THE THINGS I LEARNED AS A NEWCOMER

By SHIPRA CHAUDHURY

 Mira Katyal was born in Africa and armed with an MBA degree from India, moved to Dubai after marriage. The family toyed with the idea of moving to Canada, but she describes her initial response as “lukewarm”.

“We visited Canada twice, but the cold weather, the difficulty in finding employment, and the lack of house-help were daunting.”

Thus, when they finally immigrated in 2007, Katyal came with the plan of staying for three years, getting her citizenship and then leaving. The kids could come back as adults.

“But they took to Canada like a beaver does to the snowy river,” she recalls with a laugh. “And a slow love affair with Canada began!”

Having worked in marketing and as a freelance writer, she found employment as a customer service rep in DirectBuy after completing a six- eight month Job Developer Bridge course. Her husband went through the typical immigrant teething process until he bought his current flooring business in 2011, and the family relocated to London, Ontario.

“My husband and twin daughters Karnikaa and Kenishaa settled in quickly enough, but I went through a personal turmoil. This was a period of reinventing myself. My interest in holistic medicine started in Dubai, and I had done several courses on yoga, past life regression, Ayurveda, Reiki, hypnosis, Vaastu, astrology, etc., and attended numerous retreats.”

During this period of uncertainty, she ventured deeper into the subjects and miraom.com came into existence.

Now an Ayurvedic lifestyle consultant, Reiki master and a holistic healer, Katyal explains holistic health in simple terms. “Ayurveda is a way of life to keep the body, mind and emotions in balance, with the aim of accelerating spiritual growth.”

According to her, most followers of Ayurveda look for physical relief from ailments and diseases. For beginners, two starting points make the most sense. Regaining digestive balance. And regulating sleep, ideally between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am, refreshing, unbroken, and of good quality. Lack of good sleep may lead to disturbances in the mind, emotions and the nervous system, says Katyal.

She used to conduct Reiki classes for friends and family. In 2014, she started a blog and when a friend and former Reiki student Elizabeth Pinard requested her to share her knowledge, Katyal rented a space in early 2020. Then COVID struck and she took her services online.

She started YouTubing through her channel Goddess of Healing, and podcasting at Zen Time with Goddess of Healing. She also did active outreach. 

“The most encouraging part of my practice is the results my clients experience on many levels – physical, mental, emotional and even open up to their spiritual side. These healing sciences, unlike modern medicine, require a lot more commitment than pill-popping. However, their promise is also far, far greater. I believe if anybody was to give their best effort and time to these combined Vedic practices even just for one year, it would be impossible not to emerge a changed person.

 “Yoga is well known in the West, but Ayurveda is a mystery. Ayurveda, yoga, Vaastu and Jyotish are considered sister sciences. Ayurveda provides relief from physical and body issues, yoga helps heal the mind and Vaastu and Jyotish (or astrology) provide karmic relief. But all four have the same objective: to provide relief from suffering, so that people can divert some of their attention to the spiritual side of life, and lift themselves towards a higher purpose.

“After having experienced many, many healing modalities from modern medicine to acupuncture, homeopathy and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy, Osteopathy and Chiropractic care, amongst others – I have narrowed my focus to Reiki and the Vedic sciences. Because they do not stop when relief is received, but journey much further, and take you to a state of being that you can never imagine. But only if you are a willing traveller!” she stresses.

Katyal recalls her early experiences in Canada with a chuckle.

“Coming from Dubai, where we took a lot of things for granted, the early days came as a bit of a rude awakening. The endless dish washing for one – because we Indians tend to cook a lot! Getting the kids to participate was an uphill battle. However, despite the loss of luxury, I gained the satisfaction of knowing that everything they eat is made from scratch and of good quality. But winter – I thought I would never get used to it. I remember my first winter, and there was a load of snow on our car. We did not know that a simple snow brush would get rid of it. We got boiling water from inside and tried to clear the front window. Later the same day when we saw an elderly lady use a brush to clear her car, we were really bemused by the sight!”

What she loves the most about Canada is its innocence and spirit. “I know Canada had a joint history with America, and disengaged from slavery. Canada has gained wisdom and tried to set its house right. I feel Canada instinctively swerves towards the higher values of tolerance, acceptance and humanitarianism. I found the compulsory volunteer hours required by every student one of the best practices in teaching virtue to young minds.

“And I have been able to vigorously explore spiritual knowledge in Canada. Even though a lot of options were available in Dubai, its glitter and temptations were distracting. Here, Canada’s serene ambience makes it possible to sink in deeply with Nature while on your spiritual journey. In fact, I feel life has been reset due to COVID and this has been a blessing in disguise.”

She tells those planning the move to Canada about all the pluses of moving to the country.

“You will have access to world-class free health and education, a beautiful home and abundant amenities. Come to this wonderful country to build an all-round character for your children and grandchildren, so that they can embrace this philosophy, even if you yourself cannot detach from the old patterns!”

• If you’d like to share the story of your arrival in Canada, please write to desinews@rogers.com or call 416-695-4357.