Monita Rajpal

Thrive Global — I recently heard this expression- dolce far niente—which translates to-- the sweetness of doing nothing. Of course, in Italian it sounds so much more luxurious but there is something so amazingly simple yet profound about it. Unfortunately doing nothing is often not seen as a treat. Instead, it is judged as a trick of time that should be filled with being productive. Well, here's the thing, I learned that cultivating space in time to just be, and not feel the need to always be productive, is important for our physical, mental, and emotional health. And there's research to prove it.

Medium — In this pandemic/post-pandemic time, I've been hearing from friends and acquaintances how they would love for life to go back to " normal". I've also been hearing a lot about how life as we live it today is being described as the " new normal".

Thrive Global — From the hectic newsroom to the healing powers of nature. How a former CNN International Anchor took a chance on a drastic move to redefine success & rediscover her purpose.

thecitrineroom.com — Why buildings evoke emotions in us and how, through architecture, we see our past, present, & potential in redesigning our future. As I watched, in disbelief, the spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral fall onto the already burning and crumbling roof of the 850 year old French landmark, I wondered, 'Why would a building, and what happens to it, make us feel so deeply?'

thecitrineroom.com — Imagine you could talk to your fear. What would you say? By giving fear an identity, we can humanise it. Through understanding fear, we can move forward in any relationship, especially the one we have with ourselves.

Medium.com — Our hands are incredible tools. They have helped us evolve by building the things we need to survive. But through them we can not only survive but also thrive. I have always found that when I am working with my hands when knitting, sewing, or more recently woodworking, or when I'm in the garden digging, weeding, planting I find I can get lost in a moment which, in an often distracting world, can be difficult to do. And as I discovered, using our hands can help us refocus, rebalance, and become resilient through life's challenging times.

thecitrineroom.com — We all age. From the moment we are born our bodies are changing and ageing. How we age is often determined by genetics and lifestyle. While we may not be able to control our genes, we can take control of our health by doing all that we can to make sure we are ageing as optimally as possible. In a conversation with The Citrine Room, Susan Saunders, co-author of The Age Well Project, reveals some important lessons we can all learn to help us change the way we age and change the way we see ourselves as we advance in age. After all, ageing isn't something to fear. It is a privilege.

thecitrineroom.com — Racism. Migration. Immigration. BREXIT. Fundamentalism. Extremism. Border control. Birthright. Words we hear in the news every single day. People around the world are being persecuted for the colour of their skin, the God that they pray to, the ancestral tribe to which they belong and the politics that they follow. None of which makes any logical, rational sense. Yet, here we are still discussing, debating, and deciphering what to do. Life is not meant to be like this. We were meant to get better, be better. So why does it feel like all the lessons we were supposed to have learned from mistakes made in generations past were actually emotions that weren't resolved but merely simmering under the surface and now boiling over?