TIME magazine listed him as "one of the 100 heroes and icons of our time." And, although this grandiloquent title may sound a tad disproportionate, it does not fall short. Before the Coronavirus pandemic led to the brutal 'boom' of 'wellness', it was already estimated that Deepak Chopra managed an empire of 80 million dollars, as he himself confessed in an interview on 'ABC News' in 2015, and that his precious network of contacts was valued at about 150 million dollars.

Maximum reference of integrative medicine, high 'priest' of mindfulness and one of the most influential personalities on this planet, Chopra is part of that exclusive and powerful circle that also includes Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the digital newspaper 'The Huffington Post' who left her position as editor-in-chief of the publication to dedicate herself body and soul to the more than flourishing (and necessary) wellness industry.

Among his millions of followers scattered around the world, the names of celebrities as media as Harry and Meghan stand out, with whom he shared podcasts and to whom, after perceiving that they were "going through a difficult time", he advised 'turning a deaf ear' to the criticism that intensified them in the previous coronation of Carlos III: "My advice is to ignore everything, because reacting will only make the situation worse. If you ignore, people can't say anything else and then they will give up," he told The Daily Mail at the time.

Close friend of the famous presenter Oprah Winfred and author of a hundred 'best sellers', they say that Demi Moore, after coming out of the bottomless pit in which she had fallen after her resounding break with Ashton Kutcher, came to him in search of relief from her pain.

Also that he was one of the closest people to Michael Jackson during his last years of life and that, as Chopra himself confessed in his day, he refused to supply him with the medicines that the singer demanded when he suspected that he consumed 'illegal substances'.

His 'arrival' does not understand 'generational gaps' and, in his eagerness to spread the good news of mindfulness throughout the world, J Balvin partnered to launch 'Renew', a free meditation program, available in Spanish and English.

Wherever he goes, this spiritual leader with a penetrating look and youthful appearance – at 76 years old he retains the physique and mobility of a 20-year-old boy thanks to yoga – awakens that fan phenomenon so rock star. Good proof of the absolute fervor with which his faithful dedicate themselves to his teachings was the multitudinous conference he gave recently, dressed in his unmistakable red slippers, in the Auditorium of Palma de Mallorca, promoted by Mariana Salinas -founder of Sadhana Works and main architect of an ambitious project that aspires to turn the island of Mallorca into the "lighthouse of Mediterranean well-being"- attended by more than 1,700 people who paid for their tickets 55, 75 or and 150 euros (this last option included access to Meet & Greet).

But who is he and, more importantly, what does Deepak Chopra promulgate for people to worship him as an earthly Messiah?

Born in New Delhi in 1947 and settled in the United States since the early 70s, the man who preaches a 'collective awakening' from which, everything seems to indicate, we are quite far away, embodies like no one else that American dream so longed for by many.

The young Chopra followed in the footsteps of his father, a specialist in cardiology, and studied medicine in the United States, However, after meeting the famous yogi Maharishi Mahesh -founder of the transcendental meditation movement- he left his job as an endocrinologist and internist in a Boston hospital to devote himself to integrative medicine, which advocates contemplating the patient in all his complexity as an individual being, including what happens to your body, mind, and spirit.

Founder of Chopra Global, his slogans are as inspiring as they are complicated to put into practice in a society as crazed as ours, obsessed with yesterday and anguished by tomorrow. "The past is gone, the future is not here, now I am free of both. Right now, I choose joy," he says.

And that, how do you do it when the fact is that emotional restlessness seems to be, more and more, the order of the day? "Sure enough, there is a pandemic of sadness. Or, rather, a pandemic of depression. To find the origin we should remember that What we call will go is the memory of the drama. What we call hostility is the desire for revenge. What we call anxiety is the description of drama. All our current dramas come to us from the past. Drama is an intergenerational affair. What we are experiencing right now is nothing more than the drama of our ancestors," Chopra replies.

There is no doubt that everything he preaches is inspiring and very comforting, but how do all the tools he proposes to achieve serenity fit into the chaos of our daily lives, with our worries about making ends meet, with the give and take with our teenagers and our worries about our sentimental breakups? "Someone who asks me that question needs more than anyone else to try to put them into practice. Simply by asking that question, it shows how much they are needed. I know many young people who are running companies that invoice astronomical amounts of money. They tell me what they earn, the benefits they get, the projects they have... However, the only way out no one thinks about is death. How can you want to die? Peacefully or immersed in drama? Whoever says he doesn't have five minutes to devote to himself, needs 10. If you don't have time to meditate once a day, you should do it twice. The more you say you don't have time, the more time you would need to take out. I am 76 years old and, in the last four decades, I have never skipped one of my daily meditation and yoga sessions. I work and I'm healthy. I feel at peace, and if I can, why can't anyone else be at peace? We say that the 'fault' lies with the world. But the world is the projection of ourselves. Be the person you want to be. The first step to changing the world is to become the person we want to be."

We are 'addicted' to abundance, money, emotions, etc. We complain of anxiety, but we don't get off the 'roller coaster' we've turned our lives into. "Addiction is never getting enough of what you don't really need. At first, it is very pleasant, but, with the passage of time, this pleasure exhausts us and, then, we become addicted to the memory of what it made us feel. In this scenario, social networks only reinforce the idea that we always need something to be happy: if you already have a car, you need a Ferrari; and then a ship or a plane. It never ends. There's a beautiful Bob Marley song that says, 'Some people are so poor all they have is money.' It is clear that money is an important component, but it should not be the engine of life."

How can we achieve that long-awaited happiness? "The formula for happiness, according to social scientists, is based on three things: 50% depends on attitude, whether, every day, you see the world as a problem or as an opportunity; 10%, of the money. If you start earning a lot, the first six months you will be very happy, but, after a year, you will feel like you are at the starting point again. And, at five years, it will make you feel miserable because you will have to deal with tax problems, tax residencies, stock market quotes ... And the remaining 40% depends on the decisions you make. Each day, you can make two main types of decisions. Some will be for pleasure (alcohol, shopping, sex, drugs). But if you're looking for real happiness, you'll need to have a meaningful life purpose and the ability to make other people happy."

To what extent are we slaves to the approval of others? "I think each of us should be able to create our own social network because, as all this is planned right now, the only thing it does is generate anxiety. I am convinced that social networks must evolve and they will. Artists, story tellers, poets, educators... All will create a new scenario to empower people to enhance their creativity, their ability to love and connect with their interior... And, once people feel powerful, they no longer care who likes them or who doesn't."

What do we do when we lose the illusion, when it costs us to get up in the morning? "Everyone should wake up, every morning, with enthusiasm. Etymologically, the word enthusiasm means to be in contact with God. Like inspiration, being in touch with the spirit. I don't like to talk about motivation. It's not the right word, because it's a mental thing. Instead, enthusiasm and inspiration come when you touch the soul."

In search of that healthy longevity to which we all aspire, Chopra announces the launch of two major projects of his Foundation together with Sadhana Works in Mallorca. "'The Longevity Experience' will delve into the science behind epigenetics and the House of Epigenetics, to which all people who want to live the experience are invited."

And, while that becomes a reality, he gives us his recipe for enjoying a long and healthy life: "There is only one key to achieving it: not having stress. Flow!"


  • Mental health
  • Psychology
  • HBPR

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