She Started Living After Retirement… Here’s What Changed After Joining CBH

Retirement is a total different phase of life. We have been— I, at least I worked for 37 years, but after retirement a void is created. You feel that an emptiness around you. What about my health? There are 4 dimensions of life which I think is health, wealth, relationships, career, spirituality. How's my relationship? I required some discipline in life. If I have to become a better person, if I have to give back to society, if I have to be an example.

So did you see any improvement in your energy levels or family relationships.

Like you can see, a turning point when I joined CBH, I realized that I must say, and flexibility, yes, and stamina, yes. After joining CBH, the advantage that I got was I started paying attention to my health and started giving more importance to small habits that I had not forgotten about. Relationships, I'm become calmer. I found that If it's having an impact on me, I was becoming a better human being and a better person. Diabetic reversal, and I can see the changes that are taking place. And somebody to tell you, this is the way how you can improve your lifestyle, this is the way you can bring about changes that are transformation physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

Retirement is often described as slowing down. Sheela Ma'am chose to speed up consciously. After 36 years of professional life, stepping into retirement could have felt uncertain, even quite. Health was not always the priority. Diabetes, weight gain, postponed self-care— life had been about responsibility first. Then came today's BreathFlow Mastery Workshop in June 2025, and something inside her said, "Now it's my turn." 4 kilos lighter, 25 Surya Namaskaras stronger, 10 km running continuously, and enough energy to play endlessly with her granddaughter. But the real shift was not on the weighing scale. It was on discipline, in reduced procrastination, in calm confidence. Today, retirement for her is not withdrawal. It is rebirth with purpose. Please join me in welcoming Shila. Namaste, namaste, Shila ji. Welcome to Conscious Breathing Podcast. Thank you so much for being here, and it's such an honor to invite you to our podcast. I have heard your journey before, like before the retreat, last time when you come, when you have come, and you mentioned about you recently retired, right? You recently retired. If you have to give a tagline for before and after, so what would you like to give the tagline?

Firstly, I would like to say thank you for inviting me to the podcast. The tagline I would say for retirement was, I'm not being going to be bossed from 9 to 5. And you say, when I joined CBH, the tagline would be, now I have 24 hours for self-love.

Wow, wow. So now you, you keep loving yourself and working on yourself. That means great, great. So what really inspired you to be part of this? Like, when did you join?

Sir, after I just retired, I have time, more time to go through. I was going through the YouTube and Insta, my messages, which normally I used to not do. And I came across your advertisement for the 2-day Breath Mastery Workshop. I took it and I said, yes, this is something so simple. Why not join it? And I joined as a Silver member. That was my first step that I took. And in the course of Silver membership, I just started with the basic LFC and the prana healing sessions. In the first 2 months itself, I found out that I had lost 4 kgs of weight. And breathing, I think we just take it as so normal. Because we know what to do when we are breathing in and out. And I did realize that there is so much of wrong breathing that I'm doing. I'm not doing the breathing in the proper method. I'm not trying to get the benefit of what breath can do to me. And I said, let me join it. And that was Silva. That was the time I joined Silva membership. And later, of course, I came for the Sadharmaraj Retreat, and that was a totally different experience for me where I connected with the large community, so many people, like-minded people. And I experienced through their storytelling, their journeys, their— what they have gained by being into the community. And that's how very shortly after that, actually it was much before that, I took the Diamond Membership. And now the journey is going on in each and every way. I'm trying whatever way I can devote, whatever time I get, I'm trying to use all that you have in you.

Program, sir. Got it, got it. So right now, um, like you are already part of the Diamond, you started working on yourself, and what changes did you observe? Like after, like you are going through different challenges, is it right now?

Retirement is a total different phase of life. We have been— I, at least I work for 37 years, and, uh, you are— there's a fixed schedule. We get up in the morning, you have to leave for office at a particular time, you are back only after a particular time, and that routine is there always. And you're in an active mode. Maybe you're prioritizing only work, but that is a way of life. But after retirement, a void is created. You feel that you are— an emptiness around you. And then the thing, then you feel a thing that I now— what about my health? I have time for my health. What about— then you start concentrating on family. How's family doing? How's my relationship? And I found that, yes, after joining CBH, the advantage that I got was I started paying attention to my health and started giving more importance to small habits that I had long forgotten about. It was like a normal thing, like drinking regular sufficient amount of water, good hours of sleep, mindful eating, movement, exercise, even whatever. At that time I realized, yes, I required some discipline in life, somebody to guide and somebody to tell you this is the way how you can improve your lifestyle, this is the way you can bring about changes and a transformation physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. That was the, like you can see, a turning point when I joined CBH. I realized that this was the platform was giving me, but I, well, I always think myself to be a spiritual person, but constantly when you have always guided us about so many things in depth, we had certain realizations came in, which is very life enriching.

Wow, wow! And you have also mentioned that you used to run for charities, like can you tell us like how your energy got improved now?

Yes, yes, actually you can see before COVID that was a part of my life, like running, I started very late, but once COVID came in, everything took a setback. Yes, you can say running, I had forgotten about it in that way. But then after joining, I saw that I had lost weight and I said I must come back to running ways. And, uh, I normally have done— I, I run a half marathon, 21K, but 10 kilometers I have done often, quite often. And recently I had done for one for, uh, organ donation and one for his anthalassemia. Which in fact we are part of that, uh, it's a Rotary event and I'm a part of the Rotary family. So we, uh, we are— that is one of the major projects. And of course we had, uh, Shri Satya Sai Baba's Pan India Project for— there were— we are running for unity. So that run also I had done very—

how many kilometers?

10 kilometers.

10 kilometers.

Yeah, I, I, I'm aspiring now. Let me see if I can do something better. I always look forward to doing something more, but 10 kilometers I can do it now also.

Okay, okay. So did you see any improvement in your energy levels or family relationships?

I must say, and flexibility, yes, and stamina, yes. I think recently when we had the Mahashivaratri program and you had started teaching us the Surya Namaskars, which was a I said, I'm not going to do chair variation, though it was an easier option for me. I said, I will take up the floor one. And though I might have not done it to perfection, but I attempted it and I realized I am doing at least about 20.

Wow!

There was a time when I used to do about 108. That was long, long ago. And now when I thought I could, I attempted out of 24, I did at least 20. Not very well, but fairly good. So I felt very proud of myself and that gave me an inner confidence that yes, I can still do things, I can still achieve. Relationships, I've become calmer. In fact, my family people, they have observed it and they said, no, no, definitely there is a change. I said, how this change comes about? I said, for you, you might not find experience. Even if I share you, I tell you, you have to breathe, you have to pause, you have to be, you know, sometimes calm yourself by just doing normal way. You will not understand it, but when you experience that inner peace that we get, that is the time when I realize, even when some situations are there at home, I'm able to handle them better.

Wow, wow, great. You also said that like playing with granddaughter, like it was priceless moment for Melek.

In fact, now when I was coming here for the retreat itself, She's there at home and not only, I should say everybody around, everybody says the mother, the grandmother has done so much. Really the way I can lift her up, I tell you, she's constantly, she's in the age of where she runs about. I can constantly lift her up, lift her up, I can run after her. It is such a satisfying feeling. And then that's when I realized, yes, now we are saying we are retired but Does health permit us? Do we have that thing? Yes, I feel so happy that yes, I can do it. So this, when people do observe and say yes, you have got it, I said thankfully, yes, I must thank some people for it. I'm in the community that is thinking about well-being and health, so it's showing it.

Yeah, absolutely. Like nowadays, Anger Generation itself, they are unable to manage the kids' energy, right? So they were like tired or anything in This age, like, you managing the kids and playing with them without any energy burst, like, that's very, very great improvement, I can say.

Yes, yes, and a satisfying one.

Satisfying, absolutely, playing with them. And how did Diamond impacted you, like, in health-wise also, as well as your mental health-wise or community-wise?

So Diamond itself, the program, when I look at it, I saw that it is not catering to just one aspect of life. There are 4 dimensions of life which I think is health, wealth, relationships, career, spirituality. So this, I found the program was in totality was not only about teaching us about conscious breathing, not only teaching us about yoga asanas, it was going into dwelling into other aspects of life also.

True.

Where we are thinking about relationships, where we are going to spiritually, there is a chanting club you have. So I found that it is having an impact on me as becoming a better human being and a better person. It is teaching me that I need to grow. At some point of time, I may have let go of things, but now I'm realizing the importance. If I have to become a better person, if I have to give back to society, if I have to be an example, so that is the thing I'm getting in the Diamond because it is a total program. And if now recently, I think we are— you have given us a program where we are having a reversal of a disease.

Diabetic.

Diabetic reversal. See, it is such a big thing. We have always thought of only popping in pills. That we think, and this is— we thought it is a lifetime, lifetime disease. Nothing can be done about it. But when we spoke that it is a reversal that can happen, and it is a change, it is more of a change in the lifestyle that will become with the reversal. So nothing better than that. And I am very grateful that I am following that program and I can see the changes that are taking place and I can feel the impact that is happening. It's too early in the stage to say because just 3 weeks down, but definitely it is having an impact on my health and my well-being.

How about the community, community members?

Oh, I— before I go to the community, we must always also say about the Guru. When you asked me what made you join this community, I first saw the Guru was so simple. He was simplicity personified. And I believe, it's my way of thinking, simple living and high thinking. This is what I have always believed in. And that is what I experienced actually, what drew me to this actually. And then when I met the community for the first time at the Swadharma retreat and then at the yoga institute, we realized we are like-minded people. And we realize that we are a community that wants each one to grow. It is not an individual that wants to think about his own perspective. Each one is thinking how we can be of a help to the other person, how we can share, how we can think, encourage somebody, how we can set an example. So that's the community which is not only helping us grow, but it is also taking— helping us take others and grow along.

Wow, awesome. Thank you, thank you so much. That's the power of community, right? So we all are like-minded. When like-minded people join together, um, that improvement what we get, or else like we can share our things and emotionally also we'll be happy as well as our growth will be very faster. When I was struggling in my like, like building community, I have joined with other like-minded people because I was an engineer and I have to do something different which what I have studied compared to what I have studied. And when I was surrounded with those like-minded people that pushed me, that uplifted my confidence also, and could able to achieve what I could able to achieve. That's why it's a community is a very, very powerful.

Yes, sir. And that's the way that can be seen by our growing community. Actually, we are every time we come, we meet so many new people, new experience. So that is the thing that it's an enriching experience for each one of us.

So after retirement, you said that CBH has influenced on your purpose. Can you talk about that? Now financial literacy, you want to say?

Yes, yes, yes. Actually, while— see, it's— it was— that's what I said. It is— it was— it had touched that other aspects also of life when you think about career. Career is not only that it was my life, working life. Now we are— I'm going into it at a— on my individual level, at a personal level. I'm practicing individually because I was in a mutual fund industry. So I still went into distribution and I'm going into that. I look with a purpose that one day I should be able to do a sufficient amount of AU where I can set up, do a proper setup. I can at least, if not one or two, at least a few employees I can have who I can show them the way that this is a way for a better living and a more purposeful living rather than— So I want to be that of that. And as you say, even at the social level, You know, we are into, like, because along with my husband we are into Rotary. So we went to many social projects also for the upliftment of people and causes also. So that way, that thing came in that when we realized, when I remember when you especially touched me was, you know, those weavers, you gave us that mat. Yeah, it was such a touching story when I felt I said, see, this is how when a guru is teaching us how people can be uplifted, it becomes our duty also to think about upliftment of a few members from the society who has given us so much. If we can do something, there is no better joy than that.

Yeah, now we are no more retired, you are still engaged in some other works.

And yeah, but that is, that is also, that is challenges, that is a challenge, and it gives Now I think being with CBH, it is giving me more meaningful— I'm leading a more meaningful life and a more enriching life. I'm trying to rediscover myself. There are things that I may have postponed. Procrastination was one of my traits, you can say. I'm putting that all aside and trying to move ahead, taking steps, small steps, and not looking for the result, but the results do show up.

True, absolutely. Because many people only associate yoga with physical exercise. Like, you might have attended some of the Wednesday Wisdom sessions and other things. So what is your understanding now? Because many people only think it's an— oh, it's a physical exercise, breathing technique.

Yeah, no, no, I always thought like this. I, in fact, I have not been able to attend many of the Wednesday Wisdom sessions because now actually I'm in a very little, uh, you can say, in a transition stage where my My children are at home actually. My son, they are migrating off to some other place, so they are there for a few months with us. So that I usually hear through pods only, but I like to hear it in a very calm way. So I'm not ready, but whatever classes I've attended, whatever classes, each of the classes that you have taken, sir, every day there was something new to learn. Whether you are teaching us about how to do the Jaleti, or whether you are teaching us how to breathe, or whether you're teaching us about the Karma Yogi, or all the types of— so it's like enriching. See, this knowledge you may get through books, but if you have somebody who's sharing it out from his heart because he has learnt it and now he's with the mission that I want to share this to people, so with that, the depth of the sharing becomes of a different level. And the receiver, whether he may not gain 100%, but even if he gains from that 60%, is enriched itself. So that has been my experience with listening to you.

Absolutely, absolutely. Thank you, thank you so much for sharing that. And what is the final message you would like to share to the viewers, whoever is watching this?

See, everybody has a mission in life, and, uh, you have to realize what is your mission in life, and you have to move towards it. It can be in all the aspects of life, it can be certain aspects of life, and always Look out for some guru or look out for some person who can take you ahead, who can take you, who can lead you. I'll show you the way to reach what you have to achieve. So, and you have to believe in the guru, you have to understand his processes and do how much you can, whatever knowledge you— sometimes things become overwhelming, everything you can't intake, but how much you can with sincerity, and sincere effort, definitely you will see results. And definitely, just like we are in the community now and we are reaping the benefits, same way you will also get the benefits and you also reap the fruit someday.

Yes, yes. Many people think it's too late to start and all these things, they keep postponing. What is your opinion on that?

Actually, see, everybody, you, the tendency is there. 'What is the need of this?' This is a common thing. 'Kyu karna hai? Kya hai?' It is a different— it's each one's perspective, how you look at it. But by my experience, the day comes, a day comes and something dawns on you, that calling comes. Yeah, this is the moment, this is the time. And I— so I will always say that we got things very late after retirement. We think that no, Because it is like that. I started very late, so I always feel that had I this experience much before, I would have been a different person. My level of thinking would have been different, my attitude to life would have been different, my achievements in life would have been different. But never regret anything because everything is planned out as it is. There is never an end moment. You can always— there is only a beginning. Start and you will reach the end.

Absolutely, absolutely. I agree with you. I agree with you 100%. And I think whoever is watching, it's never too late. Um, there is always to become the best version of ourselves and do whatever we wish to do in our life, but with the support of mentors, with the guidance and all. Now we have a special segment where we are going to learn a breathing practice. May I know one of the practice you wish to practice right now?

I'd love to do Bhastrika.

Bhastrika. Why?

I feel that, you know, that rapid breathing, it energizes. I think there's a pumping of the blood through right to the top of the head, and so that energizes.

You feel energized when you do that. So that's the benefit of actually like Bhastrika. Like whenever we want to energize ourselves, we have to practice Bhastrika Pranayama. So let's do that and sit comfortably. Roll your shoulders back, keep your spine erect. And make a fist with your both the hands and keep your fist next to your chest. Inhale and stretch your both hands above your head and open your palms. And while exhaling, bring your hands towards your chest and make a fist. And do a rapid inhalation, rapid exhalation. Inhale actively, exhale actively. Inhale forcefully, exhale. Breathe in, breathe out. Last time. And relax. Observe the changes. Keep your eyes closed. Slowly and gently open your eyes. So one of the powerful breathing practice, you can do it in the morning times. This is a practice mainly for the mornings, early mornings, with empty stomach, and do it every day consistently. If you have BP, high BP, or if you are having any problems like acidity or hypertension, or any gut-related issues, or if you are a pregnant woman, do not practice this. Avoid this practice. It's because this increases the heart rate, that is the reason we don't recommend this. Or if you want to do it, you can do it slowly. Okay, rest all can do it and do it every day so that you will see the excellent benefits. And thank you, thank you so much, Sheela ji. Like, it's super, super inspiring, and I think audience will find super value out of this. And I'm really glad that you are able to continue and you are able to implement all the things based on your own, like, based on your own timings as well as based on your own schedules. Looking forward to see you continuing in this journey in our community. Thank you. Namaste.

Thank you. Thank you so much. And I wish, and I wish, and I will— I want everybody to look into Sir's vision that he wants to see a healthy India used to say a healthy world. We bless you for that, sir, and always looking for your guidance.

Thank you. You have just watched another powerful episode of Conscious Breathing Podcast. Thank you so much for staying with us till the very end. It truly means a lot. If you haven't subscribed yet, don't miss out. Your journey towards a healthier, medicine-free life and more conscious life can begin today. And if you are ready to go deeper Register for my upcoming workshop. The link is in the description. I would love to see you there. That's it for today. I am Badarinath Gella, founder of Conscious Breathing Hub, and I will see you soon in my upcoming workshop.