Door Bells to Health

Last week I was out watching the movie inferno with my wife. For some reason, Tom Hanks’s remark on doorways got me thinking about door bells. I became aware of the number of times I have heard the door bell. I am either opening the door  when the door bell rings or I am the one ringing the door bell….. hold on.. hold your thoughts right there!!!! I have not started a job as a courier delivery guy LOL.

​What got me excited was that doors represent opportunities. So I am either asking for people to give me new opportunities by engaging with them or  Some times opportunities are ringing the door bell. The interesting part in this excitement is that some of the door bells have led to opening of some amazing, life changing and fulfilling experiences. 

For me one of the most prominent of these experiences occurred in March this year.  I was standing outside the door and ringing the house bell of my  yoga guru so he could open the door to his house. It was the first meeting to discuss what I wanted and what he could do for me. I had just arrived from Malaysia and was starting to set up a life in India. That door opened up a completely different world of awareness, health, fitness and flexibility. I am so glad I rang that door bell because now- every time I am on the other side of the door, ringing a door bell,  visiting family or friends who I have not met for sometime this is what happens. They open the door and the first thing they notice and comment is “Harry what is with you- you look so fit and slim. How did you get to this state?”. I am in a state of gratitude and thank my Yoga Guru for his efforts and the transformation

Here is what happened and how I went about loosing 12 kilos in 4 months. When I joined the yoga class one of the important activities is ofcourse the yoga and the various asana’s, however what really helped me were three key transformation points.

One was the personal life story of my yoga guru- oh by the way you can check out my Yoga Guru’s website .  In short- He had an accident and went through a year of incredible, debilitating pain unable to stand or walk. From that state of complete incapability to starting his own yoga school by the power of his mind and yoga is inspiring . Of having lived through the ordeal he now lives to inspire people to live a better and healthy life. This is selfless service and giving back to the community. He resonates yoga with his presence.

Secondly he asks all his students to keep a food dairy. Dairy  because many of the students want to loose weight.  It helps people to be mindful of their eating habits. In my case it was more flexibility than to loose weight – I was not obese just a little overweight at 76 kgs hahahahah . Now I had read 4 different books on weight management. One of the books that I had followed to the letter and lost weight before was Gary Taube’s “Why we get fat and what to do about it“. I recommend this book to most of my friends because it is well written and the principles work. Anyway somewhere down the line I had lost sight of the purpose. I slid into the comfortable rhythm of eating happy food, which I my case was rice, rice and a little more rice. 

So here I am with yoga classes and  after two weeks I went with my food dairy to my yoga teacher. He looked at it- circled the foods that I should avoid, then looked up at me and said – Harry you are eating the right type of food, but I would like you to include salads and make them 30-40% of your meal portion. That was all. That is the only time I actually showed him my food dairy, because after that instant it was as though the mind unlearned the habits that were creating unhealthy choices and moved towards creating healthy choices mindfully. This is what a coach can do. One moment of clarity which brings about a life transforming change. In this instant he brought me back to being Mindful.  Going forward my Meditation practice helped me in this practice of mindfulness. So the second key was “Mindfulness”. Mindfulness  of what I was reaching out to eat, and putting into my mouth. When you take this action of reaching out to food very consciously, every time consistently,  then the noticing itself is enough for your mind to tell you whether you should eat or refrain from eating. Consistency also in clocking an hour of yoga day in and day out, even on weekends. This is a potent combination which leads to unbelievable changes. My Yoga Guru never misses an opportunity to remind me “Harry it was you, your consistency of sustained effort that has led to these result.”

The third important awareness is the type of food to eat.  Going on a low carb diet and sticking to it. Knowing what food is low on carb is easy these days. I personally use fatsecret.com whenever I am in doubt of the carb content of the food. The questions I get is – how can you survive by not eating carbs?  Most often the misconception is that carbs are only in rice, roti, sugar, noodles, bread etc. The truth is that that even fruits, vegetables contain complex carbs which are a much more healthier option than simple carbs that are in rice and roti.

So after 4 months and converting the transformation points into a process I am at 64 kgs, flexible and fit. This was one of my intentions and part of the vision board, which I had created 6 months ago, that has been successfully manifested. Anyone can get to this state with a little bit of courier work and ringing door bells LOL …

Apart from the lesson in living a healthy life & losing weight you can see that there is a deeper lesson . How many times have you not rung a door bell fearing what would be on the other side of the door. Or there might have been times when you have heard the door bell and you have let it go quiet without opening the door. Life awaits on either side of the door with its amazing transformative experiences. The first step required though is from within.

Look forward to your sharing of some interesting stories that have occurred in your life over doors and door bells .. 🙂