Find Your Ultra

On the first day of 2020, I was on a trek with my friends Milind, Ankita, and Sarthak. We had climbed Mount Takao, in Japan and when we got down from the trek, we were amazed to see that People were washing the soles of their shoes with a brush and some running water to ensure they don’t carry the dirt of the trail into the city. We were zapped, and making videos of them doing something that was routine for them but so extraordinary for us.

And just a day before that, we had run a 120 kms from Tokyo to Mount Fuji, and we had all challenged ourselves to find a piece of trash or any instance of littering. But in the entire stretch of 120kms, all 8 of us collectively found 1 candy wrapper on the street. And we all suspected that this must have been thrown by one of us - Indians. I know it’s shameful to think that way, but you know, and you KNOW, it’s quite likely to be one of us.

At home, unfortunately, what ought to be common civic sense isn’t common at all. Here, we can’t walk a 120 meters without seeing litter on the road, let alone kms before seeing trash. Our streets and roads are quite literally, not metaphorically, full of trash. And we all get very angry when we walk by heaps of foul smelling stuff. But who’s throwing it there? It’s not me, and I hope it’s not you. But whether we are or aren’t a part of the problem, there’s something you and I can do to be a part of the solution. 

Welcome to episode 17. This conversation is with Ripu Daman Bevli, who’s better known as the plogman of India, or the plogging ambassador of India, which is a title given to him by the government of India for his contribution to the littering crisis in the country and for introducing and popularizing the concept of plogging in India.

What is plogging?

Plogging is a Swedish term which is a combination of two verbs ‘plocca upp’ which means Pick up, and and Jogga (jogging). So picking up litter while jogging is called Plogging.

This is what today’s guest started doing a few years ago, all by himself. A few people joined in, and in less than half a decade it has become a national movement that has touched over a crore people. Think about that number for a second. Mind you this is not a digital service, these are not a crore app downloads, we’re talking of real human beings coming out and picking up trash not thrown by them. How’s that for an impact?

Ripu is now fairly well known and His efforts have won him recognitions such as A global Impact citizen by global impact network, USA. Social media activist of the year by cosmopolitan magazine and a few others. Most notably, at least for all Indians, he was called by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or as you might prefer - ‘Modiji’ on episode 57 of his radio show ‘Mann Ki baat’.

But wait, how did he land up here? Wasn’t he running the corporate rat race? Where did he get the means? Who taught him, who gave him the money? Spoiler alert: Nobody.

It’s a truly inspiring story of a boy raised by a single mother with limited resources, who has ended up starting a movement that’s capable of changing the conscience of our society at large, and if you listen to this episode to the end, and you decide to do your bit, who knows, our streets might someday be as clean as the ones in Japan. 

Sounds great, I know, but Kaafi far fetched lag raha hai na? Sirf mere badalne se kya ho jayega. I feel you. But Ripu’s story will demonstrate to you the magnitude of impact ONE ORDINARY MAN is capable of achieving.

Let’s dive right in. This is me and Ripu Daman Bevli in the find your ultra podcast episode 17, Enjoy!

Follow RipuDaman bevli on instagram

https://www.instagram.com/plogmanofindia/

Follow his communities

https://www.instagram.com/ploggersofindia/

https://www.instagram.com/litterfreeindia/

Follow your host Vipin Sharma

https://www.instagram.com/ultravipin/

#PlogmanofIndia #Ploggersofindia #Plogging #Swatchhbharat #FitIndia #fitness #socialactivist #Environmentalist #Changemaker

Welcome to episode 16. This episode is about understanding our digestive health.

There is a whole universe of microorganisms that live within our gut, they feed off the food that we eat and they release a bunch of chemicals that impact pretty much all aspects of our health from digestion, to immunity, to cognitive function, and even affect the way we age. 

There seems to be a consensus on the fact that a healthy gut microbiome is the key to a healthy life, and yet we understand so little about it.

In this episode I speak with Dr Ujjwal Sonika who is an associate professor of Gastroenterology at Maulana Azad Medical College. He is also a published author, and one of his books was co-authored with a friend of the podcast Dr Medha Kapoor who you met in episode 02. The book is called Gut bacteria - The secret to health, I’ll link this and his other book in the show notes, you can go check them out.

Through this conversation, I tried to form a surface level understanding of these tiny little dudes and dudettes that live inside of our gut in communities of trillions and have such a massive influence on our health.

We talked about the effects of antibiotics, alcohol, painkillers and numerous other things that affect the microbiome negatively and also some of the ways in which we can improve this.

Even if you’re not interested in this subject, I urge you to develop an interest for this because I believe learning about health isn’t just for coaches and trainers and doctors. It is equally important for you to gain an appreciation of your inner world, because in the end, it is you who makes the all important choices, it is you who executes the plan, it is you who brings about the change.

with the hope that you’ll listen right till the end, I present to you Dr Ujjwal Sonika and me in the Final your ultra podcast episode 16, ENJOY!

Follow Dr Ujjwal Sonika

https://www.facebook.com/ujjwal.sonika/

Check out Dr Ujjwal Sonika’s book

https://novapublishers.com/shop/gut-microbiome-simplified-for-medical-nursing-nutrition-students-and-practitioners/

Follow the Host

https://www.instagram.com/ultravipin/

#NewEpisodeRelease #FindYourUltraPodcast #GutHealthMatters #GutWellness #HealthyGutHappyLife #NourishYourGut #MicrobiomeMatters #DigestiveHealth #GutHealing #OptimalGutFunction #BalancedMicrobiome #GutHealthRevolution #Healthexpert

I take immense pleasure in welcoming you to episode 15. I’m so happy for you that you’ve tuned in to this one because you’re in for a treat, my friend!

Today you will meet Apoorva Chikara, who until a few years ago was confined to the cubicles of one of the high rises in Gurgaon, and living a life that barely had anything to do with athletics.

But in a dramatic turn of events, she met Kanan Jain who conceived and sold to her, a massive dream of representing India at the pinnacle of ultra running - the world championships. 

These two were absolute nobodies in the world of running at the time and yet they had the audacity to pursue a goal that most would not even dare to imagine.

They had one year to train and transform themselves into endurance beasts if they were to harbour any hopes of earning a spot in the national team.

Guess what! They both did it and represented India at the world championships in France, 

and not only that, Apoorva made history. She became the first Indian woman to run over 200kms in a 24hour ultra running championship.

Apoorva is also close friend of mine, and so this episode follows no set format, this conversation is a catch-up, it’s a story, this conversation is a biiiig hug to a friend who inspires me and makes me believe that anything is possible. 

I could have said ‘impossible is nothing’, but for that adidas’s needs to make me an offer. Insert a cheeky smiley here, please.

This girl is a soft spoken, kind hearted, sunshine loving Dynamite! Get ready to get inspired!

Let’s go straight to the conversation. This is me and Apoorva Chikara in the Find your ultra podcast episode 15, Go bonkers!

Follow Apoorva

https://www.instagram.com/run_chikara

Follow the host

https://www.instagram.com/ultravipin/

#NewEpisode #Ultrarunning #FindYourUltraPodcast #ApoorvaChikara #NationalAthlete #EnduranceSports #InspiringIndividuals #StoryOfTransformation #Hope #Belief #SelfLove #Growth #IAU #AFI #AthleticsFederationOfindia

Welcome to Episode 14. Today’s guest is Nakul Butta. 

Nakul is a trained engineer who studied nano technology, turned a runner, a running coach and now a fitness entrepreneur.

Nakul founded a vibrant community called All in Running that has now become a lot more than running. According to Nakul, it now offers the most comprehensive, holistic wellness solution in the country.

Nakul himself is a brilliant athlete who has run sub-3 marathons, some ultra marathons, a few with course records and as a coach he has helped numerous runners remarkably up their game over the last 5-6 years. I say this because some of the transformations have actually been of my own close friends, so I’ve been a witness to Nakul’s and All in running’s journey, pretty much from the beginning. You’ll enjoy listening to it.

But this podcast is so much more. I’ve been in the running scene for a decade now and I’m familiar with the conversations, broadly. But I was amazed by the fresh perspective Nakul brings to the table and talks at length about the things that are either never spoken about, or not emphasized enough. Stuff like safety aspects in trail races, Running self supported, Action based community building, Exploring the city’s green spaces safely, he talks about the FKT culture and the work him and his cofounder at Capital trails Kshitish are doing to bring it to India.

Nakul is also a Vegan and a Minimalist, a philosophy that I’m curious about. There’s just so much in this conversation to keep you hooked right till the end. 

Without further ado, this is me and Nakul Butta in the Find your ultra podcast Episode 15, Indulge away!

Follow Nakul 

https://www.instagram.com/nakul.butta/

Follow All in running

https://www.instagram.com/allinrunning/

Follow Capital Trails

https://www.instagram.com/capitaltrailsrc/

Follow the host 

https://www.instagram.com/ultravipin/

#Findyourultra #running #runningcoaching #fitnesscoaching #Allinrunning #episode14 #trailrunning #FKTculture #Greenspaces #selfsustainedrunning #holisticcoaching

In this episode, your host Vipin Sharma takes a break from the usual guest interviews to share some personal insights and tools for self growth. 

Drawing from personal experience, Vipin shares two simple yet effective tools that have helped him in his journey towards self-awareness and personal development - Journaling and Meditation and how he’s manage to incorporate these in daily life.

It’s a short episode, so stick around till the end for stories on his 10-day Vipassana meditation experience, and the tools he uses now.

#selfgrowth #personalgrowth #journaling #boundaries #selfdevelopment #selfimprovement #mindfulness #mentalhealth #podcast #solopodcast #motivation #inspiration #tipsandtools #selfcare #wellness #productivity #success #lifetips #learnandgrow #staycurious #newepisode #podcastrecommendation #podcastersofinstagram

Welcome to the Find your ultra podcast Episode 12. I hope you’re doing well!

New episodes are meant to come out every Friday, but man life challenges you. Despite best efforts I couldn’t release a new episode. But, here’s your new episode before the week ends.

What you’re about to listen to is a long and insightful conversation between me and Dr Raqib Ali on psychology.

Dr Raqib Ali is a Clinical psychologist and a Psychotherapist. He helps people cope with emotions though counseling and therapy. He runs this own clinic by the name of CUBBE clinics based out of Ghaziabad. CUBBE with a double B.

He also freelances with some hospitals of repute that include the likes of BLK max super speciality, & Apollo Cradle & Children’s hospital.

Besides clinical work, he is an assistant professor who  teaches students of psychology at various institutes and universities.

The point is that he is a subject matter expert with a special ability to break down concepts of psychology in simple language that a lay person can understand.

I thought this will be a discussion on mental health, and IT IS.  But this discussion ended up becoming a lot richer as we went with the flow and touched upon a wide variety of topics from the origin of psychology to parenting, to the paradox of choice, to small actions we can take everyday to look after our mental health.

The episode is over two hours long, so I recommend listening to it at 1.5x speed. 

Without further ado, here’s me and Dr Raqib Ali on Find your ultra podcast episode 12. Enjoy!

Connect with Dr Raqib Ali on instagram

https://www.instagram.com/psy.raqib/

Connect with the host on insta

https://www.instagram.com/ultravipin

#Mentalhealth #Mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthconversation #psychologist #Psychology #newepisode #findyourultra #DrRaqibAli

Welcome to the find your ultra podcast episode 11. 

If you’re a regular listener of this show you already know that I’m deeply interested in the science of Longevity. How can we all live longer, and improve our health spans. Two of the biggest factors that we have under our control to a large extent are Nutrition and Exercise.

According to Dr Peter Attia, someone I follow and admire, Exercise is hands down the best thing we can do to improve our health, offset some of the effects of the environment, prevent or delay the onset of the diseases that kill us.

So I want all my listeners to incorporate exercise into their routine. Now Let’s be honest, Not everyone loves running, not everyone likes the Gym. But fortunately there are alternate ways to stay fit. 

In this episode, we speak with AdhirajNeogi who’s a former national level badminton player

He was National Rank #2 in sun-junior doubles, national rank #6 in Singles, and #3 in Juniors Badminton. Adhiraj is also an SRCC, ISB Hyderabad Alumni.

In this conversation, Adhiraj talks about his life journey where he played badminton, got close to the top, why he had to give it up and get into a corporate life where he consulted with the likes of EY and Deloitte, and then how a small incident reignited his love for the sport and led him to found Raquet Ninja.

Adhiraj’s story is a case study itself on how playing a sport can boost the overall quality of one’s life and improve not only physical health but also works wonders for our mental health.

It is time to dive right into this short and insightful conversation. Here’s me and Adhiraj Neogi in the Find your ultra podcast episode 11, indulge away!

#Newepisodealert #Raquet_Ninja #AdhirajNeogi #Badminton #Sportsbasedfitness #Alternativefitness

Find Your Ultra Podcast episode 10 आपको मिलवाएगा एक बहुत ही दिलचस्प शख़्सियत से!

मैं बात कर रहा हूँ vishwas Sindhu की जिनको भारत की रनिंग community बहुत अच्छे से जानती है,

vishwas एक entrepreneur हैं, जिनके खेत भी हैं, मिठाई की दुकाने भी हैं, पर वो सबसे famous हैं अपने venture hell race की वजह से! 

Hell Race एक adventure sports company है, जो ultra distance races organise करती है भारत के अलग अलग हिस्सों में. Inki tagline है - "NOT FOR THE WEAK OF WILL"! 

ये वो races नहीं हैं जो आप थोड़ी सी training करके हंसते खेलते finisher मेडल घर ले जा सकते हैं. hell race का मेडल लेने केलिए आपको hell से गुज़रना होता है, पहले training में और फिर race के दौरान!

काफ़ी साफ़, देसी, raw, unfiltered और honest conversation है, और आप हैरान हो जाएँगे कि इस simple सी बातचीत मेंकितने life lessons और entrepreneurship lessons हैं! हमने हरयाणवी में भी बात की है, आख़िरी तक सुनेंगे तो मज़ा आएगा!

पेश है, find your ultra podcast episode 10, this is me and Vishwas Sindhu. Enjoy!

#TheHellRace #Ultrarunning #Trailrunning 

#FindYourUltra #Podcast #VishwasSindhu #HellRace #Entrepreneurship #LifeLessons #AdventureSports #UltraDistanceRaces #HonestConversation #RawAndUnfiltered #IndiaRunningCommunity #HaryanviLanguage

Today’s guest Is an entrepreneur, an angel investor, an art collector, a metal head, a bird photographer and not the least of all, A runner. This is Munish Jauhar, who’s lived most of his life in Chandigarh.

I loved this conversation. In the first half we talk about all the lesser known aspects of Munish’s life and in the second half we talked about how he has managed to transcend his game from a run of the mill Ultrarunner to someone who has become good enough to qualify for the world’s most iconic ultra marathon - the spartathalon. 

We recorded this conversation early march and at that time, he had only met the qualification criteria for sparta. But as of today, the day we’re releasing this interview, his name is in the final lineup. So he will be toeing the start line of this iconic race this year.

Munish’s journey is a confirmation of the fact that if you have the desire and you’re willing to apply yourself, anything is possible. Do listen to this entire episode, if nothing else, I promise it will make you believe in yourself just a little more.

Enough said, let’s go straight to the conversation. This is Me and Munish Jauhar in the Find Your Ultra Podcast episode 09, Enjoy!

Follow the guest: Munish Jauhar

https://www.instagram.com/munishjauhar

Follow the host: Vipin Sharma

https://www.instagram.com/ultravipin

#FindYourUltraPodcast #NewEpisodeAlert #Angelinvestor #Entrepreneur #Runner #Ultramarathonrunner #BirdPhotographer #Birder #Artcollector #MetalHead #InspiringJourneys #RunningStories #DidNotFinish #LearningFromFailures #Spartathalon

Find your ultra podcast ka ye bahot hi important episode hai. 

Important होने के दो कारण हैं, पहला और chhota कारण ये है कि मेरी पॉडकास्ट का ही आठवाँ एपिसोड है!

Research बताती है कि जीतने लोग podcasting शुरू करते हैं उसमें से 98% लोग 7वें episode तक ही पहुँच पाते हैं और उसकेबाद इसे छोड़ देते हैं, क्योंकि उन्हें पता चलता है कि अच्छा content बनाना उतना आसान नहीं है, बहुत मेहनत लगती है।

तो आज आठवाँ episode है, इसके साथ ही हमने पहला पड़ाव पार कर लिया है! मेरी कोशिश यही रहेगी कि जितने लोग अभीpodcast को सुनते हैं, उन्हें अच्छा content provide दूँ! उनकी ज़िंदगी में कुछ value add कर सकूं.

आप साथ दीजिए और मुझे यक़ीन है ये podcast भारत की सबसे valuable podcasts में एक बन जाएगी!

इस episode के important होने का दूसरा कारण ये है कि ये mental health के बारे में है। मेरी नज़र में ये एक बेहद ज़रूरी विषयहै। podcasting के लिए मेरी preferred भाषा english है, और मेरे आज के guest भी बहुत अच्छी अंग्रेज़ी बोलती हैं, लेकिन फिरभी हमने ये episode हिन्दी में किया है, सिर्फ़ इसलिए के मैं चाहता हूँ इस बातचीत को ज़्यादा से ज़्यादा लोग सुन पायें! ये बहुत हीज़रूरी बात है, ज़रूरी सब्जेक्ट के बारे में है!

आज की guest Dr Aruna Broota हैं, जो की trained psychologist हैं (मनोविज्ञानिक हैं). ये काफ़ी famous हैं, तो मुझेज़्यादा बोलने की ज़रूरत नहीं है, अगर आपने 1980, ya 90 के दशक में देखें हैं, तो आप इनके बारे में ज़रूर जानते होंगे।

डॉ broota, was perhaps India’s first mental health professional, even if she wasn’t the first, she was definitely one of the first prominent voices in this space. 

Dr Broota TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers - हर जगह अभी भी mental health के programs करती हैं, इनकाopinion लिया जाता है, और इन्हे बहुत सारी speaking engagements के लिए बुलाया जाता है, and she’s given multiple TED talks.

बहुत ही insightful है बातचीत, काफ़ी सोचने पर मजबूर करेगी आपको, पर साथ ही ये मुझे अपनी ज़िम्मेदारी लगती है कि मैं यहीं पर एक trigger warning या एक चेतावनी दूँ, अगर आपका मानसिक स्वास्थ्य ठीक नहीं है, अगर आप किसी गंभीर हादसे की बात सुनकर trigger हो जाते हैं, या  परेशान हो जाते हैं तो आप इस episode को ना सुनें, और किसी mental health professional कीमदद लें! और इस program में की गई बातचीत का मकसद mental health को लेकर जागरूकता लाना है, पर ये professional मदद का substitute नहीं है, ये उसका विकल्प नहीं है. आप इसे सुनकर अपना इलाज करने कि कोशिश मत कीजिएगा, expert कीमदद लीजिएगा!

इसीके साथ पेश है एक बेहद ज़रूरी विषय पर बातचीत. Find your ultra podcast Episode 08, this is me and Dr Aruna Broota. Indulge away!

#Mentalhealth #Psychologist #Therapy #Trauma #Depression #Addressyourself #SeekHelp #Mentalhealthawareness