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Livingwith Intent Sylvia Henderson: And first of all,
I just want to say congratulations. This book is authentic. It’s relevant for this day and age. It’s incredibly practical. And in it, you provide an honest account of your own personal struggle and stress and feeling overwhelmed as a mom and as an entrepreneur trying to juggle it all. And you also share your journey to find- ing the balance you felt that was lacking in your life. Mallika Chopra: Thank you. I
think I wanted to be just really honest and share just some of the tools and lessons I’ve learned through what I call my messy journey. Sylvia Henderson: Well, that’s the
thing that I really love most about the book, is you give the reader permission to be a lot gentler and kinder to them- selves, especially during those times when we all tend to feel that we’re not exactly where we want to be. Because, after all, you know, you have a very suc- cessful life bymost standards and you’re the daughter of Deepak Chopra. And I think that the general public that is familiar with your father and his work just automatically assumes that–as if by osmosis that everyone in your family is probably completely enlightened and therefore lives their life in perfect har- mony.
Mallika Chopra: I think that’s true.
People always assume, you know, that we go to yoga class every day and are vegetarian and meditate regularly, all of which, I think like other people, maybe we strive for some of those things. But, being a busy mom with two kids, an entrepreneur, and–just getting through the day sometimes is difficult for me, like for so many of my other friends as well.
Sylvia Henderson: So–and I love
how you mention the yoga, because there’s a great story in the book about your first–not your first experience, but an experience with a friend asking you to go to a yoga class that was pretty humorous. So, can you just share with our audience what the pivotal moment was for you in your life when you real- ized that something needed to change? Mallika Chopra: I think we all go
through phases in our life where, you know, we’re in balance, and then we def- initely feel that we’re out of balance. And for me, about two years ago I was actually standing on a stage speaking in front of a couple hundred people and talking about intent and balance and meditation. And while I was speaking, my mind was in a different place. I was thinking about the tasks I hadn’t done, how I have to go to the drycleaner, how my dog has to go to the groomer, I have to sign up for my daughter’s after school
classes, and I realized I was completely not present. I also had just hadmy coffee and my chocolate chip cookie and I was on a sugar high, feeling heavy and bloat-
ed.And I felt like a fraud, frankly, stand- ing in front of the audience. And so, that was kind of a moment
of realizing, you know what? I should be living more with intent, living more fol- lowing all these things that I’ve learned throughout my life, and that I actually need to take some time to really reflect, think about my deepest desires, and then figure out the path to get back in bal- ance. So, that–it really was kind of a feeling that, you know, I need to live an authentic life, both from what I’m speaking about, but second, I’m just not feeling great. Sylvia Henderson: Hmm. You
know, and it’s interesting that you say authentic and authentic life, because it seems like that’s the current buzzword, that people are really searching now for authenticity. So, can you share the underlining–the underlying meaning of the word intent that you used in the title of your book? Because at first glance some people might think that, you know, intention versus intent would be a better choice of words, but you used intent for a very specific reason. Mallika Chopra: For me intent is
active, ’cause I think it’s very important that we actively live with intent. And intent to me represents–living with intent represents to me living a life in which, you know, we feel healthy, we’re happy, we’re connected, but also that we feel a sense of purpose and meaning and significance every
day.And, you know, I thought–I’ve spent years–I grew up, actually, with the concept of intent. My father really taught my brother and I to think about our deepest desires and artic- ulate them when we were young. And so, I thought about this for
many years and I came up, which we can talk about later, really a path to intent using the acronymof the letters I-N-T-E- N-T, and really thinking about all of the practices and techniques we can incor- porate in our life to live more meaning- ful, purpose, present, moment, mindful awareness. Sylvia Henderson: And that’s one
of the other things I really enjoy and love about your book, is that these strate- gies you developed, not only are they brilliant strategies and practical strate- gies that anyone can implement within their lives, but they’re–the way it’s evolved, it’s–there’s a great hierarchy to it. It’s like if you don’t take care of the first one, the second one may be a chal-
lenge.And so, it’s very sequential in that way.
Mallika Chopra: Yes. So, you
know, this is a meditation that I’ve grown up with and that my dad does and now I do whenever I teach. And first of all, I just want to stress, so many peo- ple–and probably not asmuch your audi- ence, but many people are intimidated by meditation. And part of my goal is to kind of demystify the idea that medita- tion has to be difficult or hard, or that we’re trying to empty our mind. You know, meditation is really just
about settling our mind down. It’s total- ly okay to have racing thoughts, for our mind to wander. And there are just tech- niques that help us kind of slow down the endless cycle of one thought after another thought after another thought. So, one, I think meditation should
be simple. And then, really when we’re in that quiet place, when we’re listening more to ourselves rather than, you know, just going over our task list and every- thing else that we have to do, our inse- curities and our frustrations, but when we listen in that quiet place and ask those questions, who am I, what do I want, and how can I serve, you know, the answers start to pop up. It’s almost like we’re hearing them. So, I want to stress to people that,
you know, that’s okay. We go through different phases in our lives when things make
sense.And, you know, often when I’m meditating, I’m more in balance. And then, when I’m not meditating, I’m out of balance and I remember–I keep feeling guilty that I’m not meditating and finally commit to doing it again. Now, I just try to find 10 to 15 min-
utes to sit quietly. Sometimes it’s even in the carpool line waiting to pick them up. And so, you can really do it anywhere anytime. Sylvia Henderson: I love
that.And
again, you made it incredibly practical, which is what people are looking for today, is ways to make something–and it’s interesting, ’cause meditation is a
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