Woman, You Are Your First Love. Are You Putting Yourself First?

As a woman, you have many stressors that are unique for women. Are you putting yourself first, and working towards a fitter you?

Working single or multiple jobs, managing the family’s needs, and being compassionate towards society are primarily areas where a woman’s energy gets depleted. Self nourishment becomes a lost goal. Where’s the time to focus on a good salad, and nibble it slowly, or climb the stairs instead of taking an elevator, or sometimes think ahead and plan for oneself rather than the family? Whether single or coupled, women tend to put their wellness priorities on hold.

The good news is that society is realizing the importance of health, nutrition and longevity of women. The entrepreneurial space is abuzz with creating options for easy living, and more so from a woman’s perspective. Be it groceries, healthy menus, fitness, monthly cycle, financial management, doctors’ appointments, house maintenance, sleep tracking, remote job opportunities, all are just a click away. As we embrace 21^st century living, there are innumerable options that step up and help organize ourselves, to prep us to scale our hectic routines.

Own Your Inner Peace Everyday

Women are the real managers of life and family. And as a result, we find less time to connect with ourselves, right from morning till night. Some of us are breadwinners too, so one single day is a long stretch. It’s quite normal to jump into tasks and goals for the day, without thinking twice about one’s own emotional needs. Guilt coupled with anxiety and stress is harboured unintentionally. However, some simple tips help build enough inner resolve to circumvent such inner conflict. A daily meditation or Me Time is recommended for everyone, and especially for women.

Meditation

• Set aside 5 minutes a day, preferably early morning, before others are up, and practice any meditative routine that makes you feel calm and relaxed.
• Search the web for guides on yogic chants, Transcendental Meditation, theta breathing etc., and discover your personal inner vibration
• If time permits, join a course under a trained meditation professional for guided practices

Studies have shown that merely 5 to 10 minutes of Me Time can make a huge difference to inner peace, if followed habitually. Look forward to this Me Time, and find your mind and soul refreshed. Start small, aim big.

Make food your friend

Women tend to eat emotionally. It is so hard to create that space for one’s own healthy and effective eating, while providing nourishment for others. Indeed, an incredibly daunting task to plan out one’s own diet and stick to it. Many try, and give up after a week or a month. Diets have become a major bone of contention all across the world, and on a daily basis the health benefits of foods are being debated. One is often is left mentally reeling about what is good and what is not. Food is that vital component of our lives that is under constant scanner and is an added stress. However, embracing food as a healer can become a gradual part of our hectic lives.

Go Organic

You can start with,

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• Changing to an organic diet or growing your own terrace organic crops is the new mantra. Gardening has its own healing benefits.
• Becoming aware of components of fat, carbs, proteins, minerals and sugars that you ingest daily.
• Keeping a note of of sugary, white flour carbs and fried food intake and cutting them down gradually.

It is also a good idea to pay a visit to a dietician, who can help modify your daily intake, suitable to your body type and metabolism. Make food your friend, not the enemy, and open your heart to its healing.

Let fitness be your pit stop

Exercise is a scary word, and seeing people run marathons, or spend dedicated gym hours is both intimidating and inspiring, Intimidating, because not all have the same time or body type, inspiring because, those bodies look fab without that fat. But isn’t each body and shape to be respected as is?

A prudent way to rethink would be,

• Shed comparison. Surely, it is more important to be healthy and fit, than to be sculpted and selfie smart. For those who can achieve perfection, it is admirable, but for those have constraints, maybe striving for excellence is better.
• Work with your body and your comfort level and pushing those boundaries one at a time. Nowadays, there’s no sweat on the number of options to exercise. Aerial Yoga, PiYo, FIIT, Aqua Aerobics, Power Yoga, Pilates, Zumba, Belly Dancing, Skate Boarding, Kickboxing and many such styles are stepping up to rush human adrenaline.
• Get to a group class! Group classes are a great social hub, where the energy is revved up, and horizons get expanded.
• Multiple routine is the new black. Path breaking fitness ideas are sweeping exercise styles in a big way.  Check out how you can vary your routine depending on your time and convenience.

As we are evolving, time is shrinking and newer solutions are emerging to accommodate our mental, physical and emotional well being. Yes, let fitness no longer be your foe, but the cherished time you can spend with what’s best for your body, sprinkling it with endorphin goodies.

So it’s not magic that steps in from the outside, but our consistent efforts that help initiate this daily self focus that aggregates to a magical transformation of our selves. So, start slowly, but sure-footedly and maintain consistency. And even if you slip up, start again. Keep being kinder to yourself. And alongside, reclaim your wellness and sanguinity step by step. In the words of the Buddha, ” To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind.”

Image source: the author, Richa Anand.

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