Since they founded The Chopras in 1995, Naveen and Natasha Chopra have grown their overseas education consulting company to a thriving brand of 500-plus employees in more than 20 locations across India. Of course, their pedigreed international experience across blue-chip firms in the US, UK and Australia has contributed to this success. But the couple has also honed a work style deeply influenced by a perfect mind-body balance. They share with MYB some of their productivity tips.

Naveen Chopra: The fact that since I was 21 or 22, I’ve been heavily involved in meditation has been of tremendous value in my work life. I can reach that stage of thoughtlessness, and a lot of my business decisions emerge from those deep intense experiences. Meditation can be habit-forming when you do it well, and do it regularly. Now, I take slow, deep breaths even when I am just sitting normally. This focus on being aware of the most natural thing—one’s breath—has instilled in me the orientation to really focus on the origin of something, to unravel the secret of the seed, as they say. Even in business, most people get caught up in the leaves, the flowers, the branches and the tree trunk’s shape but really getting to the seed is key—that contains the outcome. Once you manage that, the tree will automatically be unravelled. I urge my colleagues and my teams to do this all the time. Get to the seed of the problem, what is the root, in fact, even beyond the root—how did it begin, what impetus allowed it to get there and grow, what are the inputs that is facilitating it now? Is the problem an outcome of a personality characteristic, or is it a corporate phenomenon? Once you get answers to questions like that, the solutions just emerge.

I use this line of questioning on myself all the time. When something goes wrong at work, I’ll look into what my role has been. In organisations like ours, cultures are top-down. So, have I given an input that wittingly or unwittingly has contributed to this problem? For example, if a student is dissatisfied with our services, where did we go wrong—did we communicate erroneously, or did we not communicate enough? Having the ability to peel away every distraction, and notice your breath gives you the discipline to be able to really see things as they are. There are no problems in life, they arise when we are either resistant to change, or too lazy to find out why. As in life, the same truth applies to the office—every problem contains the solution, and within every solution there is the inherent problem.

Natasha Chopra: The world is a mad place, and you have to put some sense of self into all this otherwise it just won’t work. For me, the two hours I spend in the morning doing my yoga, going for a run or playing badminton is the reason that I can do what I do. In fact, the one book that changed the way I live and work, and has made me more productive is Ageless Body, Timeless Mind by Deepak Chopra. He’s such an inspiration. Chopra believes how you think is how your body reacts. If you have negative thoughts, they’ll affect your body adversely. Think positively about people, and they’ll be good back to you. Looking at the bigger picture has helped us stay the course—it gives you strength and positivity when things don’t go according to plan, or people don’t perform according to expectations.

We’ve tried to imbue our company with this sense as well, In fact, each of our offices every morning begins with people coming together for a prayer. My husband introduced this a few years back to basically bind people—get them to come together and work for a common purpose. We’ve asked people how they’ve felt about it, and I know a few might wonder if this is a good practice for a workplace. Yet, others have found that it does foster team work, and makes them function better.