SINGAPORE : India's OYO Rooms (also know as OYO Hospitality and Homes) officially launched its hotels in Thailand earlier this month and declared its ambition to have two million rooms under management in Southeast Asia by 2025.

Speaking at the launch, Mandar Vaidya, OYO's CEO for Southeast Asia and the Middle East, said, "South East Asia and in particular Malaysia was OYO's first foray outside of India. Today, OYO is present in more than 250 cities with more than 2,500 franchised and leased hotels across Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. That number will rise with the addition of OYO Thailand."

He added that the expected influx of tourists particularly from Asia to Thailand, and the increased frequency of flights by airlines into Thailand, will reinforce OYO's market leadership position in the region and help it achieve its goal.

In Thailand, OYO has launched 250 franchised hotels with 8,000 rooms in 13 cities including the popular destinations of Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Hua Hin.

Adding Thailand to the portfolio of countries in which it operates is an important milestone in OYO's expansion into Southeast Asia and is expected to play a significant role in the growth of its business in the region.

Although OYO already has operations in the important tourism markets of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, Thailand with its varied attractions and experiences, together with its stunning landscape is perceived to be the crown jewel. For comparison, while the four countries it currently operates in attracted a total of 64.2 million tourists in 2018 - Malaysia 25.8 million, Indonesia 15.8 million, Vietnam 15.5 million, Philippines 7.1 million - Thailand itself saw 38.3 million foreign visitors arriving on its shores in 2018. Tourism contributes around 18 per cent to Thailand's GDP.

OYO was founded by Ritesh Agarwal in 2013 and is headquartered in Gurgaon. It claims to be the world's fastest-growing company and third largest global chain of operated hotels, houses, managed living and workspaces. It operates more than 23,000 properties in 18 countries across800 cities globally and employs over 17,000 people. Just in India and South Asia alone, it has 8,000 hotels. OYO mostly operates "chic" hotels and accommodation for the budget-conscious traveller.

It's business model encompasses offering guests a similar and consistent lodging experience across all its properties in any city. When customers book accommodation with OYO, they know what to expect and this helps them in planning their trip.

For its business partners, OYO offers franchisees a common booking platform, its technology expertise, financial know-how, operational and design capabilities so that properties can elevate their customer service and guest experience. As a result, partner hotels benefit through increased occupancy and profitability.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the fast-growing Indian hospitality business achieved a valuation of USD10 billion in July this year when its founder, Ritesh Agarwal, purchased USD2 billion in shares from venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. This increased his stake in the company from 10 per cent to 30 per cent. Softbank owns almost 50 per cent of the company. Other prominent investors include Grab Holdings, Airbnb, Greenoaks, Didi Chuxing, Hero Enterprise and China Lodging Group.

Speaking at the OYO Thailand launch, Alpana Dubey, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Thailand, commented that more than 2 million tourists from India are expected in Thailand this year, and OYO has a key role to play in transforming the tourism landscape.

Dubey said, "OYO is one of India's success stories and a brand that's recognised not just in India, but globally," adding, "It gives me immense pleasure to welcome them to Thailand and wish them all success here in the Kingdom."

Country head of OYO Thailand, Ashutosh Singh, remarked that the group's mission is to upgrade all forms of real estate and enable the middle class to travel.

"The hospitality industry is going through a process of innovation and evolution with technology at the core of it all," he said.

"OYO is committed to partner with the government of Thailand and agencies like the Tourism Authority of Thailand to leverage technology to design new offerings and draw more tourists to Thailand. We are committed to offer a superior stay and travel experience to millions of guests in Thailand while helping improve the yield for independent hoteliers in the country," Singh added.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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OYO opens 250 hotels in Thailand - Livemint

LEAD Lotus Vision Healing and Meditation Center will join Lotus Up and be in the lower level of the building for alternate methods of healing.

Jamie Gilcrease Heupel, the leader of this project and owner of Lotus Up, is also an entrepreneur coach and will host sessions in the space for that as well.

Its all different modalities of healing with the understanding that humans can literally heal themselves with the right tools, Heupel said.

Methods of healing will include yoga, hypnosis, meditation, and any and other ways that healing teachers can come up with, such as rage yoga.

Since the space is big and open, it has also been used to host baby showers, business plan training, and anything that people need to utilize the open area for.

Both Lotus Up and Lotus Vision Healing and Meditation are under the LLC of Lotus Holding. So in one spot, at 95 E. Main St., you can get coffee, food, and meditate.

We hit the mind, body, and spirit, said Heupel.

Heupel hopes to have a full schedule of events and activities by Jan. 1.

Were hoping to have a monthly schedule out, very similar to the Hot Room in Spearfish. They have set schedules right now. We have a yoga instructor that will be there every Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 (p.m.), and we will hopefully fill those slots with different healing instructors, Heupel said.

Dynamic meditation will be held at the center at 7 a.m. every Sunday. Another form of meditation will include layer meditation, which focuses on healing through music.

One of the ways were doing that is myself and the hypnosis will be doing a combination of a make and take with essential oil and then going in and teaching people how to self-hypnotize so they can maybe battle some of the things that they have with anxiety or depression, Heupel said. Its really outside of the box.

As the owner of Lotus Up, Heupel said she has passed on the business to be in the hands of a couple managers.

Hopefully at some point, well be able to work with the different teachers. Its almost as if its a makerspace, but for healers, Heupel said. So people that might not have a space to go to, I have 1,800 square feet of a beautiful property and I wanted it being used by people that are helping people. So I just created space for that and were looking for teachers. Were looking for healers.

Vision Board Classes will be at 10 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month at Lotus Up.

For more information, visit lotusvisioncoaching.com.

To read all of today's stories, Click here or call 642-2761 to subscribe to our e-edition or home delivery.

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Lotus Vision Healing and Meditation Center to join Lotus Up - Black Hills Pioneer

People think an average of 80,000 thoughts per day, 80 percent of which are negative. As brilliant as the human mind can be, its natural to wish that we all had a pre-programmed, do not disturb feature for the times when we just wanted some peace and quiet. Since none of us are blessed with such an ability, its important to learn not just how to clear your mind but to calm it. And Ellie Burrows Gluck, co-founder and CEO of New York Citys MNDFL meditation studio, says that she has four tools in her toolkit for doing just that.

Meditation is without question my number one go-to for de-exciting the mind, but I find there are a couple of other things that also be effective for me personally, says Gluck, whos certified in Vedic tradition of meditation. I love a follow-along dance class at Body By Simone where I have to use my mind to learn the steps. That kind of direct focus paired with the endorphin release is a pretty powerful combo for quieting my mind and releasing stress. Moving to the beat has also been linked with overall better cognitive health, so why not crank Lizzo and bust a move?

When shes not dancing her way to a more accommodating mind, Gluck says that the simple act of touch can help refresh her brain. Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed, hugging my husband and talking to him is very soothing. Hes a safe haven, I find him to be deeply comforting and helpful when my mind is racing, she says. So if you find yourself racing to keep up with the speed of your thoughts, hit pause and hug someone you love. Dare you.

Meditation changes how we relate to our thoughts, it doesnt eliminate them entirely. Ellie Burrow Gluck, co-founder and CEO of MNDFL

Last, but certainly not least, Gluck says she makes a point of talking to her therapist on a regular basis. I am lucky enough to be able to attend therapy regularly which allows me to meet my mind in a really vulnerable and constructive way, the meditation teacher says.

Overall, Gluck stresses the point that shes trying to befriend, not antagonize, her mind. We cannot press the snooze button the firing of our own brain cellson or off the meditation cushion.

We will never have control over our thoughts the way we fantasize we might. So when we practice on the cushion and become aware that we are no longer focused on our breath or mantra and our mind has wandered to our to-do list, what were going to eat for dinner, or the fight we had with a partner, we have an option to gently, lovingly, and without judgment return to the object of our meditation, she says. Meditation changes how we relate to our thoughts, it doesnt eliminate them entirely.

Rather than yelling at all the uninvited guests upstairs to GTFO, try bringing them into your inner-circlewhether that means dancing, hugging it out, or confiding in a listening ear.

Dance with your thoughts:

Try therapeutic cooking if you cant sit still for meditation. And if youre having trouble sleep, try slow lit.

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Im a meditation expertheres how I befriended my mind - Well+Good

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NRSV

The writer of Proverbs illustrates how important hope is for every person. When hope is deferred, our hearts become sick and our spirits become low.

Lee Strobel explains four distinct categories of hope. The first is wishful thinking. When we blow out the candles on a birthday cake, we make a wish for things we desire in the coming year. In the moment at hand, we project fanciful hopes of deep desires. But this is not a hope that really brings life.

A second category of hope is blind optimism. Blind optimism often ignores the problems present in our lives. Having a positive attitude is an asset, but we must also face the struggles of life. In the end, while an amount of blind optimism is admirable it does not allow us to accurately face all of reality.

A third category of hope Strobel notes is hopeful dreams. Hopeful dreams are goals we set out to achieve. When I tell myself, I am going to lose those extra pounds and develop a healthier lifestyle. this is an example of a hopeful dream. However, my earnest dreaming does not guarantee that which we dream for will become a reality.

While each of these expressions of hope has its place, biblical hope encompasses far more than any of these three. I Peter 1:3-4 (NRSV) announces: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, This is hope that is the tree of life the writer of Proverbs envisions.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent with the theme of hope. Advent the season of preparing for the coming of Christ at Christmas. When my wife and I were expecting the birth of our children, we carefully prepared for these blessed events. In that spirit advent invites us to prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Biblical hope assures us that life makes sense. The promise is that God will take the tattered pieces of our complicated lives and weave a tapestry. Biblical hope assures us that frayed, scattered puzzle pieces of our existence make a beautiful picture when all placed together. This hope assures us that our lives have purpose and meaning.

Biblical hope is beyond ourselves. This hope is the confident expectation that God is in the process of keeping promises to us. Promises are made with words. With each word we offer a part of ourselves. God has been proven trustworthy and faithful in keeping promises. Where hopelessness abounds, it is in Gods nature to save because it is in Gods nature to love. God seeks the lost, heals the wounded, forgives the offender, and gives hope to those who are in despair. It is what God does. With God as our hope, what lies ahead will truly be an adventure.

Continued here:

Meditation: Be confident that God is in the process of keeping promises to us - Hickory Daily Record

The great Frederick Beuchner wrote a few years ago that most religious words have lost almost all vitality. Through overuse and abuse, terms like church and heaven and sin cause the eyes to glaze and the attention to wander.

Case in point: Repentance. Do you picture some half-crazed pulpiteer doing his best to scare the (pardon me) hell out of you?

Its a shame, since repentance is a perfectly robust word for a perfectly necessary activity.

Our easiest mistake comes quite naturally. Everybody else needs to get on board with me, so the world can be a much happier place. I wish all these people would get out of my way I thought one busy morning, until another rude thought crowded its way in. Did it ever occur to you that you might be in their way?

Lifelong guilt trips run a close second, perhaps?

Maybe the worst misstep of all comes when you begin to confuse embarrassment at getting caught with contrition and forgiveness with a blank check that you can spend anyway you choose. Call it the entitled spirit. Should a pastor guilty of sexually manipulating and abusing parishioners ever have charge of a church again?

I dont pretend to be an ethics expert, but I can tell you one thing from first-hand experience.

Sin is the heart curved in on itself. One teeny dose of the peril and plague of the human condition would literally drive you bonkers, save for the throbbing heart of love at the center of the cosmos. Honest-to-goodness repentance inspires you to say thank you for your morning oats, an extra flannel shirt in your closet and at least a few brains in your brain. Makes you grateful just to be alive. George Bailey found it out. So did Ebenezer Scrooge, Lieutenant Dan, and Tibbs and Gillespie. So does everyone who repents. Get a new heart ... a new spirit (Ezekiel 18:31).

The Rev. Eugene Stockstill is pastor of Ebenezer United Methodist Church and Myrtle United Methodist Church in Union County.

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MEDITATION: It's good to know we can change - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

(HOODLINE) Want to know where to go for meditation in Denver? Here are the top-rated meditation centers in the city, based on data from Yelp, Facebook andClassPass, a monthly fitness membership that provides access to thousands of different studios, gyms and wellness offerings. Yoga of the Mind

8 E. First Ave., Speer

Yoga of the Mind is Denvers favorite meditation center by the numbers, with five stars out of 23 reviews onClassPassand 2,477 fans onFacebook.

Yoga of the Minds mission is to expand peace and self-awareness in individuals and in the world, explains the business ClassPass profile. Their classroom is an intimate setting that accommodates 15 students.

3401 W. 29th Ave., West Highland

Also among Denvers favorites is Kundalini Yoga, with 4.7 stars out of 152 reviews onClassPass, five stars out of one review onYelpand 1,317 fans onFacebook. Its the top meditation outlet in the entire Denver metro area, according to ClassPass rankings.

Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, is considered the most comprehensive of yoga traditions, combining meditation, mantra, physical exercises and breathing techniques, states the business ClassPass profile. Kundalini Yoga is also known as the yoga of awareness; its focus is on self-awareness and delivering an experience of your highest consciousness.

2916 Irving St., West Highland

With five stars out of 10 reviews onClassPass, five stars out of one review onYelpand 260 fans onFacebook, Reiki with Yarra has garnered plenty of local fans.

According to the business ClassPass profile, Reiki is energy-healing, and works on your physical, emotional, energetic and spiritual bodies to balance and restore your energy. Sessions are extremely relaxing, and heal gently and powerfully at the same time.

Article provided by Hoodline.

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Peace Out At These Denver Meditation Centers - CBS Denver

with Jenna Grace

I started meditating when I lived out West. A far way away from where I grew up in the Midwest. I was searching for something. As we all do in our 20s. But I had been struggling with my mental health for as long as I could remember. I wasnt okay. And I didnt know how to get better. I was completely lost. Both in my life and in myself. And meditation was the first thing that helped me find my way.

Meditation found me. I was walking home from a nearby flea market and someone handed me a booklet on yoga. Always intrigued by yoga but never having been exposed to it (this was in 2005; before yoga was everywhere), I accepted the booklet, made a donation and headed home curious.

Once home, as I began thumbing through the pages, I was a bit discouraged not to find pictures of the yoga poses Id imagined. Instead, the booklet focused on breathing. On postures when sitting. On finding stillness. I was looking for any kind of guidance, so I took this as a sign that I should start meditating. And so my meditation practice began.

I made myself meditate every day. And considering I knew no one in the latest town I was in, I had a lot of time to practice. And I needed to practice. Its amazing how hard it is to just sit. To sit in stillness and to focus. On your breath. On your thoughts. On your feelings. Perhaps thats why we dont do it as much as we should. For when you focus on your thoughts and feelings, you have to be ready to deal with what you think and feel. But I began to notice that meditation was slowing things down for me, helping me find a stillness inside myself that I desperately needed to find. Helping me feel okay.

Id been anxious and depressed and dealing with suicidal thoughts for over a decade at this point in my life, and I was searching to figure out why. Meditation gave me my first glimpse inside myself. A glimpse that brought me joy and made me feel peace. A peace I had never known; one that I needed to feel. It gave me body awareness. Helped me focus my thoughts. And connected me to my feelings. To my soul.

Now, over a decade later, my practice looks much different than when I started. I find beauty in this as thats how it should be things should evolve, as life does. Because while we all need to practice finding stillness, well go nowhere if we dont move.

So if you find yourself beginning your meditation practice, here are some basic steps to help you get started:

I wish you light and love as you begin your practice. May you find peace and joy in yourself. Namaste.

Like me on Facebook|Follow me on Twitter|Visit my website

Jenna Grace is a neurodivergent writer and educator with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sensory processing disorder (SPD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) diagnoses. She writes and speaks about topics including neurodiversity and SPD in order to help others and to explore new meaning. Visit her website or Twitter, @jennagracewrite.

APA Reference Grace, J. (2019). Mental Health, Spirituality and Self-care: 8 Basic Steps to Beginning Your Meditation Practice. Psych Central. Retrieved on November 30, 2019, from https://blogs.psychcentral.com/neurodivergent/2019/11/mental-health-spirituality-and-self-care-8-basic-steps-to-beginning-your-meditation-practice/

Last updated: 29 Nov 2019 Statement of review: Psych Central does not review the content that appears in our blog network (blogs.psychcentral.com) prior to publication. All opinions expressed herein are exclusively those of the author alone, and do not reflect the views of the editorial staff or management of Psych Central. Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

Original post:

Mental Health, Spirituality and Self-care: 8 Basic Steps to Beginning Your Meditation Practice - PsychCentral.com

Young Writers Project is an independent nonprofit that engages students to write, helps them improve and connects them with authentic audiences in newspapers, before live audiences and online. YWP also publishes an annual anthology and The Voice, a digital magazine featuring YWPs best writing and images. More info: youngwritersproject.org or contact YWP at sreid@youngwritersproject.org or 802-324-9538.

This week, we present responses to the following challenges: Meditation. Sit still in a quiet place with your eyes closed for five minutes, and try to empty your mind of any thoughts. Does one thought keep pushing its way through? Vent about it or use it as inspiration to write. And general writing.

Prompt: Meditation

By Grace Nostrant

Age 14, Bradford, Vt.

Meditation

what does it even mean? To let go.

Why cant I just let go,

let my mind fade to nothingness?

Its as if there were a flock of geese

where my brain should be,

with their loud-squawking thoughts

pecking at my forehead

an unimaginable headache.

I open my eyes, rub my head.

I see everyone in front of me.

The silence is nice, the serenity.

Now I know the answer to my question.

As I sit here and ponder,

I realize that meditation does not mean

to let go of ones thoughts.

It means to focus, to reflect, to relax

to simply be present in ones thoughts.

Meditation is a state of simply being.

By Kelly Daigle

Age 17, Bradford, Vt.

I sit in the silence

with the windows open,

the wind blowing gently,

and try not to think.

But the music, the music, the music...

No.

I imagine the silence,

refuse to listen to my own mind.

The absence of anything

is calming, refreshing, and

It creeps up behind,

the melody inching upon my consciousness

like the song of

Stop it, Mind.

I dont want to be listening to the music,

the silent music of my mind

that oddly sounds like

my seventh-grade music festival song ...

The notes stream past my barriers,

harmonies overlapping with

I box myself in nothing,

hoping that it will be enough,

that Ill finally be at peace

Full-force music from the ensemble comes in,

sounds stumbling over one another,

divided and yet coinciding

to create the mystical

Nope, nope, nope.

piece from the

Fine.

I let the music surround me,

and begrudgingly enjoy

the song stuck in my head.

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YWP: Exploring meditation and its discontents - Valley News

Nov. 29, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC / Source: StackCommerce

These products were selected by StackCommerce, which created these articles. The products are not endorsed by the NBC News editorial team. If you buy something through these links, NBC News and StackCommerce make some revenue from your purchase.

As Black Friday deals enable you to invest in the tech devices you use for apps from laptops to tablets and smartphones the apps themselves sometimes come with a pricetag, too. And to align with Black Friday sales, some app subscriptions are on sale right now.

So whether you're in the market for a top-notch VPN service, cloud storage or even relaxing guided meditation, there's likely a discount on one of them worth checking out. Below, we rounded up 10 affordable apps that are worth shopping this week.

Bonus: Enter code BFSAVE40 at checkout, to get 40 percent off of the prices listed below.

Turn your startup idea into a reality with Bizplan, a step-by-step business building app that provides you with templates, dashboards and a network of investors that will help streamline your projects in an attempt to help get your business funded.

Looking for a mindful new year? Grab a lifetime subscription to Aura Meditation, which features a variety of science-backed guided meditation sessions aimed to help relieve stress and anxiety.

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

The best passwords have randomized character strings that feature numbers and special symbols. The issue is that they also tend to be the hardest to remember. This service can auto-fill usernames and passwords for all your online accounts to make that process much easier.

Another way you can keep your information private is with the help of a VPN. These help ensure that when you're using public WiFi networks, your personal data is kept away from prying eyes.

Home renovation isn't as easy as HGTV makes it out to be. For people who need help visualizing what their redesign projects will look like, Live Home 3D Pro can help. The app allows you to design advanced floor plans with easy-to-use point-and-click tools.

Babbel, a popular language learning app, was made with the help of more than 100 expert linguists with the goal of getting you speaking a foreign language confidently in as little as one month. All of its lessons are bite-sized (about 10 to 15 minutes in total) so that you can more easily fit them into your schedule, and they focus on real-life topics you'll get the most use out of, such as business, food and travel.

Keep track of your finances and pinpoint areas where you can cut back on your expenses with CoinKeeper. The personal finance tool can help you create a monthly budget, monitor your expenditures, set spending limits and notify you when you're overspending.

For people who want to be caught up on all the latest bestselling titles but don't have time to read them all in-depth, 12min Micro Book synthesizes a variety of books into short articles so that you can digest all the important information in as little as 12 minutes.

Dubbed as the Swiss Army Knife of iPhone management, iMazing is a Mac/Windows app that allows you to browse and manage your iPhone's backups, extract your text message information, copy your favorite songs, export your photos and access the history of your notes.

You've got plenty of videos, photos, audio content and documents that you need safely stored. A cloud service like ThunderDrive allows you to keep your most important files safe and accessible.

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Black Friday gets you tech devices here's how to save on apps - NBC News

With all the travel, family and overall hustle and bustle of the holidays this time of year can be very stressful.

So finding some time for yourself is very important.

Even if that means just a few minutes finding your center.

We spend so much time putting our energy outward," said meditation facilitator at the Lotus in Helena LuAnn Whale. "Doing errands, talking on the phone, doing chores, being at work. You know. Theres so many distractions so it moves you away from your center. So meditation and even breathing brings you back into you center.

Meditation can be a small practice with big benefits.

Even according to the world renowned Mayo Clinic, the practice of meditation can offer many benefits, including stress reduction. A great aid to any doctor prescribed plan you may be working with.

The practice of yoga is indicated for all kinds of things in terms of alleviating and lifting people out of depression and anxiety, said mental health therapist and yoga instructor Heidi Opitz.

And practicing meditation doesnt mean you have to light candles and grow a ponytail.

Even doing dishes can be a meditative practice because meditation is just being about in the present moment, added LuAnn.

Taking any time out of your day to put your mind at ease and focus on the moment can be meditation.

Its beneficial at all times for stress and anxiety and of course that kind of gets amped up for the holidays and its really, really good for that," continued Whale. "And its not that you wont have the stress and anxiety but it will lessen it and youll handle it in a better way than you would have if you were not meditating.

Meditation is a really wonderful tool that you can tap into wherever you are," said Shannon Reed, who is a student at the Lotus. "Whether you are standing in line waiting for a checkout after youve made a huge grab of presents. Whether its dealing with family members or just work issues you can just quiet immediately go into a space of quiet and sit and just let it go. Just let it go."

So remember, when you are overwhelmed this holiday to take a moment.

Stop.

Breathe.

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Don't fall victim to the holiday hustle: Some advice to make the holidays less stressful - KPAX-TV