HYDERABAD: “I am sorry. I am thankful to you. I love you,” we said, tears rolling down our cheeks as each one of us looked into the eyes of the woman inside the mirror.
Oh, she healed. Oh, she could now breathe free. How supported she felt by the women around as her inner power suddenly broke the shackles binding her soul. This was every woman at actress Priyasha Bhardwaj’s Inner Voice workshop, organised by Buzz Kya Entertainment at Vibeyard Bistro in Jubilee Hills.
“As women, we always ‘hold it together’. We need to let go and love ourselves,” said Priyasha, looking into each pair of eyes in the bistro’s idyllic, medieval garden-like space, the ambience of which only further embalmed a sense of calm all over us.
Priyasha demonstrated an array of breathing exercises, movements and expressions for us to follow, so we could really hear our inner voice and channelise it in the most beautiful ways possible. Any initial shyness just vanished into Hyderabad’s cool air as we soaked the experience and felt the soothing notes of jazz music trickle into our ears.
“Now observe closely and keep your expressions neutral,” said Priyasha, demonstrating the elephant pose from Kalaripayattu as we looked on in awe and followed her lead. “Now, don’t worry about falling because you are protected here, we will catch you,” she reassured.
Introducing us to a series of facial exercises, Priyasha made us super comfortable, ensuring our expressions soared to a whole new level.
“I often hear my inner voice but shut it down. So when we did an exercise where we tapped into our acting potential, role-playing in twos very complex characters, I really think I embraced my inner voice,” said Sri Lakshmi, who had come from Malkajgiri for the workshop.
We told each other repeatedly that we are beautiful. “You have beautiful eyes. You have a beautiful smile,” echoed through the space. And though Priyasha insisted on neutral expressions to really soak into the experience, these lovely bunch of ladies couldn’t help but break into gleeful smiles. We were, after all, unlearning so much. Stern but playful, Priyasha’s workshop was a warm embrace for us women.
And the beauty of it was how she let us have our spaces; though huddled together, we felt so free to express our emotions. Oh, we were humbled.
Sakshi Chaturvedi, founder of Buzz Kya Entertainment, also participated in the workshop, doing her bit to help everyone around. “I organised this to empower women. We are naturally intuitive and so we must stay connected with our inner voice. That will truly empower us,” she said.
Priyasha spoke to CE with a wisdom beyond her years. “In the times we are living in right now, it becomes so important to listen to our inner voice. For noise has become the new normal and so we must ask ourselves, ‘Who am I deep inside? What do I really want?’. The Inner Voice workshop is currently for women; there is this invisible cord connecting us. We support each other,” Priyasha said, smiling wide.
We cried, we screamed, we smiled, we danced. This was truly an evening by women, for women and of women. Cheers to womanhood, cheers to sisterhood!