Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Vivek Sanil: Hello and welcome to Awake with Awake, the space where we bridge the gap between the mystical and the practical to elevate your life. Today we are diving deep into the energies that shape our destiny, our careers and our daily mindset. We're decoding how ancient wisdom can solve the high stress problems of our modern day grind. And to help us unlock those cosmic secrets, we have a very special guest, Shraddha Sala. One of India's well known astrologers and spiritual mentors, Shraddha has built a strong reputation for her insights into astrology, numerology, tarot and holistic spiritual guidance. Through her work, she has helped individuals navigate personal and professional challenges while making these ancient practices more relevant to modern lifestyles.
Welcome, Shradha.
[00:00:58] Shradha Salla: Hi, Vivek. So lovely to meet you.
[00:01:00] Vivek Sanil: Lovely to see you as well.
[00:01:01] Shradha Salla: Thank you.
[00:01:02] Vivek Sanil: Of course. You are beautiful.
[00:01:03] Shradha Salla: Thank you.
[00:01:05] Vivek Sanil: But I think one thing that attracted me the moment I saw you is the emerald necklace.
[00:01:12] Shradha Salla: That's a nice compliment. Thank you. I love my emeralds. Yeah. And that's the reason I wore it. And also for me, I think green is a very powerful color. And it's a, it's green and emeralds is the stone for communication.
[00:01:26] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:01:27] Shradha Salla: Especially when I'm going for a podcast, I like to wear something in green so my communication skills come out well. And I had to match your vibe or the green concept?
[00:01:36] Vivek Sanil: Absolutely. It's a lovely, nice place and I have this.
[00:01:39] Shradha Salla: I mean, there's nothing I haven't seen something like this before. I really like it. Something very different. Cute niche place. Yeah.
[00:01:45] Vivek Sanil: Lovely. Shraddha, we would love to know from you, when was that moment when you truly fed awake for your true calling?
[00:01:53] Shradha Salla: So when I started, there was no real moment. I just started out of curiosity. I wanted to study, I wanted to learn, I wanted to know more. It could have been a combination of boredom, curiosity and things like that. But when I studied more, I realized that there is something in this science. It is helping people. People were coming back to me with the feedback of, listen, you told us this, we did it and it made a difference, you know, and two, three feedbacks were very, very strong. That's when I realized there's something deeper in this.
[00:02:24] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:02:24] Shradha Salla: And then I completely went into it.
[00:02:26] Vivek Sanil: Yeah. When you, when you started this, I mean, you know, was it more of an experiment basis? Let's see. Kya hoga or see, I'll be very honest with you.
[00:02:32] Shradha Salla: I had just had both my daughters Back to back, 2004 and 2006, 2007. I was bored. I was like, okay, I'm. I'm being a great mom. What do I do for myself?
So I called a numerology sir to my house, right? Because I had to be at home with them. I started to understand. I started to learn the subject. Caught complete fancy of me. I really, really enjoyed it. After that I did another course. Then I went into Tarot. Then I went to Dubastu. And then I never looked back. So maybe I started out of a combination of curiosity and boredom. But then I went completely deep into it. It never left me.
[00:03:08] Vivek Sanil: Superb. You know. And I think, you know, sometimes this is where that timing comes into place.
[00:03:13] Shradha Salla: Yes.
[00:03:14] Vivek Sanil: That you know, everything is great. But then when the time is not right, you. You end up suffering for many things.
So timing. How do you view it in one's life?
[00:03:24] Shradha Salla: So you know, timing is something which is.
To me, I believe time is the present moment, right? We don't know about yesterday. We don't know about tomorrow.
Right or wrong, whether it's good or bad, we can't say. But in the present moment, if you are intentionally doing the right things which are according to you, I believe it's going to manifest into a correct future ahead.
And hiccups come, speed breakers come. But to me time is being in the present moment. And the more you do that, the more you feel that you can sort and control things. So I don't believe in sai vak nahi chalra hai. I believe jobi work. We have to make it sai. And that's the power of manifestation. That's the power where all these sciences come in. Where we align everything together and clear our path.
[00:04:13] Vivek Sanil: You know, this brings me to my next question about manifestation.
What can you manifest and what you cannot manifest?
[00:04:21] Shradha Salla: The only limit is your own mind.
[00:04:23] Vivek Sanil: Really?
[00:04:24] Shradha Salla: Yeah. Your mind is limitless. I mean today when you go back and you see, I was reading something very nice that day. It said that when we all have so much knowledge, where did the first knowledge come from? Like right now, there's so much going on, right? From AI to this and that. But when that one person started without everything, how did he start it? Right? So he's obviously thought of an idea. He's conceived it. He's thought of it before him. That is a part of manifestation. Everything that we are doing in our life is connected to manifestation. So manifestation is connected to your thoughts. Your thoughts are connected to your mind. So I don't think there's any limit. It is limitless. There's nothing that you can't manifest. Yes. If you're going into. If you're using it for the wrong reasons and going into a negative zone, then wobi manifest outcome will be negative.
[00:05:15] Vivek Sanil: Oh, so that's a tricky part. That's the tricky part. What to tell your mind and where you want the mind.
[00:05:20] Shradha Salla: It's going to happen. It's going to happen.
[00:05:22] Vivek Sanil: But mind is not in our control. Sometimes there are thoughts which keep arising. Keep arising, and then.
[00:05:27] Shradha Salla: So you're absolutely right. But that's the reason we have meditation, to get our mind into our control. We want to disconnect sometimes. You know how you so beautifully just said, I don't know what's happening to me this shift, but I've got into meditation and, you know, spirituality and everything. Why are you doing that? To get your mind into control? You know, none of us can probably get 100% of it, but even if you get that little bit, it's a lot, you know. So the reason we do these practices, maybe somebody who's seeing your podcast would feel like, you know what? This makes me feel at peace, and this is what is teaching me to go on the part to get my mind into control.
[00:06:03] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:06:04] Shradha Salla: So you never know what the trigger is to do that.
[00:06:06] Vivek Sanil: Right. You know, there was a time when stress wasn't even considered to be anything which could actually, you know, hamper you.
[00:06:13] Shradha Salla: Yeah.
[00:06:13] Vivek Sanil: But now it has become such a big issue or a thing that everybody wants to diagnose and everybody wants solutions for it.
[00:06:21] Shradha Salla: So I completely agree with you. Just like childbirth. Childbirth is the most normal thing in the world. Right. Children are born and they have to be born. But right now there is so much more happening. At the time of our pardadis and nanis, I mean, you used to hear of eight, 10, 12 children, you know, and right now, while you're having one baby, it's become the biggest thing in the world. It's become the biggest business in the world, all of that. Similarly, I feel stress situation. We have to deal with it. Yeah, we have to deal with it no matter what. But in today's day and age, I think there is a positive and a negative to it. The positive would be that you're helping a lot of people. People are becoming more aware of what the issues are and stuff like that. The negative is sometimes it's overdone. Right. And when it's overdone, it can lead to.
Then there's a slope which goes down. Right. So you have to know even that level of what you can, how much you can use and how much you can abuse it.
[00:07:16] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:07:17] Shradha Salla: It's the right note that you should understand.
[00:07:19] Vivek Sanil: In fact, you know, when we talk about stress, you know, meditation is one thing you can do. You can, of course, go for a vacation, something that keeps you entertained. And I think there is a complexity in thinking that, you know, to get entertained means to watch TV or probably do some fun activity. But when you compare it with meditation, there is a whole lot of difference between these two activities. You know, stress to deal with stress, I think, which would be the right path to take.
[00:07:47] Shradha Salla: So a. I would say a balance of both.
[00:07:49] Vivek Sanil: Okay.
[00:07:50] Shradha Salla: Because it's very, very important if you want to. In Covid, there was a saying that I used to always say, if you can't go out, go within, you know, and understand yourself better. So definitely, when you go within and you manifest and you meditate and you do all of that, you're clearing up your dust from within and you're evolving. But then that's not something you can do 24 hours.
[00:08:12] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:08:12] Shradha Salla: What is also important is that if you meditated for that one hour, what are you doing for the rest? 23.
So, of course, watch your TV, go on social media, do whatever else you want, but try and make it a little more, you know, a little more substantial.
[00:08:27] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:08:27] Shradha Salla: A little more where it's nourishing you and feeding you.
[00:08:30] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:08:31] Shradha Salla: And then do the nonsense stuff also for half an hour, obviously, do that also, because that's the perfect balance. If you don't balance, then. And if you're only going to say, okay, I'm only going to meditate, then go sit in the Himalayas and do that. And then why are you even leading this. This life? Right.
[00:08:46] Vivek Sanil: Correct. Yeah.
[00:08:46] Shradha Salla: Balance of everything is very important.
[00:08:48] Vivek Sanil: Fantastic.
Yeah.
[00:08:50] Shradha Salla: Knowing what your soul wants is important.
[00:08:53] Vivek Sanil: That's the biggest question, I guess. Knowing your purpose or knowing what your soul wants and is it easy to find out, or is it something that needs a guidance, needs a. I think,
[00:09:04] Shradha Salla: and I don't want to sound very, you know, it. It can be very difficult for people who've not gotten into it. For me right now, at this stage, after working for 20 years, it is very easy. But I believe everybody is born with that gift and intuition, all of us. The only thing that happens is we have a layer of dust on it. The more we clean that dust by doing things, by attracting, by being aware, the more easier it becomes for you. It's as simple as that. You'll go, first day, you'll go to the gym, you'll try and pick up a heavy Weight, you're not going to be able to. 90 days later, you're going to be able to do the same thing. You know, you quit smoking. It's not going to happen immediately, but the more you stick onto it, it will happen. So meditation, meditation, your mind power, all of that is just like that. Just continue the process, Be steady, be consistent, and you will reach there.
[00:09:52] Vivek Sanil: And being consistent is the most difficult part as well.
[00:09:55] Shradha Salla: It is the most difficult part, but it is the only key to success.
Anything that you want to do, you have to be consistent in life, you need to have a discipline.
You need to wake up with a routine. You need to wake up with a purpose. Because if you're not doing that, then what is the difference between you and a animal who's in the jungle? You're just wandering, right? The reason you're given a human birth is because you can use this. And if you use this correctly, you can take it forward.
[00:10:20] Vivek Sanil: Right? You know, taking it forward. Of course. Every action that we do, it comes from the desires that we have.
[00:10:26] Shradha Salla: Yes.
[00:10:26] Vivek Sanil: From desires come action. From action come results. And sometimes those results are in our favor, sometimes they are not in our favor. How do we know that? You know, an action would probably give good results or an action would give bad results. Is there a way to.
[00:10:39] Shradha Salla: Absolutely there is. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, as we've heard.
I have divided this down to three things. One is your destiny, which we can't control.
Birth and death the day we are born and the day we're going to die. Second is your karma and accumulation of your past, present, and future karmic energies. Past we can't really control because it's done. But if you're aware of your present, of what I'm doing today, karmically, you'll have a good today, which will lead to a better tomorrow. And the third thing is your free will. Free will are the choices that you make and the steps that you take. You know, I've chosen to do this podcast. You've chosen to invite me. This can convert into something.
So on these steps that we take, we can align the path to where we are going. And according to this action, we will formulate a reaction and our steps ahead. So you need to be very aware of the choices that you're making, because that's the only thing that you have in your hand.
And then destiny and karma can take over. Which is.
Which is something we can't help.
[00:11:39] Vivek Sanil: And I think, you know, all of us are so busy in our daily lives, what happens is, of course, we get completely engulfed in things, our daily activities, that we hardly find time to pause and reflect. And of course, Covid was a good time to reflect, but it was a lot of difficulties for a lot of people as well, who couldn't.
So taking that pause, how important or necessary is it?
[00:12:05] Shradha Salla: So I understand we all are busy and we're doing so much.
It's not about taking a pause. It's about being conscious about what you're doing, even while you're busy.
So I can be busy doing something where I'm surrounded by negative people. And that is really not going to help me or negative energies. But in that same busyness, if I'm conscious about what I'm doing, who I'm meeting, who I'm interacting, who I'm giving my energy to, then you really don't need the pause. The pause is not required.
A true somebody who can truly meditate in his highest state can meditate anywhere. I can do it on a flight, you know, I can do it when there are so many people sitting and I'm just. I just disconnect and I just go into my own zone.
So saying that you want to take a pause is effort in itself.
[00:12:57] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:12:57] Shradha Salla: And the first rule of meditation is being effortless.
[00:13:00] Vivek Sanil: Nice.
[00:13:01] Shradha Salla: So you should be able to be like that, irrespective.
[00:13:04] Vivek Sanil: Probably It'll take me 100 years to reach the state that you are.
[00:13:07] Shradha Salla: I hope you live more than 100 years and you reach there. But why? It can take you just probably one day. The turning point can be tomorrow.
[00:13:13] Vivek Sanil: Oh, brilliant.
[00:13:15] Shradha Salla: So I can really disconnect my mind wherever I am. I could be in a nightclub and I could disconnect and I could just be, like, zoned out. So it doesn't take that long.
It just takes you to be aware. The minute you're aware, you're conscious of, you touch your subconscious state of mind, and you're in bliss.
[00:13:32] Vivek Sanil: And this is what you know when you're into spirituality, let's say you're meditating, you're doing yoga, and you're doing all these things to bring harmony into yourself. And then, as you mentioned, you're in a nightclub or you're in a place where there is a lot of noise and you disconnect it. So well. So there is this typical thing that, you know, we categorize people who are spiritual are not supposed to go to these places or not supposed to enjoy materialistic life.
How do you view that?
[00:13:58] Shradha Salla: So I don't agree to that again, because as I said I'm a firm believer in balance. It's extremely important.
I know what I'm doing, I know what my surroundings are, who the people around me are with. Right. Sometimes if for somebody I care, they have a birthday party or something is happening and it's my best friend or it's my children or their friends and I have to go out in the night, why not? I am going to go and enjoy but that doesn't take away from me and my personality.
[00:14:24] Vivek Sanil: Right.
[00:14:24] Shradha Salla: I can't. I'm not going to come back the next morning and wake up and be in that same zone. No, I'm going to disconnect and do what I have to do. And then when you meditate also you have to disconnect from that energy also and then get back into your normal life. You know, none of us are renouncing life nice. Right? None of us are saying that we are giving up all this and we are only doing that or we're giving up, we don't want to have to anything to do with spirituality and we only want to party. We all are saying the key to life is balanced and you have to choose your balance. It's like a seesaw. Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, sometimes you're in the middle. So you need to know how to balance that out.
[00:15:00] Vivek Sanil: You know Shweta, what you just said is very, very powerful. It's like you are attaching to the world but in a way you're detached as well.
[00:15:07] Shradha Salla: Absolutely.
[00:15:08] Vivek Sanil: And you have.
[00:15:09] Shradha Salla: And that is the highest state of nirvana. It's called being and being without.
You know, we are attached to everything but still you're disconnected and detached and that is where pure bliss comes from.
[00:15:22] Vivek Sanil: Beautiful in attaining pure bliss probably I'm going to have fights with my wife that you know, you seem attached but you don't seem to be attached.
I completely understand the family, how do you do that?
[00:15:35] Shradha Salla: So again, work and family life balance, work and personal life balance. Like I'm in Dubai today, my daughter's flying off to New York for her studies. She's with me, she goes off tonight, she knows what she's to do for the day. I'm here working nice, you know, so you have to know how to balance it out. Similarly I could have been like oh my God, she's going I need to do this, this, this a hundred things and driven myself crazy which would have kept me away from my work. Or I could have told her that no, no, no, this is very important. I have to spend an entire day working. I can't give you time. No, I've scheduled my day in such a way that I can do this. I have two, three more meetings and I go back and I blissfully be with her. So work, life balance is extremely important. You have to, A, know your priorities. This, this, this is what I want to do today. B, you need to, you know, kind of schedule your day. You need to know what you're doing when, like it was so amazing when I walked in here, you were all set, you already on time. You know, we are not wasting time, nothing. So I know, okay, great. This is going to be done in this much time. Vivek has his day ahead of me, I'm my day ahead of him. Everything is in schedule. You know, respect the other person's time, extremely important.
So if you understand these things in life, I think it's very easy to balance everything out as opposed to, okay, I'm going to take on a hundred things and I'm going to cancel this last minute or not do this or not respect someone's time, then you will go haywire, right? And then when you're at home with the wife, with the kids, with everybody, then give your 100% there because that itself is a form of meditation, you know, that itself is so lovely.
[00:17:07] Vivek Sanil: You know, you mentioned your kid as well. Now coming to kids as well, we as parents do get a little worried about their future. Or is there a way to probably find their path? What are they destined for? Or what are the paths that kids can take? Probably looking at their charts. As an astrologer, maybe so.
[00:17:23] Shradha Salla: I have two daughters, one's 21 and one's 19.
Of course I've seen their charts. I know each child's strength and weakness. Even though both are sisters, they both are completely apart. Like in the way they look, in their tastes, in the way they want to dress and the way they want to eat in everything.
But as parents, you will find very unique qualities that she is good at this and she is good at this. Right? So first you understand their qualities. Secondly, interfere as a parent, and especially me, who's into this line, of course I've seen their charts and I know their strengths, I know their weaknesses. I know one is a creative mind, one is a, you know, one would be very good in business, very smart, very street smart, very good with numbers.
Align them and show them the way forward to them, but never control their destiny.
When you said would, would you tell them what to do, what not to do? I would show them the Part that beta, this is what I have in front of you. And then let them choose, right? Like, my older daughter, in the middle of a very successful business, suddenly decided, I want to go to US and study. So I said, you've set this clothing business up. You're doing so well. Are you sure? She's like, no, I am sure. I want to go. I said, fine. My younger daughter was starting business and luxury, and then she's like, I want to get into cooking again. Are you sure? I saw. I said, okay, fine. This is aligned. She's gotten into it and she's doing so well. So you have to leave the last choice to them, because it's not. It's their life, right? It's their choice. They need to decide what they need to do. I am just a medium who can tell them what to do in a certain way, can't control their life.
[00:18:51] Vivek Sanil: You know, most of this entire podcast that we did so far, what I've noticed is, you know, it was more of a therapy kind of a thing and solution providing. And does this happen with you as well, whenever people come to you for astrological consultations or.
[00:19:04] Shradha Salla: It does.
[00:19:05] Vivek Sanil: It does tarot or anything? Absolutely. It's more of a therapy than actually providing.
[00:19:08] Shradha Salla: So, see, I'll tell you what. Today there are a lot of. Sorry to say, but commercial astrologers, commercial numerologists, who you're going to. And they're like, listen, just change your name and this is going to happen. It's not going to happen, right? If you're coming to me to change your name, for example, the reason you're coming is because you want to align something in your life, right? Because something is going wrong somewhere. Now, I first need to understand where the problem lies, right? I need to tell you that, okay, this is. This is the issue. These are the different ways we can change it or we can make it. Okay, before that, I need to listen to you and I need to understand from where is that stemming? Why is that coming so 100%? Whether you call it therapy or whether you call it taking a problem and turning into a solution, or whether you just call it giving a year to your client, which is so important.
Let me just hear you out.
Let me give you those 15 minutes for you to talk. And then maybe you don't need the name change.
Maybe you need something else.
[00:20:04] Vivek Sanil: Okay.
[00:20:04] Shradha Salla: You know, maybe. Maybe there's something wrong in your office and I need to change the Vastu or the energy. Maybe there's something.
Maybe you need a gemstone. Maybe you don't need anything. And I just needed to talk to you.
So 110%. Whether you call it therapy, whether you call it consulting, showing them the path, showing them light in whatever way possible, there is definitely a conversation that has to happen.
[00:20:26] Vivek Sanil: That's brilliant. Actually, Shraddha, how you are taking this knowledge further and, you know, providing a very holistic kind of a solution where if it's vastu, if it's astrology, whether it's numerology, but then every day, you know, people, when they look at their zodiac signs, they want to read and they want to find out what's going to happen.
Sometimes they get very happy, sometimes they're very anxious. Is there a correct way to read the zodiac sign?
[00:20:52] Shradha Salla: I think you know what, you need to take it like a pinch of salt just how you're reading. You're reading something in the newspaper, you're reading something. I mean, read it. But also that one zodiac sign is not specific only to you as a person, as an individual. It's to your entire zodiac.
So today, if you're saying somebody's career is going to boom and it's going to do really well, but in relationships, this is going to go down.
Maybe you in your path at that time. It's not that every Librin's career is going to boom and every Libran's career, love life is down. So you have to see which is resonating with you. Pick it up, use it as a tool for the day and don't go crazy about it. I think you need to take it at the lighter side of life. You need to also understand so many more things with it. If I say that your career is going to boom that one particular day and you just say, okay, I'm just not going to go to work today, it's not going to happen. Right. So we also have to see the practical side of it.
So it's great to read it, to get a little bit of knowledge, to get a little bit of boost in your day and then guide your day. And when you said the negative side to it, I don't usually think, especially me, I don't like to write negative things. Even if there's something I need to tell you, I will always show you the solution. Okay, so for example, if I tell you, listen, don't go out today, it's going to rain, I will tell you where to buy the umbrella from. You know, so you have a protection there.
[00:22:14] Vivek Sanil: Right? Right. Brilliant. You know, it was lovely having you, Shraddha, a couple of things. If you could help the audience, you know, build up their energy, build up their confidence.
Certain practices people can do to get a positive energy every day.
[00:22:29] Shradha Salla: So what I love doing and what I completely swear by is my daily routine.
Wake up in the morning on your bed itself. You don't need to find a special place or you know, go into a special zone or wear a special outfit. Just sit and first ask for gratitude. Because if you ask for gratitude, you're going to be more grateful about the things that God has already given you and you. And you're saying a thank you. When you say a thank you, he's going to give you things to be thankful about. Right? Then do like five, seven minutes of a deep breathing because our breath is the most underestimated thing in the world.
You know, we all are just breathing like normally, automatic, on autopilot, but the minute we consciously breathe, no, we are already reviving and opening up our chakras. And the minute we are doing that, you're already in a state of meditation and bliss.
The third thing I do is I always sit and manifest. My dear head, I put three things out in the universe that this, this, this is what I want to do and how I want my day to be planned. So one will be your short term, one will be a midterm and a long term goal which I do in the night before sleeping because your entire day has happened the again on my bed. I cut cords. I cut cords. With everything that has happened in the day, I could have encountered bad energy. I could have, you know, eaten a wrong meal. Something could have happened and might just stay with my energy. So I visually just close my eyes and I take an invisible knife and I cut all cords away from me. And then I do a bubbling technique where I bubble myself. I see myself in a nice gold bubble and I just say that only positive things are going to touch me in my bubble and I sleep like a baby.
[00:24:07] Vivek Sanil: Oh beautiful. Can we also do all of this?
[00:24:10] Shradha Salla: Of course you should. I put it on my insta all the time. And I believe this is a non negotiable technique. I call it the I love me ritual.
Because if you love yourself, you will be taking out time for yourself and doing these things for you.
So this is just for you. You need to wake up with gratitude. You need to breathe right, you need to manifest, carry on with your day, cut cords, bubble yourself and sleep.
[00:24:34] Vivek Sanil: Beautiful Shraddha, it was a very insightful discussion that we had today and I hope you enjoyed the conversation.
[00:24:41] Shradha Salla: I did Absolutely. You yourself have such a lovely energy and your face is all shiny and glowing. So I'm going to take skincare trips on you from you. But it was. Was really nice. Yeah.
[00:24:52] Vivek Sanil: Thank you, Shraddha.
[00:24:53] Shradha Salla: Thank you.
[00:24:53] Vivek Sanil: And we'll see you soon again. I hope you enjoy your trip here in Dubai.
[00:24:56] Shradha Salla: Yes, Dubai is always my favorite city to be with. In fact, everyone's right. Yeah.
[00:25:01] Vivek Sanil: I hope you enjoyed watching the podcast, and I'm sure there are great insights and values that you found today in our conversation. Do subscribe, do like, do share, do comment.
