SOUL SEARCHING
Anju Maudgal Kadam shares the inspiring story of her search for holistic balance and equanimity
Anju Maudgal Kadam
Fit, healthy, happy – this is my life mantra now. I came to it late though. Like most strong Indian women, I too spent my youth proving my mettle to the world. My third decade was dedicated to motherhood and it was only in my mid-forties that I had the luxury of time to take stock of life. I asked hard questions of myself, and the answers I gave fell short.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a fulfilling life I led. But somewhere along the way, I knew I’d lost a bit of who I am. The one thing I truly enjoy is learning. So, the year I turned forty, I promised myself that I would learn one new subject, skill, task, or story that I could grow from every year thereon. And I have. From re-learning to run, spinning a disk on a jockey console, doing salsa, going back to school, walking a 100 kilometres, learning to hula hoop, getting my yoga instructor certification, building a community of self-reliant women, starting a movement, supporting causes I believe in, solo travel...the list is long, and no goal trivial. Learning has defined my forties, it has humbled me, it has brought me joy, it has kept me agile in mind and body. And this is what I wish for every woman. The luxury of choice. The ability to make an impact. The need to be more than the sum of all her parts.
Exercise has been my happy place forever. With age and some hard-earned wisdom, the lens to exercise too has changed. I don’t just exercise to look a certain way. I exercise because it makes me feel good. Inside out. It took me from being a diabetic, to almost free from disease. My regime has been a mixed bag, but I’ve settled down to Crossfit and yoga. And I carry lessons from here into life – of being strong in resolve, flexible in negotiations, carrying the weight of any problem with grace and knowing that decisions taken from a space of inner peace seldom go wrong. Agility, resilience and the ability to reinvent and discover have defined my choices. I’ve recently begun to teach mindfulness through breath and yoga, and enjoy the transformation I facilitate for folks who practice with me. The more I teach, the more I learn.
And this brings me back to my mantra of fit, healthy and happy. It takes work every single day. Like in exercise, so in life, I strive for balance – in mind and body – healthy in both too, and a sense of balance and equanimity in facing all the challenges that life may throw at us. This is how I approach every day.
They say you only live once. I say you live every single day. Make it count.