One of the heartwarming booths at the Taiwan Convention was put up by the initiators of the Rotary Fellowship of Hypnosis and Healing (RFHH), started by Rotarians in RID 3080. Dr Harsimran Singh Chowdhary, an allergist from Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh (about 120km from Chandigarh), who started this Fellowship, says, “When we put up our Healing and Hypnosis booth at the House of Friendship at the Taipei Convention, walking into the hall on the first morning, I remember wondering whether anyone would stop at our booth.”
Fortunately, many Rotarians did, he recalls, smiling. “Over the next few days, Rotarians from every corner of the world came over — not only to enquire about the fellowship but to talk about stress, emotional wellbeing, healing, and the challenges people are facing in their own communities.” What was heartening for him was that by the end of the convention, around 25 new members had joined RFHH. “For a newly formed fellowship taking its very first steps, that felt deeply encouraging, and meant more to us than I can express.”
Tracing the genesis and evolution of this Fellowship, Dr Singh, the founder and executive secretary of RFHH, who is a paediatrician, allergist and asthma specialist, says he has been doing private practice in his hometown for 12 years, and is married to Harleen Kaur, an alternative therapist with a double PhD, who has been running her own centre for the last 23 years.
Rotarians from all over the world came to talk about stress, emotional wellbeing, healing, and the challenges people face in their own communities.
She started practising alternative therapies from the young age of 18, and is a Reiki grandmaster and a well-known tarot card reader, who is often invited to TV channels to share her knowledge and expertise, and has trained some 5,000 students, including youngsters from foreign countries.
They are members of RC Chandigarh Royale, RID 3080, and he is also a TRF Cadre member for Global Health (2026–31). “When we joined Rotary, we thought, why don’t we give our skills to fellow Rotarians also and help them.” Though he is a paediatrician and allergy expert, Dr Singh has also been practising hypnotherapy during the last 2 to 3 years. “In hypnotherapy, we work with the subconscious mind. I visit de-addiction centres in my region along with Harleen and do hypnotherapy sessions for inmates there to cure them of their addiction.”
When they decided to share their knowledge with Rotarians, they applied for the Fellowship. But, he admits, this was easier said than done. “It was a very difficult job for us. I worked very hard, and it took about six months to convince the person who heads RI Fellowships — there are around 100 Fellowships all across the world (this magazine featured one on motorcycle riders in the August issue) and we got the clearance after a lot of convincing.”
This is the first Fellowship in RID 3080, he says with pride, and it was approved only in Feb 2026. Now it has 70 members, having been boosted by the 25 new members they got at the Taiwan Convention. The members, who include healers and therapists from all over the world, meet online once a month. At these meetings, Harleen trains them how to use the subconscious mind. The couple’s plan is to train fellow Rotarians in alternative therapies, healing modalities and spiritual sciences.
A pilot project Dr Singh and Harleen are planning is related to treating the inmates at the Nahan Central Jail for depression and other mental health related maladies. “We need permission for this and have contacted Himachal Pradesh director general of Prisons Abhishek Trivedi, and we will soon launch this pilot project to talk and counsel the prisoners.”
On why they chose a prison to launch this pilot project, he says that while the couple has been working with de-addiction centres, they found there aren’t many who pay any special attention to healing people who are undergoing different sentences in jails. “They don’t have people who are interested in talking to them, and due to their circumstances, these inmates face a lot of mental burden, suffer various mental illnesses, and are already depressed because they are inside a jail and virtually lost their families.”
He explains that as in the deaddiction centres, here too healing will be done, when the pilot begins, through hypnotherapy, Reiki and all other alternative therapies, meditation, and methods like aura and chakra cleaning. “Because among jail inmates, we can programme their subconscious minds to induce them to leave addictions which are common in prisons.”
The idea is to visit the prisoners, “tell them positive things, teach them some of these methods to make them feel good.”
Returning to the Fellowship’s stall at the Taipei Convention, Dr Singh says, “some moments will stay with me for a long time. Such as RI President Francesco Arezzo and his wife Anna Maria visiting our booth and spending a few moments with us. As a newly formed Fellowship, that gesture meant more to us than I can express.”
Another memorable visitor was Sylvia Whitlock, the woman who fought a court battle to join Rotary, and who was also the first woman to become the president of a Rotary club. “She came to our booth in a wheelchair. Harleen offered her a tarot reading, and during our conversation she smiled and told us that she also enjoys reading tarot cards herself. It wasn’t something we expected, but it turned into a warm and memorable exchange that reflected the friendships Rotary creates across cultures and generations.”
Another visitor to their booth who left a lasting impression was a Rotarian who had suffered a spinal injury only a few weeks earlier; he came to the convention in an electric wheelchair. “Despite everything he had been through… he was not even able to walk, but he still made it to the convention and took time to visit our booth. And he was so cheerful; that meeting reminded me that Rotary is built on resilience as much as service,” he says.
Of the 25 new members this Fellowship got at the convention, 10 are from the US and the rest from Australia, Germany, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Of course there was no time for therapy sessions, but some tarot reading was done free of cost for all those who visited the booth.
On their end goal, Dr Singh says, “Most of the people who join Rotary are financially rich, but today so many people are suffering from mental illness; I would even say that issues related to mental illness will explode. We talk to small children… nine or 10 years old, and they say we are depressed. Imagine children using these words… stress, depression, anxiety, etc.” Similarly Rotarians too, we know, despite being well settled in life, face many mental challenges, and the aim of this Fellowship, the first-of-its-kind, is to help such people. “At least, unlike before, when stigma was associated with anything to do with a mental illness, today people are more accepting of mental illnesses and so many are already seeking the help of different kinds of counsellors,” he says.
The couple believes that with awareness levels increasing, and along with them acceptance, they will be able to involve and eventually help a good many Rotarians who are struggling with mental health issues. “At the next convention in Barcelona, we aim to get over 100 more members in our Fellowship,” he says cheerfully.