wellness - Women of Rubies

In Career Gems January 8, 2024 By Women of Rubies

12 Simple Self-Care Ideas For Women

Do you suffer from recurrent headaches, insomnia or inability to have a relaxing sleep, stomach upset, and lack of appetite, low energy, mental distress, emotional imbalance, and irritation?

You need some self-care ASAP.

If at any point in your life you are unable to create a balance, then you need self-care. For example, if you live with a bunch of crazies as roommates and are always unhappy or stressed, self-care is the answer.

Self-care is the act of deliberately indulging in activities that make us burst forth like a spring bloom. It means taking control of your emotional, physical, mental, financial, spiritual, and every other aspect of your life. Every step you take to cater to the well-being of yourself is self-care. After all, who would not want some minutes, hours, or days of self-love? There is the need to recharge, be refreshed, and be ready for the road ahead, and having a self-care routine will help you achieve these.

Before forging ahead, remember that self-care is different for everyone. It is not a one-size-fits-all thing. The best part about self-care is to do what is good for you.

Self-care refers to different things for different people. For some, a day in bed without disturbance or watching their favorite movies is self-care. However, it is crucial to note that everyone approaches this seemingly simple activity differently.

So, what are the benefits of self-care?

Self-Care Improves Your Physical Health – Self-care reminds you to critically look at yourself and improve on it. Simple activities like brushing, flossing, exercising, sleeping, or eating well are things we often forget to do as we pursue the good life, but they are beneficial to our personal well-being.
Self-Care Reduces Stress, Anxiety, and Depression – This idea is tied to the point above. Simple practices like running a bath, yoga, meditation, music, or indulging in a favorite hobby are self-care ideas. They also allow you to relax, calm your mood, and boost your mental health and consequently, your overall well-being.
Self-Care Prevents the Onset of Mental Health Issues – Simple changes to your routine like eating well, sleeping longer, taking a day off to relax are ways to help restore and maintain your sanity. While self-care is not a substitute for professional help, it is a reliable way to prevent and manage mental health issues, especially in women.
Self-Care Increases Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence – Self-care allows you to concentrate on the things that make you happy. For example, by taking a longer bath, you become more relaxed and sure that your skin is refreshed, which also boosts your self-worth and confidence.

You live in such a demanding and hectic world and sometimes, life can get so busy and overwhelming that you forget to care for yourself. These self-care ideas allow you to create a comfortable balance to the chaos around you.

Women all over the world are working themselves to death. Whether as a career women, a mom, a wife, a friend, a confidant, or whatever, they are always in a hurry to satisfy everyone but themselves.

An African proverb says, “no matter how much you solve people’s problems, it will never run out.”

However, you can run out if you do not slow down. So, go at your pace. Happiness starts with you.

Here are 12 self-care ideas and routines for women.

1. Go for a Medical Check

Go for a medical check—and I do not mean over-the-counter chatting with the friendly pharmacist, but in a real hospital. A medical check is not necessary because something is wrong but to ensure nothing is going wrong. Many women, especially those in their early 40s, 50s, or even late 30s, never get a medical routine until something goes wrong. Do not wait to be a victim of life’s unbalances—go for a medical check today.

2. Be Kind to Yourself

For some funny reason, women are never kind to themselves. They live in this mental bubble that everyone’s kindness is ours. Hold it and take a couple of steps back.
No, your happiness is just as important as the next person. Sacrifice is a woman’s thing, but self-neglect and denial are not a part of it. If you can be kind to others, be kind to yourself, too.

3. Take a Spa Day

You deserve it, and it is a relaxing way to knock aches and pains away with a deep massage, pedicure, manicure, and facial. You will come out of it looking sexier, more confident, and more relaxed.

4. Do Something You Love and Enjoy

This can be anything you love but have not done in a long time. It can be reading a book, having a lunch date with your girlfriends, or glancing through your favorite magazine. Remember, it must be something that you love doing.

5. Define a Morning Routine

How are your mornings like? If it is like the regular, change it. Add some warm lemon water as a detox start, plank for 30 seconds to boost your strength, and eat breakfast. The goal is to do something that triggers your happy hormones and makes your day as bright as the sun.

6. Start a Self-Care Journal

Journaling has become a viral habit since the pandemic. Not only does it remind you of where you are, but it is also a technique to unwind emotionally and mentally. If you haven’t started a journal, this is the time to do just that. Overall, journaling is a great way to reflect on each day and its impact on you.

7. Take Your Sleep Time Seriously

Women are the first to wake up and the last people to sleep every night. While it is a good habit to watch over those you love, you need to love yourself too, and sleep is a relaxing way to start. Create a sleep routine and stick to it.

For example, make it a priority to sleep by 9 pm and wake at 5 am. This gives you about eight hours of sleep, which is good. Never push your tiredness beyond the boundaries of your strength. Sleep.

8. Learn to Say No

Nobody ever died from saying or hearing the words “no,” so learn it. You cannot give what you do not possess and believe me, selfish love is never a good thing. If you cannot do a task, just say no.

9. Be Unapologetic About Your Actions

Aren’t you tired of explaining your life to everyone? Stop it! This is the time to quit being apologetic for begin you and just live life. If you know in your heart that your actions are healthy, beneficial, and productive, never apologize.

10. Forgive Your Past

If there is one thing that is holding you back from enjoying your present, it is your past. We all have pasts, some of them we overlook, and others we cannot move past it. The only reason is our inability to forgive. Settle down, go through it and forgive. You do not have to understand it, you just have to move on.

11. Bask in the Silence

The world is too noisy, and we are constantly in the middle of chaos. If you have never tried this as a self-care idea, include it in your next day off. There is the need for stillness to enable us to appreciate our surroundings. Acts of silence could be watching the sunset or drinking your morning coffee without any interruptions.

12. Practice Conscious Living

Conscious living is being aware of your every move, decision, and its effect on your life and others. Most times, we drift through life like a piece of log on an open ocean with no sense of direction. When you practice conscious living, you are aware of yourself and what your presence signifies in the world around you.

How to Create a Self-Care Routine

In addition, here are some tips and ideas on how to create a self-care routine:

Do the things you loved or love.
Go back to the simple things of life.
Be aware of your current situation (do not do more than what you can handle).
Remember that it is about yourself first.
Do not wait until the weekend. Use every free time you have.
Start small and be consistent.
Focus on activities that build you physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Repeat the ideas that work well and add something new.
Use sticky notes to remind yourself.
It is not about perfection.
Go at your own pace.

Final Thoughts

Now, these are self-care ideas that anyone can add to or take away from, but make sure you choose practices that work for you. Remember to include activities that boost your mental and emotional health, too.

Self-care is not just about physical health and outward appearances. It is a complete method of transforming yourself by caring about your needs.

In lifestyle December 7, 2020 By Women of Rubies

7 Bad Habits You Didn’t Know You Have And How To Quit Them.

No. Don’t ignore this because you think you don’t have any bad habits for we all have bad habits. No matter how much we fail to acknowledge them.

It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make efforts to adjust and stop these bad habits especially as the long-term effects the have on us are unpleasant.

Whether you can’t keep your gaze off your phone screen or you can’t help but have a little extra midnight snack, here are seven unhealthy habits that make you feel not so great and helpful tips to correct them.

1. Not getting enough sleep.

If you struggle to get out of bed in the morning and if you constantly wake up tired, it is all the sign you need to know you are not getting adequate sleep hours and apparently, it isn’t doing you any good.

Lack of adequate sleep can affect a whole heap of things, making you moody, irritable and stressed. It can also mess with your ability to learn and retain information. That isn’t good for your well-being.

According to a Harvard Medical Study, “Most experts have concluded that getting enough high-quality sleep may be as important to health and wellbeing as nutrition and exercise.

Sleep is not only crucial for keeping your mind fresh and performing optimally, but it’s also a pivotal factor in maintaining a healthy weight.

So, if you are one of those who binge watches a whole season of a Netflix show in one sitting, you can prioritize your sleep time by setting an alarm on your phone and actually go to bed when the alarm goes off.
Doing this will help you set a regular sleep routine and develop good sleeping habit, in the long run.

2. Scrolling on your phone until 1am.

Don’t roll your eyes yet, we are all guilty of this.

This is tied to the inadequate sleep mentioned above. Now, while lying in bed seems like the perfect time to perform deep dive into the life of a complete stranger who lives across the other side of the world, thanks to the internet, your late night screen time could be jeopardising your health.

Not only can a lengthy exposure to blue light damage your eyes, it can seriously interfere with your sleep. That’s because blue light messes with the production of melatonin – a hormone that regulates the body’s sleep cycle.

If you spend ages scrolling through your phone, you’re likely to experience more sleepless nights and fatigue. You know, pretty much everything we discussed above, but it can also lead to a variety of other health issues like anxiety and depression.

I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.

3. Snacking right before bed.

I’m not here to tell you it is inappropriate to have those delicious snacks. But you can try to not eat too much of it before jumping right into bed at night.

The digestive process can interfere with your sleep quality because eating just before bed also increases the likelihood of reflux and indigestion, as your gastric juices are being secreted to breakdown food whilst you are lying down, which gives them far greater opportunity to make their way back up your oesophagus and into your throat.

Terrifying right?

4. Exercising so you can eat whatever you want.

You remember when you hit your fitness goal and decided to reward yourself with your favourite junks? Because after every fitness goal smashed, a cheat meal isn’t a bad idea right?

First, know that only exercise will not make up for a poor diet.

Not only is gorging post-workout wrecking havoc on your fitness game, but this frame of mind can really mess up your relationship with food. Because having the mindset that you have to ‘earn’ food is really unhealthy. Food is not a reward.

You can’t expect exercise alone to make you super fit. Focus on fuelling your body with the right foods that will help you power through your workouts.

5. Viewing food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

When you start labelling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, not only are you officially stripping all the joy out of eating, but it might be one of the worst things you can do for your health.

No shame – we all do it, but we’re here to tell you to stop.

So, let’s get this out of the way first: all food is inherently neutral. There is no such thing as ‘good’ food or ‘bad’ food. Okay?

Eating a burger and chips one night isn’t going to give you diabetes or heart disease. It’s more about your overall eating patterns.

The deeper harm in restricting yourself from foods is that when you do have a ‘cheat meal’ or a ‘bad day’, you’ll usually end up feeling guilty and shameful.

Instead of policing all of your food choices, try to get rid of the emotional attachment and start listening to your body – eat what you want in moderation. By doing this we guarantee healthy foods will taste even better, and you’ll stop feeling like a failure over enjoying foods that are good, overall.

In Inspiration September 14, 2020 By Women of Rubies

This Woman Created A Wellness APP Designed For Black Women

For Mental Health Awareness week, BLACK ENTERPRISE is interviewing numerous individuals within the wellness community to talk about the racial disparities that affect the Black community in the hopes of creating a safe place to talk about mental health.

Meditation apps have grown more popular as more Americans begin to prioritize their health and wellness needs. Despite their popularity, many of these apps are focused on a predominantly White audience and do not cater to the specific struggles that people of color face, specifically in this politically-charged climate.

After learning to cope with the recent onslaught racial injustice and police brutality, Katara McCarty sought out to create a meditation app for women of color.

McCarty is the founder of EXHALE, the first emotional well-being app designed specifically for Black women and women of color. The content is separated into five categories for daily mindful practice including affirmations, guided visualizations, breathing, and meditations. In light of the police shooting of Jacob Blake and recent protests, McCarty is providing the premium version of the app for free in September.

BE: How did you get the idea to create EXHALE?

McCarty: During the beginning of quarantine, I was proactive and began to amp up my self-care. I did more things to get still daily, find time to rest, commit to moving my body, and meditate more often.

As the news began surfacing about COVID-19 hitting Black and Brown communities disproportionately, my heart became heavy. Almost simultaneously, while that was occurring, the video of Ahmad Arbery went viral. I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness, grief, and hopelessness for my community. The weight I felt was not unfamiliar, as I have felt this before with other tragedies due to systems of oppression my community has experienced. As we were reeling about this, we heard about Breonna Taylor’s murder, and the George Floyd murder was videotaped and going viral.

What we were seeing wasn’t new to me, but it felt incredibly insurmountable. I began to ask myself what I was going to do. How was I going to lean into my community and help? I got still, tuned in to myself, and listened for the answer. After several days, I got it! I would create an emotional well-being app for Black, Indigenous, Women of Color. Putting in the app the practices I’ve adopted in my everyday life that have kept me centered and grounded.

I created this app for BIWOC because most well-being apps are predominantly White-narrated, White-owned, and are overall White spaces. The uniqueness by which BIWOC has to weave through life, I believe, calls for a unique and specific curation that speaks to us and the weight that we carry because of racism, anti-blackness, misogynoir, and all systems of oppression.

Why was creating this kind of service for Black women important to you?

The uniqueness by which BIWOC weave through life, I believe, calls for a unique and specific curation that speaks to us and the weight that we carry because of racism, anti-blackness, misogynoir, and all systems of oppression. BIWOC are some of the most marginalized in our society. I was also raised by two Black women who took me in and adopted me after my biological mother abandoned me. Creating this app feels like a full-circle moment for me as I specifically give back to the community who stepped up, took me in, and raised me.

Your service is free for September. What prompted you to make that decision?

We launched our app on August 25th, two days after the shooting of Jacob Blake. When I heard Jacob’s family speak, specifically his sister, I could feel their pain and grief. I decided that I wanted to make EXHALE completely accessible to be a resource for us as we continue to navigate our collective grief, pain, fear, anxiety, and trauma.

Why is it important for Black people to incorporate mediation into their daily routine?

According to the American Institute of Stress, deep, abdominal breathing reduces stress and anxiety. For just 20 to 30 minutes each day, “deep breathing increases the supply of oxygen to your brain and stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes a state of calmness.”

Our parasympathetic nervous system controls the predominant state our bodies should be during downtime, which should be 80% of the time. It’s the natural state we should be living in when not in danger. Our heart rate slows down, our breath is calm and relaxed, our digestive system is stimulated, and our hormones are balanced.

Yet BIPOC are often living in what the body perceives as danger due to racism and other forms of oppression. Our chest is tight. We’re tense. Our breath is short, we’re poised to fight, fly, or freeze, and it is making us sick. It is imperative that we tap into our breath, to reduce stress, to tune into our parasympathetic nervous system, and to heal.

When we experience stress and anxiety, we can use the power of our breath to come back to a state of calm. Tools that provide guided breathing techniques and mediations help individuals harness our breath to inhale calm and exhale stress and anxiety from body.

Taking the time for ourselves and focusing on our breath as BIPOC is both an act of reclaiming our power and an act of resistance. We may not be able to control what’s happening to us outside of our homes, the daily microaggressions and racism we’ll face, but we can control our breath. Our breath is in the moment, now, and we can use that breath to ensure we’re not holding the oppression we experience in our body. Deep breathing becomes an active tool to resist the toll that racism has on our bodies and minds.

Source: Blackenterprise

In self development February 14, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

OYIBO HOSANNA: WHY YOU NEED A DETOX

Either as a single or married woman, working class or full time wife, daily you are in contact with harmful organisms, and toxins that pose a threat to your wellbeing.

Detoxification is the cleansing and nourishing the body from the inside out, by removing and eliminating toxins, then feeding your body with healthy nutrients. Our body has a natural detoxification system that functions to clear these toxins, but you can increase its efficiency by timely nutritional and lifestyle changes.

These toxins are in your water, food, and the air you breathe; it’s tough trying to get away from them, but you can have a defense against them. They include metals, chemicals, pollutants, artificial food additives, pesticides, and herbicides.

SIGNS THAT YOUR BODY IS SCREAMING FOR A DETOX

You frequently feel tired and stressed.
You experience unexplained headaches, mental confusion and lack of enthusiasm.
You repetitively feel colds and contract infections.
You have puffy eyes and distress sleeping.
You’re not at your ideal weight and experience irregular menstrual cycle
You have allergic breakouts and blemishes.
You’re exposed to common environmental toxins via smokes, household chemicals (perfumes, shampoos, paints etc.
You consume a high amount of fried foods, fast and processed foods
You always have irregular stomach bloating, indigestion and difficulty in defecating.

If you experience any three or more signs above, a detox is surely needed.

WELLNESS CUES: HOW TO DETOX

Having known the signs to watch out for, don’t you think you owe it to yourself to purify your body? Here are wellness cues on how to cleanse, balance and energize your body.

Increase your Water Intake. Your body basal function is driven by water, hence you can see it as the most valuable tool for detoxifying your body; we are advised to consume a minimum of 3-5 liters of water daily to aid its detoxifying function. Water first in the morning and last at night.
Decide to Eat Rightly. Choose to eat freshly cooked meals with organic fruits and vegetables over processed, fast food, alcohol, coffee, cigarettes, refined sugars, and saturated fats.
Detoxifying your body is not only about what you avoid, but also about what you consume. Fasting and adding natural foods like fiber foods, garlic, vegetable stews, cabbage, lemon, bitter leaf, broccoli and drinking green tea is vital in detoxification.
Develop an exercise and meditation routine to help you sweat out, release toxins through your skin pores, improve your mental attitude positively and boost your body energy levels.
Keep the Environments Air Clean. You can’t control the air in the environment you move in, but you can control the air in your home to reduce the number of smoke fumes, mold, mildew, and other microorganisms that are dangerous to your health.
Visit a Spa. The use of natural green herbs, brushing and oiling of your skin helps your skin peel off old cells and dirt, unclog skin pores to allowing the skin to perspire freely, which in turn stimulates cellular rejuvenation and slows aging.
Body Detox Packs. There are nutritional packs that offer a complete body detox, it is a step-by-step process of drinking health products that focuses on cleansing organs of the excretory systems (lungs, colon, skin, liver, and kidneys) of harmful organisms, chemicals, and toxic metals. Consult your doctor before using any health detox packs.

BENEFITS OF DETOXIFYING

It protects you from disease and refuels your body to maintain optimum health
Helps your body organs rest through fasting
Promotes the ease of elimination of body wastes from the excretory system.
Improves blood flow and mental alertness.
It provides your body with healthy nutrients that protect against free radicals, strengthening the immune system.

The source of many health problems is the toxins that have built up in our bodies over the years; to stay healthy and enjoy total wellbeing, DETOX.

About Hosanna

I am Hosanna Oyibo, a Public Health Coach. I am an avid reader, personal development enthusiast, network marketing professional and a volunteer. I’m also interested in travelling, gardening, and sports. You can read about me and visit my blog with a click on this link https://about.me/hosannaoyibo.