Rejuvenated by arangetram

Juggling different roles in life is a feat not many are adept at. But Shikha Sharma, founder of NutriHealth has mastered that art. A writer, doctor, dancer and entrepreneur, she has a lot on her plate and believes it is important to find one’s own path based on individual nature.

After completing her graduation from Maulana Azad Medical College, Shikha wanted to work in preventive healthcare. “I faced a lot of challenges when I started as there were not a lot of people working on preventive healthcare. I started on my own, and it evolved into a business. There was a point when I had eight clinics of my own. At that point, I realised that I wanted to expand my business,” she shares.

Shikha then took on funding from a venture capitalist. It came along with a lot of mental pressure. “Doing business in India is very difficult. I am a trained doctor not a financial analyst or a lawyer. But as a part of my growing company, all these were a part of my work. Due to this, I was feeling stressed and tired all the time. I started looking at solutions on how to de-stress. So I tried meditation, yoga and a lot of other exercises, but couldn’t do it more than three months,” explains Shikha.

One day while researching about methods to de-stress, she stumbled upon ‘Natya-Yog’ and at the age of 45, she started her pursuit for this graceful dance form. “My interest grew as I saw that this is a combination of exercise, meditation and dance. So I signed up with a Bharatanatyam guru. When I started, it was a very average practice. Even though the practice was only twice a week, I started noticing changes in my body. I felt very energised and active. I was also feeling very positive and my memory also improved. The same set of problems that would bother me earlier, had stopped bothering me now,” she adds.

This is how she was motivated to look after her own health. “I started reflecting on how Bharatanatyam has elements of acupressure as well. This dance is also a prayer in motion. I realised that these connections need to be made and that is why I decided to write about it,” explains Shikha.

She has recently written a booklet, Arangetram, on the scientific effects of Bharatanatyam on human health. “It is a 360 degree stress management technique. For my Arangetram, I started planning a bit more, and practised a lot in the past two months. I took extra classes as well,” she shares.

One does not have to go an extra mile to achieve this, as she believes that the discipline comes very naturally. “Apart from Bharatanatyam, playing the tabla could also be a great way to distress. In fact, there has been a great deal of research on how percussion instruments help people distress. When you are dancing or playing an instrument, you need to have all your concentration on it. Which is why you tend to forget other aspects of life and that is what de-stressing is all about,” she explains.