Meditation on the word मन्द (Mand)
When I connect it to real life, I see it as a way of moving that does not push, and a way of being that does not demand urgency from the body or the mind. The word itself says everything, if you pause long enough to listen to it and truly understand it.
And more than anything, it is a feeling. A feeling that arrives to me sometimes in the afternoon or the moment I step inside Raga Svara. Life shifts instantly. Just outside, there is the noise of the road, vehicles passing, engines humming. And then as soon as you enter, there is a soft pause. The sound changes. Birds replace engines. Leaves rustle instead of horns. You can still hear the noise of the outer world, the highway, but it no longer bothers you. It dissolves and merges with the sounds of nature, becoming unintrusive. It’s like crossing an invisible line where life gently agrees to slow down.
The shift happens on its own. No one asks you to walk slowly but your steps soften. No one instructs to be silent, still your voice lowers. The body naturally becomes quieter, slower, more aware. And it feels as if everything around you is breathing together, the trees, the air, the people, even the spaces in between.
The feeling of “Mand” lives in the spaces here. As I spent most of my time in the yoga hall, which offers room not just physically, but also internally. The space offers the feeling that “there is no rush to begin, no pressure to perform” and the nervous system is given permission to settle. My habit of wandering from places to gardens, to walking barefoot on the paths, or sitting on the benches, have often made me admit that every corner carries the same effect, like time does not chase you, and sitting feels complete in itself. These spaces do not demand efficiency, they offer presence.
What stays with me is how safe slowness feels here. There is no urgency to become anything else. No pressure to move faster, do more, or arrive somewhere. Just allowing the body and mind to simply be, without explanation, that’s Mand.
At Raga Svara Mand is not taught or explained. It is lived, or I must say realised, quietly, gently, and naturally. And once experienced, it becomes a way the body remembers how life can feel when it is allowed to move softly.
Written by Khushi S.
