Anuradha Sridharan

What is me-time? This is a question I'm pondering about.  These are the activities I earlier considered as me-time: reading, browsing my phone (Instagram, Youtube), browsing my laptop (articles, blogs), watching movies. I've started to take a different perspective these days. Me-time is when I'm with myself and my thoughts without any distractions. All the activities I had listed above are not really my thoughts. I'm investing my time and energy in the thoughts of others in the form of books, movies and social media updates. These are filtered information that is being shared. There are quite a few insights that I have gleaned from these sources over the years. But only when I started incorporating those insights in my life, I learned more about what works and what doesn't work for my situation. Learning from others doesn't give a complete picture of the context. What we see/hear/read is only the final outcome that a person shares on...

    For the past few months, whenever I attend a birthday party or see pictures of a birthday party, I ask myself, "Why do we need a birthday cake?" The immediate answer that comes to my mind is "Duh, that's how people celebrate birthdays all over the world". I haven't researched the history behind birthday cakes but as I look back, my brother and I never had a birthday cake during our childhood. Our parents used to buy us a new birthday dress every year. We would wear it to school and distribute chocolates to our classmates. We would take blessings from grandparents and they would give us a small token of money as a gift. Our grandmother would make payasam (kheer) on our star birthday date (which would mostly be a different date than the English calendar date). That's the ritual for kids' birthdays up to the age of 10-11 years. Our parents never celebrated their birthdays. I don't think it is due to financial constraints but more abou...

  I was talking to a startup founder a couple of weeks back and one of our common interest areas was "health and wellness". He brought up an interesting point, "I believe the key problem to address in this space is the lack of sustained motivation".  I have been mulling over this phrase - sustained motivation and started observing myself to understand this phrase in depth.  This morning, I rolled my Yoga mat to start my morning practice. The next one hour felt so blissful as I stretched and pushed myself. I wouldn't have done this self-practice a couple of years back but now it has become a habit every morning, especially since the lockdown in March. What has changed in order to feel this motivation and sustain it for a period of time? I think it boils down to these 4 reasons: Intrinsic desire: I have started telling myself, "I want to do Yoga". The statement is no longer "I have to do Yoga". This simple change in th...

Trace minerals are required in very little quantities but they play a vital role across multiple functions in our body. The nine trace minerals are chromium, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and zinc. Yes, iron is a trace mineral too. I had earlier shared the plant-based sources of iron and zinc .  In this post, let's focus on Selenium as it seems to be getting a lot of attention these days, specifically with respect to immunity.  Selenium is a powerful antioxidant, protecting against oxidative stress. It plays a vital role in our heart and thyroid functions. It helps to reduce insulin resistance, which makes it an important nutrient for diabetics. It also helps to reduce inflammation in the body. The intention of this post is NOT to elaborate on the benefits of selenium. You can get the information easily from a Google search. Most of the material available on Youtube/Google search talk about selenium-rich foods eith...

எப்பொழுது தொடங்கியது இந்த முடிவில்லா ஓட்டம் கல்லூரிப் படிப்பில் சேர்ந்த பிறகா வேலைக்கு சேர்ந்த பிறகா சிறிது நேரம் அமர்ந்து யோசித்த வேளையில்  அந்த நொடிகள்  ஆர்ப்பரித்தன கண்களில்  முதல் மதிப்பெண் எடு என்ற அம்மாவின் அறிவுரை பனிரெண்டாம் வகுப்பில் நன்மதிப்பை பெரு  உன் வாழ்க்கை சிறந்து விளங்கும் என்றனர் பொறியியல் படிப்பை  தேர்ந்தெடு  உன் எதிர்காலம் பிரகாசமானதாகிவிடும் என்றனர் நல்ல வேலையில்  சேர்ந்து விடு உன் வாழ்க்கை கனிந்து விடும் என்றனர் மேலாளர் பதவியை அடைந்து விடு உன் பொருளாதாரம் சிறந்து விளங்கும் என்றனர் இருபதுகள் கடந்தன இவை அனைத்தும்  செய்து முடிக்க மறு பேச்சு பேசாமல் இளைப்பாற நேரம் இல்லாமல் சமூக எதிர்ப்பார்ப்புகளை நிவர்த்தி செய்ய முப்பதுகளில் காலடி எடுத்து வைத்தேன் இன்னும் வேகமாய் ஒடு இன்னும் சிறப்பை தேடு என்ற அறைகூவல்கள் மடியில் என் குட்டி தேவதை என்னை மீட்க அவதரித்தாள் வேகத்தை குறைத்தேன் நிமிடங்களை சேகரிக்க தொடங்கினேன்  என்னை தேட த...

 If you have been diagnosed with PCOS and are starting on the journey to make lifestyle changes, I would suggest that you remind yourself of these 5 key points daily: 1. Give yourself enough time PCOS is a lifestyle disorder. It is not an ailment like cold/cough/fever where you take medication for a fixed time and it gets cured. It takes time for the lifestyle changes to reverse the damage done and set you on the right path. The weight gain didn't happen in a single day. Please don't expect overnight weight loss. I know it is easier said than done, given the pressure we face from our family members and the stress we put on ourselves. Be patient. Tell yourself, "I'm gonna give myself 6 months to get my health back on track". 2. Be consistent with the lifestyle changes PCOS is mostly given attention when you are trying to get pregnant. I was diagnosed with PCOS back in 2004 and the gynecologist whom I consulted with said to me, "We don't nee...

Most popular packaged foods such as instant soups, pasta sauces, salad dressings, processed cheese etc are extremely high in sodium. Excess sodium affects our health in so many ways - raises our blood pressure, thereby putting pressure on our heart and our kidneys.  When we consume excess sodium, it leads to water retention in the body. This increases the volume of blood in circulation, leading to high blood pressure. Diet high in sodium increases the amount of calcium excreted in the urine. If the dietary intake of calcium is low, our body is forced to let go of the calcium from the bones. Loss of calcium leads to osteoporosis or weakening of bones. As our diet becomes more and more Westernized, we end up consuming way more packaged foods. Our daily meals are being prepared with highly processed sauces, dips, spreads and dressings. As much as we are cutting down on our sugar intake, it is equally important to cut down our salt intake as well.  Along with cutt...

  Someone DMed me to share my thoughts on intermittent fasting. I'm not a health professional, please do your due diligence.   This is what has been working for me so far. Since Jan this year, I have switched to an early dinner (by 7 pm on most days). This habit has brought a lot of positive changes in me. My sleep quality is now better, I used to get disturbed sleep earlier.  My digestion has improved tremendously. No constipation issues. My system is clear in the morning. I feel light and fresh when waking up. Tummy feels nicely tucked in, no bloating. This could also be partly because of the fact that I have reduced the intake of wheat. Because I have an early dinner, I don't eat any evening snacks. After dinner, I don't eat anything else. I go to bed by 10pm and wake up by 6am.  I have this habit of starting my morning with a cup of Indian chai (milk tea). I know it's not the right way to start the day but I have gotten into the habit for years. I will give mysel...