APCNF now has an office in Hyderabad.
Toilet and tissue papers – some 30% use in the world – contain ‘forever chemicals’ used for converting wood into pulp. It also burdens the environment significantly. Can we use less? Can we use more recycled papers? Can we go for non-wood? Can we have paper from bamboo, sugarcane, straw et al? Can we move to using bidets? Why not?
Periodic labour force surveys are saying that there is an increase in female labour participation in the last five years, from some 20% to 40%. How do we increase these numbers? Majority of these are in the informal sector including farming, construction, working as helpers in domestic households, etc. How do we facilitate their diversification? Diversification is a must. How do we facilitate them into formal, and high skilled employment? How do we increase their wage returns, and incomes for them? How do we make these meaningful and satisfying? How do we catch them young and prepare them for these possibilities and opportunities? To realize their full potential. For inspiring them to will, for increasing their knowledge-skill-tool-resource ability, and for giving the space. Free to choose from options and choices.
How do we enable impact, social impact, useful at large social impact? At scale, with speed. Sustainably.
Do our team members, team members at large, know our purpose? Do we know how each one of us can work towards and contribute to the purpose? Do we have plans for the same? Do our plans really take us to our purpose? Do we have the abilities, willingness and space for the same? Do we put efforts to work the plan and deliver? Are we inspired enough for these efforts? Are we having models, and examples? Are we having ways to know our progress towards this end? Are we tracking ourselves? Are we correcting ourselves, and our journeys? Are we ‘incentivized’ and ‘motivated’ enough to be at it?
Technology is taking over every aspect of our lives. We remember almost nothing now, dependent on digital tools. We communicate digitally – mails, texts, videos, blogs etc. We buy online quite a lot starting with books, groceries, food, etc. We learn digitally. So on so forth. Our humanness and our digital behaviours are not hand-in-hand. At loggerheads. Our increasing digital addiction is at a huge cost to us. De-addiction may not be easy. But, we need to take a break. As often as possible. We need to go to N, as often as possible. She makes us familiar with ‘strange’. She makes us know our familiar world, woods, waters, from multiple lenses. She makes us notice things that are not present, in addition to noting life around us. She encourages bird’s view and worm’s view at the same time. She makes us appreciate that our world is opaque to us; our world is rigid to us. We need to become porous, transparent and she is ready to help. She helps us to listen to the silence, apart from the low notes. She helps us to be qualitative, and quantitative at once. To see patterns and logic. To see and experience flows and cycles. To continue with a curious mind, creative heart and purposeful soul. Implicitly, explicitly.
Do we rest enough? We must. Variety of rests, breaks. Physical, mental, social, sensory, emotional, creative, and spiritual. These rests can come from change of work, deep sleep, meditation-relaxation, working out, walking, dancing, fast, slowing down, silence, music, hobbies, being alone, in the nature, with animals, playing with children, elderly, digital break, soft lighting, soothing sounds, non-violent space, humility practice, saying NO, expressing emotions, therapy, self-care, new people-places, and games. Can we rest fully, adequately?
Yes, we can. If we are in nature together. In the flow of N. For 7L.
Join us in the yoga of being and living in nature – brndaavanayoga for 7L.
Click here for a compilation of Yogakshemam updates.