Happiness Express

by Khurshed Batliwala

  The DSN overflows with knowledge sessions, group discussions, games, advanced yoga techniques such as Padmasadhana and many chances to go out into the world and make a difference during the course itself. The DSN experience will leave you enriched and empowered.

  Discover your inner superhero and start to live the life you have always dreamt about.

  There are many other courses that Art of Living offers, from learning yoga to vegetarian cooking and almost everything in between.

  The teachers and volunteers of the Art of Living Foundation strive to create a better world for themselves and their communities through various services like planting trees, rejuvenating rivers, running free schools in villages and slums, empowering women, providing vocational training for village youth, helping disaster victims and more. You can find descriptions and details of all this and more on www.artofliving.org.

  Appendix 3

  WORKSHOPS OFFERED BY KHURSHED & DINESH

  Study Sutras

  ‘Everyone used to tell me to use my brain. No one told me exactly how to do it.’

  You could be a student working your way through university, a professional struggling with new concepts you have to study, or someone who is simply curious and wants to know more.

  Our brain is a super advanced piece of organic technology. Unfortunately, we inherited it without a user manual. Study Sutras is a three-hour, fast-paced workshop delving into the intricacies of how to make the brain work with dazzling efficiency.

  This workshop, which is based on a few chapters from our book, Ready, Study, Go!: Smart Ways to Learn, will create a paradigm shift in the way you learn. It will make the process of studying efficient, enjoyable and more meaningful. It will transform the way you think and possibly even the way you live.

  Facts about the brain, study tips, brain hacks and, if time permits, a guided meditation await you in this workshop designed by me and Dinesh.

  Do read our book. It is available at online and offline bookstores around the world. With tips and techniques to make studying an intriguing activity, it has sold more than 50,000 copies.

  For more about the book, visit www.readystudygobook.com.

  To buy it from amazon.in, follow this link: bit.ly/readystudygo

  To get it from amazon.com, go here: bit.ly/readystudygointl

  Note: In some countries, Study Sutras is called Study Smart.

  Mind Maps & More

  The system of thinking most of us have drilled into our minds goes against how our brain is naturally tuned to function. We have fostered the unproductive habits of sequential thinking and making endless, often meaningless, lists.

  The Mind Maps & More workshop teaches natural and organic ways of thinking and helps you use your brain the way it was meant to be.

  Using just a few circles and lines, the powerful technique of mind mapping can open up a world of ideas and solutions to problems that may have stumped you for a long time.

  Mind Maps & More is an interactive and introspective experience peppered with fun and games, aimed to help you reverse incorrect thinking habits and thus open up your brain to a flood of ideas. It will develop and hone your skills in problem-solving, communication, recall and time management.

  In just ten exciting hours, spread over three alternate days (or over a weekend), the workshop will enable you to realise and implement effectiveness in your life by bringing about a transformation in the way you think and therefore in the way you act!

  Note: This workshop is designed for people aged 18 years and above.

  A Delightful Romp through Classical Math

  I hate math. This is such a familiar refrain. Studying math, for most people, is usually an exercise in frustration, for some even terror. This is largely because of a lack of interest in the subject, which is compounded by uninspiring teachers and insipid prescribed textbooks that utterly malign the subject.

  There is hardly any life without math. Math pervades all we do, yet most people are repelled by it. This is sad, because Mathematics is a subject of magic and exquisite beauty. We had had enough of people berating this lovely subject and decided to do something about it.

  We put together a workshop that would primarily eliminate the almost irrational fear that many people have of the subject, as well as effortlessly reveal its intrinsic beauty.

  Starting with some frivolous playing around with numbers and multiplication, the workshop quickly moves on to cover some of the basics of real analysis, calculus, number theory and finite mathematics. We focus on fundamental concepts and disclose the elegant logic that hides behind rigorous mathematical proofs. A few fascinating stories from the history of math and mathematicians are woven into the material.

  The entire workshop is peppered with healthy doses of humour as well as a few interactive exercises for the participants, so that they can discover the joy of applying logic to solve problems for themselves.

  Initially Dinesh and I taught the workshop ourselves, but owing to increased demand, we now have a number of trained and talented teachers besides us. Through this workshop you too will feel the passion and love that we have for math.

  We will soon be offering it as an online workshop.

  Mathemagic has been designed to be a thoroughly entertaining two-hour learning experience, a delightful foray into the basics of some fairly advanced math.

  An Introduction to the Bach Flower Remedies

  Dr Edward Bach discovered that certain flowers in nature have the ability to affect our emotions positively. His original Bach Flower System of 38 remedies and their combinations are easy for anyone to understand and use.

  The Bach Flower Remedies can work in conjunction with herbs, homeopathy and any other medication. They are safe for everyone, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, pets and even plants.

  You are invited to a workshop on the Bach Flower Remedies conducted by me. I am a registered Bach Flower Practitioner and have had a few years of experience in using them.

  The contents of the workshop include:

  The Origin of the Bach Flower Remedies

  An overview of the 38 Flower Remedies

  Creating and using a Personalised Remedy Mix for Yourself

  Personal Stories about their usage and effects

  Each participant will get to take home a 30-ml bottle of the Remedy mix that they will create in the workshop for their own use. You will have clear instructions on dosage and how to integrate the almost magical Bach Flower System into your lives.

  The workshop will run for about two and a half hours.

  Reality Reloaded

  This workshop is based on principles of coaching and gamification along with a few chapters from our books, Ready, Study, Go! and Happiness Express. It promises to create a shift in the way you think, act and live. It will give you clarity on what you really want in life, and help you create a road map to achieve it.

  Reality Reloaded comprises three action-packed sessions spread over a week. Each session is three hours long, and will have you laughing, wondering and introspecting. You will delight in the clarity and focus that would finally dawn as you figure out your destiny and take steps to realise it.

  For a richer, more fulfilling, enjoyable and rewarding experience of the magic called life, come and gain the skill of reloading your reality. Transform your life into that of your dreams.

  This is a fairly intensive workshop and it is recommended that you sign up for it only if you can devote a chunk of time to some serious soul-searching. It involved quite a bit of homework and you need to do it and participate fully in all the sessions to make the most of your time on the course.

  Happiness Express: The Workshop

  Why do we do anything we do?

  Why do we want anything we want?

  All our desires and wants can be boiled down to one word: Happiness.

  Happiness is what all of us want. Actually, happiness is the only thing all of us want!

  For most of us, happiness can be quite
elusive. . . We smile, but the smile doesn’t come as often as we would like it to, nor does it stay as long as we would want it to.

  Two decades ago, after going through a few devastating failures, I had a great big think about life. I took a decision then: I would do things that would make me and others around me happy. I realised that happiness needs to be practised. I developed the Habit of Happiness.

  Result? I became more creative, productive and efficient. Success became easier to achieve. Failure didn’t affect me as much as it would before. I developed a resilience towards the ‘downs’ of life and enjoyed the ‘ups’.

  This workshop is based on the book you are reading right now, Happiness Express. In about an hour and a half, we will share the secrets of our Happiness, stuff that has worked for us and for the tens of thousands of people we have taught over the years.

  We invite you to join us on the Happiness Express, your ticket to a smile that will light up your eyes and warm your heart!

  Yogic Fitness Act I

  An Introduction to Holistic Health and Fitness

  Congratulations! You have a body. Not just any body—a human body. It can be very easy to take this for granted.

  It has taken many millennia for our bodies to evolve into the astounding pieces of super complex organic technology that they are. We experience life through them. For an optimal experience of our time on the planet, we need to ensure that our bodies stay fit and healthy. Disease happens when we forget this.

  Time, money and effort invested in building robust good health will not then be wasted being ill, staring at ceilings and feeling miserable.

  YF-I is a unique programme that starts you off on that most precious journey: Great Health!

  In three sessions of 3-4 hours each, you will be introduced to the art and science of health, strength and fitness.

  YF-I brings together three elements required for vibrant good health: Exercise, Diet and Rest.

  You will be taught foundation exercises that will get your body moving the way it has been designed to.

  Diet can be a game changer when it comes to fitness. Knowledge of what to eat, what not to eat and why is paramount for success. You will learn the basics, enough to whet your appetite. Besides, you will be served a fantastic meal in class each day.

  The critical importance of rest will be explained, the why and how of sleep, along with an introduction to meditation. Each session will end with deeply relaxing stillness.

  Continue your journey online. All exercises taught and full-body workouts based on the exercises you have learned will be available for you to view online, so you can refresh and fine-tune what you learned in class.

  Enroll on the YF-I course to experience the magic of great health for yourself.

  Watch out for Acts II and III—coming soon!

  Appendix 4

  There are plenty of online and offline resources for amazing, healthy, delicious vegetarian recipes. The Bibliography includes some of my favourites.

  Making Butter and Ghee

  Ghee is considered to be a superfood, and rightly so.

  It has a very high smoking point of 250oC and will not break down into dangerous free radicles like other oils when heated. It can be safely used for cooking and frying.

  Ghee is a rich source of vitamins A and E. It has anti-oxidants with anti-viral qualities if the milk it is made from is sourced from grass-fed Indian desi cows. Ghee can help you lose weight because it has medium chain fatty acids that the body uses to burn ‘bad’ fat. Ghee is anti-inflammatory in nature and has been used by Ayurvedic doctors for centuries to counter gut issues.

  Most commercially available ghee is not made the right way. Everyone should know how to make it at home, or source it from someone who makes it the traditional way. Here is my recipe to make it the correct way. Butter gets created along the way.

  Heat full-cream A2 milk to a boil and allow it to cool. A2 milk is milk from the Indian desi cows, not the hybrid Jersey ones. Skim off the cream or malai into a container. Store the container in the freezer. Do this every day until you have 500 ml of the cream. When you are ready to make your butter, bring the container out of the freezer and let it come to room temperature.

  The next step is crucial and almost always skipped by commercial companies that make butter or ghee. Add three heaped tablespoons of curd to the cream and mix thoroughly. Cover this and keep the mixture to ferment overnight, for 8-10 hours. Curd infuses your butter or ghee-to-be with vital probiotics and virtually eliminates all the ‘bad’ cholesterol.

  The fermented cream-curd mixture is our base for making butter or ghee.

  For making butter, transfer the entire cream-curd mixture into a blender. Add a generous amount of cold water till it completely covers the mixture (around half a litre) and toss in a few ice cubes. We want the mixture to remain cold through the blending process.

  Whirr this until the butter separates out, in about 3-5 minutes, depending on the power of your blender. With your hands scoop out the butter from the liquid, squeezing it so that all the milk solids are removed, and put the butter into a container. The liquid remaining is buttermilk.

  Heat a little ghee in a pan, add in a slit green chilli and a teaspoon of grated ginger, and let it cook for about a minute. Add a teaspoon each of mustard seeds and cumin. Let them splutter. Add this to the buttermilk and you have a yummy and healthy drink.

  Coming back to the butter, you will need to rinse the butter 5-8 times. Do this by adding cold water and squeezing out the milk solids. The water will turn opaque white. Throw away this water, and repeat this process until the water is clear.

  What you will have is delicious, healthy, unsalted homemade butter. Taste this once and you will wonder what made you eat that commercially created gunk all your life. Store this in a fridge and it will keep for a few weeks.

  To make ghee, there is one additional step.

  Put the homemade butter in a big, heavy-bottomed iron or steel pan. Heat until it melts and foams. Bring the heat to medium-low and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring continuously so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Be careful with this step. Too much heat will give the ghee a burnt flavour—not something everyone will like. Soon, a brown crumbly substance will start to form and collect at the bottom, while the ghee will separate out as a liquid. Turn off the heat and strain the golden yellow liquid into an air-tight glass bottle.

  The brown stuff can be made into a nice sweet. Add some jaggery and crushed nuts and you have a tasty snack.

  When the ghee starts cooling, it will start to solidify into a dropping paste consistency. If you live in a very cold climate, it might even become a sort of solid paste. The perfect ghee is a very soft paste with a granular consistency and a heavenly fragrance. This ghee is perfectly all right for most people who are lactose intolerant, because all the milk solids have been eliminated in the process of making it.

  Ghee will not spoil easily, so it doesn’t need refrigeration. Water and sunlight though can degrade it. This is why you need to store it in a dark place in an air-tight glass container.

  Sita’s Homemade Cereal

  I like cereals with cold milk. Unfortunately, the commercially available brands either have copious amounts of sugar or are very expensive. The packet will say the cereals have almonds in them. They don’t lie. There will be all of three almonds cut into microscopically thin slivers.

  I was in Jakarta at my friends Ram and Sita’s home when Sita made me cereal for breakfast one morning. I loved it and asked what brand it was. She said she had made it herself. I asked for the recipe and she happily gave it to me. Here it is. It’s quite simple and deliciously tasty.

  Mix 1 cup of maple syrup and ½ a cup of avocado oil. Add in a few pinches of salt and a teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Stir this well as you heat it until it boils. Let it cool to room temperature.

  Add 8 cups of old fashioned rolled oats, ½ cup pumpkin seeds, ½ cup sunflower seeds and ½ cup pine nuts to the cooled mixture. M
ix well with your hands.

  Pre-heat the oven to 170oC. Spread the mixture on a flat baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss, and bake again for another 12 minutes so that everything is evenly baked. Mix in 1 cup of chopped almonds and pistachios and bake for another 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool.

  Store in an air-tight container.

  You may add your favourite nuts and flavours to this basic recipe. Experiment with vanilla, cacao powder, dried figs, cashews, walnuts, etc. You may decrease or eliminate the maple syrup depending on your taste.

  Eat as a snack, or with hot or cold milk.

  Almond Milk

  Many people are lactose intolerant these days, or cannot get good A2 milk, or choose to be vegan. Almond milk is a superb milk substitute. Commercially made almond milk has a long list of questionable ingredients. That’s bizzare and I have no idea why they put all that in, given that all you need is almonds and water. As a bonus, you get to make a delicious herbal almond spread from the leftover almond pulp.

  Almond milk with no additives has a very low glycemic index, which means that sugars are released slowly into the blood, so will not convert easily to fat. It contains plenty of the B vitamins, fibre, calcium and vitamins D and E. It’s good for your skin, muscle growth, healing and digestion.

  Making almond milk at home is a breeze.

  Soak a cup of raw almonds in filtered water overnight, about 8-10 hours. Drain off the water. Peel off the skin of the almonds.

  Put the almonds into a powerful blender. Add 2-6 cups of clean (not chlorinated) water and blend till smooth, usually for about a minute or two. Add less water to make it creamier.

  Use a fine mesh or a cheese cloth to drain the milk out into a vessel. Add a pinch of cinnamon powder and a teaspoon of vanilla for flavour. Store in air-tight glass bottles. Almond milk doesn’t need to be refrigerated, but I put mine in the fridge anyway, because I love it cold! Use within 2-3 days. For a touch of sweetness, sneak in a bit of maple syrup or honey.