeling neither fake nor real.  Quote – Love is blind perfect suits here. Your mind has selected a person purely on basis of attraction, you start developing feelings, your mind giving false impression that you are in love. But when a person or you yourself ask this question why you love this person, no answer. Because you don’t know. Some bad chapters and story gets over. You even start hating that person, you were claiming being in love. You come to know that it was just an infatuation when you fall for someone today and less than a month later, you feel the same way towards someone else. Sorry to say but love is not blind and will never. It’s you who need to wake up and understand the reality. Sometimes relationship gets develops just out of physical attraction, purely lust. Urge gets satisfied and than relationship fails to survive. In today’s mindset of people - Move On rocks. 

So what is love??? Love is to know that individual. It's not based on mere looks alone, or material and emotional gains. Your eyes are well opened, and you know what you are getting into, and you know what you are doing. You can describe the good and bad qualities of this person, and confidently explain why you are so in love with him or her. You have misunderstandings but you resolve them in a matured and very reasonable manner, rather than dissolving the relationship. You don't try to hide who you are, you accept your mistakes. You feel a sense of loyalty, fierce loyalty towards them. Their pain is your pain, and their joy is your joy. They don't take advantage of you, don't force you to go against your wish, proffers suggestions on how to deal with a matter, and allow you make a choice. Respect your privacy, realize you can make mistakes, forgives you easily because they feel empathy towards your situation. Forgives you and never brings the matter up, nor discuss your wrong doings with friends. Proud of you and your accomplishments, no matter how little. Never comparing you to another, but will rather seek to bring you up to standards in love. Love is kind, Love endures, love is not jealous, Love is not proud. Love, is more than just a feeling. Love makes a person act in accordance with knowledge, devoid of ignorance, immaturity, stupidity, childishness. Love has no time for "silent treatment". It faces the issue head on, resolves it and forges ahead. When in love, your heart speaks, but your brain listens and assesses. Infatuation fades with time, but love grows stronger with time. Love is when you look beyond attraction and infatuation, Love, is more than saying "I love you".

Love, love, love…..a very sacred and divine feel.  For an instance, being a parent how you love your kid is best example of true love. You feel happy seeing them happy and more over you may not be reason for their happiness. You feel amazing when they achieve success. Days are passing; your child is getting grown up and independent. Distance starts developing as they are getting busy in their life and definitely they are not small babies to cuddle anymore, still you love them seeing them happy and progressing and it never fades. You might be having lots of expectations from your children and even if they fail to fulfil them or ignore it whatever may be circumstances, you don’t hate them. You still care for them. And that’s love. If you are feeling same kind of love for the person in your life, where you are happy seeing them happy and content, may be they are part of your life or not, you don’t hate them or say failing to hate them. You love them. They could be anyone, your best friend, parents, life partner, soul mate, platonic partner, lover, anyone  if you are finding your feelings as per this than dude you love that person. Cheers !!!!!

Kindly share your experiences and views.....

Types and Structures of Business

Types and Structures of Business:

Business come in a variety of shapes and sizes and there are three major types of businesses.

1.       Service Business:

Service type firm offers professional skills, expertise, consultancy, and other similar products. Example of service business are Schools, Banks, Broking Firms, Accounting firms, Law firms, Printing Services, Beauty Salons, Repair shops, etc.

2.       Merchandising Business:

This type of business buys products at wholesale price and sells the same at retail price. They are known as buy and Sell business or trading business. They make profit by selling the products at prices higher than their purchase costs. For example, distributors, re-sellers, grocery stores, clothe stores, toy stores, etc.

3.       Manufacturing Business:

It’s a business that uses components, parts or raw materials to make finished product. Manufactured goods are than sold to customers. Examples of manufacturing business are washing detergent and soaps, plastic products, utensils, cars, bikes, biscuits and cookies, etc.

There are Hybrid businesses as well. For example, A restaurant combines ingredients in making a meal (manufacturing), Sells a cold bottle of wine (merchandising) and fills customer order (service).  In this case, restaurants will be classified as service type as they provide dining service which is their major business interest.

If you're thinking of starting a business, you’ll need to look at the advantages and disadvantages of each different business structure and work out which structure best suits your needs.

The most common types of business structures are:

1.       Sole Proprietor:

A Sole proprietorship is a business owned by one individual. It is easy to set up and is the least costly among all the structures of businesses. The owner is not obligated to confer with anyone when it comes to deciding the location of the business, who to hire, what to sell, etc. Another advantage to an owner of a sole proprietorship is that you are the recipient of all profits generated by the business. The owner is not legally bound to share the profits with anyone else. You trade under your own name, with no separation of assets and liabilities. Proprietor will be liable for any debts that business occurs. The Sole proprietor is responsible for everything the business does.  

2. Partnership:

A partnership is a business owned by two or more people who contribute resources into the entity. The Partners shares the profits or losses of the business among themselves as per partnership agreement. One major advantage of a partnership is funding. Each owner can help with financing, start-up costs, or ongoing business expenses. Another advantage is shared knowledge and experience. However, conflict of opinions can hamper the growth of business.

3. Company:

A company is a separate legal entity, unlike sole proprietor or a partnership structure. This means the company has the same rights as a natural person and can incur debt, sue and be sued. The company’s owners (the shareholders) can limit their personal liability and are generally not liable for company debts. A company is a complex business structure, with higher set-up and administrative costs because of additional reporting requirements.

4. Limited Liability:

Limited Liability is a hybrid structure of business that has characteristics of both a company and a partnership. Limited liability is a type of liability that does not exceed the amount invested in entity. The limited liability feature is the biggest advantage as it allows the members to limit their personal liability if something goes wrong with the business. The main difference between an LLC and a company is that LLCs aren’t taxed as its own business entity. Instead, all profits and losses are moved from the business to the LLC members, who then, instead of having to report business finances on a company return, can report profits and losses on a personal income tax return.

5. Nonprofit Organization:

A nonprofit organization is pretty self-explanatory, in that it’s a business organization that’s intended to promote educational or charitable purposes. The “non-profit” aspect comes into play in that any money earned by the company must be kept by the organization to pay for its expense, programs, etc. Keep in mind that there are several types of nonprofits available, many of which can receive “tax exempt” status. This process requires filing paperwork, including an application, with the government for them to recognize you as a nonprofit organization. Depending on the parameters of your new business, they’ll be able to tell you which categories you best fall under.

6. Cooperative:

A cooperative is the business organisation fully owned and operated for the benefit of the members of the organization that use its services. In other words, whatever is earned by the cooperative is then shelled out among the members themselves, and isn’t required to be paid out to any external stakeholders, etc. Unlike other types of businesses, which have shareholders, cooperatives sell shares to cooperative “members,” who then have a say in the operations and direction of the cooperative itself. The main difference in the process of becoming a cooperative, as opposed to the other types of businesses listed, is that your organization must create bylaws, have a membership application and have a board of directors with a charter member meeting.

Before deciding which business structure to use, it’s important you seek advice from a professional business adviser, a lawyer or an accountant.

Good luck J

How to Start a Business

I have come across lot of people and every one of us has similar doubts:

How to start a business?

Which are profitable Business Ideas?

Which are businesses with low capital investments?

Yes starting of business is not easy, and most important even if you have started business than keeping it running successfully is a big task. After all to be your own boss could not be easy, it takes planning, research, financial capacity, marketing and most important enthusiasm, passion and liking of the work that you are doing.

How do you know what business is "right" for you? Look at work you have done for others in the past and think how can you use those skills and offer them as your own services or products. Learn about other businesses that interest you and think if you can emulate them as per your available resources. Want to provide new service or product launch, evaluate this approach thoroughly as it’s a highest risk driven and highly capital intensive too.

Most people don't plan, but you should. A business plan helps you to gain clarity, focus and confidence. A plan does not need to be more than one page. As you write down your goals, strategies and action steps, your business becomes real.

Below points to be considered:

·         What I am Selling or Manufacturing?

·         Who are my target Customers or Clients?

·         Which markets or areas I am covering?

·         What are my marketing Strategy and marketing budget?

·         How much Investments required? (Total Cost of project)

·         Which are my sources of finance?

·         Will I incur any Debt or self funding?

If you are able to answer all these questions and know you can manage your business than you are ready to go. It’s a very easy to suggest ideas for business but implementing them requires many factors to considered like employees payment, rental premises, credit period, loan repayment (if taking loans), etc.

As an entrepreneur, your personal life and business life are interconnected. You are likely to be your first--and possibly only--investor. Therefore, having a detailed understanding of your personal finances, and the ability to track them, is an essential first step before seeking outside funding for your business. As you are creating your business plan, you will need to consider what type of business you are building--a lifestyle business (smaller amount of start-up funds), a franchise (moderate investment depending on the franchise), or a high-tech business (will require significant capital investment). Depending on where you fall on the continuum, you will need a different amount of money to launch and grow your business, and it does matter what kind of money you accept.

If you want to "be your own boss" but you still feel confusion, reach out and connect with other entrepreneurs in a variety of ways. You may be surprised by the invaluable contacts that are right at your fingertips providing you good insights and knowledge.

All the Best J

PreSchool / Pre-Primary

The start of preschool is a milestone that's often anticipated with great excitement and joy, but also with lots of crying, uncertainty, and heel digging -- from both kids and parents! "For children, the main source of anxiety around entering preschool is that they have absolutely no idea what to expect, They have spent the first three to four years learning the rules and routines of their family life and they are completely unfamiliar with the new rules and routines they will encounter. For parents, the main source of separation anxiety is worrying that their child will feel abandoned."

Many moms may see their child have a bad first reaction to preschool and immediately decide to pull him out of the classroom. But that's a bad idea: "It denies the child an opportunity to learn how to work through negative feelings and sets a precedent of not having to face problems," Instead, consistency is key when it comes to making preschool a part of your child's new routine. Simply going together on a regular basis will provide your little one with a strong sense of anticipation. Keep your goodbyes short and sweet so that your child knows what to expect but doesn't prolong your departure. When you pick him up at the end of the day, reinforce the idea that you came back, just like you said you would. This way, each day's drop-off won't feel like you're both starting teary and upsetting goodbyes all over again. 

Some useful things you can do:

• Put your preschooler to bed earlier and wake him/her up earlier so there’s time for a leisurely yet energy-boosting breakfast (hungry, tired kids are often clingy, cranky kids) to help her shake off the sleepies and get her preschool mojo on. 

• On the way to preschool, talk about what she like do and who she’ll see. 

• If the preschool allows it, let her bring a comfort object (like a favourite stuffed animal or blanket). Even if there’s a ban on toys from home, give her something of yours — like a photo or scarf — that she can keep in her cubby, or draw star or smilie on her hand at the preschool good-bye. 

• Settle her in an activity before you head out the door — or ask her to show you her most recent collage masterpiece or toy she plays with. But don’t give your little one the impression that you’ll stay as long as she needs you. And if you’re having trouble with your exit strategy, ask the teacher if she can step in after giving your little one a breezy bye-bye. 

• If your child still has a hard time separating from you, try this: Say your good-byes at home and ask your partner (if your preschooler’s not as attached to him/her!) or a classmate’s parent to drop her off instead. 

Avoid comparing your child to others. Honouring your child's process is the best way to make the transition to preschool as smooth as possible. The child who never cries when his parent leaves him may act out the scene over and over again during play to process his feelings. Another child may need to cry at every separation for a while in order to work through his feelings. It's okay to keep leaving the child if he keeps crying. A complete and successful transition into school can take months, especially if there are family vacations or breaks from school, when children often regress, or if there are changes happening at home. Remind him that you will always return to pick him and that there are people at school to keep him safe.

Always remember that starting preschool is a positive step for both you and your little pupil.

Children Learn Best by Observing

Babies and toddlers learn by observing adults, even when those adults aren't intentionally trying to teach them anything. For example, you're bound to catch your child pretending to talk on the phone, using any object she has at her disposal. Your child is learning how things work and what to do with them just by observing you. You must be careful, however, because kids at this age are also incredibly good at imitating behaviours you don't want them to, such as cussing or throwing things when you're angry.

Children appreciate their parents without judging them because they are the role models. Children have an ability to learn more by observing others doing any kind of work. Children have brain like a plain paper. They learn good or bad from what they watch around them. First, they watch their family members, how they communicate with each other, their lifestyle, and way of living. They get same impression because they spend most of their time with them. They copy the information which is the most characteristic of humans.

Psychologically the children are into the phase of sensitive learning, they rapidly copy the behavior of their parents which is imprinted on their minds. Sometimes the learning is the result of an event which is recorded in their memory and by observation and repetition becomes a part of their habits. Along with the children's growth, adults will influence them much more, such as logical thinking, making decision, cooperation with others, etc.. The behavior of adults can give children both good and bad influence. Adults behavior is the most effective education method to let them observe the whole process of how to deal with the problems. The children will learn from you naturally.

Preschool is a time of great strides in development for most kids. As they head off to school, even if it's just a few hours per week, they have an increased opportunity to pick up on new things. Preschool gives kids the chance to see other kids in action, which provides many instances for imitation. Another example of imitation-prone behaviors are those involving eating habits. children learn how to eat based on the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of the adults they spend time with. That includes both what to eat and how to eat it. Parents who routinely eat a variety of healthy foods help teach their kids to make the same choices. On the other hand, watching their adult caregivers eat junk food or fast food instills that pattern of eating in the child.

Few suggestions for inculcating positive behaviours in your preschooler.

• Read often and let your child see you doing so, which makes reading a healthy and normal part of everyday life.
• Use polite words and speak in appropriate tone of voice to those around you.
• Let your child see you doing the chores he/she's expected to do, such as keeping plate after a meal or putting shoes away when they return home.
• Explain the consequences when you make a mistake so your child sees the results of negative behaviours.
• Appreciate them when they have behaved well and also make them aware when and where their behaviour was not appropriate.

Obviously, no one is perfect and there are bound to be times when you slip up and make a mistake. The best way to mold your child's behaviour is to show him how to act, when you do make a mistake, model the proper way of making amends so your child learns how to fix his own mistakes now and as he gets older. It's not easy to be on your best behavior at all times, but by doing your best most of the time, your child learns how to act in the world around him/her.

 In conclusion, I would say that it is true that children learn best by observing the behaviour of adults and they try to imitate it. So adults watch your behaviour and try to become a good influence and example for the children.