Anuradha Sridharan

 For the past few days, whenever I open a Youtube video, the default ad that's being shown is the Nestle Koko Krunch breakfast cereal. Given the success of Kelloggs Chocos and Soulfull ragi bites in the urban markets of India, many brands are vying for a slice of the growing pie. When a brand claims that it is tasty, delicious, kid-favorite, yummy etc, I have no qualms whatsoever. But the moment a processed "breakfast cereal" brand talks about health and nutrition, we need to be a little more vigilant.  Let's first look at the messages being conveyed in these short 20-sec ads: Is your child eager to grow? Highlights that the product contains Calcium + Vitamin D Why are whole grains good for your kids? Highlights that tproduct contains Wheat, rice, jowar and oats, which help fill your child's tummy Is your child low on energy in the morning? Highlights that the product has Vitamins B2, B3 and B6 that help release energy from food The ad also indicates the presence ...

 Yet another example of how the Universe brings in the right information at the right time. Once I started trusting this powerful principle, I'm just amazed at the sheer number of coincidences and serendipitous events. This month, I had enrolled in a couple of courses on  "The Buddhist path of training the mind" conducted by Ven.Drolma in association with Tushita Meditation Centre .  While the course was progressing, I was shopping for my next book to read from my bookshelf. Yes, there are loads of books yet to be read and I decided to shop from my home first before I look elsewhere. I spotted this book " Search inside yourself " in a corner and I couldn't recollect when I had bought it. I later realized that K had purchased it many years back but yet to read it himself🙂 The title of the book piqued my interest and I started reading it one night. Frankly speaking, I just couldn't bear the tiny font size of the print. A book with such powerful messages n...

  I started tracking habits in my journal from 2019. I had written a detailed post on how I do the same. Do check it out if you haven't seen it. Though I knew the benefits of habit tracking, I wasn't being consistent at it. For some months, I was following it diligently. For some months, I completely stopped writing them down. For some weeks, though the habits were planned, I didn't follow through.  Many experts suggest that we identify ONE single habit and focus only on that for the next 21 days. Personally, for me, it sounds quite boring to just focus on ONE. I prefer to work on multiple habits at the same time.  Over the past few months, I wasn't quite keeping track of my habits as diligently as I wanted them to be. I restarted my habit journaling from Mar 1st. Here's a snapshot of the past 12 days. The habits I listed down was a mix of old and new - a few I've been practicing for many months, a few I'm kickstarting new and a few I'm restarting. This...

First book review of 2021 and the 3rd book that I finished reading in 2021. I've decided to talk about books/courses ONLY after I have finished reading/completing them (unless and until if someone explicitly asks me this question "What are you currently reading?" ) I realised that talking about something that I have just started doesn't help anyone (neither me nor others reading about it). Let me complete or reach a stage (say, 21 days or 48 days) in order to have understood a little bit or gathered a little depth before talking about a new initiative (book/habit/course etc) on social media. Let's dive into the book review. Information comes to us at the right time. This statement keeps reinforcing through my experiences over and over again. I randomly picked up this book without any expectations. Little did I knew that I would get a lot of clarity on topics I have been meaning to learn about Formation of our unique personality through our perceptions, memory, th...

Is music a part of your daily routine?  Music plays such a positive role in our mental well-being. Be it singing, playing a musical instrument, or just listening, there are multiple benefits that music offers.  Yet sometimes we do tend to deprioritize what we like to do when we feel overwhelmed with the demands of our daily grind. It's been 5 months since I played any music on my phone or iPod. As I prefer to listen to music through speakers and not use headphones/earphones, I couldn't get a space for myself where I can play music while doing chores or relaxing.  I started to feel the void created by the lack of music in my days and so I intentionally added "Listen to music" in my habit tracker for March. For the past four days, I have been playing my favourite songs on Spotify and I could easily sense what I had been missing. What surprised me the most was that I didn't play my usual ARR or Illayaraaja albums . For some reason, it has been the music of Harris Jay...

When we are willing to eat ice-cream, we would eat it, despite having diabetes. When we are not willing to eat sweet potatoes or yellow pumpkin, we will not eat them and cite diabetes as the reason. When we are willing to go for a walk, we will go for it, despite feeling tired. When we are not willing to go for a walk, we will not go for it, and cite tiredness as the reason. Many times, we force ourselves into doing something which we don't enjoy, just because we are expecting certain outcomes. There are also times when we are willingly indulging in habits/actions which we know aren't good for our health. I realize that every little action we do (or don't do) related to our lifestyle dwells on our willingness. Willingness stems from "wanting" or "enjoying" the process.  We start "wanting" or "enjoying" the process, when these four criteria are met When we have the right information that is convincing and logical When the process is ea...