"Freeing my mind enabled me to start enjoying and living life" - Paraag Amin

I, Paraag Amin, founder of Bhangra to Balance, have experienced first hand many of the struggles faced by British Indian boys and men. Childhood expectations, family pressures, cultural complexities, health scares and weight issues, relationship highs and lows, addictions, financial troubles and the search for belonging, to name a few.

Through self-discovery and open dialogue, I have found my path to fulfillment, and now I'd love to help you on yours.

My story begins sitting in A&E, on a drip all day on my 40th birthday. If only that had been the real beginning.

In fact it came 4 years later, whilst sitting in a bar in Valencia, Spain, where a conversation with my dear sister became the catalyst for the most amazing change, that I had never thought possible.

Having reached what I now see as the lowest point in my life, her words will stick with me forever... "you're an adult now, take responsibility for your life and stop blaming others and the past".

A moment of realisation for me, an awakening, so to speak? Maybe, or just the common sense advice that I needed to start what is an ongoing process to change my life.

It started with the mind and the body has followed - this is hugely important to understand.

I was born in a British Indian household, in a predominantly native English area (Kent), facing the cultural complexities of balancing Eastern culture, values and expectations with integration and success in a Western society, which would be confusing for most children, (food and language being just two of the simple examples of having gaps to bridge).

The narrative given to me, as with many British Indian boys, was the need to work harder than my native English peers, just to level the playing field of life. Add to that, the pressure to excel in every aspect, in particular academia, and then to have the expectation set of following a specific life path or else be considered a failure, (gaining top grades at school to go to one of the top universities, to have a stable, high paying job, get married via a BFIW (big fat Indian wedding), have children, and the list goes on).

This drives the need of the child to gain love and attention through these measures of success and to have continuous goals and targets in life. I was always living in and living for the future. The present was lost on me. The true beauty of life was lost on me.

Alongside all of this, I had the challenge of balancing family and society's expectations with my own needs, which is not only complex, but also incredibly confusing and a huge burden on anyone's mental wellbeing.

In a culture that typically doesn't promote mental health and emotional conversations from boys and men, and one begins to see some of the challenges that arose.

That's just the beginning. A separation after marriage, addiction, financial challenges, health and weight issues all followed. Thankfully that conversation in Valencia was a new beginning, leading to inner peace, happiness, dramatic improvements in my relationships with my children, friends, family and in the workplace.