Being confined indoors with a work from home or online classes and limited entertainment outside, the rising number cases of cabin fever, anxiety and depression are obvious. To help people deal with these issues, Shweta Advani, Founder of Mindful Love Tribe, is trying to do her bit in what she does best – online workshops. Advani has been conducting these mindful living workshops online every month since February 2019.
“The core purpose was to empower people with tools to imbibe mindfulness and enhance the quality of their lives and relationships. We have seen in real time how mindfulness builds emotional resilience to deal with ups and downs of life.”
Advani believes that mindfulness is not a passive practise that one can follow for 15 or 20 minutes a day, but an active practice that helps one to enhance the quality of whatever they do.
“We can be mindful while we are eating or driving or working. It means paying attention to the present moment without judgment,” adds Advani. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Advani decided to curate a special course to help people beat anxiety and build emotional resilience using mindfulness.
“The main issues that people were facing were lack of communication in their relationships, stress and fatigue due to fast-paced lifestyle and destination addiction, and inability to slow down to experience the calm in life. During the lockdown, many were anxious because of health as the fear of contracting the virus or losing their loved ones grew, financial stability, career as students panicked over loss of educational year, and relationships with many having frequent fights with their partners and other were unsure about dating or maintaining sexual contact. All these were more aggravated in cases where people had a previous history of anxiety.”
Through the workshop, Advani found that students (20-30 age group) or working professionals (30-40 age group) were facing more anxiety issues than others.
“They are more anxious due to the uncertainty around their future and coping with a new set-up of long hours of online classes and work from home, and the job insecurity given the economic crisis. But in my workshops, when you listen to people being vulnerable in front of a group of strangers, one leaves with the skills that will help face the pandemic better and enhance the quality of their lives. You feel a sense of fulfilment.”
For Advani, these workshops have taught a lot about the spirit of human resilience and solidarity.
“And how we can heal and grow in safe community spaces,” she says, hoping to create safe spaces and workshops that can help people to realise their full potential through her endeavour – Mindful Love Tribe
24/7 deal
Advani believes that mindfulness is not a passive practise that one can follow for 15 or 20 minutes a day, but an active practice that helps one to enhance the quality of whatever they do.