“W e are all sorting out ourselves in bits. Be it with our body, mind or spirit. What’s important is a unison of all the three,” says Ramithra Mohandass, a founding member of Avaesa, a one-year-old metaphysical store that provides tools such as crystals, oracle cards, salt lamps and gemstone jewellery. But how does one blend all the three? As an answer to this, Avaesa organises a two-day workshop, The Soul Affair, which includes 10 sessions, such as crystal healing, pranic healing, love for yoga, importance of loving oneself, among others. Mohandass says that the sessions have been carefully curated, with the focus on providing a holistic approach to better one’s lifestyle.
“Everyone has different beliefs, and what suits one may not suit another. Also, what suits one now, may not suit the same person after five years, as one’s body is constantly evolving. Through this event, we attempt to build a network, so that when participants walk away after attending the workshops, they feel that they have built a connection, either with a person there, or with their own selves,” she adds.
To start with, how do you build a connection between your body and emotions? “For example, when you are angry, what movement brings you relief? Do you stomp your foot or shake your body?” asks Aparna Nagesh, dancer and choreographer, whose workshop will revolve around The Move Project, which is a series of creative movement-based workshops to facilitate life skills, professional skills, self expression, and crisis management among children, teens and young adults.
“The workshop is a fun learning session, where the participants will be doing shadow and mirror exercises, sans any choreographed movements. It’s all about moving freely, putting oneself in different situations and exploring the kind of movement it will evoke. Say, you are inside a giant puddle of honey and trying to move, can you visualise what that would be like?” Through these exercises, she believes, one can understand one’s body at a spiritual level, and learn to love it.
Self love, as Sanjuktha Mohanlal, one of the speakers at The Soul Fair, says, is often forgotten in today’s world, where everyone is playing out roles that life dictates them. “What they don’t realise is that they need to first take responsibility for themselves, and work on their internal well-being in order to feel good about any work they do. Otherwise, at the end of the day, they will just feel washed-out, and fall into a routine where every activity is coloured with bitterness and anger,” says Mohanlal, who is an expert in animal communication, and energy healing for animals and people.
So how do we condition ourselves to stop feeling guilty about thinking about ourselves first? Probably, take Justin Bieber seriously when he sings ‘Love Yourself’, or as Mohanlal says, “affirmations, mirror exercises and meditation work.” In the end, it’s all about reconditioning one’s beliefs and creating space for being compassionate.
Learn more at the workshops that will be held on February 11 and 12, at The Gallery, Etc, Rutland Gate 5th street, Nungambakkam. For registration, call 73589 99926.
What’s in store for the soul?
Day 1:
The Move Project — a dance workshop
Tarot wisdom — an introduction to Tarot cards and principles
Know and heal self
Empowering lives the Pranic way
Angels and crystals
Day 2:
Yoga love
Rapid stress relief techniques
Reclaiming the heart, reclaiming love
Understanding the inner dialogue
The love of sex
