From battling health issues to reclaiming her power with daily mindfulness rituals, Bhavana Ravindran tells us about starting her online community during Covid-19.
We love entrepreneurs and small business owners at Honeycombers, which is why we’ve created Launchpad, a comprehensive digital networking platform (with IRL benefits, too) that encourages connection, business support and community. It’s a privilege and pleasure to learn from so many talented and inspiring folks, so we’ve decided to share the love by interviewing some of the lovely Launchpad members. Looking for inspiration? Check out how Bhavana Ravindran, the founder of Dína Rituals, gets it done like a boss.
Tell us the story behind your business.
Dína means day in Sanskrit and Dína Rituals is derived from “Dina-Charya”, an ideal daily routine to connect us to our circadian rhythm according to Ayurveda. A day is simply a microcosm of our lives in miniature mode. We become what we do daily, and the journey to transform our lives starts with incremental step changes for a better day.
Dína Rituals was started from my personal journey of living symptom-free post diagnosis with a chronic auto-immune condition a few years ago. Even as my medical bills grew to a quantum of over $100,000 within a year, my symptoms and my reliance on monthly IV infusions continued. I eventually came to a realisation that the strong medications were compromising my immune system and my ability to live a normal life.
This set me down a path of self-healing, and exploring alternative modalities to naturally strengthen the body’s immune system. I discovered the healing power of a more disciplined approach to nutrition, sleep, movement, sleep, and stress regulation, and most importantly, integrating these into my day through daily mindfulness routines.
As I started seeing the benefits in my body, I saw similar patterns of stress-led, reactive survival mode living around me – and a growing prevalence of chronic conditions and symptoms in the community. I saw an opportunity to help more people live healthier lives by sharing daily mindfulness systems and tools. I started my first online business during Covid-19, as a means of making mindfulness accessible for everyone in their daily practices. My mission is to bring positive change via mindfulness systems to at least 1% of Singapore’s population this year.
What are some milestones or achievements you’re most proud of?
What started out as a small outdoor mindfulness community in Singapore during Covid-19 has since grown into an online community serving over 3,500 souls globally. As I’ll devote more time and focus to growing this practice in 2024, we are working with some of the leading MNCs to develop mindfulness systems for corporate employees to live more intentionally and maximise productivity levels.
We are also piloting a mindfulness curriculum for educational institutes and NGOs to improve the quality of education with accessible mindfulness tools for underprivileged children.
Share with us a setback that taught you a valuable lesson about running a business.
Life is cyclical. I believe that for every closed door, there are multiple new doors that open up. Rejection is often a redirection for us to get closer to a path more aligned to our calling. Whenever I’ve had to fight too hard or struggle to get something, I realise the struggle came from me chasing something that’s not aligned with my core values and trying to force fit things to look good optically. Once we start following our values and grace, things begin to flow with more ease. While discipline is good for success, struggle is just an indicator of misalignment.
Describe a typical day in your life and what you love most about it.
My favourite part of the day is early morning – or the golden hours. This is my one-to-one time where I spend time on creation and minimise all external communications or distractions if I can help it. I have a simple morning routine of waking up to affirmations, meditation and breathwork.
Once I’m ready for the day, I like to sit outside in the morning sunlight writing or working on my most high impact tasks. I find that three to four hours of focused work in the morning is better than nine hours of distracted work during the day.
What’s your favourite book, movie, or TV show that has influenced your entrepreneurial mindset?
For books, there are so many. Some of my favourite authors include Marcus Aurelius, Dan Pink, Nir Eyal, James Clear, Louis Hay, Tim Ferris, and Victor Frankl. I’ve started a new book by Roxie Nafousi that I picked up on the way to attend her workshop in London.
Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Just do it, don’t overthink it. Try. Fail. Try again. The best learnings come from user feedback. Don’t go through life wishing that you had another shot at this; time is our most precious resource. Live your life creating experiences and stories that the 80-year-old version of you would love to narrate. Enjoy the ride!
Top tip for maintaining a good work-life balance?
Focus on your highest priorities; delegate, automate or eliminate everything else. Build daily self-care rituals and get into a flow state to maximise productivity as a function of being in your peak state – not the hours put into working.
Favourite thing to do on weekends?
Trying out a new wellness or biohacking experience, especially when I travel. I love to experience the local cultural take on wellness. Recently, I discovered whole body cryotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy while in Bali; I absolutely loved it. In Singapore, I enjoy teaching a class outdoors in nature.
Tell us one fun fact about yourself that not many people know.
I wrote my first short story at the age of 10 and my childhood dream was to become a published author.
Get in touch with Bhavana Ravindran online.
Launchpad is a comprehensive digital networking platform (with IRL benefits, too) that encourages connection, business support and community. It is designed to make the entrepreneurial journey not only easier, and more successful, but also a whole lot more fun. We offer almost daily activities for members to connect, along with weekly masterclasses, member networking roulette, small-business mentoring and media profiles on Honeycombers. Check it out and join us!
