25th April 2023, Mumbai: In the quest of Long term solutions, as against short term Fad diets we came across Reiki Master and Teacher Mr Prasad Karmarkar and asked him his views on the subject
We asked Mr Karmarkar what he thought about Fad diets and he told us that Commitment, consistency, acceptance, contentment, peace, love, joy.. Are some of the many words ringing in his head when he heard our question.
Q: So what is the meaning of all these words you have used, and more so how do they affect us on a daily basis?
A: Every above word is an integral part of our lives, some of us may be aware of it and some may be far away from it. Wish we could have all of this over night and We are all looking for instant gratification.
Q: That’s so true, we are all looking for a short cut, but this seems to be the way life is moving today, how do we deal with this ?
A: Our dependence on the external life may even give us the glimpses of the same once in a while, but is it long lasting? is it sustainable? Or is it here for real, is the question we all must ask ourselves.
Q: Yes that is true, we don’t consider the long term effects, but what is equally true is that our attention span is getting shorter and shorter by the day, and how do we handle this ?
A: Specially when we get restless at our physical and mental levels, or our health situations, one must not rush into anything that is quick and instantaneous, as it may land us in even more deeper situations, making it difficult to clear it up later as we get older.
Since we are talking about diets and specially fad diets, I have some of my findings which I would like to share with you. I am never going to say that a particular diet works or not, cause each one of us is built up in a different way from the other, and what may work for me may not work for you.
Q: That is extremely interesting, so does that mean that a Fad diet can also be good for me ?
A: That is a possibility, although always do some self inquiry before you start with any of these diet plans, cause eventually there is a lot at stake. And that is your body.. Your temple, your very driving force to keep you going. Something that has been trained in a certain way for the last many many years and just because you have woken up to the fact that “l need to do something about my body, now!!” does not mean that your body will respond in the same enthusiasm as your thoughts. It Won’t work!!!.
Q: So how do you think my body will react if I suddenly starved it of food by going on a full diet?
A: There is a possibility that your body might go in a shock or in a tizzy.
Q: Is it really that Negative ?
A: Your body may even adapt the new way of eating, the new food that you would offer to yourself, the new time that you might choose. As I said your body might even go along with this new fad that you have taken over, but what is the guarantee that you will continue with this as your life style for ever, you did mention that most of us have a very short attention span.
In my recommendation, I would suggest an on going practice to keep your body, mind, emotions in a well balanced way, where taking care of over self becomes a routine and a priority.
Q: What do you recommend ?
A: Any regular meditation practice or a healing practice or an ongoing awakening practice will definitely look after your overall well being. A practice helps you to sustain your actions and also the clarity to choose your actions, which is both acceptable and enjoyable by your body, mind and soul.
In my recommendation an ongoing healing technique called Reiki can become a part of your everyday living. As a reiki practioner for the last 30yrs, I have had a very joyfully, creative life, with it’s highs and lows, luckily never went into the extremes of creating anything over night.
Q: Yes I have heard about Reiki, and would like to know how over the last 30 years Reiki has changed you ?
A: The practice of reiki has kept me going with all my clarity and enthusiasm, giving me the right courage to accept my minuses and enhance my pluses.
Q: So even for this there needs to be a lot of commitment to practice every day, exactly like a Fad diet, what are the ways we can stick to the practice after learning it ?
A: To keep the practice consistent, one could get on with a longer commitment program called leadership training program, which primarily focuses on your entirety of your well being.
We all are born leaders, we just don’t know that.This program awakens you to some of the deepest to some of the subtle stuff in our lives, making it important for us to prioritize ourselves better.
Q: Tell me more about this program?
A: It is a 10months course layered over the time of 3yrs. Whether it is reiki or the leadership course, both will instill the groundedness to accept yourself the way your are and then to plan the way ahead.
It is nice to cleanse and service your physical well being as an ongoing process, but definitely not a quick fix-fad way.
Q: So a one line Take away from this conversation would be ?
A: keep smiling, keep seeking and keep exploring..We have one life to live, so make the best of it.