From the Charlotte Observer -Posted on Sun, Mar. 16, 2008

MEET RANJIT DEORA

Joy, health converge in his lessons on mindful yoga

Native of India focuses on the mental dimensions of the ancient practice

MICHELE WAYMAN
Special Correspondent

Matthews -- Ranjit Deora is a happy man.

He eats "happy" food. He sleeps well. Though 70, he sits comfortably cross-legged for hours on the floor of his Matthews home. His sentences, slow and deliberate, often end in a laugh.

"I am always in a joyful state of mind," he says. "Up and down doesn't affect me. That's what I want to share with people."

He shares it by teaching yoga.

His is not the physical yoga of mirrors, mats and downward-facing dogs. Instead, he focuses on the meditative benefits of the practice he first discovered as a young man in India.

"Yoga, the physical part of it, is more popular in America. I call it American yoga," he jokes.

While important, he says it is a small piece of the total "yog," the uniting of mind, body and spirit.

"You can have a beautiful, healthy body, but if the mind is not sound, the body is no good. And when we know the majority of problems come from stress, why are we not doing meditation?"

Ranjit, who doesn't use his last name, chooses from 112 different meditations depending on a student's needs. The goal is not to block out thoughts, but to let them flow naturally. The basic premise is the same: "Close your eyes and open your mind."

Ranjit's meditative life began as a youth in Udaipur, India. His first teacher was his mother, who prayed daily at home and believed spirituality leads to happiness. A snake bite at age 12 introduced him to Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old Indian practice of herbal medicine. His doctor prescribed an herb to rid him of the poison. Bored during return visits, he asked the doctor for work. By age 14, he had learned the basics of the practice.

His teaching career began in grade school, when he taught younger students math and English. In high school, he coached field hockey and loved debate. His affinity for public speaking led to a job promoting tourism in India that took him to Europe, Africa and the Orient. He was studying yoga during that time.

By the time his job took him to live New York City nearly 30 years ago, he was practicing and teaching meditation. He and his wife, Meera, were married there and lived near Central Park.

"It is a beautiful city," he said. "I never thought that I would have lived in America."

When their son, Uday, moved here to attend UNC Charlotte, they moved too.

Matthews also is a nice place to live, he says, but he finds that even though books on meditation are abundant and popular in the United States, few people in the Charlotte area are familiar with it. So he leads free community talks and visits with corporate and nonprofit groups. He also is affiliated with Carolinas Natural Health Center, a natural medical center in Matthews.

He holds one-on-one sessions in a meditation room in his home in Annecy. It contains only a few wall hangings, a line of colorful floor cushions and a leafy plant growing from a clear vase of water.

He stresses that meditation is not a replacement of religion or medical treatment, but can enhance both. It can relieve stress and help fight addiction.

He does not push vegetarianism, but encourages people to eat more "happy" foods -- easily digested fruits and vegetables -- and fewer "angry" red meats and "depressing" processed foods.

"I teach fashion models how to be beautiful onstage," he says. "I teach nurses how to be compassionate and cool in the surgery room. I teach moms how to deal with all the juggling of everything in life ...

"Also, I teach them, focus on yourself. By nature, we never pay attention to ourselves. We are seeking approvals from outside world all the time."

Paula Ferrell says meditation changed her life. Last year, the artist, wife and mother was in a midlife funk that kept her holed up in her home much of the time. She ran across Ranjit's card and reluctantly called for help.

"I was very skeptical. I thought `What is this? This is weird.' "

Once she adjusted to the deep breathing -- the "weirdest" aspect for her -- the key was finding courage and forgiveness within herself, she said. Now Ferrell, 44, says her fear is gone. She is painting again, volunteers at her sons' school and feels more self-aware. She no longer needs to see Ranjit, but meditates at home every day.

"He has a kind of power to reach something you need to find," she said. "He is a very gifted man."

Ranjit says he wants more people to find a similar happiness, with or without his help. Happier people mean a happier world.

"I don't want a multimillion-dollar business," Ranjit says. "I want to serve this community because I live in this beautiful community.

"America has given me a beautiful life."