The Gaudium School has been organising inspiring guest talks under its Talking Titan series to motivate and encourage the high school geckos to give their best in everything while striving for excellence. This initiative has been very effective and has been a major source of inspiration for young students during these trying times. A virtual guest talk was organised for the geckos of Grades 9- 12 of the CBSE and CAIE curricula by Ms Laxmi Rao under the Talking Titans segment, which helped the students to incorporate one of The Gaudium’s prominent pillar- Mindfulness and Well-being into their daily lives.

Ms Laxmi Rao is a dynamic HR professional as well as a Certified Career Counsellor with vast experience. She has been into leadership roles in various industry verticals holding their forts in the capacity of Head HR managing the entire gamut of Organisation Development. Furthermore, she has experience in varied verticals of counselling choosing career paths or choices of subjects for students being one of the prominent fields she has her expertise in. She acts as a catalyst in this field and helps bring both the parents and children on the same platform.

Ms Laxmi initiated her discussion by asking a few questions which made everyone introspect and reflect upon their regular behaviour and actions. Various actions such as the doing acts of kindness, acknowledging parental kindness, helping someone in distress, winning in a team sport and appreciating the team player, were some instances shared that made every participant ponder, – how often do we really identify the good deed done by a person, appreciate and acknowledge the act and thank the person? It was surprising when she pointed out how often we vent out our frustrations, get angry and display negative emotions without considering how hurtful it might be for the recipient. The solution to these problems which many of the young geckos randomly face lies in ‘mindfulness’ or rather practising mindfulness effectively. Ms Laxmi simplified the entire concept of mindfulness to the students and explained how highly significant it is in the course of life for a person. At the end of the session, there was no ambiguity about mindfulness, wellbeing and the importance of being mindful, practising meditation and yoga. Many geckos assumed meditation to be boring and meaningless, while many expressed how they have failed to acknowledge the good deeds, taken them for granted, have regretted their own anger management and much more. Her session provided the necessary link which piqued the interest of the students as to why they should imbibe mindfulness and well-being in their life, not just as one of the 5 pillars of The Gaudium but because of the inner satisfaction and solace that it provides to oneself.

Living a hundred percent in every moment, doing every deed with a full heart, one can give the best of his/her capacity.  Ms Laxmi also shared how well-being is about being physically and mentally wholly fit, inside and out. She listed out the various advantages of being mindful and how it helps not just at the moment but at its entirety for the whole lifetime. How it increases mental organisational skills, helps identify emotions and aids in deep introspection of the self and one’s actions.

Her address made everyone realize the significance and why and how we should proactively practice it; how to keep a self-check and how to handle another person who is in stress. Needless to say, the session was thought-provoking and compelling and absolutely hit the right chords of the adolescent students. At an age, when they can easily dismiss exercises of meditation, and topics on being mindful as boring and casual, the session by Ms Laxmi turned out to be quite a game-changer! They truly realized the subject of the talk as they actively participated in the interactive session and absorbed the nuggets of wisdom given to them. The take-away was very pragmatic, interesting and something which they vowed to implement in their lives forever- not just because they have been asked to, but because they realized the true importance of it and how it will help them all along in their lives ahead- the power of being mindful!

 

Some moments: