Fitness experts on how journaling, breathing and expressing gratitude helps people be fit

You are what you write down. Fitness experts are now using journaling, breathing and expressing gratitude as active tools to help clients lose that unnecessary baggage

At the Tribe fitness centre in Juhu, Robin Behl swirls his arms around like a new-age Jedi. In response, his disciple, Parth Vora bends and dodges. The hypnotising movements make them seem more like a snake-charmer and a serpent interwoven in a dance rather than a trainer and client warming up. The routine, no doubt, is a combination born out of Behl’s time spent training with the Shaolin monks in the Himalayas and more recently, at a movement retreat in Mexico. It is one that many of Behl’s trainees, including Taapsee Pannu, are equally adept at.

Fitness trainer Robin Behl incorporates practices like visualisation and gratitude in workouts with his client Parth Vora. Pics/Satej Shinde

“It’s not just fitness,” says Behl, “It’s a way of life. It changes your mentality completely.” Twenty-eight-year-old Parth Vora is a testament to this. What Behl and Vora have achieved together is quite remarkable. In January, Parth Vora weighed 138 kg. Today, he stands at an admirable 98 kg. He has not missed a day of training nor had a cheat meal since last November. Everything he eats, even in a restaurant is approved by either a nutritionist or Behl himself. Vora’s day starts at five, when he travels from Malad to Juhu for training at 6.30. The first thing they do is practice stillness. To centre the mind and body. Later, comes motion, that’s where the serpentine movements come in. Then, comes the workout, most of which is bodyweight training and uses minimal machines. Lastly, they finish off each session with Vora writing on a sheet of paper all the things he’s grateful for. He says, “Ever since I started training with Robin, I feel more energetic, I sleep better than I ever have and I can do more work.” An integral part of each session is visualisation. Either at the start or at the end, Behl paints a picture for Vora— to take him to where he wants to be. As Behl talks, Vora smiles, as though to say, look I am exactly where I wanted to be. The practice, he says, even helped him catch his first wave on a surfboard earlier this year. 

A bit further north, in Goregaon, you’ll find fitness trainers Praveen and Maahek Nair. After realising that expressing gratitude for the body’s abilities positively impacts their mindset during workouts, they introduced the practice to their clients as well. “A typical routine starts with a brief mindfulness exercise, expressing gratitude for the body’s capabilities,” says Praveen, “Visualisation techniques are applied, focusing on achieving specific fitness goals, and every workout ends with a soothing meditation session that connects the mind and body.” Maahek adds that visualisation has helped clients push themselves further. They often find the mental strength to overcome physical challenges, whether it’s lifting heavier weights or pushing through their cardio sessions.

Trainers Praveen and Maahek Nair say that gratitude and mindfulness gives people the mental strength to overcome physical challenges. Pics/Anurag Ahire

Although the terms visualisation and gratitude may sound to you like a GenZ product, the practice can be traced back hundreds of years. Founder of the Atmantan Wellness Centre, Sharmilee Agrawal Kapur uses ancient pranic and spiritual healing techniques which encompass these practices. She says, “In pranic healing, we say ‘action follows thought’ and thus our thoughts need to be aligned with what we wish and aspire for in our lives.” Along with this, there is the “The Silva Mind-Control Method” which uses a highly effective mediation, and visualisation technique. Even the practice of giving and gratitude itself changes the energy and chakras within the body, as it releases toxins and has us vibrating and attracting positivity. She adds that the success of books such as The Secret is proof that these methods work. However, how soon they yield results depends on the time and energy put into these techniques. 

Yoga instructor Jenil Dholakia echoes this sentiment. She says that often, people who start meditating or yoga expect instantaneous results. She advises you to start small, and have faith in the process. “Yoga has always focused on holistic fitness, because we believe once you take care of mental health, the physical will follow. Simple mantras like ‘Om’ are our way of affirmations, kirtans teach us gratitude, pranayama and meditation teach us mindfulness.” Further, she adds that concepts like NSDR (No Sleep Deep Rest) is nothing but restorative yoga and somatic healing, which helps you control your emotions, is actually the essence of yoga. The vital intention being to calm your “monkey mind” and get it to a place where you can focus. The moment you do that, the stress you feel decreases.

Sharmilee Kapur, Jenil Dholakia, Srinath Aswathiah and Tulip Rodrigues

There is science too, which backs up the claims. “When you do pranayama, the entire focus of the brain is on breathing. This means that your other hormones are not engaged so the stress hormone, cortisol, comes down,” says endocrinologist Srinath Aswathiah. He adds that gratitude too, helps in controlling your stress levels. In fact, he says that simply using terms such as “thank you” and “sorry” can bring your moods back to normal and have a huge impact in reducing cortisol levels. 

Nutritionist Tulip Rodrigues attests that stress does indeed have an impact on your weight. “The cortisol levels impact everything from your BP to hormonal imbalances to blood glucose levels,” she says. Essentially, if the latter is out of control, you will feel hungry and eat needlessly. To avoid doing so, she suggests having a balanced diet, that reflects in all three meals. If you are looking for another de-stressor, Rodrigues advises a little cube of dark chocolate or hot milk with turmeric. You could even go for chamomile or lavender tea. However, to see results she says, you must be patient. None of these have magical properties that will cure your stress instantly. 

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