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Wellness

Wellness

The best connection with food !

by Roopa
written by Roopa

Every one connects differently with food ! Here’s a secret ! In the particular way that you connect with food lies your health or ill-health ! For health, happiness and youthfulness, the right connect with food is essential !!

Yes! Food is meant to be enjoyed, savored and relished. Primarily, food provides that essential, nourishing, life-giving, life-sustaining source of energy and nourishment to all living creatures. All creatures need food to survive !

People associate food with many memories. Food and drink play an important role in celebrations all over the world ! Food is also strongly associated with culture, regions, history, traditions and festivals.

Food means different things to different people. For some, food is a source of happiness, a source of comfort, a binding factor that keeps families together. For some it is a reason to live for, they love to eat, and will travel distances to get the kind of food and drink that appeases their taste buds and appetites !

For some, eating food is something they just do to survive. They are not really interested in it. Some are aware of what nutrients their food contains while some are blissfully ignorant of what nutrition is all about. They simply enjoy their food !

Think about how YOU connect with food ! What relationship do you have with it? Do you eat for your health or to satisfy your taste buds? Perhaps you manage to do both!

What are your thoughts when you eat ? What you eat, how you eat, with what attitude, and how much you eat – all these make a difference to the way your body and mind respond to the food.

Food is meant to be consumed and must not consume you !!

Food is Divinity incarnate !

Ancient Indian texts prescribe the best ways to connect with food. They state that food is a form incarnate of the Supreme Divine ! In Samskrit, the ancient language of the sacred texts of India, this is stated as “Annam Parabrahma Swaroopam.”

Food is composed of all the components of Earth. The 5 natural elements – space, air, light (fire), water, and earth – are incorporated in it. Every aspect, every bit of nature is a part of your food.

There’s divinity in food – it is what your body is made up of !

A right attitude towards food goes a long way in keeping you healthy, energetic, active and peaceful in mind and body !!

Here’re 4 simple things to keep in mind whenever you eat! Ensure that you eat :

  1. The RIGHT QUALITY /kind of food – Every inch of you is made up of the food you eat. Would you put into your body the best of food to keep it in top condition OR would you compromise on the quality and settle for a poor quality body ?! Be choosy and pick the best kinds of food to eat !!

Eat fresh, local, balanced, nutritious, vegetarian or vegan food that includes fruits, millets, cereals, lentils, vegetables, greens and nuts.

2.The RIGHT QUANTITY – Greed, over-eating, excessive eating, or too much interest and obsession with food is very harmful, and is the root cause of obesity. Moderation in quantity is the rule…. always better to eat a bit less rather than have a full stomach, is a good mantra !

3. At the RIGHT TIME – Eat when hungry, wait for a good appetite, which by itself is a sign of good health. Learn to say NO to food when you are not hungry (as long as you are a non-diabetic, reasonably healthy person).

4. With the RIGHT CONNECTION/Attitude – Consume/enjoy food with love, devotion, gratitude, respect, reverence, mindfulness and a conscious sense of satisfaction.

Have the best relationship with food !

When you respect and love your body, then your attitude towards food should be, or rather will be, one of love, respect, gratitude, mindfulness, purpose and contentment.

Nutrients in food = Health, energy, vitality, peace, contentment.

Food for appeasement of taste buds only = Ill-health, obesity, diseases, lethargy, unease.

Food comes to your plate because of the effort of many people and should never be wasted. The most noble and essential work is that of the farmer.

7 steps to reconnect in the best way to food !! :

  1. Be conscious, mindful and aware of what you are eating. Enjoy eating good, nutritious food.
  2. Take a really hard look at what is on your plate and ask if your body needs that food or is it on your plate because you just want it?
  3. Learn to choose the right kind of foods every time.
  4. Check – would you feed what you are eating to a small child that is growing up?
  5. Learn to enjoy the feeling of lightness of a partially-filled stomach.
  6. Learn to enjoy some hunger pangs – smile when your mind demands food. Your body will adapt soon enough.
  7. Be conscious of ‘contentment’ while eating. Stop eating when you feel content. Always take small portions and refill with small portions if you feel you need more. You will eat the right quantity this way and not waste any food.

Remember ! In the particular way that you connect to food lies your health or ill-health!

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Wellness

Giving and Receiving – both make you smile ! :)

by Roopa
written by Roopa

To feel like a Ray of Sunshine, you need only to extend your hand and help others with a smile, thankful that they are receiving your help ! 🙂

It’s easier to give than to receive, for most people. However, unless there is a receiver, how can one give? It is the receiver who enables the giver to gift themselves the joy of giving. The two acts are interlinked.

Giving is a sure way to receive joy, satisfaction and gratitude just as by receiving, the receiver gives an opportunity to the giver to feel all these.

We are both receivers and givers, one way or the other.

What I learnt from my trek –

On my Kashmir Great Lakes Trek, something that struck me as amazing was the flow, balance and play between giving and receiving.

A trek lends itself to many simple ways in which one can help others. I can help someone by pulling them up a rock, holding their hand and walking with them if they have a fear of heights. If they run out of water, I can help by giving them water from my bottle. I can help by sharing my snacks if they are low on energy. I can give them a few words of encouragement to boost their mood, and lend an ear when they want to share something…

However, the more humbling and enlightening part is to become a receiver. To receive graciously and gratefully is a skill. Likewise, to ask for help with a smile when one needs it is a skill.

On the ascent to Gadsar Pass, for the first time during the trek, I knew I needed help to make it up the last few hundred meters. I stood there for a few moments, and with a smile, I reached out a hand, “can you hold my hand and help me up a bit?”. It was an interesting conversation Arvind and I had the next 15 minutes as we made it up the Pass together.

Both roles are important and are interlinked –

When the intention behind the receiving and the giving is pure and clear, it becomes a joyful, easy engagement for both. A gracious receiver uses this opportunity to show their appreciation to the giver. Indeed, by being a receiver and receiving help from someone, in whatever form that may be, the giver feels valued, capable and appreciated.

Both roles are positive as they build and strengthen relationships, and are expressions of trust and affection. We are not talking about ‘takers’ here, the ones who exploit someone’s good nature selfishly.

It made me feel happy that I could hold Ajay’s hand and help him on our descent on the last day of our trek. (He is uncomfortable on narrow high trails). Barely an hour later, it was his turn to handhold me down the rest of our descent! This balance and play of giving and receiving felt not the least bit awkward. That day will remain with us for long, making us smile when we recall it.

How blessed is a receiver to be the recipient of care, concern, affection, support and friendship!

“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” –Maya Angelou

At the workplace –

The joys and benefits of giving and receiving can be extended to the workplace and other situations as well. We can help our teams achieve goals by offering help, giving guidance and ideas. On the other hand, when we need help at the workplace and do not ask or do not have the openness to receive it, it eats into the quality of work. A balance between the ‘outflow’ and ‘inflow’ of resources is good to have.

Both the acts of giving and receiving need openness of heart and mind. We need to give with an open heart just as we need to be able to receive with an open heart without judging people on their roles, worth or competencies.

This is a ‘thank you’ post to all those who helped me on my trek, and those who received from me as well. 😊

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Wellness

OUR POWER LIES IN WHAT WE CAN DO! – part 2

by Roopa
written by Roopa

There are some things we cannot change, cannot influence. These are not in our Personal Power Sphere. Energy, time and effort invested in this space will go a waste. We can make a difference only while working in the space where we CAN do something. This means accepting that everything is not in our control.

Yes! We can direct our time and energy to get the results we want, to be the kind of people we want to be, and influence what is in our control. We can use our Personal Power Sphere to empower ourselves and make a difference in various aspects of our lives.

And if we wish to stop the wars in the world, clean up the oceans, make the air fresh and crisp, we will still need to do what we CAN do within our Personal Power Sphere though these might seem like tiny steps given the magnitude of the issues.

What aspects are beyond our control?

Events happening around us – The world keeps changing, the scenarios across the world are different every day. We cannot control what’s happening out there. What we can do is in the sphere available to us.

The Past – By definition, past = “gone by in time and no longer existing”. Simply put, there is nothing that can be done about what happened in the past. Those events might disturb us, but any difference we can make can only be in our present actions.

Other people’s opinions, thoughts and actions – Everyone has their opinions and thoughts. People’s actions are based on many factors beyond our control. There is not much we can do about the way others think, behave and act ! We can however improve OUR own thoughts, behaviours and actions !

Future events, what is in store for us – We can do the best we CAN and hope that things turn out the way we want them to, but there’s no guarantee that all will be the way we want it to be! After all, who has seen the future? The results of our actions, whether desirable or undesirable, are not truly in our control.

All we can control is what we do in the present. That is where our Power lies.

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Wellness

OUR POWER LIES IN WHAT WE CAN DO! – part 1

by Roopa
written by Roopa

Feel your power ! ‘CAN DO’ elements form our Personal Power Sphere, from where we can make a difference. We are in control of, have power over, and can influence many aspects of our lives though not all of them!

It would be wonderful if everything and everyone around us were nice and perfect! 😊

But it’s not in a perfect world that we live.

We are all concerned about a lot of things going on around us and wish things were different. Maybe the reports on global warming worry us, we’re disturbed by the hardships and poverty of people around the world, the pesticides in our food, the never-ending wars, rising unemployment, air pollution, inflation, an uncertain future etc.

If things do not happen, or are not the way we wish them to be, it’s easy to get upset, feel sad, angry, anxious, frustrated or disappointed.

We want to be able to change what we are uncomfortable with, what worries us. Our relationships, our present condition, our daily lives, the world… we might wish for some changes in all of these.

The fact is, there are many things in this world that we cannot directly control or influence. Our opinions and thoughts on most matters do not make much of a difference. 

It’s easy then to feel helpless, to feel like we are at someone else’s mercy.

Are we powerless?

Or is there a way that we can create the changes we wish to see?

We all have our ways of coping with feelings of helplessness and frustration. An effective way is to get into our active sphere where action counts more than thoughts.

That sphere where we can get the results that we want is Our Personal Power Sphere.

OUR POWER LIES IN WHAT WE CAN DO!

When we are sharply aware of WE CAN do, that is when we feel powerful. This is our Personal Power Sphere, where we feel empowered. We feel so good about the positivity that lies there because we realize what we can control.

Where does our power lie?

It lies in the areas we CAN control, we CAN influence, we CAN take action in and ensure that things are as close to how we want them to be.

Our Power lies in –

  • What we FOCUS ON
  • What we ACT ON
  • How we USE OUR TIME
  • How we KEEP OURSELVES ENGAGED
  • How we TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES
  • The extent to which we are GRATEFUL & FEEL BLESSED to be in this world
  • The extent to which we FIND JOY in the small and big things and are JOYFUL
  • How we INFLUENCE PEOPLE in positive ways
  • The small and big ways in which we HELP PEOPLE or touch their lives somehow
  • What VALUES we LIVE BY
  • Being MINDFUL, PRESENT, ACTIVE & USEFUL every single day
  • Being ENTHUSIASTIC IN LIFE – about life
  • How we RESPOND TO OUR EMOTIONS, THOUGHTS, FEELINGS & MEMORIES
  •  How we BEHAVE towards ourselves, others and in different situations
  • How we PUSH OURSELVES TO BE IN THE STATE we want to be in
  • How HARD we WORK to get what we want
  • How we MOTIVATE OURSELVES to get OUT OF LETHARGY & INACTION

Be aware of your power!!

Youthful Living is intensified by being aware of your Power.

It means to know what you are capable of, what you can do, to feel confident, to feel grateful for all that you have, to be in the knowledge that you are capable of influencing yourself and others in positive uplifting ways. To know that even if you cannot change the world, your simple steps in feeling your Power and empowering yourself, will make a difference to your life and may be to that of others.

It’s important to be aware of what we cannot influence as well! That’s in part 2 ! 🙂

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Top Youthful Living TipsWellness

Strong, Flexible, Energetic and Youthful through Yoga Practice!!

by Roopa
written by Roopa

Yoga Practice helps one to stay Strong, Fit, Flexible, Energetic and Youthful !! Regular yoga practice keeps us youthful, vibrant, balanced and healthy in mind and body !

The calm, the flow, the absolute grounding and the experience of the present with every session of Yoga practice is something everyone needs to experience and enjoy as often as possible…. a couple of times a week at least !! 🙂

Today is International Yoga Day and Bomma is excited to share her thoughts on Yoga Practice !!

Benefits of doing Yoga :

 Not only do we get a good workout,

  • it improves our full body flexibility,
  • we enhance our ability to concentrate on, and be present in our actions,
  • one learns to really enjoy the deep breathing and breath control,
  • we are amazed at the awareness in our minds and
  • best of all, we want to experience more and come back again for the fantastic feeling after a session of Yoga practice! 🙂

Join online classes, do it with your friends or with a Yoga group or just enjoy the practice by yourself ! Start simple and easy and grow up with your practice !

Shri B K S Iyengar, one of the foremost yoga gurus puts across the connection between mind and body beautifully thus “balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life”. How simple and profound.

Our moods, our wellbeing – both physical and mental depends on how well we take care of ourselves. The practice of Yoga addresses both the physical and mental aspects. We become stronger, fitter and more flexible in both mind and body 🙂

Youthfulness is all about feeling good inside and out, feeling energetic, strong, calm and balanced in mind and body and being joyful as a habit.

Regular yoga practice, combined with other workout routines that we enjoy, is a great way to feel and keep ourselves youthful !

Here are some channels to practise with , no matter whether you are a beginner or a regular practitioner :

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHTisXO8TeozyYOxEZGC8XQ

https://www.youtube.com/c/bohobeautiful

https://www.youtube.com/c/BreatheandFlow

Happy Yoga Day 🙂

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Earth ConnectionWellness

Gift Yourself Moments Of Joy Through the Day !!

by Roopa
written by Roopa

Everyday make sure to gift yourself a few moments with simple and natural things around you that make you smile !! :))

Indulging in Moments of Joy through the day will make it a beautiful and happy day.

Sometimes we think we need to experience something big and awesome to feel happy and high, but in reality, to be in the relaxed space to enjoy those occasional big things, it’s important to find moments of relaxation, smiles and joy in simple things around us on an everyday basis as well.

When we smile at the small things around us, a bird on a tree, a plant in the balcony, some flowers on a table, a puppy playing on the road, or anything in nature, it refreshes our mind and makes us relaxed.

Try it !!!

Find small Moments of Joy everyday!!

You recognise those moments by being watchful and observing what makes you smile 🙂

Anything can make you smile ! 🙂

It could be :

  • a baby in a pram on the road,
  • a hello and a nod exchanged with the guy at the coffee counter,
  • music from a road-side musician,
  • the sight of blue skies above you,
  • a picture or thoughts of beautiful mountains
  • a nicely presented healthy meal,
  • the fragrance of flowers at the florist,
  • the colour of the roses in bloom at the park,
  • children squealing with delight at the swing in the play area,
  • the texture of soft clothes on your body,
  • a brief teasing banter with your spouse,
  • a quick body stretch in the corridor
  • a few minutes of deep mindful breathing ..

Be aware of the times when you are feeling a bit stressed at work or at home and actively look out for what makes you smile and feel relaxed.

Grab these small moments throughout the day! They will add up and make you feel great!

Savour the small joys, smile, share and enjoy them with others as well! 🙂

What are your moments of Joy through the day?

Do share in the comments below!

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Top Youthful Living TipsWellness

Want to know how to stay Relaxed and Smiling?!

by Roopa
written by Roopa
Focus on the breath, be in the present !!

Deep Mindful Breathing keeps us calm, cool & smiling because an effective way to be in the present is to bring our focus to our breath.

If we sit for a few minutes a day quietly, allowing our thoughts to just pass on like clouds, while we do some deep, mindful breathing, staying aware of the breath, the inhale and the exhale, it can be a greatly relaxing, calming activity.

Our days demand a lot of thinking, decision-making, juggling between various essential activities, and things to do. We hardly give attention to the way we breathe. A few minutes of bringing our focus to our breath, enjoying the movement of air into and out of our lungs can bring instant calm and stillness in our minds.

It’s fine to do this activity as many times as we want to through the day.

Some of us may want to do this for a few minutes while some may want to stay with the breath for a bit longer. The result is a clearer, calmer mind that is in the present. Even a short while of breath awareness feels so good !!

When we stay in the present, we see things around us more clearly. We are able to think better, decide better in a calm way.

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Top Youthful Living TipsWellness

Simple Top Youthful Living Secret Just For You!!

by Roopa
written by Roopa

If we want to be young and strong, we cannot afford to eat wrong !

There is a simple secret to looking young, feeling energetic and staying healthy ! Eat Right !!

Eating food only for its taste

May not be good for our waists !

Eat fresh, local & natural,

Always with delight & restraint,

Food that is nutrition-based!

To our looks and health,

A lot of difference this is sure to make! 🙂

– Bomma.

Choose from Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Grains, Lentils, Millets and Natural Oils at every meal!!

When we eat right, it shows, + we feel good inside.

We need not get into calorie counting and fuss about all that we must or mustn’t eat!

Simply and Consistently choose fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, lentils and millets – based foods cooked in small amounts of natural oils! It’s that simple.

Enjoy what you eat, give yourself a treat once in a while!

What we eat is how our body will be. Eat to look and feel youthful and be energetic !

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Top Youthful Living TipsWellness

How to look Youthful in an instant !!!

by Roopa
written by Roopa

“As you grow older…

To avoid saying ‘Ouch, ouch ☹’

Remember – Don’t Slouch!!”

– Bomma.

Sit tall, and stand tall (even if you aren’t tall really!)

Neck long, spine straight, shoulder relaxed, chest up, core together.

Feel energetic and confident instantly.

Slouching makes one look older, it’s not youthful. Nor healthful.

Posture is important for the proper mechanics of your body, so be aware of it.

Correct your posture frequently.  

Exercise and stretch – chest, back and core muscles.

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