blog – Page 5 – Nishant Garg

Heart-Opening Meditations

Living a Heart-Centered life has become very important to me in the last few years. There are many modalities to open your heart or heal it from past wounds. In this post, I share some safe meditations I’ve come across recently. I’ve been practicing heart-opening meditations every morning for the last few weeks and as a result, I feel a drastic change in my inner being. Based on my mood, I pick one every day. I’ll continue to explore more meditations and resources on heart-opening. This post serves as a buffet and I invite you to pick the ingredient that works for you at present.

a) ‘Raise the Vibe’ – Guided Meditation Self-Pranic Healing Meditation: I learned about Pranic healing from my friend Menaka Harjani. Further in this exploration, I found this meditation which offers pranic healing as a way to return to wholeness, oneness, and ease. We often think of healing simply as recovery from illness or trauma. From a higher perspective, however, healing happens when we see ourselves as whole and complete despite any condition or illness. The subtle practice of pranic healing utilizes life force energy, or prana (also known as chi or qi) to accelerate the body’s innate ability to heal itself. In this video, we use it as a powerful accompaniment to meditation.

b) Balance Your Heart Chakra Energy: Guided Meditation: In the words of John Lennon, “Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.”. This meditation focuses on the heart chakra. This chakra is the expression of our love and compassion. When the heart center is open and the energy is balanced here, you feel connected to and love for all the people in your life. We function best when the chakras are open and in balance. The ability to heal and balance the chakras takes time and with repeated practice has the potential for transformation.

Quotes, Musings, and Contemplations

This blog post is the result of sitting in silence in the mornings, reading other people’s blogs and posts. In this post, I attempt to highlight some of my writings and others. I hope this piece will spark a passion in your inner-being and open up new passion and possibilities. I hope you learn to trust your instincts and sit with the discomfort when things fall apart. Let’s begin.

“When things fall apart when the plan doesn’t work out, and when you don’t get what you want — it’s OK to feel sad and allow yourself to feel the sadness. Don’t push it away and don’t beat the shit out of you. Then, you can focus on your intention, and your next steps, and connect to the vibrational frequency of your desire.”

“Remember that darkness is a source of massive growth. You may not see in the moments of darkness but remember that light always follows the darkness.”

“Trust is such an important aspect of intuition. You may not always 100 percent believe every one of your decisions is going to work out, but can you trust that you are doing the right thing? Can you tap into the core of the heart, where trust is nestled, and let go, close your eyes, and fly?” – Molly Carroll

“I used to be a poor listener. But over the past several years, I have taken more of a listening role. It’s powerful, insightful, and even healing. I have been practicing this – Instead of feeling like I have to share everything that pertains to someone else’s story or comment, I withhold. And I try to fully understand their experience, presently. I do so because I am learning that proving myself or whatever motive I have to share, does not take away from what I have or my experience.” – Candice Georgis

Contemplative Questions to Wander and Wonder

As I’m taking a deep dive into certain areas of my life, why I do, what I do, who I’ve become, and who am I becoming — I’ve been asking myself some questions in different contexts such as vocation, love, and relationships, friendships, podcast, etc. These questions can be applied in any context I believe. I’m glad to share those questions in this post. If you think these are irrelevant to you, please disregard them, and you might reconsider these at a later point.

The quality of our life depends on the quality of questions we ask ourselves. When we listen to life, when we listen to that softer inner voice — we usually listen to the calling, the unanswered questions, the unexplored territory. Listening to life is a lifelong practice and requires cultivating moments of silence.

I heard these questions in moments of hope and despair. These questions created a tingly feeling inside me and I couldn’t resist capturing them. Some of them came through when I was talking to Amanda Tempist Jade recently.

Here’s the list:

Self-Reflection Questions in Dating and Relationships

Below are some questions that came up in my coaching session with Amanda Jade. I absolutely adore her. Amanda has been on my podcast, I reached out to her to coach me when I was going through some anxiousness in my dating and relationships with women.

These are powerful questions to contemplate and wanted to share them with you. There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. My answers will evolve over time as I change and grow.

For simplicity, I’m using the pronoun “her”, and you feel free to use whatever pronoun is aligned with you.

1) What are my expectations of her?

2) What part of me says YES or NO to her?

[This question arises when I am absolutely attracted to her and when I am not.]

3) What am I learning about myself?

The Place I return to Myself

When I write, I feel compassion for myself. When I write, I feel love for my inner child, my younger self, and my older self.

My writing is a refuge where I find comfort in.

This is the place where no one judges me.

This is the place I can share anything openly — I can share all my hurts, sadness, and Joy.

This is the place where I celebrate myself, my inner being, my life, and my friendships.

This is the place where I return to myself — my home, my heart, and my soul.

This is the place where I let my imagination go run wild without any fear.

This is the place my soul cries for the deepest desires to come to fruition.

This is the place where everything comes together and sometimes everything falls apart.

Do you have a desire or do you have a longing? (there’s a big difference)

Words longing and desire have been used interchangeably. These are similar and yet not the same. One morning, on my quest to understand the difference between longing and desire, I started to read a bunch of articles. The reason being is to understand is if I am longing to attract a loving partner or I am desiring. I wasn’t sure what it is.

I came across a fantastic article from Janelle Hardy. The article connected with me so deeply that I took the print-out and read it about a dozen times. Later, I reached out to Janelle Hardy to see if I could share that article on my website. And, she said yes. I also subscribed to her newsletter. I’m sure that this article will connect with you at some level. I loved this article so much that I shared the link in one of my Friday Newsletter. Below is a short bio of Janelle Hardy and then the article begins.

If you enjoy this post, please share it with others. Thanks so much. Last but not the least, I subscribed to Janelle’s podcast the Personal Mythmaking Podcast and it’s very calming and heart-touching.

Janelle Hardy is a writer, artist, host of the Personal Mythmaking Podcast and the creator/teacher of a transformational memoir-writing course called The Art of Personal Mythmaking. She’s been working as a trauma-informed bodyworker in the hands-on healing arts fields for 13+ years and as an artist (writing, painting + dance) for 17+ years. Throughout that time she’s taught adults out of her living room, arts centers, universities, and community colleges. For the past 5+ years, she’s integrated all of her expertise, including a BA in Anthropology, an MA in Dance, and a Diploma in Structural Integration, into supporting people in their creative healing work via the alchemy of transformational memoir-writing.

Enter Janelle:

Desire. Desiring. Wanting.

I desire many things. Intensely deep, rich, dark, tarry chocolate. Exercising till I sweat rivers down my back, between my breasts, into my eyes. Soulful conversations that draw me into a deeper understanding of my rich friendships. Belly laughs that turn contagious and nonsensical, ending in fits on the floor, alternating sighing and laughing until fatigue burns through the impulse. Butter that is cultured and snobby, tasting of so much more than just butter, melting on my mouth as my eyes roll back. Losing-my-head sex. Dinner parties with friends, finished off with my mother’s glorious devil’s coffee.

Feisal Alibhai — Book Recommendations on Meaning, Purpose, Innovation, Business, Money

I’ve had the honor of connecting Feisal Alibhai over the video for about 3 hours and I am thrilled to learn about his life and story. How we connected – that’s a separate story! Life always flows in synchronicity and I am grateful to connect with him. This post illustrates books he recommends to his mentees and others. I’ve already read some of them and now plan to revisit them in the near future.

Feisal Alibhai: As a 35-year-old 3rd generation family business entrepreneur with over 10,000 employees in 15 countries, Feisal received a wake-up call one day with the news that he had stage three cancer. He felt his life was over, but when he was unable to visualize saying goodbye to his two toddler sons, he chose to do whatever it took to transform cancer.

To maximize his odds of survival, he turned to functional medicine, integrative doctors, and beyond, building a team of world experts to support him. Seven years later, with his cancer in remission and feeling he had moved through the worst, he received what felt like the harshest blow of all, his wife proceeded with a divorce. 

Looking back, he recognized all the warning signs he had missed and spent the next seven years helping his family and friends to prioritize what matters most. In 2013, Feisal founded Qineticare, the world’s first family health office. Qineticare’s mission is to empower individuals and families through an integrative wellbeing journey of self-discovery to transform their way of being to live a meaningful life.

Feisal is also the author of ‘Four Steps to Flow: Living a Meaningful Life Head and Heart United’

Connect with Feisal: LinkedIn, Quineticare

Book Recommendations: ( The first 3 books are on my personal list to read soon)

1) Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance by Bob Buford

2) The Daily Laws: 366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy, and Human Nature by Robert Greene

3) The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time by Jim Mckelvey

4) Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

5) The Alchemist, 25th Anniversary: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho

6) As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

My Personal Favorite Podcasts from 2021 and 2020

Whenever people asked me what my personal favorite podcasts are, I always struggled to answer this. I always responded with a smile — “how can you differentiate among your children, who’s your favorite and who’s not?”

I found myself repeating the same and realized that it’s time to write about it. When something keeps appearing in life, it’s a sign from life telling us something. Better to listen to life as one of my friends says life gives you a curriculum. Well, I finally decided to write about it rather than dodging this question every time.

Yes, every podcast episode is very dear to me as so much work goes behind the scenes. To shortlist my favorite ones was challenging and I had to think about some criteria to limit the list.

The criteria are:

I’ve become friends with the guests.
The podcast did exceptionally well beyond my expectations and self-judgments.
The podcast was very self-satisfying to me even though it didn’t do very well in terms of downloads.
Guests introduced me to their friends for future guest potential. Therefore, I’ve interviwed 185+ experts from different areas.
They have coached me in some capacity.
Guests promoted the hell out of the podcast on their social platforms and newsletters.

Below is the list of podcasts. This list is in the decreasing order of publishing date. It’s not in the order of my favorites.

1) Mo Edjlali — Inner state of being, Mindful Leadership and Contemplative Practices, Uncovering Unconscious Beliefs, Processing Grief and Sad Emotions, and More (#176)

2) William Richards (Bill) — The Promise of Psychedelic Substances, Studying with Abraham Maslow, Psychedelics and Mystical Experiences, Administering Psychedelics Psychotherapy, Origin and The Future of Psychedelics, End-of-Life psychedelic Psychotherapy, and More (#174)

3) Rhonda Magee on Inner Work and Healing Ourselves, Mindfulness in Race and Justice, Resolving Conflicts and Handling Difficult Conversations, and More (#172)

4) Denise Shull — The Role of Emotions in Decision Making, Resolving Mental Blocks, Performance Coach to Professional Athletes, Understanding the Feelings, Experiencing Peak Performance, and More (#169)

5) Dr. Romie Mushtaq — Optimizing Brain Health, Cure for Busy Brain, Restore Sanity, Sleep, & Sense of Connection, Wellness Paradigms, Connection with Divine, Root causes of Depression, and More (#167)

6) Raj Sisodia on Wholeness and Healing, Spiritual Journey in the Himalayas, Mind Maps for Writing, Ayahuasca Experience, Feminine and Masculine Energy, Conscious Capitalism, and More (#159)

7) Ora Nadrich — Questioning your Thoughts, Transformational Thinking, Cultivating Calm and Relaxed State, Mindfulness in Motion, Dream Work, Live True, and More (#158)

8) Debbie Millman on Deep Relationships, Creativity and Growth, The Importance of Therapy, Hope and Resilience, and More (#154)

9) Sarah Sarkis on Mastery, Psychological Flexibility, Emotional Skills and Self-Regulation Practices, Relationship with Risk, Sense of Wellness, and More (#153)

10) Jeremy Hunter on The Quality of Life and Attention, Meaningful and Engaged Life, Why Moments Matter, Japan Bathing Culture, and More (#152)