Our Conscious Interview is here!
This month's Conscious Interview features the beautiful Sachi Doctor. Sachi is a SF-based yoga teacher (RYT-500) and Ayurvedic practitioner experienced in mindfulness and authentic communication.
Imbued in both Eastern tradition and Western culture since childhood, modern medical systems and ancient healing practices have shaped her understanding of mind-body health. Drawing from the wisdom of these two worlds, she offers students an approachable and sustainable path toward holistic wellness. In creating space to explore what works for each individual, she strives to help clients find, and tap into, the rich source of healing within themselves, cultivating awareness for what nourishes their body and makes them thrive.
You can find out more about Sachi here.
Enjoy the interview!
Where is home?
'Home' has been many different places for me over the years. When I went off to university, home meant the house I'd grown up in, where my parents still live. When I moved to London after graduating, home meant the United States. Nowadays, I'm most at home on my yoga mat -- or any surface that supports me when I do my daily practice.
When did you first come across mindfulness / meditation?
My father is Hindu and my mother is Jain. In spite of sending my brother and me to Catholic school, our home life was guided by the philosophy, practices and rituals of these Eastern religions and a central pillar in both is meditation.
Describe one practice you do everyday to keep calm and centred?
Even if it's just to sit for a few minutes of peace, I roll out my yoga mat everyday. It is a 24 x 68 inch oasis that reflects my deepest truths, in all their forms -- ugly, scarred, hurt, gorgeous, transcendental. It is the place where I can, without judgment or censorship, see my truest self most clearly.
How can the business world benefit from mindfulness?
In addition to helping keep our brains healthy and protecting ourselves from toxic stress, mindfulness encourages us to be flexible -- to lean into moments without forcing, to develop mentally flexibility, to adapt to circumstances by letting go of Plan A and course -- correcting to Plan B.
In cultivating this deeper level of self-regulation, we become more effective decision-makers, leaders and team members. That said, once we begin to practice mindfulness, it augments our experiences in all parts of life, well beyond work where our mind's are most taxed. Mindfulness becomes the framework for how we move, speak, receive -- live.
What does 'digital wellbeing' mean to you?
Instead of remaining on autopilot and letting technology happen to me, I try to approach it with mindfulness. Many technology-based products are meant to grab our attention and hold it whether or not that is in our best interest. Yet, many other applications provide us with organization, efficiency, and from time to time, wonderful entertainment.
For me 'digital wellbeing' is about being aware of my device use, and not damning myself when I label it superfluous. It is about resolving to pause before clicking and doing my best to keep technology in its place, while still making skillful use of it. Ultimately, it is about remembering that the device is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Do you think technology will increase or decrease wellbeing?
It is not what technology will do to us, it is what we will do with technology. Used skillfully it can enhance our lives beyond our wildest imagination. Used unskillfully we have seen - or directly felt - how it can leave us feeling lonely, isolated, agitated and overwhelmed.
If we want a more human world, rather than a less human world; if we want to be a more enlightened planet of human beings, rather than less enlightened; and if we want to use technology to do more good than bad, then we all have to take action to make it that way.
Paperback or kindle?
Paperback. I love how they smell. I love scribbling in the margins, underlining interesting sentences and carefully folding a page corner to mark my place. The tactile experience of a reading a paperback book, from the thickness of the pages in my hands to gradual unfolding of paper as I progress through a story is an experience technology cannot mimic -- and for that, I am grateful!
What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
When I was younger I was anxious, fearful of uncertainty, and racked by "what ifs" and "should dos". Time and time again my father would say to me, "Sachi, do not put the cart before the horse." Though it is agreeably not the most poetic piece of advice, it still to this day evokes a playful image of a bullock cart needlessly spinning it's wheels while the reins to the horses go limp. Not only does this image itself help me pause, smile and relax into life, I believe this adage contains the essence of mindfulness practice: Be patient, take things one step at a time (moment by moment), and remember, everything has it's own order and unfolding whether we see it as clearly as a horse and carriage or not.
What is your favourite quote?
"Maybe the journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe it's about unbecoming everything that isn't really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place." (Unknown)
If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
I would be seated at the large round dining table at my uncle's house in Gujarat, India surrounded by my boisterous family, our energy level only tempered by post-nap grogginess. We'd each have a warm cup of chai in one hand, the other reaching for the fresh afternoon snacks laid out by my grandmother on the lazy-susan we encircle. In the distance, the cacophony of vibrant street-life.
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