Insight into calm

A pragmatic approach to meditation

Meenal Kelkar spent 15 years in corporate finance, “leading the typical high-stress, poorsleep,
always-on-the-go, can’t-sit-still lifestyle,” she said.

Before she turned 40, Kelkar, now 42, watched as a series of immediate family members had
personal encounters with heart disease or cancer.

That, Kelkar said, “was the wake-up call that I needed.”

And that led to the creation two years ago of Kelkar’s Integrative InSight.

Now the Camarillo-based provider of meditation courses, private meditation coaching and private yoga therapy sessions is celebrating its second anniversary by opening a second location in Westlake Village.
“I had gained confidence that my style of teaching was effective and was seeking a way to share with a larger audience,” said Kelkar, who offers free and paid programs to clients ranging from 12 to in their 80s.

Based on the success of programs she has offered at the Camarillo Health Care District, Camarillo United Methodist Church and Camarillo Ranch House, Kelkar believes that her pragmatic approach to meditation will resonate with Conejo Valley residents.

During each 90-minute to two-hour session, “you effortlessly experience being in the now, a technique known as mindfulness meditation,” said Kelkar, who has undergone more than 1,000 hours of training.

Even clients who have a hard time sitting still “leave with the confidence that their minds can quiet down,” Kelkar said. “Once that confidence is there, then the techniques that I teach through courses and coaching become easy to absorb and use.”
 
 

From stressed to calm

Katrina Garcia, president of a Thousand Oaks-based virtual assistant service, said she is finally able to relax, thanks to Kelkar’s meditation techniques. “Meenal has literally taken my life from stressed to calm,” said Garcia, 44. “By simply utilizing the meditation techniques she taught me, I’ve been able to focus more clearly and now have the ability to handle stress both physically and mentally.”

“I know how difficult it can be to quiet an active mind and to incorporate meditation into a busy lifestyle,” Kelkar said, adding that she also recognizes that some people will be skeptical about her practice. Her current vocation came with her own share of skepticism at first.

“I mistakenly believed that meditation meant sitting in stillness, with absolutely no thoughts crossing through my mind,” she recalled. “Since I didn’t think that would ever happen for me, I shied away from it despite the increasing amount of research that shows how it can help with overall well-being.”

There are many ways to meditate and many reasons for meditating, she said. “Peace of mind, energy, to sleep better, to manage chronic pain, stress or anxiety, to think clearly, to tune in to a habit to be able to change it, to savor the moment all of these are extremely practical, usable things that can directly
improve the quality of daily life.”
 
 

Simply relax

Integrative InSight is unusual among yoga centers.

“Unlike the yoga most people are familiar with in the studios and gyms, yoga therapy is the therapeutic application of yoga using breath, awareness and yoga stretches to support or improve a client’s well-being,” Kelkar said.

Her methods also are unusual because she doesn’t teach yoga during a yoga therapy session. “Instead, I facilitate a process whereby the client simply relaxes and allows me to stretch them,” she said. Some people experience “self-healing” as relief from chronic physical pain, uninterrupted sleep and overall peace of mind, she said.

“While I value the physical relief that many feel after a yoga therapy session, I truly marvel at the calm, relaxed, refreshed peacefulness that I see on faces after a session,” she said. “It’s a sure indication that sometime during the session, their internal chatter quieted down, and their mind could just be present.”

Kelkar is available by appointment Monday through Thursday in Camarillo and Friday in Westlake Village, at 3625 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite B251. For information, call 805-624-6370.
 

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- By Alicia Doyle, Correspondent, published in the Ventura County Star on October 10, 2008