Shiv Mundkur is a holistic wellness coach. He works with the schedule of each individual to help them to better move towards their health goals. Working with an approach founded in mindfulness, Shiv takes into account the attitude, thoughts, emotional reactions, breathing patterns, posture, nutrition, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications. 

When I graduated from high school my parents asked me, "What do you want to do with your life?" and instead of saying honestly, "I have NO clue what I would like to do" I responded with, "I want to be a doctor" in the hope that I would eventually find a career in that line of work that I could grow to appreciate. When I graduated from college, I started working in medical research and I felt like there were already totally legitimate solutions to so many of the issues we were dumping an absurd amount of money into. Rather than teaching truly sustainable lifestyle choices, we would rather spend a lot of money finding and selling pills that allow for individuals to temporarily keep making irresponsible decisions regarding their health. I felt terrible following this path and eventually made the decision to leave that career path and start teaching mindfulness meditation as that impacted me on a deep level in my own life. That practice eventually evolved into the wellness coaching career I practice currently and keeps evolving over time. 

  

Being a wellness coach is about giving people the tools, skills, and knowledge to learn how to take better care of themselves. Most individuals are on medications from chronic conditions (i.e. type II diabetes, hypertension, asthma, hypercholesterolemia, leukemia, anxiety, etc.) and simply desire to not have to take those medications on a daily basis and learn how to move towards a healthier lifestyle. Some individuals are already in good health and are looking to find ways to improve their skills in a particular interest - yoga, martial arts, sports, etc. Still others are interested in hastening spiritual progress or balancing issues of chronic stress. The program as well as the method of communication and time commitment varies greatly based on the needs and goals of the individual. 

 

At one time in my life I felt like it would be more painful to pursue a passion as a career than it would be to pursue a job that I perceived as easier and more stable. Turns out, it was not as painful as I thought it would be and my life has improved on pretty much every front. Thankfully I have had the support of my family. My friends have changed a bit, however, those that are in my life are all those that care deeply for my well-being and I find more of this kind of person now everywhere I look. 

Learn to act on your highest excitement.  Learn to forgive yourself by learning to see the gift of knowledge revealed in every experience. Learn to forgive others by feeling the pain of others as if it is your own. Compassion is highly underrated. This is alchemy - real magic - and is now starting to become public knowledge thanks to this awesome thing called the internet which provides a cheap source of tons of knowledge. Educate yourself and learn from your own experiences rather than deriving your information from the belief systems of others, which generate hesitation and never really provide true confidence. Filter your thoughts through the attitudes of unconditional love, gratitude, and appreciation to take back control of your mind.

How supportive were you parents as you tried to move into this new area? 

My parents have always wanted what was best for me. Every time I changed my mind about what I wanted to do, they supported me. The main issue was that I, personally, had no idea what I wanted. In my opinion, it is because of the school system that we have created and the way we educate our children. We do not allow for them to be creative and explore freely what they are interested in. Instead, they must memorize and regurgitate information that is disconnected from their real lives with the assumption that some day the information will become useful. By the time we graduate from high school, and then graduate from college, we know very little about what we enjoy and nothing about what we want to create in the world. Hopefully one day we can create a more individualized way of educating children so that they do not have to sacrifice their passion and accumulate a massive amount of debt in order to begin integrating into society. 

 My first job was working at Barnes and Noble during high school as a bookseller. It was fun during the first week or so but once I got used to it I could not find any more ways to amuse myself and it became mind-numbingly boring. Of course, that's just me, I'm sure there are people whose love for selling books goes much deeper. I barely read at all growing up as a kid and still don't read as many books as many of my friends. I guess I prefer to get my knowledge in other ways. 

Start practicing health with yourself. It is a trial and error process that involves being increasingly more mindful over time about what works for you right now, what doesn't work for you right now, and why. Eventually working with family and friends happens naturally over time through conversations and sharing practice and knowledge. If you get to this point, where you truly enjoy digging deeper into holistic health, what that means to you, and how you can transfer this information to others, then this career path is likely something that is right for you. If not, no biggie, go do something else. 

Many clients that I have been working with are now completely off of all chronic medications and are making drastic progress towards balancing out conditions like type II diabetes, chronic lymphoid leukemia, high blood pressure, high cholesterol,  asthma, trouble urinating, chronic constipation, trouble sleeping, etc. Nothing beats feeling honest gratitude and appreciation from someone who has benefited from your work. 

Over the long term I hope to change the relationship of the public to the field of medicine. I would like for each individual to take responsibility for their own health, rather than passing off that responsibility to someone who is not in control of the progression of disease in another individual. There is only one person who is in control of my thoughts, words, actions, and emotional reactions: Me. I see this as a piece of the puzzle in building a sustainable society and am choosing to influence the field of health. There are many others influencing the field of health similarly, as well as many influencing other fields, such as the environment and education. Over time, I hope we can create a more responsible world so our children do not have to suffer in the exact same ways we did. 

I have integrated the two. I allow for myself to learn from my Indian heritage just as I learn from my American heritage. Regardless, the world is all joining, whether through conflict or peace it is happening. As wise man Russell Peters once said, in the near future we will all probably be some sexy shade of tan. 

 

They provided me with as many opportunities to explore my interests as they possibly could. They allowed me to dabble in so many "extra curricular" activities. In most I was awful, but in a few I really excelled and enjoyed that process thoroughly. Though I was never the best at anything I did, these experiences taught me a big lesson that no parent can directly teach their child: how to not be afraid of failure and persist. 

 

Who are you, really?? I have no idea...

Playing around with friends and by myself - making music, dancing, making new friends, etc. I also spend a lot of time trying and developing new health practices, meditating, and practicing yoga so that I can better do what I do. 

I listen to electronic dance music, classical, hip-hop, R&B and soul music for the most part depending on my mood. Also ambient music with audio entrainment for meditation purposes (holosync, lifeflow, brainev, and my own creations) on occasion. 

 

The key to helping those we care about is to help ourselves first. We must learn how to take responsibility for our own thoughts, words, and actions. In order to do so we must change the way we interact with our emotions. Rather than ignoring them, we must learn how to read them like a language - the language of pain. Society is headed down a dangerous path. If we continue to ignore what we know deep inside must be don and if we continue to just be a part of propagating a system that is not sustainable as it is then we will drive ourselves into the ground. We must learn how to be responsible and the key is to start with ourselves rather than trying to change everyone around us. 

  

Google Maps. Thanks to this gadget, I will have a terrible mental map of the world. At least until my phone dies. 

 

Learn to see the value in your Indian heritage as well as your American heritage. You are not your history - you are just empowered or disempowered by it and this is a conscious choice.