"Dream is not what you see in sleep,
dream is something which doesn't let you sleep."
– Dr. Abdul Kalam, scientist & former President of India

In 2019 ...

It all started with a daydream ... the dream to grow BodyTalk in India. Our journey started with well-attended public talks and the first-ever BodyTalk Access class in India in March 2019. You can read the full story here. The class was held at the world-renowned, eco-friendly golf course, Karma Lakelands. Karma Lakelands is owned by Mr. Ashwani Khurana, a passionate and pioneering environmentalist and businessman, whose support we have been very fortunate to receive. As part of our trip, we planted three frangipani trees at the beautiful golf course as a symbol of growing BodyTalk in India.

Left to right back: Dr. Suresh Dagur, Pankaj Verma, Mrs.Diki Bhutia
Left to right front: Bhisham Chawla, Indu Aggarwal, Mr. Ashwani Khurana

Much as the trees--like any sentient being--need attention, love, care and communication in order to grow, we kept focused on our goal. The members of our little India matrix stayed in close contact and communication, with care and love, thanks to Indu Aggarwal, our dreamer and the heart of our project. Not only did we stay in touch, but we also reached out to John and Esther Veltheim, the IBA Office, and fellow members to support us in our project. We want to give a big thank you to both John and Esther for their guidance and support.

Our one and only BodyTalk Practitioner in India at the time, naturopathic doctor Suresh Dagur, stepped up to become an Access Trainer under the supervision of IBA Senior Instructor, Dr. Claudia Schembri- Heitmann. After the BodyTalk Access course, Suresh was joined in his enthusiasm for this work by two brilliant medical specialists, Dr. Makul Goyal in Delhi and Dr. Pankaj Verma in Jaipur. These young, vibrant integrative medicine doctors were so amazed by the power of Access that they could not wait to attend a BodyTalk Fundamentals course as soon as time and finances permitted. So, in September 2019, they flew to Nairobi to attend my next course.

Left to right: Suresh Dagur, Indu Aggarwal, Mankul Goyal, Homeira, and Pankaj Verma during a break from Fundamentals in Delhi in 2020.

In 2020 ...

India's first BodyTalk Fundamentals was held at Aurobindo Ashram in New Delhi in March 2020. After so many months of communicating, planning, and organizing between the United States, South Africa, Germany and India, we were able to realize the next part of the dream. Fundamentals had 20 participants, including our two monitors (repeat students) from Nairobi. Most of the attending students were medical health professionals. Additionally, throughout 2020, Suresh taught BodyTalk Access courses and continued to give public talks in different cities throughout India to keep the momentum up.

Right: Homeira shows "heart" at her BodyTalk Fundamentals class in Delhi.
Left: Her 20-student class was attended by many medical professionals.

Interestingly, in retrospect, we were ahead of the changing times. Although COVID-19 was not as ubiquitous as it is now, John Veltheim could not join us personally, so we started the course with his video message to India (pictured below).

Our monitors did their exams to become CBPs, and all of us are still in close communication, motivating the new students with online study groups, exam preparation courses, and biweekly group sessions. We encourage you to watch this space as BodyTalk is growing and will soon be thriving in India.

COVID-19 might have slowed us down, but it has not been able to stop us growing. We have Communication, Synchronization and Balance (the BodyTalk motto). Thanks to online communication platforms, we have been able to maintain our focus, motivating the group to practice despite strict social-distancing rules. I am happy to announce that we have another CBP who started her BodyTalk journey in Delhi and passed her exam to become a practitioner on October 8, 2020. Congratulations to Bhavna Wadhwa, our new BodyTalk Practitioner in Dubai, UAE.

In 2021 ...

We started 2021 with an online BodyTalk Fundamentals Integration course for students in India. We have planted the seed for another BodyTalk Fundamentals in spring of 2021 so that more people can become CBPs. It is our hope to grow even bigger and offer BodyTalk Fundamentals at two different locations: Delhi and Pune. In addition to the challenge of doing classes in-person, we face issues around reasonable course pricing for the members of this country. We are always looking for creative solutions like lower cost venues, sponsors, and support from the Instructor and greater alternative-health community. If you are interested in supporting the goal of growing BodyTalk in India, or if you know anyone who might see this as a worthy venture, we encourage you to get in touch and spread the word. We are confident that with our continued attention, focus, and care BodyTalk can grow and expand throughout India.

Dr. Mankul Goyal and Dr. Pankaj Verma, two of India's newest BodyTalk enthusiasts, join Homeira in Delhi to monitor (re-take) BodyTalk Fundamentals in 2020. We are so thrilled they have joined the BodyTalk community.