The 21-day lockdown

Author: Swaminathan Kalyanaraman

Reprogramming ourselves for a better future

A 21-day lockdown has been enforced in our country because it takes 21 days to break the chain of the coronavirus spread.

A few years ago, I heard about the 21-day principle from a person who practised it in his own life. He was born in a Brahmin family in the early 1940s, in the village of Kanchipuram in South India. During his high school years, he set out from his home at 4 a.m., walked a few miles to the village railway station, travelled for about four hours by train to Chennai, then took a bus from Chennai railway station to a bus stop some distance away from his school (because this saved him an anna – six annas made one paisa, and 100 paisa made one rupee), and then walked to the school. The return journey was likewise, in reverse order. Dead tiring, every day. He did not get the first rank that merited a student scholarship. His father could not afford his education. He needed a scholarship. He had to get that first rank. Where was the time? He barely slept six hours a day.

Then he heard about the 21-day principle. According to the yoga sastra, a practice can rewire the human system if it repeats itself over a 48-day cycle. This cycle is called a ‘mandala’. In this practice, the first 21 days of cultivating a new habit or stopping an old habit is an ascent, with increasing difficulty every day. On the 21st day, the ascent reaches its peak. Those who sustain it for the first 21 days continuously are likely to maintain it successfully through the 48-day cycle.

The boy, barely 14 years old at the time, followed this practice by sleeping for only three hours every night, and using the extra time to study. This seemed impossible on the first day itself. He developed a fever, body aches, dizziness and other symptoms, but he pulled through for 21 days, and then sustained it over the 48-day period. Today, this boy is a famous personality in the legal fraternity, heading a firm of Indirect tax repute. He is now about 70 years old. He has not slept for more than three hours a day ever since he began this practice as a teenager.

It may be difficult, even impossible, for most of us to break our very basic, genetically-programmed habits, such as eating and sleeping. But what about cultivated habits? Is there a habit you feel you must break because it undermines your potential? Is there a habit you can cultivate that will enhance your capabilities, or make you happier? If yes, then this 21-day lockdown is an opportunity. We often do not break our habits because it throws up disturbances. In fact, nature is re-creating its balance, re-orienting and re-aligning itself to our new habit. However, we put our systems in reverse gear and settle into the comfort of our habits. The initial imbalance can be particularly unnerving if it affects those around us. In such cases, I suggest we enrol them in the process.

So, here is our chance. While nature is re-setting itself with a ‘do not disturb’ (read COVID-19) sign, compelling a human lockdown for 21 days, why not reset ourselves too? Our human system needs at least 21 days to break free from its old wirings and adapt to new habits before it can affirm them. If we begin today, we will have discreetly evolved with new habits and will re-join our workplaces with new mindsets, thoughts and actions.