Dear Friends — I’ve been blogging on my website for over a decade (which is a really long time!). After a lot of thinking, I’ve decided to officially retire my website blog. Moving forward, I’m excited about creating an on-going newsletter + publication on Substack — a wonderful new online space for writers, where the potential for building community and creating new offerings feels like a great opportunity and next step. I hope to see you there! xo, Kajal
p.s. For now, I’ll be keeping the below archives of my blogs available here as they are. And, over time, I will revisit and revive some of them— with revised and refreshed editions posted on Substack.
Travel Diaries: Giving Back, Helping Many
When I returned from India this past January, I wrote a blog post called Travel Dairies: Retreating to India where I shared a little on meditation retreat I attended through Dhyanyoga Centers and the beauty I experienced on a daily level at their ashram. While I was there I got a tour of the facility grounds---it's amazing how much they've added and expanded to their grounds. I've been doing volunteer work with this organization for over 18 years now and they hold a very special place in my heart...they're actually the inspiration behind our Giving Back Program.
The magic of meditation.
I love India. There's something so magical about being there...but so hard to put into words.India is a country full of all sorts of extremes that can stimulate your senses and evoke a lot of emotions. These extremes are not compartmentalized or segregated, but instead they all co-exist. There's richness and poorness, spirituality and materialism, spicy and extra spicy :), wide open farmland and overly congested cities, traffic jams and water buffalo crossings, delicious aromas and putrid smells and a deep innate sense of the constant bustle and peaceful stillness that life has to offer.It's amazing.