At a time when the world order is being redefined by COVID-19, New York-based humanitarian, author and TV personality Meera Gandhi is out to spread a message of resilience and optimism. The founder of the Giving Back Foundation and mother of three recently launched her limited-series show on Times Now TV, Three Tips by Meera Gandhi.
With May being Mental Health Month worldwide, we speak to her about mental health in the time of COVID-19 and how we can collectively stay sane.
COVID-19 has been a source of mental stress and chaos the world over. How do you suggest people manage their anxiety at this time?
We have not been faced with a situation like this where the entire world is affected almost simultaneously. In these times, we have to hold on to hope and harness our collective energies for positive change. Author and motivational speaker Deepak Chopra talks about manifesting what we want to see. I think we have to manifest an early recovery and in time everything will catch up. The important thing is not to stress out, as the economies will recover but stress is a killer.
Listening to spiritual guides and taking advantage of the various free meditations offered go a long way in relieving anxiety. We are limited as humans so we need to let the infinite carry us and not feel like we need to control everything.
I personally pray and meditate and just breathe. I try to stay in the moment and ask myself, how can I live this moment at its best? Comforting others and sending out positivity makes us feel better too. Exercise or yoga and eating healthy alive food also calms the mind. This quote of Sadhguru empowers me: “Life throws things at you that you cannot control, but you can control how you handle it.”
New York is the epicenter of COVID-19 cases in the US. How are you dealing with this at your personal level?
The first thing I told myself was that I was not going to let fear take over my brain and my thoughts. At home I do yoga and meditate and am on a 21-day juice fast to add calmness to my being. We have this time to reset and we cannot waste a moment of it. It’s a gift in another way.
I have FaceTime sessions with family and friends. I read and listen to inspirational guides who understand the energy of the planet. I complete things I can do from my computer. I have spent a lot of time calming people down with the idea that things will recover.
I have been sharing views of CEOs like Davia B Temlin who says, “We know this health, financial and social crisis will get far worse before it gets better. But we also know it will eventually improve. Like refiner’s fire, if we can walk through it honourably, my hope is we can emerge more tempered, finer, stronger and even better – if forever changed.”
Everyone is talking about a future changed world order. What changes do you think we might see going forward?
I think the world will not rush the way it has been rushing. I think “global” will be understood as “inclusive” and geographical boundaries will be understood for what they are.
We are one planet and one people and this sentiment will flourish – that is my hope and belief. I do think that people will work smarter and will pay more attention to health. I think the collective consciousness will awaken in people, businesses and governments. The new norm might be less for all but it will be a happier balance.
I think money will have less significance as will success. I think millennials will rewrite the value system, which is already on its way to a more balanced existence. Most importantly, we will learn not to fear the unknown as much. I think more people will be meditating than not!
What does joyful living mean to you?
Joyful living to me is being truly present in every moment of our lives. Living in the flow without friction and conflict is a joyful way to live. I laugh, see the sunrise, focus on the moon and it makes me see how our lives are truly meant to be joyful, not miserable! Our spiritual tradition tells us that it takes 4 billion years to be born on this beautiful planet as a human, and the lifespan lasts just 80 years. How can we waste it by being unhappy?
What was the inspiration behind your TV show Three Tips by Meera Gandhi?
The idea of my show Three Tips, which I developed with Times Now TV network, was to provide on-the-go, easy inspiration to people as they go about their busy day – to hear things like friendship should be non-transactional, and that unconditional love brings tremendous happiness. Using the right amount of assertiveness enables us to communicate both clearly and firmly!
A show like this can lift the psyche and good energy of viewers. The better the mental wellbeing of a person, the better the mental wellbeing of a country and the better the wellbeing of our planet was what I had in mind.
Please tell us about your other projects.
The Giving Back Foundation hosts a retreat every year called the Ledgewood Retreat where people come together and do yoga and colour therapy, eat vegan food, walk, meditate and listen to inspirational speakers. It’s a very transformative day and has been very successful in helping people de-stress and reset. Going forward, I want to do more in the area of mental wellness and we will be conducting many more retreats.
Indian women have higher rates of depression than women around the world (36 percent of all female suicides happen in India, and most are married women). What is your advice?
Indian women are very strong and if they understand the great power that comes with motherhood and raising children, they will not be depressed. We are indeed part of a much greater plan, and are not tied to our small everyday problems. Look beyond. The world is a beautiful place. Choose to look at the good and the beauty.
We don’t need to have solutions to everything. Our brains are finite, so there will always be stress as we can never solve all the problems. But the energy of the universe is infinite so if we choose to live in the moment and leave things to the universe, it will go a long way in lifting mental burnout.
But societies have to learn to value mothers and wives and we need to keep talking about this!
How do we achieve joyful living in the new world order of hyper-connectivity and simultaneous social distancing?
We have to use our hyper-connectedness to connect with the people that make us happy, to listen to the news and podcasts that inform us and serve our higher needs – not those that take us down or make us feel bad about ourselves.
In the world of social distancing it’s important to stay connected by phone or the internet. We are social beings and we need to experience the energy of other humans. Looking at them on video chat and connecting by voice calls are very effective tools. I even saw an article on how to date while social distancing! Fun!
As for always being online, we have always been online. We don’t shut our brains down, do we? So let’s do the things we need to accomplish online and then leave the online waves for those who need to access them.
Mental wellbeing is increasingly a matter of concern in the West as well as urban India. As someone who has lived in different parts of the world, what has your experience been?
Stress is the gap between reality and expectation. When this gap exists, we feel stress as a sort of not-in-control feeling. If our desires exceed our ability to source them, we feel material stress. If the work assigned cannot fit into the hours of work, we feel stress as the work is not completed or not in a satisfying manner to all parties concerned. Emotional stress is when we don’t feel loved enough or are not able to give enough love.
Today, all these stresses exist. As the pace of life gets faster these stresses increase as we have less time to notice and address them until they become a problem.
I think stress is the same in the East and the West. The human soul is the same. Taking time to slow down and breathe and meditate brings us back to our centre where we understand we are already whole and don’t need anything else in any greater measure to make us whole. As we adjust our thinking, we reduce our stress. Take a deep breath with me now! Ah! That feels better already! A calm mind is a calm life!
As Sadhguru says, “If you don’t dance with the uncertainties of life, you will never experience exuberance.” I simply love this idea. It mentally allows me to let go and be carefree.
Despite advances in technology, more people are dealing with loneliness and lack of meaning than ever before. How does this play out in their mental health?
Loneliness is manmade. We have 7.53 billion people on the planet. If we care and love without judgement and distinction, we can never be alone. When we are truly one with whoever we chose to be with, communication is complete and there is no place for loneliness! One can get fulfillment from a soulful talk with a complete stranger. That’s because we are on a deeper level already connected with everyone. We just forget that because of our mental conditioning!
Mental illness is very real. The mind burns out due to overload of information, fear and the repeated advertising messaging that one is not good enough. Eventually the mind gets weak and sick.
We have to work on mental illness on a global scale, and spiritual leaders like Sadhguru, Deepak Chopra and Oprah are on a mission to get the entire planet to meditate and to connect global consciousness. We have to stop trying to put people down to get ahead. Fake advertising, false stress – all of it may take a person ahead, but eventually he or she will be very lonely and lost.
Let’s walk together and walk with love and trust. When you feel mentally overwhelmed, feel free to slow down, or sleep, meditate and pray. Taking a bath really helps calm the mind down too. Listen to calming messages and hymns. Good words truly soothe!
Photography by Ram Shergill. First published as the cover story of eShe’s May 2020 issue
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