VOLUME 01 | ISSUE 04 | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019
A BI-MONTHLY DIGITAL MAGAZINE FOR E MOTIONAL W ELLNESS
VOLUME 01 | ISSUE 04 | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019
A BI-MONTHLY DIGITAL MAGAZINE FOR E MOTIONAL W ELLNESS
WE MAG
VOLUME O1 | ISSUE 04
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2019
Vira Komarraju EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Jolly Vin
DESIGN
HEAD
WEQIP - The Emotional Wellness Foundation PUBLISHED
BY
WE MAG takes constant and utmost care to ensure that the content is accurate, original, and complete. WE MAG & WEQIP assume no liability or responsibility for any inaccurate, inauthentic or incomplete information. The views and opinions expressed in the articles are that of its author(s) and are not necessarily the views of the publisher and editor. The published material, editorials and all other content is published in good faith and WE MAG carries no responsibility for the opinion expressed thereon. The materials and content contained in this publication are for general information only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. WE MAG reserves the right to change any information without notice. WE MAG & WEQIP cannot be held responsible and shall not be liable for content of other websites, resources, external organizations and people that might be mentioned in the articles. If you have any query regarding article submission, feedback, errors & omissions, or any other comment please mail to us at info@weqip.com Any form of reproduction of any content of this digital publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. For more information and exclusive digital content, head over to www.weqip.com WEQIP is a trademarked organization. All rights reserved.
From The Founder's Desk
My Dear Friends,
With this being our fourth and the year-end issue, we cannot believe we have come this far! Our readership continues to increase with every issue, and we cannot thank our contributors/ writers enough who make this magazine relevant. And ‘Thank You’ dear readers for reading, helping us spread the word on emotional wellness, reaching out with your encouraging comments and valuable feedback. Thank you for your patience with us in our infancy as we overcome technical glitches and publication errors. You inspire us, push us and keep us going. In the last few months, I have constantly been coming across talented, spirited and most importantly - young - mental health warriors. They are talking and writing about mental health unabashedly and unapologetically. They are sharing their stories and helping others pick up pieces of their broken spirit. They are role models with immense clarity of thought marching strongly ahead on the path they have chosen. My educational and career course was marked with surprising twists and turns and how I eventually chose the direction towards mental and emotional wellness is quite a story. Looking at these young fearless souls leaves me in awe of their determination and a tad bit envious – hoping I had this clarity as early as they do. However, I am glad I eventually ended up being where I am supposed to be and my heart fills with immense joy to witness the energy of this young tribe. I wish them more power in their long journey ahead. As the cold blankets the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere gets warmer, let us remember that everything comes to us in phases – happiness and sadness, heat and cold, ups and downs, success and failure follow each other like twins – because life is not a straight line, rather a sine wave. We need to learn to stop waiting for only the ‘good’ times but start accepting and processing the remaining fifty percent of the days as well. Let us learn this from the Earth – how uncomplainingly it embraces night after each day and a new season after the one before. So, as the New Year approaches, let’s strive to be balanced, be grounded, be present – each and every day and in each and every aspect of our lives. As always, I would love to hear from you. Share not only your feedback and views, but also your thoughts and ideas with me at saumya@weqip.com. Till we meet again on a new day, in the new year… Much love and with you on this journey, Dr. Saumya Goyal
Founder - WE MAG & WEQIP
Letter From The Editor
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the fourth and the year-end issue of WE MAG! ‘Hope’ is what I would title this edition, as we have so many pieces around hope in this issue. People are cautious of hope at times, but for me, the opposite of hope is not just hopelessness but also fear. In the absence of hope we fear uncertainty, setbacks and even tomorrow; while with hope, we give everything a chance – including our relationships, career, passion and future. Andy Dufresne’s letter to Red in The Shawshank Redemption echoes my exact feelings towards hope: “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” In this issue, psychologist Dr. Prerna Kohli, who has been awarded by former President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee shares her perspective on staying strong during tough times. Mental health blogger Madhvi Panchal discusses the power of intuition. Veronika Tait, who teaches psychology at Utah and writes for Psychology Today, highlights the ill effects of fat shaming. Veteran business strategist, serial entrepreneur and start-up advisor Anand Damani guides us on finding true self amid digital hue and cry. The artists we showcase in this edition’s ‘Medium’ column are Archita Goyal and Sierrah Wasie. Sierrah illustrates ‘Dark Clouds’ which may follow us around and Archita encourages us to hold on to the ‘Jar of Hope’ in tough times. Radhika Atluri throws light on the work by Carnevali Foundation in creating sanctuaries for learning and emotional development. Ankita Tandon, an academician, examines how employee well-being can be enhanced by using a positive psychology tool. How music can be used for psychotherapy is explored by Moha Walavalkar, an aspiring psychologist. A young mental health warrior with a powerful pen - Manasi Varwandkar - shares her poem ‘Unmute’ in our poetry column ‘Musings’. ‘Musings’ also includes my poem, ‘Hope’. Nikita Singh, an organisational psychologist from the London School of Economics & Political Science, encourages readers to create their own definition of success. Our nutritional mentor Jolly Vin captures the goodness of the bouquet of B group of vitamins in her piece B Positive. Counsellor Ashima Verma emphasises the importance of a caregiver’s emotional wellbeing. Founder of Happiness India Project and a medical doctor by profession, Dr. Sandip Roy shares an inspirational piece on how one can age gracefully and in our new column ‘Ramblings’, Amol Gupta, a keen observer of life, explores the Danish art of Hygge. I encourage you to share your views and engage in discussion on these stories. If you wish to contribute an article, thought piece, viewpoint, photo essay, artwork, recipe, poem, book review – or anything related to emotional wellness, send in your work to write@weqip.com. And as this year comes to an end with our fourth issue, I hope WE MAG has been successful to start narratives around mental health. Before we start working towards a new volume for the new year…I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy healthy New Year – in body, mind and spirit. Happy reading...
Vira Komarraju
Editor - WE MAG
ON THE COVER
Table For Two By Maria Barry U s e d
w i t h
p e r m i s s i o n
Maria Barry's art collections can be found on Fine Art America and on her website
ON THE COVER
A R T I S T
P R O F I L E
-
M A R I A
B A R R Y
Orlando artist Maria Barry likes to look at the 'brighter side of life' which is evident in her delicate yet dazzling watercolour paintings. Maria exhibited an artistic flair from an early age but was discouraged by her parents from pursuing an art career in favour of getting a proper job. Maria worked for many years in the travel industry, sparking a new passion to travel, which eventually took her to America. While still pursuing a career in travel, she joined the largest gallery in Central Florida, exhibiting her watercolour paintings, and was encouraged to be the President of that gallery, a title she maintained for 10 years. Being self taught, she started teaching the skills she had learned to her students, the way she would have liked to have been taught herself. Maria is proud to have a permanent exhibit of her animal paintings at Gatorland, and also Universal Studios in Florida, where she paints regularly in public. She has been commissioned to do a series of paintings for hospitals in Florida and California where her art is displayed to help sick children heal through visual art. Maria also volunteered to furnish a suite at the Ronald McDonald Children's hospital for terminally ill children, donating her paintings. Maria was asked to teach at Stetson University in Celebration Florida, and volunteers her time each year through their enrichment program, teaching watercolour classes and giving lectures. She also teaches watercolour classes on a weekly basis in several adult active communities. Being self taught, Maria has witnessed that painting is a learned skill and a good teacher can enable skills in a person that might not have been thought possible. Living her dream, Maria also teaches several times a year on cruise ships on sea days, affording her the travel she so loves, taking her to the exotic places and inspiring others through her work.
06 | WE MAG | November-December 2019
W E
M A G
VOLUME 01 | ISSUE 04
C O N T E N T S Perspective
0 9
Tips To Stay Strong During Tough Times – Dr. Prerna Kohli Your Voice
1 5
You Know Without Knowing It: Intuition – Madhvi Panchal Musings
2 3
Hope – Vira Komarraju Teen Aid
2 7
Negative Effects Of Fat Shaming – Veronika Tait Life Lessons
3 5
Finding True Self Amid Digital Hue And Cry – Anand Damani Medium
4 1
Jar Of Hope – Archita Goyal School Bell
4 3
Creating Sanctuaries For Learning And Emotional Development – Radhika Atluri Workplace Diaries
4 7
Enhancing Employee Well-Being Using Appreciative Inquiry – Ankita Tandon
W E
M A G
VOLUME 01 | ISSUE 04
C O N T E N T S Musings
5 1
Unmute – Manasi Varwandkar Ideas
5 7
Music As Psychotherapy – Moha Walavalkar Insight
6 5
What Does Success Mean To You? – Nikita Singh Medium
7 5
Dark Clouds – Sierrah Wasie Nutrition For The Mind
7 7
B Positive – Jolly Vin Reflection
8 9
You Can’t Pour From An Empty Cup: Caregiver’s Emotional Wellbeing – Ashima Verma Inspiration
9 3
Positive Ageing: 7 Things To Do To Age Gracefully – Dr. Sandip Roy Ramblings
1 0 3
Happiness Through Hygge – Amol Gupta
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The Emotional Wellness Foundation WWW.WEQIP.COM
EQUIPPING WELLNESS - MIND + HEART+ SOUL
India is home to more than 1.3 billion people and over 200 million suffer from mental illness sometime during their lifetime. Unfortunately, out of these only a few ever muster the courage to talk about it and reach out for help. Why? Because mental illness is still considered a stigma, a shame, a humiliation, and a big stain on one’s personality. We have a long way to create a culture which considers mental illness for what it is – an illness. We at WEQIP are driven by the philosophy that ‘Mind is part of the body too’ and we need to take care of it as much as our body. In line with this, we are dedicated to creating platforms and driving initiatives which bring people together to acknowledge, talk about, and address the elephant in the room. ABOUT US
WEQIP™ FOCUSES ON ENHANCING WELLNESS OF MIND, HEART, AND SOUL THE TRINITY FOR HAPPINESS
Our publications are completely collaborative in nature and our stories are of people, by people, and most importantly for people. They are for those of us whose life is touched by emotional or behavioural health issue at any point in time in their life – a parent, a teacher, a manager, a child, an IT professional, an actor, a housewife, an HR executive, an artist, a friend to name a few. WEQIP Blog or WE Blog as we like to refer it to and our digital magazine WE Mag is constantly on the lookout of people who have something powerful to say about Emotional/ Behavioural Health & Wellness. We encourage experts, professionals, mental health warriors from various backgrounds to share their knowledge and experiences through these media. The ideas can take any form - art, essay, story, poem, interview, showcase, spotlight, or a straightforward article. The content becomes more enriched as we go along this collaborative journey. If you feel you have a story in you, an idea which would help others, a great practice which is worth emulating, or you are just curious to know more, please reach out to us at – write@weqip.com OUR DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS