Over the last decade+, a plethora of different spaces have nourished my understanding of myself, & of life, providing me with much-needed skillsets & practice grounds.
| Nalanda Masters Course More than 1000 hours of teachings, spread across five years, on the Nalanda Tradition of Buddhist Philosophy. | Tibet House, Delhi, India | 2022 ~ 2027 |
| Certificate Program In Traumatic Stress A 7-month immersion, led by Bessel van der Kolk, MD & other leading trauma experts, into the fundamentals of traumatic stress expertise. | Trauma Research Foundation, Massachusetts, US | 2023 ~ 2024 |
| Dark Retreat 10 nights & 11 days of absolute darkness & isolation to go deeper into my journey of understanding the nuances of what I understand of life. | The Hermitage, Guatemala | 2022 |
| Mind Creates Reality: Path of Liberation Level 1 & 2 A 4-day in-person retreat on the core of Mingyur Rinpoche’s Vajrayana teachings, & practices central to this training. | Tergar Meditation Community, Boston, US | 2022 |
| Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Certification Training A 3-day live training on the foundational approach of DBT, presented by Katelyn Baxter-Musser, LCSW, C-DBT | Professional and Education Services International (PESI) | 2022 |
| General Psychiatric Management (GPM) for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) An 8-hour, self-paced course, in an empirically validated treatment approach to BPD. | Harvard Medical School | 2021 |
| Nalanda Diploma Course More than 250 hours of teachings, spread across 14 months, on the Nalanda Tradition of Buddhist Philosophy. | Tibet House, Delhi, India | 2020 – 21 |
| Yoga Teacher Training Course 200-hour, four-week intensive residential course, recognized by Yoga Alliance | Sivananda Ashram, Madurai, India | 2021 |
| Principles of Collective Trauma Healing Training 6 sessions + 2 intensive weekend immersions, across 4 months (online, live), on working with collective trauma. | Thomas Hubl, Academy of Inner Science | 2020 – 21 |
| 21-Days Fast (Diet: Water, Air, Sun, & Space) Deep cleansing of my whole being at all levels – physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual. | (At Home) | 2020 |
| Wisdom of Emptiness Retreat An 8-day residential retreat on the Wisdom Chapter of A Guide to Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhisattvacharyavatara). | Geshe Dorji Damdul La, Bir, India | 2019 |
| Bodhicitta Retreat An 8-day residential retreat to deepen the experience & understanding of bodhicitta (commitment to embarking on the path of enlightenment for the benefit of all beings). | Geshe Dorji Damdul La, Bodh Gaya, India | 2019 |
| 10-Days Fast (Diet: Water, Air, Sun, & Space) Deep cleansing of my whole being at all levels – physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual. | Sehatvan, Bhopal, India | 2019 |
| Integral Somatic Psychology 30-hour training on the greater embodiment of all aspects of experience & all levels of the psyche. | Prafulta, Mumbai, India | 2019 |
| Arts-Based Therapy Course A 9-month course – teaches evidence-based use of art forms to accomplish therapeutic goals. | Building on Art Therapy (B.O.A.T.) | 2018-19 |
| Non-Violent Communication A 3-day workshop on NVC in close relationships. | Sudha Shankar & Gesine | 2017 |
| Accredited Coach Training Program ICF approved 60 hours of Life & Leadership Coach training spread across 3-months. | Coach For Life, USA (ICF Accredited) | 2016 |
| 10-Months of Solo Backpacking Solo backpacked across 26 of the 29 states in India to get a deeper sense of what one means when one says, “India”. | PAN-India | 2015 -16 |
| Vipassana My first (of now multiple) 10-day Silent Retreat. | Dhamma Bodhi, Bodh Gaya | 2015 |
| Hypnotherapy A week-long module on practicing hypnotherapy as a practitioner. | Indian Institute of Hypnotherapy | 2014 |
| Teach For India Fellowship A two-year full-time fellowship: enabled me to begin seeing the common human conditioning across age, sex, religion, income, et al. | Teach For India | 2011 – 13 |
| B.A. Psychology (Hons.) This is, possibly, where the seed was planted (or maybe even before this – in grade 11 – the moment I chose to study psychology) | Jesus & Mary College, Delhi University | 2004 – 07 |
While some of these nourishing spaces can be clearly outlined in the table above, there are innumerable things I do daily/ weekly/ monthly that are difficult to put down in such a form, for example:
- Daily (Wholesome) Morning & Evening Rituals that include practicing being, reparenting, energy work, asanas, meditation, oiling, spending time with my significant other, reading, stretching, & reflecting.
- Investing in nurturing relationships by consciously choosing to create get-together spaces for social well-being & connectedness.
- Eating whole, simple, home-cooked food as much as possible with minimal processing.
- Being conscious of my choices as a consumer – aligns with my love for nature & animals.
- Being cognizant of continually learning to grow & evolve my skills & understanding (of the work I do) by accessing learning material, in different forms (free/ paid courses/ workshops/ sessions/ etc.), on a regular basis (apart from the ones in the table above).
- Consciously choosing to bring my on-cushion practices alive in the form of my off-cushion practices (choosing to use the skills I practice of compassionate inquiry, leaning into emotions, staying with uncomfortable emotions & choosing different responses, chakra work, breath, & many others into the opportunities that life presents daily to learn, grow, & evolve.)
- Being kind to myself, being wisely kind to myself.
Please note that these practices aren’t developed overnight. It’s taken me years to now be able to do all of this, seemingly, effortlessly. And even now there are times I miss a few things (at times more than a few things) here & there 🙂
So, be kind to yourself, and be wisely kind to yourself. The key to all growth & evolution is consistency. The only way to maintain (life-giving) consistency is to cultivate self-compassion.
If you’re keen and haven’t yet read it, here’s my backstory.
Much love,
Shobhali
