The lecture series titled #PositivityUnlimited organised by Covid Response Team (CRT), Delhi, began on May 11 with the address of ISHA Yoga Centre Founder Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev. Initially, Lt. Gen. Gurmit Singh (retd.) spoke on the initiative of CRT and said that the lecture series aims to derive positivity and the ways to remain positive through the thoughts and ideas of renowned personalities. 

Founder of ISHA Yoga Centre Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev urged people to come together as one and work in order to defeat the pandemic. He said that we must also be ready to make changes to our lifestyles and take all measures to ensure that we are not infected. Following are the excerpts from his address:

The numbers are more of a guidance; it is time to shift to a place where more people have to be educated on how to handle Covid. Testing alone cannot contain Covid. We have to boost immunity and learn ways to handle it.

Panic, frustration, fear, anger will not hep us. It is not a time to grandstand against each other. We need to stand together as one, not just country but the whole world. It is the time to understand and help each other as it is a generational challenge. Rather than pointing fingers we must work together. 

On how to deal with anger, he said that it is a war-like situation. Now Covid is a invisible enemy but we must not end up bashing up each other. Irrespective of what we believe in we must pool our resources and handle the situation. India does not have the necessary infrastructure to manage all 1.4 billion people in terms of medical infrastructure.

When you are angry, in these conditions your immune system goes down and you become vulnerable. Do you want to be a problem or be a part of the solution? We have to ensure that we have to stay healthy and stay alive. More and more people should be healthy and that is the only solution. 

This is not a simple situation. Those who are healthy have to behave responsibly and respond in an intelligent manner and not just react. This is the time to show the kind of generation we are. 

We are accustomed to a lifestyle and are not ready to change it. We must change our lifestyle at this juncture to stay alive. By pointing fingers, we only become part of the problem and not a part of solution. 

Each of us must communicate what is best to avoid getting infected. We have to adhere to a practice mandated by the doctors. We are understaffed and we need more nurses and staff than doctors. Isha volunteers are supporting the medical staff. 

We have to take steps like drinking ‘kudineer’ (herbal concoction) to boost immunity and ensure that we don’t end up in hospital. Whatever the extent of work we are doing we must ensure that we do not come it touch with people.

When the battle starts, we should not start practicing arms. The battle has already started in terms of Covid. We must invest at least 30 minutes daily for our own health. Meditation, Isha Kriya are some of the things we can do. 

During war, we do not think of lifestyle but of staying alive. Do not think on lifestyle but think of life. We must think about livelihoods, providing food and not only Government but all of us and organisations should join together. We must be ready to change our lifestyle. We must be committed not to our lifestyle but to lives around us. We should be committed to keep people alive. 

Regarding mental balance, WHO has said a mental pandemic is coming. Many people are committing suicides. We need not look at western psychiatry as we have umpteen examples of keeping mind and body fit in Indian tradition. Inner well-being is of paramount importance and Indians should take the lead in this. 

We must demonstrate that we will come out successfully, stronger and better as humanity. This is the time to demonstrate the kind of human beings we are.