Merry everything and happy life wishes. In contemplation of the year gone during this liminal space between celebrations, I reflected on the message I received at the beginning of 2025: Simplicity
I didn’t know what it looked like but that word became my guiding light when life felt unpredictable, complex, and ungrounded this year.
Eventually, simplicity divinely returned me to the golden principles of the yogis, the Yamas. It reignited an old flame and their aliveness in me is why I share now, in case it becomes a light for you too:
Ahimsa – do no harm – is the very first instruction in how to relate with others.
It is the first because the following rest upon it. It is kindness. In thoughts, in actions, in presence.And it includes the self. It is at the heart of compassion but that’s another topic for another time.
Through the continued study and writing about this principle (also on LinkedIn) I am practicing kindness. And it is a practice..I see how many times my automatic thoughts or behaviours subtly do harm.
Kindness shows up in all ways because it’s not just a grand gesture. Earlier this month I participated in a temazcal in Ibiza – a womb-like sweat lodge from the Mexican traditions. The burning heat from the hot coals stripped my mind of thinking and I focused on the prayers, songs, wishes and the drums to keep me going. There was kindness in the way we carefully shared the dark space, the gentle guidance, the drum beat, the grief, loneliness and pain that felt safe to be expressed… in gratitude to transform together and alone.
Kindness became a state, a frequency for all to access and remember. And after the surrender, I felt reborn as I exited the womb of the temazcal.
When I returned to daily life, I felt Ahimsa when my son stopped to hug me tightly, or empty the shopping into the right places without being asked, or start the fire because it was getting cold. I did wonder what he wanted in return 🙂 Later that night, the clouds parted just long enough for me to see the meteor shower – a reminder of how simplicity reveals beauty.
You see, when we choose kindness, Ahimsa, as a direction in life, kindness in all it’s colours becomes what we experience.
Where attention goes, energy flows. As within, so without. What we cultivate inside expresses through us into the world around us.
Kindness opens the heart for lightness, joy and connection. And it creates our environment more than we realise.
Kindness is speaking honestly without raising your voice or saying “I need a moment” instead of pushing past your capacity.
It is repairing quickly after friction with “I’m sorry”
Listening without planning a reply
Saying “thank you” for the small things
Taking responsibility without taking blame
Being a calm driver or a patient walker
Nourishing your mind and body
So as you move through the next days and weeks, ask yourself:
What would kindness say?
And if it doesn’t agree with non-harm, choose another way. Kindness is a daily practice. That transforms our inner and outer world.
Thank you for reflecting on life with me, for your trust and kindness. It’s been a wild year and I’m privileged to be walking this spiral of becoming with you.
With love in all ways
Dipika
