Bearable Lightness
Deepak Chopra is on a mission to bring healing to the world. Through his foundation’s Never Alone initiative, the spiritual leader has built a global alliance of people and organizations to raise mental health awareness. Collectively, they’ve started a universal dialogue and created a digital platform with curated content and easily accessible resources for people seeking support.
“If you talk about mental challenges and stress, that’s the No. 1 pandemic of our time,” says Chopra. “Not cancer, not addiction, not COVID-19. Of course, when you are depressed then you also have inflammation in the body, which makes you more likely to succumb to these illnesses.”
He notes that only 5% of disease-related gene mutations are fully penetrant, which is inherited. The rest is not derived solely from stress, but from lifestyle choices and all the things connected to stress, including addictive behaviors, sleep deprivation, emotional disturbances and a lack of relationships.
Leading by example, Chopra practices self-care by doing 2-3 hours of meditation and yoga in the morning and then simply “goes with the flow” throughout the rest of day.
“I don’t really get stressed,” he says. “I think it’s a waste of energy and a waste of resources and a waste of time.
“I used to get stressed and anybody who gets stressed, there’s only so many things you can do, including watch Candid Camera (for laughter), go to a nice movie, get some good sleep, a massage, music, imagination, visualization, mindfulness, a healthy diet.”
Chopra favors a diet with maximum diversity of organic plant-based foods. He explains that 80% serotonin in our body comes from the gut, so what you eat can change the genetic activity in your body within weeks, and that food can be used as medicine even for depression.
“I eat the seven colors of the rainbow and the six tastes of life that include all the vital chemicals, which mean chemicals derived from the energy of the sun like papaya, pomegranate and pineapple,” he shares. “The six tastes include sweets like dates, rice and dairy; sour includes kimchi, pickles and vinegar; salts like Himalayan and sea salt; pungent including spices, jalapeno, mustard, garlic and peppers; bitters like leafy green vegetables and astringents like green beans and pomegranates.
“I’m currently creating a longevity salad based on these ideas.”
Named one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century by Time magazine, Chopra is often described as the pioneer of alternative medicine and personal transformation. He’s worked with celebrities such as Oprah, Madonna and Michael Jackson, but his goal is to reach a critical mass of humanity for a more peaceful, just sustainable, healthier and joyful world. Part of this crusade is addressing the current mental health crisis.
“Right now, we know suicide is the second most common cause of death amongst teens and every 40 seconds somebody in the world is dying from suicide,” says Chopra. “Our emotional chatbot talks to people, helps them go over their depression, intervenes if there is suicide ideation and even refers people to counselors ...”
With support from Earth Fund, Never Alone has created a worldwide alliance and social network for mental health and well-being. Their goal is to share pragmatic practices and tools for stress relief and suffering, accelerate scientific research, work with policymakers, eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health, and ultimately assemble a global safety net for people to believe that they are not alone.
“Right now millions of people are actually conversing with our chatbot,” says Chopra, who co-founded Never Alone with actress Gabriella Wright and entrepreneur Poonacha Machaiah. “You can find the link directly at neveralone.love or choprafoundation.org where we are publishing also all of our research on how to prevent mental distress from minor sadness all the way to suicidal ideation.”
According to Chopra, to move from suffering to joy requires self-awareness. He encourages people to practice love in action by following these four intentions:
1) Attention – deep listening to each other
2) Appreciation – deep gratitude for each other
3) Affection – deep caring for each other
4) Acceptance – not trying to change each other, but accepting each other just as we are
“Joy is fundamental and the only way to find it is to return to innocence — full of wonder, curiosity, mystery, adventure, equanimity and love in action,” says Chopra.
Born in New Delhi, India, Chopra moved to the United States in 1970, and practiced as an endocrinologist in Massachusetts before moving to California, where he opened the Chopra Center. He also became Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of San Diego, and serves as senior scientist with Gallup Organization.
Today, home is “wherever he happens to be” which at the time of our interview was in New York (where he resides). But Chopra, a true hodophile, admits he lives like a gypsy by crisscrossing the globe. In just this past year, he’s been to Mexico, Surat, Dubai, Orlando, Miami, Austin, California, Canada, Hammamet in Tunisia, Stockholm, Minneapolis, Switzerland, Washington D.C. and Honolulu, where he spoke on The Future of Wellbeing at Hawaii Theatre last May.
“Traveling is my hobby, and I’m lucky because I get to travel for work as well,” says Chopra. “Wherever I go, I take some time off in the beginning and after my events to travel and look at the culture, to taste the food, see the environment, to smell the earth and walk by the ocean.
“My favorite place is always wherever I am traveling to, but I prefer locations like Hawai‘i, Patagonia, Goa, Bali and the islands of Japan where I can get in touch with nature’s beauty.”
An international bestselling author, Chopra has written more than 90 books translated into over 43 languages. He also continues to give motivational talks, conduct countless interviews, and has led numerous life-changing spiritual retreats around the world.
Coming up, a Chopra Retreat titled Seduction of Spirit is scheduled to take place at the Fairmont Orchid on Hawai‘i Island June 12-16. The event will surely be momentous as Chopra Global has announced that it will be ending its large destination retreats after 2023.
“I’ve been coming to Hawai‘i for at least 25 years — maybe every 2 years, sometimes 3 years go by, sometimes every year, it’s a regular place for me to go for seminars, I’ve done events for my friend ... I love Hawai‘i ...,” says Chopra. “My favorite thing is the fragrance. It smells like a bouquet of flowers. Once it rains, the fragrances get even more intoxicating. To be in Hawai‘i is to be intoxicated with the fragrance.”
From his work as a medical doctor to his teachings in integrative medicine, meditation and wellness, Chopra, 76, has dedicated his life to helping others. As for the best advice he’s ever received, he recalls the words told to him by his mother when he was five years old.
“She said, ‘Our life is a story. Every story has to be a love story and has a good ending.”