In conversation with Rupali Raut, HealingHearts

Rupali: Beyond your roles, how do you see yourself?

Yogesh: Beyond my roles, I see myself as a very ordinary person. There is nothing special about me. Just someone living life as it unfolds.

Rupali: How does your day look now, especially after leaving corporate life?

Yogesh: My days are simple and peaceful.

Earlier, waking up felt forced. Now, I wake up with clarity and interest. It’s no longer about achievements or targets. It’s about being myself and doing work that feels aligned.

Practically, my day includes counseling sessions, creating content, recording videos, and some marketing work. Evenings are spent with family. Overall, life feels calm and meaningful.

Rupali: What has been your toughest emotional or mental struggle in life?

Yogesh: Everyone faces struggles. What matters is what we do with them.

My biggest struggle began early in my career, when I became deeply drawn to the inner journey. I realized that the person I was projecting to the world wasn’t real. I was trying to prove that I was intelligent, capable, or “good.”

That realization shook me. It felt like my entire identity was false.

But instead of suppressing it, I stayed with the question: Who am I, really?

That struggle became the doorway to my inner journey and changed the direction of my life.

Rupali: What does “healing” mean to you personally?

Yogesh: Healing is simple.

When you’re hurt, you need to recover — physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Healing means resting, allowing recovery, and returning to a state where you can engage with life fully again.

Rupali: How did healing play a role during your struggles?

Yogesh: Initially, healing helps you return to “normal.” But normal still leaves you vulnerable to getting hurt again.

I was searching for something deeper — a way of understanding where emotional and psychological hurt reduces fundamentally.

Healing is important. But beyond healing lies understanding. When understanding deepens, you suffer less — and therefore need less healing.

Rupali: What drew you toward spirituality during that phase?

Yogesh: Pain pushes you to look for answers quickly.

I explored many paths — books, teachers, retreats, meditation camps, and travel.

Eventually, with enough rest and inner attention, my search shifted. I was no longer looking for relief, but for truth — something that would free me at the root.

Rupali: What did you actually discover about yourself?

Yogesh: It’s difficult to explain.

The closest analogy is tasting a mango. No description can replace the experience.

I can only point and encourage someone to look. The understanding has to be direct and personal.

Rupali: Did your understanding of spirituality and healing change over time?

Yogesh: Yes, significantly.

In daily life, “big picture” often means adding more knowledge. But in my work, the Big Picture is revealed by dropping ideas, beliefs, and labels.

When concepts fall away, something remains.

That seeing is immediate. It’s not gradual. You don’t reach it by seeking. It appears when seeking stops.

Rupali: Can people with serious mental health conditions follow this path?

Yogesh: The probability is lower, though not impossible.

Deep inquiry requires energy, presence, and stability. Someone dealing with severe distress first needs support to regain balance.

That said, even otherwise healthy people often miss the opportunity by staying distracted.

The invitation to self-discovery exists for anyone who is available and willing.

Rupali: What do you do when you feel low or overwhelmed?

Yogesh: I notice the emotion and allow it to move through.

Emotions are energy in motion. If you don’t interfere with them through excessive thinking, they naturally subside.

I allow the wave to come and go.

Rupali: What would you say to someone tired of “trying to heal”?

Yogesh: Being stuck is okay — as long as you know you are stuck.

Don’t repeat methods that clearly don’t work. Try different approaches, but always check your direct experience.

No one truly knows what will work for whom.

Rupali: Is there a daily practice that supports you?

Yogesh: Every day, I spend a few minutes returning to the source — the place where thoughts and identities dissolve.

From there, clarity and energy arise. Then I can step into roles and responsibilities without being lost in them.

Rupali: What does “being present” mean in daily life?

Yogesh: Being present simply means attending.

Like answering “present” during school attendance — you are available to respond to what is happening now.

Rupali: How do you deal with difficult emotions when they arise?

Yogesh: I don’t fight or fix them. I let them pass.

Problems arise when we act or think excessively during emotional peaks. If left alone, emotions dissolve naturally.

Rupali: What is Zen Counseling?

Yogesh: Zen Counseling helps people find their own clarity without being given advice.

Problems arise in the mind, and so do solutions. External advice often adds confusion.

Through deep listening and inquiry, clarity emerges naturally.

Rupali: What is the Seeker’s Compass and how do you support seekers today?

Yogesh: The Seeker’s Compass is an assessment based on my own journey. It helps people understand where they are in their inner search.

Through one-on-one dialogue, I help seekers question assumptions that may be blocking clarity.

The real work is theirs. I simply help them find the right direction — to discover their own “mango.”