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About Ankur
I have made the transformation from being a Bank Manager to a Spiritual Coach, a journey which has taken me seven years to complete. After leaving banking, several years of travelling opened my mind, before I encountered spirituality whilst in India, and embarked on an inner journey of self discovery.
I quickly became aware that this new path led to a new life, free of the constraints and conditioning I had previously believed to be myself. This realisation changed my whole perspective, and allowed me to be free from much of the pain of everyday life and connect with the Joy, Peace, Love and Fulfilment that is my true inner self.
Now I use my knowledge, skills and experience of that path to help others move their lives forward towards their true selves and their individual true goals. From my own spiritual development (mainly in India) and study (in both UK and India), I have developed my own unique models and methods of Spiritual and Awareness Coaching based on my experiences and the following proven techniques (in all of which I am qualified):
- Life Coaching - The Coaching Academy (UK)
- Awareness/Enlightenment Intensive Facilitation (the quest to directly experience your true self) - Osho Multiversity (India)
- NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) - American Board of NLP (UK)
- Time Line Therapy - Time Line Therapy Association (UK)
I have discovered the beauty of what lies deep inside and how to get the life I want, and now I can help you towards that too!
I have expanded my work and in addition to Spiritual Life Change Coaching I teach courses to enable Life Change and Transformation via connecting with Your True Self, and Osho Active Meditation CoursesTM at the London College of Spirituality in Holborn, London, UK. In relation to my work I have been interviewed for local radio and also been asked to appear on TV.
My Spiritual Influences include Osho, Eckhart Tolle and Zen.
A Brief Summary of My Spiritual Journey
I was a spectator, not only of the spectacular crescendo of explosions that enlightened the Thames in the first minutes of the 21st century, but I was a spectator in my life too. Just watching it bounce along in no particular direction. Of course I did have direction, but it was from work and others. My life was being directed by others; I was just fitting in, to their show. What was I getting out of my life? Where was I going?
I was a bank manager. A hard-working, focussed, stressed and thoroughly pissed-off bank manager. I had a ‘good’ job and I played hard too, but I was (very) slow in realising that I didn’t have a Life. I was merely a distant and powerless observer of my existence, as it slid aimlessly down a slippery slope. I was devoid of feeling, unknown to joy, and had never been truly ‘in love’. And I was a complete stranger to the values of peace and fulfilment. Plus I was lost in the maze that is the corporate jungle…
And then it all changed.
Within months I had a choice to make. Move to another role with the bank or take a redundancy. I thought, I analysed (‘cos that’s what I did best), I thought again, and from somewhere I found uncertain courage to take the money and run. And run I did. Well actually I stumbled a bit at first. But once in my stride I ran and ran and ran. For six years, through over 50 countries and across six continents (Antarctica still eludes me).
Along the way I ended up in India and thought that I would take in an ‘ashram’ for a week just because… well, to see what it was like and to try something different (I had never meditated before). And luckily I found a fellow traveller to drag me along to one (which turned out to be the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune), although not without a stack of reservations on my part... about... everything.
So what was it like? Like getting up at 5.30am to do a one-hour very active meditation, then a shower, then a one-hour very silent meditation, and that was all before breakfast. And then meditate some more during the morning, more in the afternoon and some more in the evening. And they were the easy bits! I struggled with the numerous petty rules – you must wear a robe, and it must be this colour during the day… and this colour in the evening (more stuff to buy)… and only this colour trunks in the swimming pool… and use this payment card in the day but only this one in the evening and… AAAAAAARGGG! Plus it was very expensive by Indian standards and I was a backpacker on a budget. Now suddenly submerged and lost in a bewildering world, rules stalked me - openly, money flowed worryingly quickly from ATM to ashram, and the only thing I was ‘Being’, was totally confused. For five long days I fought and struggled bravely with these multi-headed monsters. And then tragedy! I was shocked to learn that my mind, which I had considered to be my ultra reliable and dependable sidekick ‘til then, was actually the sworn enemy of meditation and even that it wasn’t me at all! By now my world was gyrating uncertainly.
Sure, there was value in the meditations, and some of the multitude of multi-day courses looked good if I could only understand what they were all about, but they were sooooo expensive… and anyway, I was only there a week, so no time for that. But it was playing on my mind – if indeed it was my mind? Confusion reigned.
I was just about to book my tickets for ‘elsewhere’ when my resistance suddenly ceased! It was the calm after the storm. OK so maybe the clothes weren’t totally ridiculous and everyone else wore them, and besides I had bought them now. And comparing the ashram prices to those in UK made it a little easier to swallow. In these terms, maybe it wasn’t sooo bad. But that lead to a new dis-ease around there being nothing now to stop me carrying on and ‘doing stuff’ here. The meditating felt good, and I somehow felt a desperate need to do these courses. And I realised I needed some help, so ‘I’ could look at ‘me’ - was this a ridiculous concept? Could I really broaden my vision and shed the narrow view I had held all my life? And for the first time ever, could I challenge myself, challenge what I thought, connect with my feelings, have emotions, feel true love and discover who I really was? Now I was getting scared!
And that is when my journey really began.
I stayed a month, I had to move on because my visa was running out, but the seed had been sewn and I had taken a new name, Ankur (meaning 'new growth'). I had only scratched the surface, but at least I now knew where to dig. And just 12 months later I was back, this time for four months. Many hours of meditation, numerous courses, much pain and self-discovery later I emerged a very different person: with emotion, with a heart, with an awareness of true self and a new level of self-esteem. I experienced the qualities of joy, peace and total fulfilment that are my true self and can just feel how incredible it is to be in that space. I was not complete though, these were just the first few steps, but I had found a path….
And as well as going back to that ashram, further steps on my journey have included studying NLP, Life Coaching and Enlightenment Intensive work which I now combine with my experience for my new roles in life, as a Spiritual Life Change Coach and Meditation Teacher – my path it seems, is also to help others discover themselves.
So am I still a spectator of my life? Yes, I certainly am. But I am no longer looking from afar. I am looking from the inside, at the inside, aware of who I am and how I feel in every moment (well… most of them); and I realise that I am responsible for my own feelings and behaviour and I have real choices about my future. I am finally scripting my own show.
Now with new Openness and Awareness, I constantly seek the courage to Allow and Accept whatever is there. Just trying to be connected with myself and be real in every moment is an enormous challenge, which I relish simply because I can feel the benefits in every moment. I create my own reality – and my intention is always to do that from the blissful space of my True Self.
For more information about my inner and outer journey see Ankur’s Personal Blog - Travel and Transformation
Ankur’s Courses
Osho Active Meditation CourseTM - at London College of Spirituality
Release Your Inner Magic - at London College of Spirituality
Best Wishes,
Ankur
Contact Ankur
I am currently based in Wanstead, London E11, England, UK and can be contacted via the following:
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