Thinks 863

NYTimes: “Yoga, which originated in India more than 5,000 years ago, has become a staple of American fitness for many reasons. It requires little to no equipment and can be made accessible to nearly everyone. It has also been linked to a growing number of health benefits, including stress relief, better sleep, improved cognition‌ ‌and reduced back pain. Research also suggests that, at least for otherwise sedentary people, yoga improves balance, strength‌ and flexibility as much as many stretching and strengthening exercises do. One possible reason for yoga’s many benefits: It is an intentional practice that requires focus from both the mind and the body.”

Morgan Housel: “I recently heard a phrase I love: Mental liquidity. It’s the ability to quickly abandon previous beliefs when the world changes or when you come across new information. It shouldn’t be controversial. But mental liquidity is so rare. Changing your mind is hard because it’s easier to fool yourself into believing a falsehood than admit a mistake.”

7investing CEO Simon Erickson recently spoke with Pulak Prasad. “Pulak is the CEO of Nalanda Capital, a Singapore-based investment firm who manages nearly $5 billion and invests primarily in Indian-based companies. He is also the author of What I Learned About Investing From Darwin. Simon and Pulak began the conversation by discussing what traditional investment managers are doing wrong. As a whole, active managers typically underperform the broader market — and for a variety of reasons. Similar to 7investing’s seven principles, Nalanda follows three pillars to guide its investing process: 1) Avoid big risks, 2) Demand a fair price, and 3) Don’t sell. By abiding by these straightforward rules, they’ve identified and invested in several of India’s best-in-class companies.”

PTI: “A new book provides depth to our understanding of the institutions that underlie modern India, how they work, why they often fail, and how change is as much the job of citizens as it is of reformists within government. In “Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government is Holding Indians Back”, economist Subhashish Bhadra attempts to cut through different political ideologies to focus on issues that really matter. “Contrary to the popular narrative, GenZ and millennials are more politically engaged than previous generations. However, they hesitate to express themselves publicly because of how polarized our politics has become,” says Bhadra. According to him, “Caged Tiger” is an attempt to avoid the trap of personality politics and instead adopt a new lens of looking at our most intractable problems. “As a young stakeholder in our democratic process, I believe that the future of India is inextricably linked to the quality of its public institutions,” he says.” An excerpt from the book.