Wellness First- Heal & Grow

01/02/2023

Understanding Teen Depression- “It’s ok to not be ok.”

Super excited to offer a session on a topic I feel very strongly about. Find me at the this Saturday, 4th February 2:00-3:00 PM.

Please do share this with whoever you feel may benefit from this 🙂

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the wellness weekend! ✨

31/12/2021

As we enter the new year, this was a much needed reminder by my yoga instructor.

I have often found myself resisting change, fearing what the future holds and doubting myself more than ever.

To surrender means to let go.

Let go of fear, doubt, worry and uncertainty.

Let your heart love, and your soul breathe! 🙏🏻

Happy New Year! 🌟

07/10/2021

Last month, in a mental health training, my trainer kept emphasising on a “happy hour.” That really resonated with me because we all have ongoing stressors in our lives. While it’s important to reflect on our difficult feelings and work on them, sometimes we just need a break…

That’s where our ‘happy hour’ comes in to play! 😀

Your happy hour can consist of anything that gives you happiness. Something that you do purely for yourself. In doing so, you are giving yourself a message that you matter. This is a great form of self-care which we all often compromise on.

So ask yourself, “how would you like to spend your happy hour?”

Try to have a happy hour at least once a week, if not more.

Swipe ⬅️ to see how I spent my happy hours in the month of September.

P.S: I organised a family activity where we all painted mini pots. More like spending a family happy hour. I’m not sure if they were as happy as me 😉, but it surely was an hour of creativity and bonding!

28/04/2021

Acceptance is embracing emotions, situations, people and experiences that life brings our way.

The more we resist, the more uneasiness we create within ourselves. When we are unwilling to accept something, we try to change what is beyond our capacity to control. This often does more harm than good.

Acceptance helps us make peace with our life, and allows us to see the bigger picture. It reminds us that everything happens for a reason, so we may grow with each passing day.

The greatest gift that you can give to yourself is the gift of acceptance and unconditional love.

I hope you give this gift to yourself and others around you 💫

01/01/2021

May this year be a source of comfort, peace and healing for you and your family.

Happy New Year! ✨

07/10/2020

Gratitude, the willingness to appreciate and be keenly aware of the good that happens to us.

It is human nature to feel worried and unsettled when things don’t go our way. But allowing ourselves to tap into the simplest of things will help us to be grateful for all that we have in life.

Every setback is actually God’s way of redirecting us to unfold what’s in our best interest. Gratitude may not change our situation but it will definitely change the way we perceive ourselves.

So spare a moment each day and 📝 the things you appreciate in your life. Start with a few, and continue to build on your daily list as you reconnect with yourself and your blessings.

The struggle ends when gratitude begins.

I wish you positivity, happiness, healing and growth. Here’s to the power of gratitude! 🙏🏻

26/07/2020

“Empathy is communicating that incredibly healing message of, you’re not alone.”
- Brené Brown

A discussion with Urooj Mazhar on one of my favourite topics- Empathy.

🍃What is empathy?

🍃Developing empathy for others, with an emphasis on self-empathy.

🍃Being mindful of striking a balance between empathy and toxic empathy.

Here’s wishing kindness, understanding and inner peace to you all 😊

Conversation with Therapist Khadija Zahid on how to build and use empathy for self-love and strengthening relationships. Khadija is an integrative and sand-p...

14/07/2020

Empathy is an essential skill in life. Being able to understand your own feelings and those of others helps regulate emotions, and in turn builds healthy and happy relationships.

Bullying, which is an ongoing concern for most children can be dealt with if children are taught to empathise. Every child is born with empathy but as they grow older, their empathy needs nurturing.

So how can we nurture empathy in children?

🌼 It begins from your child’s emotional needs, and how they are met. Create a safe space for them to express themselves. Understand pain from their perspective.

🌼 Connect with your child and try not to avoid or shy away from emotions.

🌼 Take interest in their imagination and their stories. Be comfortable in talking about the feelings and emotions of their imaginary characters.

🌼 Help them give language to how they are feeling. Name it to tame it.

🌼 Talk about positive and negative behaviours that you see around you, and gently explain these to children.

🌼 Teach children how to cope with negative emotions. We all experience difficult emotions like anger, jealousy, irritability and so on. Acknowledge the feeling, take a moment for it to settle and understand your struggles rather than suppressing it.

🌼 Set an example for them. Children absorb more by watching and modelling your behaviour rather than listening to it. When you are compassionate towards yourself and others, they automatically learn to model that.

Nurturing empathy falls under emotion coaching. And this coaching is as important as Maths, English or any other subject in life ✨

13/07/2020

Empathy- seeing from the eyes of another, and feeling from the heart of another.

The action of being sensitive to the experiences of an individual as there is always room for more love and kindness in the world.

The key is to be considerate towards yourself first. To understand and be aware of your own thoughts and feelings. To be compassionate towards the self, and to look past your faults and mistakes.

Let’s take gardening as an example. In order for plants to grow and blossom, you create a healthy environment. You may often look out for the needs and requirements of each plant. How much sunlight/shade they require, how often they need to be watered, and any additional nutrients if required.

In addition to this, you may have heard that speaking kindly to plants helps them grow. Imagine the impact of speaking kindly to humans, and more so the impact of speaking kindly to yourself.

Children are often called out for their mistakes and not praised as much. Consequently, as adults you unconsciously grow up focusing more on the negative rather than positive.

It’s time to empathise with yourself, to accept the part of yourself that you once rejected or were critical towards.

I strongly believe in an inside-out approach. When you understand your experiences and nurture your self, you automatically spread love and peace around you. You shine from the inside out 🌟

20/06/2020

Our authentic self is a gift we receive at birth. When a baby enters this world, he/she demonstrates the true connection with the real self. Babies make sure their needs are met by their caregivers; they cry, laugh, play and are simply pure beings.

Overtime infants become sensitive to the reactions of others around them. In order to receive love and care, and to avoid disapproval and rejection children internalise the feelings of others. In doing so, they dissimulate their authentic self and create a reality acceptable to those around them. Each time a child feels the need to change for others, he/she loses a part of themselves.

Their self-esteem is lowered and we often find more and more young individuals questioning their self worth. The increasing gap between who they are and what they portray to the world creates an intense pressure to pretend. And it’s not easy to pretend all the time.

But it’s important to ask what makes us pretend? Each one of us are born with unique personalities and are an ‘individual’ for a reason. Our happiness is not derived from external factors but is linked directly to our soul.

The deeper we delve into ourselves with compassion, understanding and curiosity rather than self judgement, the more we open doors to reconnecting with the authentic self that we were born with.

We shine brighter when we shine from within, and nothing can dim that light as it’s coming from our core ☀️

10/06/2020

Have you ever felt hurt because of someone’s action or behaviour, such that you felt disrespected? Or even the other way around when someone felt hurt by an action of yours?

In most cases, we unconsciously allow others to mistreat us.

Self-respect is when a person values his/her own approach to life, their personality traits, values and beliefs. Allowing one to connect to and accept one’s true self rather than seeking approval from others.

Self-respect is a gift we give to ourselves in life. I read something that struck me, and I wanted to share it with you all to understand self-respect. If you want to give money to someone, you must have money. Similarly, to respect someone you have to respect yourself first.
✨ How can you show self-respect?
- Respecting your beliefs and values
- Respecting your body
- Respecting your time
- Respecting your thoughts and feelings
- Respecting your needs
- Respecting your fears
- Respecting your boundaries
- Respecting your weaknesses
- Respecting your dreams and goals.

And the list can go on... We often subconsciously operate from shame, and that only creates doubts rather than confidence in ourselves.

You may hesitate in saying no to someone or something, focus on pleasing others, engage in poor self talk or shun your personal beliefs and values. In doing so, you disrespect yourself and cause yourself uneasiness, and at times pain.

It is often said love yourself first, and in order to love yourself you have to respect yourself 💫

10/06/2020

When in grief, going into one’s shell seems like the easiest solution. ‘Me time’ is healthy but too much of it restricts our ability to pull through.

You are far more resilient than you think, so why not provide yourself with the opportunity of coping with grief?
🍃 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲- If you feel you have hit a brick wall, don’t worry. Allow yourself to reach out to a therapist for a safe and confidential space to explore your emotions. They can provide the support you need and ease your process of healing.
🍃 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬- confide in someone who understands your pain, and can be there for you. If not expressing your feelings, then try and make plans just to spend time with them. It will help divert your mind and be a source of comfort and happiness.
🍃 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬- the feeling that no one understands your pain or can relate to it can be a very lonely space. Support groups help provide the avenue where you’re able to share, hear and relate to similar experiences and emotions.
🍃 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠- sometimes you may have thoughts and feelings that you don’t want to talk about, and that’s fine. Turn to your journal and pour your heart out. Your journal will always be present to help you release your pain- be it writing or doodling.
🍃 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡- some draw solace from their spiritual beliefs. This may be something that works for your healing.
🍃 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬- one of the myths I mentioned in my previous post was about ignoring the pain to overcome grief. This is a short term solution as the grief remains in your subconscious mind, and continues to affect you. Mindfulness brings your awareness back to your feelings and helps you address them.
🍃 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞- physical activities help release endorphins- hormones that help you feel good and energised.
🍃 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬- to activities that make you happy, and most importantly things that you do primarily because ‘you’ enjoy them.
“Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life.” - Anne Roiphe

Wishing you wellness and healing, always 🌼