Interview with Banasree Chakravarty Borah | Author | Mental Strengthening, Life and Holistic Coach | Motivational and TEDx Speaker | Pranic and EFT Practitioner
At Brilliant Read Media, it is our constant endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. As part of this, we invited Banasree Chakravarty Borah for an interview with Brilliant Read Media. To say it further, Banasree is a Mental Strengthening Coach, Life Coach, Holistic Coach, Motivational Speaker, TEDx Speaker, Author, and Pranic & EFT Practitioner. With experience spanning education, corporates, NGOs and community groups, she works at the intersection of mental resilience, emotional well-being, mindfulness and holistic healing. Her philosophy is rooted in a simple yet powerful belief: we cannot control every situation life brings our way, but we can strengthen the person who faces it. Let’s learn more about her background, inspiring journey so far and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Banasree:
Your work brings together life coaching, mental strengthening, holistic healing and education. What inspired you to bring these different dimensions together?
My journey across life coaching, mental strengthening, holistic healing, motivational speaking and education has strengthened one belief within me: we prepare ourselves for success, but very often, we are not prepared for life.
Life brings situations that no qualification or achievement can completely prepare us for: failure, rejection, uncertainty, loss, changing relationships, pressure and moments when we begin questioning our own worth. Through my own experiences and interactions with people from different walks of life, I realised that what helps us navigate these moments is our emotional resilience and inner strength.
That understanding became the foundation of my work.
For me, mental strength does not mean being strong all the time. It means knowing when to pause, when to accept, when to let go, when to set a boundary and, most importantly, how to rise without losing yourself.
I see coaching as providing direction, practical techniques as providing tools, and spirituality as providing grounding and deeper connection. When these dimensions come together, they can support a person’s journey towards greater awareness, resilience and balance.
You often speak about “strengthening the person within.” What does mental strength actually mean to you?
Mental strength is not about becoming emotionless or pretending that everything is fine. It is about developing the capacity to experience emotions, understand them and respond to life with greater awareness.
It begins with self-awareness. We need to observe our thoughts, emotions and reactions without immediately judging ourselves. When something disturbs us, instead of reacting impulsively, we can pause and ask ourselves: Why is this affecting me? Is this within my control? What is this situation trying to teach me?
That courageous introspection gradually helps us understand ourselves better.
Mental strengthening also happens through our everyday choices: setting boundaries without guilt, saying no when necessary, accepting what we cannot change, facing uncomfortable situations instead of constantly avoiding them, and learning to become our own support during difficult times.
Ultimately, you cannot control every person, situation or outcome, but you can continuously strengthen the person within you who faces them.
Your philosophy places considerable emphasis on healing. Why do you believe healing and mental strengthening need to go together?
Because we cannot keep covering emotional wounds with positivity.
Sometimes we need to acknowledge the hurt, understand it, work through it, forgive, release and then move forward. Healing is not about forgetting what happened. It is about reaching a place where what happened no longer controls how we live today.
Mental strengthening prepares us to face life’s challenges, but healing helps us understand and release some of the emotional weight we may already be carrying.
I believe the two processes complement each other. Healing gives us awareness, mental strengthening gives us resilience, and holistic living gives us balance.
The goal is not to create a life without challenges. The goal is to become calmer, clearer and stronger in the way we face those challenges.
You use practices such as mindfulness, EFT tapping, breathwork, meditation, mantras, mudras and Pranic Healing. How do you decide which technique is appropriate for an individual?
I have always believed that there is no single practice that works equally for everyone. Every individual carries a different emotional story, different patterns and a different level of readiness.
I therefore focus on the individual rather than forcing the individual to fit a particular method.
I may begin with structured coaching to understand where the person is, what is holding them back and where they genuinely want to go. Depending on their needs, I may integrate mindfulness, breathwork, guided meditation, EFT, emotional-regulation techniques, positive reframing, journaling or brain exercises.
For individuals who connect with spiritual practices, I may also integrate meditation, mantras, mudras or Pranic Healing.
The technique is only a tool. The real transformation comes from awareness, consistency and the willingness to work on oneself.
What does a meaningful breakthrough look like for you during your work with a client or participant?
The most meaningful breakthroughs are often subtle.
It may be when someone who once reacted immediately learns to pause. It may be when someone begins setting boundaries without guilt. It may be when a person who constantly doubted themselves starts recognising their own capabilities.
For me, the real breakthrough is not simply that someone feels peaceful during a session. It is when they take that awareness back into everyday life.
One of the most powerful shifts is when someone moves from saying, “I cannot handle this,” to believing, “This is difficult, but I have the strength to work through it.”
That shift represents the essence of mental strengthening for me.
You have worked with schools, corporates, NGOs and community groups. How does your approach change across these different environments?
The circumstances may be different, but I have found that the core emotional needs are often surprisingly similar: to feel understood, valued, confident, connected and emotionally safe.
With teenagers and young adults, I often encounter self-doubt, comparison, academic and social pressure, fear of failure, identity struggles and difficulty expressing emotions. My approach here is gentle and relatable, with a focus on self-awareness, confidence, emotional regulation and self-belief.
In schools, I strongly believe academic excellence should go hand in hand with emotional resilience. Students need to learn not only how to succeed, but also how to handle failure, rejection, pressure and uncertainty.
In corporate environments, the focus may be more structured and practical, addressing stress, burnout, performance pressure, workplace conflict, emotional regulation and healthy boundaries.
With NGOs and community groups, compassion and human connection can become particularly important. Sometimes people need techniques, but sometimes they first need a safe space where they feel heard without judgement.
So, while the language and techniques may change, the foundation remains the same: strengthening the mind, working through emotional patterns and reconnecting people with their inner resources.
You believe emotional resilience should be introduced early in life. What do you think schools need to do differently?
I strongly believe that we prepare children for academic success, but we also need to prepare them for life.
A child should learn how to handle failure, rejection, comparison, pressure, uncertainty and changing relationships with confidence and emotional balance.
Academic achievement is important, but it cannot be the only measure of a child’s development.
Through mindfulness, breathwork, meditation, brain exercises and reflective practices, we can help children develop focus, discipline, empathy and self-awareness.
I would like to see mental strengthening become an integral part of education not as something introduced only when a child is struggling, but as an everyday life skill.
Our goal should be to raise not only successful students, but grounded, compassionate and emotionally resilient human beings.
In today’s high-pressure environment, what are some simple practices people can incorporate into everyday life to strengthen themselves mentally?
Mental strength is built through small, conscious practices repeated consistently.
Mindful breathing, meditation, gratitude, journaling and positive self-talk can create an inner space between an experience and our reaction to it.
But mental strengthening is also about our everyday decisions.
We can practise pausing before reacting, asking ourselves whether something is within our control, setting healthy boundaries, saying no when necessary and accepting that we cannot control every outcome.
I also encourage people to spend a few quiet minutes with themselves every day. We live in a world filled with constant stimulation, so creating moments of silence can be incredibly valuable.
Ten minutes of mindful practice every day can be more meaningful than searching for peace only when life becomes overwhelming.
Consistency matters.
You describe your approach as holistic. What does holistic well-being mean to you?
For me, holistic well-being means recognising that the mind, emotions, body and inner self are deeply connected.
We cannot always address emotional stress by focusing only on thoughts. Sometimes the body needs calming, sometimes emotions need acknowledgement, sometimes the mind needs clarity, and sometimes we need a deeper sense of meaning or spiritual grounding.
That is why my approach may combine structured coaching with mindfulness, breathwork, meditation, EFT, reflective exercises and spiritual practices, depending on the individual.
Spirituality, in my approach, is not about imposing a particular belief or ritual. It is about developing faith, gratitude, compassion, acceptance and a deeper relationship with oneself and something greater than oneself.
Holistic living, for me, is ultimately about becoming more grounded and connected while dealing with reality, not escaping from it.
What role does spirituality play in your work, especially when working with people from diverse backgrounds?
Spirituality is deeply personal, and I believe it should always be approached with respect and openness.
I do not believe spirituality should be about imposing a particular belief system. Instead, it can help people develop qualities such as faith, gratitude, compassion, acceptance and inner stillness.
Different people connect with different practices. What matters to me is whether a practice helps the individual become more grounded, aware and connected with themselves.
Spirituality, when approached in a personal and inclusive way, can become a source of strength during uncertainty and difficult periods of life.
What has your experience as an educator and coach taught you about the emotional challenges people face today?
One of the biggest lessons has been that people can appear strong externally while silently carrying tremendous stress, fear, self-doubt and emotional pain.
The external circumstances may differ, but many people struggle with similar questions: Am I good enough? What will people think of me? What if I fail? How do I handle rejection? How do I manage pressure without losing myself?
This is particularly visible among young people, who are navigating academic expectations, social comparison, digital influences, changing relationships and questions around identity.
It has reinforced my belief that emotional well-being cannot be treated as an afterthought.
People need spaces where they feel safe enough to understand themselves without judgement.
As a TEDx speaker, author, coach and motivational speaker, what message do you most want people to take away from your work?
My message is simple: do not search for all your answers outside yourself.
We often look for validation, confidence, peace and strength externally, while forgetting that much of that journey begins within.
You cannot control every situation, every person or every outcome. But you can strengthen the person who faces them.
Give yourself permission to heal at your own pace. Let go of what you cannot control. Create boundaries where they are needed. Forgive yourself for your past choices. And keep moving forward with faith.
Emotional freedom does not mean a life without pain. It means reaching a place where your pain no longer decides who you are or how you live.
What is the biggest misconception people have about mental strength?
I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that mentally strong people are always confident, positive and unaffected by difficulties.
That is not mental strength.
A mentally strong person can feel fear, sadness, disappointment or uncertainty. The difference is that they develop the awareness and capacity to process those emotions rather than allowing those emotions to completely dictate their actions.
Mental strength is not about never falling. It is about knowing how to rise every time life challenges us.
It is not the absence of vulnerability. It is the ability to remain connected with yourself even while experiencing vulnerability.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your journey so far?
For me, the most rewarding moments are when I witness someone begin to see themselves differently.
When someone who once felt overwhelmed, fearful, emotionally stuck or unsure gradually begins to understand their emotions, recognise their strengths and say, “I can handle this,” that is deeply meaningful.
I do not measure transformation only by immediate results. Sometimes the most important change is an internal shift that gradually influences the way someone communicates, responds, makes decisions and relates to themselves.
My greatest satisfaction comes from knowing that someone has developed tools they can continue using long after our sessions have ended.
Looking ahead, what is your larger vision for your work?
My long-term vision is to make mental strengthening and emotional well-being part of everyday life rather than something we think about only when we are struggling.
I want to take this work beyond individual coaching and contribute to a wider movement where emotional resilience, mindfulness, self-awareness and holistic well-being become accessible to children, educators, families, workplaces and communities.
Education is especially close to my heart. I would like to see emotional resilience become an integral part of the educational journey so that children are prepared not only for examinations and careers, but also for life’s uncertainties.
I also hope to expand workshops, structured programmes, writing and community initiatives that bring together mindfulness, meditation, self-awareness, emotional healing and practical mental-strengthening tools.
Ultimately, I do not want people to become dependent on a coach or a technique. I want them to gradually become their own source of strength.
When a person can face uncertainty with awareness, respond rather than react, and remain grounded even when life changes around them that, for me, is true emotional freedom.
If you could leave readers with one thought about building inner strength, what would it be?
Remember that inner strength is not something you discover by chance. It is something you build through mindful practice, courageous introspection and consistent healing.
Life may not always become easier simply because we work on ourselves. But we can become calmer, clearer and stronger in the way we face it.
So, instead of asking, “How can I control everything happening around me?” perhaps we can begin asking, “How can I strengthen the person within me who is facing it?”
Because when we strengthen the person within, we change the way we experience life itself.
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