Post: Why “me” 💖 time is essential? 4 small endearing steps towards self-care.

Self-care is a priority and not selfish. The simple reason is if I don’t care about me, how can I care for my loved ones? If I don’t cater to my emotional and physical needs, then how will I cater to other’s needs?

But, then, in reality, you are driven by your responsibilities, to push yourself more and more. There are personal, professional, family, societal pressures and commitments which makes you push yourself to the extreme limits to fulfil all the demands and responsibilities. In the process, you forget yourself and do not even realise that you have your share of emotional and physical needs to be taken care of for your overall wellbeing.

Realisations come very late when we are knocked down by chronic stress, complete burnout or end up in a diseased state. Therefore, self-care daily is very important for both physical and mental wellbeing.

Scientifically speaking, there are several areas and dimensions of self-care.

Here, I have tried giving 4 small different steps towards self-care.

1.Spend some ‘me’ time alone: Everyday, give yourself a few couples of minutes to cut off from the routine grind and the hustle-bustle. This is your ‘me’ time entirely. Do whatever you enjoy doing, go for a short walk in nature, practise a hobby or listen to a piece of music. Meditate and observe your emotional feelings and acknowledge them. Understanding and acknowledging your both positive and negative thoughts are important so that you can let go of unwanted thoughts. Remember, thoughts are always associated with your feelings and experiences. Always, love and praise yourself for what you are and how far you have come in this journey. In self-care, self-love is important.

2. Control your stress level: Understand that when stress persists, your cortisol level shoots up. This adrenal gland hormone not only increases your blood sugar level but also elevates inflammation in the body which is responsible for various diseases like heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancers. So, when you feel you are at stress in the day, take a break. Practise relaxation like breathing exercises, stretches so that cortisol comes back to balance. Another simple way of letting stress go is to practice mindful moments, being present at the present moment. Sit quietly and notice your breath for some time. Feel the wind, air, smell around. Engage yourself in imagery exercise like walking down a beautiful forest, walking down a sandy beach, hearing the sounds of waves.

3.Practice gratitude: In the daytime, practice gratitude several times, being thankful for your existence, for your loved ones around, and for a beautiful life you have. These moments are important because whenever you feel gratitude and joy, there is a release of endorphins and serotonin which are happy hormones and which are necessary for your physical and mental health wellbeing.

4.Physical health: Lastly, as we all know, self-care remain incomplete if we do not care for our body. Eating healthy, routine exercise, sleeping well are essential steps towards physical wellbeing. For the normal wear tear of the body, giving enough rest helps in the healing and repairing process.

Post :Healing, some beautiful insights.

Always remember ….. Healing happens when you let it happen. Your mind and body has an innate capacity to heal on its own. It is up to you to give the right environment. Be it a physical illness, a mental sickness, a pain , a hurt everything heals. It is upto you to let yourself free from all negativity, anger, pain, fear, stress, anxiety and just surrender, and let the healing energy in. Healing is essentially setting yourself completely free from all that is negative within you.

You are equipped with an amazingly powerful immune system and a very powerful mind. The medicines and doctors can only facilitate your healing process. But the actual healing happens when you let it in.

You are blessed with an amazing life energy within you. Always keep working on it , nurture it, protect it. Therefore, taking care of your body, mind and soul on a regular basis should be your top priority. This is how you keep your life energy alive.

To keep your life energy active, your healing force alive, you need enough time to rest and renew. Eat well, sleep well and never compromise on anything which overstrain your physical and mental wellbeing. Think good for yourself and also for others. Life is a precious gift so live in gratitude and contentment. Anything that keeps you nagging, always let go.

Spend time with Nature, as much as you can. Nature is loaded with positive healing energy. Go out for a short walk in the woods, you come back with a rejuvenating spirit. This is an ultimate therapy which doesn’t cost you a penny. All of these small steps help you to stay away from all negativity and sickness of any kind.

Post: 3 basics of a balanced life.

When your mind, body and heart are in a balanced state, you feel more free, calm and grounded.
A balanced life cannot have set standard rules for everybody. What work for me may not work for you? So a balanced life cannot be followed according to a rule book but instead can be created by each one of us in our own life.

For me, like many of you, balance life is a balance of personal, professional and social life. It is also a balance of mind and heart, both practical and emotional aspects of life.

In life, it is important to remember, that like time, energy is limited. When we feel that any aspect of life is consuming too much attention and energy, it is time for a change and correction otherwise it will affect the life’s balance.

Imbalances not only affect the mental health causing stress, anxiety, sadness or unhappiness but also affects the physical health causing sickness and diseases.

Many successful people and business leaders have been giving their success formula, their tips of creating a balanced life in the form of books, interviews, lectures. But do they really work for me or you? Each one of us leads a unique life, and it is up to us to create a balance in our unique ways.

3 basics which go to create a balanced life :

1.Set Priorities: It is important to acknowledge my priorities and boundaries. At whatever age or stage of life, we are, it is important to know which aspect of life such as professional/financial, personal, family requires more attention and energy. Accordingly, we need to divide our focus and plan. It is important to have goals and aspirations in terms of career/ finance but also keep a balance on the personal/family life. Too much attention on either side may create a whack. Be it personal, professional, social life, it is important to set our priorities right.

2. Self love and care: An important aspect of balance life, is taking care of
your physical wellbeing. In spite of your daily grind, you should always take out time for yourself. Practically speaking, if you don’t have physical wellbeing, how will you cope up with everything? Meaning your professional or personal/family life or grinding towards your goals and aspirations. Taking care of yourself, eating healthy, maintaining an active lifestyle are all very important for good physical health. Whatever be the day , good or bad, always keep loving yourself and stick to your healthy routine.

3.Enthusiasm for life : In today’s stressful life with continuous adversities, it is very important to have an adequate mental balance. Keeping an open mind, carrying an optimistic attitude is the best way to approach and deal with life. Things don’t turn out always as planned. Although you keep thriving for your goals and success, you need to have a bigger purpose in life. Life is not only about materialistic success. And it is too short to live with regrets and unhappiness. Some day, even if you may achieve your career success, you may not feel happy or contentment in personal life. So, it’s important to create a balanced life on every aspect of life to experience peace, calm, happiness and sense of fulfilment. So, enjoy and live life to the fullest.

Post: 10 tips of eating healthy🙌

Eating healthy is easier and cheaper…

Local produce

Eating healthy isn’t complicated or fussy. In fact,it is the easiest option if we make it a way of life, a daily habit. 

Its time to erase all our myth about eating healthy.Common myths are eating healthy is expensive, being difficult due to non availability of resources and circumstances at work, travel and so on. But the truth is if we have a will to do so, we can make it easier always: The most common simple ways can be :

1. We should always eat the locally available produce in whichever part of the world we live. Whole grains, pulses, vegetables and fruits which are locally grown, which are in abundance in your region, fresh and not expensive.

2. The most important component in our body is water which comprises of 60 to 70%. So, it is very essential for our body’s wellbeing. Moreover, drinking water is easily and readily available resource in major parts of the world. And, we know drinking water is a healthy habit. The more we hydrate ourselves, the more healthy is our brain and body, not to forget the added benefit of glowing skin and complexion. But the problem today is we always opt for aerated water, soda, cola and alcoholic drinks. So in fact unhealthy drinking is expensive. If we carry our water bottle, it’s not just cheap but healthy too.

3. It is not only enough to eat healthy but also to keep a check on the portion of whatever we eat. Not only at home, but in work place or wherever we travel, it is important to eat in moderate portion. Eating in moderate portion is the most essential tip to keep a check on body weight. 

4. We have read enough, by now, that eating healthy is curbing sugar, excess fat and avoiding processed food. The simple logic behind this is healthy food are preferably raw, in natural form and which are not over cooked and their natural nutrients are restored. So the best option is to carry our home cooked food, fresh veggies, fruits wherever we go. If this is not possible, we need to choose from the best options available at that point of time.

5.The wisest way of shopping healthy is sticking to our grocery list (Buy items which are necessary ). Buy unprocessed , generic brands which are less expensive and healthy. Sometimes, seasonal fresh fruits ,veggies, sea food are expensive. So frozen fruits and veggies are cheaper option. Off course, sea food and meat should be fresh. Grains, pulses can be brought in bulk to save some amount of money. 

6. As mentioned earlier, choice of best option of food easily available is not only wise but at times cheaper. Instead of meat ,switching to beans, pulses are better choices. Instead of junk food, gorging some nuts or a fruit whenever hungry is way better. Instead of dining in a restaurant, celebrating at home with home cooked meal is not only cheap but a healthier option.

7.Left overs of food are great option to use our creative cooking skill for the next meal time. So the freezer is our great friend.

8. If you have a yard at home, growing your own veggies is a very wise option. If not, at least have some pots of herbs on your window balcony for ready use.

9.Above all, eating should never be associated with entertainment or pleasure. We eat to live, grow and nourish ourselves. Eating three proper meals a day is more than enough.This is actually the concept of intermittent eating (eating in specific timings).Gorging a fruits or a handful of nuts whenever hungry is just normal craving.

10.Only eating healthy is not enough. Physical activities, exercises, movement of our body are very ,very important to maintain a good health. Lastly, maintaining a calm mind, meditating, relaxing are very essential for holistic life. 

Thanks for reading.

Peace and love 🙏