Life Lessons: Sona Bahri

The meditation teacher shares her advice on attaining inner peace with yourself and the world around you.

Sona Bahri has been teaching meditation for more than 18 years.

Born in Mumbai and brought up in Italy, England and Chile, Sona Bahri learnt meditation in Australia and has been practising and teaching for more than 18 years. She teaches in Abu Dhabi in both the corporate sector and to individuals at the Inner Space Centre.

1. Be the master of your mind, the creator of your thoughts. I am what I think. I am the ruler of my mind, the mind doesn't control me. Or does it? These days, we find that for many people, their minds seem to be out of control. The quantity of their thoughts is huge and the quality rather low. By remembering that I am the master of my mind, I train my mind to do what I wish and thereby take back sovereignty over my thinking.

2. Your thinking is the seed that determines the quality of your life. If I think negatively for a whole day, it is guaranteed that I will feel rotten and tired by evening. When my thinking is positive I generate good feelings and those feelings in turn create my attitudes in life. Attitude then expresses itself in words and actions. Together my feelings, attitudes, words and actions determine the quality of my life. I make sure I plant the seed of a beneficial thought every morning and create a garden in my mind, otherwise the weeds take over!

3. Learn to put a full stop anywhere, anytime. Obstacles and challenges come suddenly. Clarity of mind belongs to those who learn to put a full stop to all waste and negative thinking. I remind myself to put a full stop to the past and focus on finding a solution.

4. You remember what lives in your heart. The mind naturally follows from the heart. Good memories give rise to positive thoughts. Negative memories pull us again and again and give rise to unpleasant feelings. Meditation is a gentle art of cleaning the heart regularly so that I keep only that which is beneficial to me and turf out that which causes me harm. A clean heart is a strong heart, one that is capable of giving and loving.

5. Relationships are a mirror of the way you treat yourself. Self-respect is the key to healthy and happy relationships. When I value myself I start to see others in the same light.

Inner Space is a non-profit business and classes are free of charge. It is located near the Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhabi. For more information email [e-mail] or call 050 515 9646