EP 33 Mindfulness taught by a surgeon with Nimisha Kantharia

Nimisha's story of how she came to be a mindfulness teacher is memorable. About ten years ago, she was not able to perform her job as a surgeon, due to not being able to enter the operating theatre. She felt physically sick when she approached it. Her boss forced her to take some time off and had her go through a battery of tests to find out what was going on. They found nothing wrong with her body. But she often had friends and family comment on how high strung she was. She thought it was a good thing as it allowed her to be at the top of her game as a surgeon, until it wasn't. Friends suggested yoga, but she refused. She wasn't prepared to change her personality to make other people comfortable. She liked who she was. She needed that edge to be a good surgeon. At the end of the two week vacation she took to get better, she finally gave in to her husband's suggestion to try meditation because she wasn't getting any better. She took medication for her upset tummy, but it wasn't working. She had cut off tea and coffee, which was huge for her as she would drink an average seven to eight cups a day, so trying meditation felt easy. Besides, at that point, she was ready to try anything because she loved her work and wanted to get back to it. It is at that point that she came across a book called 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works - A True Story, by Dan Harris. And she thought, why not. Who doesn't want to be happier. She also liked that the promise of the book was not grandiose. The author was also a high strung person, which appealed to Nimisha, even though he was an American white male and she was an Indian brown woman. She could relate to the war reporter in him in ways she could never relate to people wearing white robes with serene smiles. What happened next was miraculous. She was able to go back to the operating theatre and resume her former life. At that point in her life, she called her practice meditation. She had an app and would religiously get on with her meditation daily. But as she slipped back into her life, she became complacent and her practice slipped. Her family noticed right away as she was cranky on days she did not meditate. Even her mother, who was raised a Roman Catholic and who is afraid of the idea of meditation, noticed. And then there was to be a part two to her journey when she became a mother and started to struggle with issues of anger. Sadly, the meditation did not seem to help because she hadn't accepted yet that all emotions are welcome. She was resisting the anger. She just wanted the joy of being a mum. That is when she shifted from meditation to mindfulness and radical acceptance. Non judgment became a big part of her new practice. To find out more about her, head over to her website. Find her on Instagram. To download her free mindfulness journal, click here.