Tirlok Malik, founder of Happy Life Yoga, hosted a celebration of IDY 2024 and solicited happiness mantras from expert speakers.
Happy Life Yoga founder Tirlok Malik hosted an interactive session on June 22 to celebrate the International Day of Yoga 2024. The event included elements from his workshop and speaker comments sharing their happiness mantras.
Malik, the ever-ebullient Emmy-nominated filmmaker, emphasized loving yourself . He said, “If you love yourself, it is your responsibility to take care of your happiness and health.” He conducted practical exercises and chair yoga, peppered with calls for laughter.
A large number of participants logged in for the online event from New York, other parts of the USA, India, and around the world.
Consul General of India in New York, Amb. Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, in his address as Chief Guest, underlined that yoga is a holistic body-mind-spirit system. The Indian Consulate, GOPIO (Global Organization for People of Indian Origin, Manhattan), The Indian Panorama and Indian American Forum were event partners.
In his 4th year leading the IDY event, Malik asked the speakers to address the question: “There are challenges and hardships in life, but how do you let them go and laugh at life?” Give me your personal mantra, he asked them.
Indu Jaiswal, Chairperson of the Indian American Forum and a medical professional, shared her mantra: “Always have a positive outlook and believe in yourself.”
Prof. Indrajit Singh Saluja, Editor-Publisher of The Indian Panorama, said that happiness lies within you. He added that Patanjali yoga’s five don’ts – non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, moderation and non-attachment — is a formula for not causing unhappiness to others.
Tara Shajan, a medical professional, suggested we should revisit our happy memories, particularly from childhood, and try to lower our happiness threshold.
“You don’t need a reason to laugh. Laugh at the absurdity of life, laugh at ordinary events. ‘Oh, the chapati on the stove got burnt’ is a good enough opportunity to laugh it away,” Tirlok Malik tells participants at his workshops.
Neeta Bhasin, founder of Diwali at Times Square, shared that she has learned to prioritize her own happiness.
Neha Lohia, a filmmaker and spiritual enthusiast, said that we should take whatever happens to us as ‘prasad’ (blessing) from God.
Parveen Chopra, founder of wellness and spirituality webmag ALotusInTheMud.com, mentioned the sutra, “Heyam dukham anagatam” (Avert the danger that has not yet come). Do regular exercise, yoga and meditation, he said, to avoid poor physical and mental health later in life.
Lal Motwani, GOPIO International President, said, “Never say you are old, never say you are poor or ask for help.”
‘Vegan ambassador’ Anil Narang said since turning vegetarian some years ago, he has never fallen sick or needed medicines.
TV host Dr. Renee Mehra said you cannot control the events, but you can control your reaction to them. She also conducted a short meditation.
Shivender Sofat, GOPIO Manhattan President, said the message shared in the session should be shared with others.
Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of GOPIO, talked about the objectives of the global organization.
Tirlok Malik and Happy Life Yoga
Tirlok Malik has conducted over 100 Happy Life Yoga workshops over four years. He created this workshop (no mats needed!) inspired by Ayurveda, yoga, and Indian philosophy as a practical way to live a happier and healthier life in today’s testing times.
I have attended a couple of his workshops.
He exhorts everybody to laugh as much and as often. “It is good for you, it opens the lungs,
and it produces happy hormones,” he tells the participants.
“You don’t need a reason to laugh. Laugh at the absurdity of life, laugh at ordinary events – ‘oh, chapati on the stove got burnt’ is a good enough opportunity to laugh it away.”
The Emmy award-nominated New York-based filmmaker, Tirlok Malik created this workshop (no mats needed!) inspired by Ayurveda, yoga, and Indian philosophy as a practical way to live a happier and healthier life in today’s testing times.
Having his audience to eat out of his hands, Malik then moves to the core of his workshop.
Indian philosophy, he explains, tells us that you can have it all but only if you balance Artha, Kama, Dharma, and Moksha. Artha is our means, and Kama is our desires, and normally the two are out of whack, causing problems. “I may want a Mercedes, but if currently, I can only afford $20,000, then it is better to shelve that goal,” he suggests.
Dharma is making the right choices. Moksha is contentment or fulfillment that flows from harmoniously living the first three.
From Ayurveda, Malik says, we learn to eat the right food for the body. Eat healthy and skip junk food.
Happy Life Yoga does not require mats. “Move the body as much as possible,” Malik advises as asanas involve body movements. He has now included some stretches and twists from Chair Yoga. He also makes people sway and dance while sitting in chairs. One simple breathing exercise he teaches: “Take a deep breath, hold for a while, and exhale from the mouth with a sound.”
Malik usually wraps up his motivational workshop with this nugget: “We cannot change our past, so we must accept it. We may have made mistakes, but we cannot go back to correct them. We do not know what the future has in store for us. So, live in the present, doing your best to have a happy and healthy life.”
Tirlok Malik is an acclaimed actor and filmmaker who is known for making feature films on the Indian American experience under his banner Apple Productions, such as ‘Lonely in America’, and ‘On Golden Years’.
When asked, he will tell you that Happy Life Yoga is not a departure from that work but is the continuation of his love for India and his community. He had started the first Indian food restaurant (1985), the first Ayurveda medicine center (1992), and the first Ayurveda restaurant (1998), all in Manhattan.
