Author: Mohita Purohit

“Boys don’t cry”

Ever heard a mom telling their young boy to “stop crying like a girl”. The mother would just be trying to make the boy stop crying. But, don’t you think a better approach to making the child stop crying would be listening to the problem and saying it will be fine.

Practices like these in our society have made men think that they have to act strong. Masculinity is considered strong and being feminine is weak.

What we forget in all this is that men just like women have emotions. but, they are forced to hide these feelings because then they won’t be considered “man enough”. Showing emotions is not a sign of weakness but that is how our society sees it.

“men are strong”

“women are weak”

A lot of the time guys feel pressured to act a certain way because of our society. They feel if they don’t act man enough they will be bullied. A lot of guys say things like, “why are you acting like a girl” or, “Stop acting gay” to the sensitive guys.

 So, to avoid that a lot of men act bad to “fit in” even if they aren’t like that in real life. It is considered “cool” to make sexist, racist, anti-feminist jokes because that is how their friends are going to accept them.

Is being called a girl or gay something to take offense for?

 Acknowledging emotions does not make people “weak”.

 Men who make fun of other men for being sensitive are the men who follow toxic masculinity. They are the ones that need to change their mentality.

Did you know that suicide rates in men are higher than in women?

 This mainly happens because men are forced to act strong even when they are struggling. Whereas, women tend to communicate their problems with their friends, family or even take help from a therapist.  But, when it comes to men they think they have to be strong and masculine. So, when they struggle they tend to think that there is no way out of their situation. 

If you are a man reading this. You don’t have to pretend to be strong. It is fine to struggle. Every human being has ups and downs in their life.

Something that will help you deal with those ups and downs is talking to people. Admit you have an issue, sometimes talking to people about problems is the only solution needed.

We as a society need to encourage men to open up. Parents need to start talking to their sons as much as they talk to their daughters. If you have a brother, make sure you talk to him and let him know you are there for him. Getting boys to open up from an early age is really important.

We need to change the very idea of being strong. Being strong means accepting who you are, accepting your vulnerability, not being afraid to show your emotions, and standing up for what you believe in.

The period taboo

Women are often told to not do certain things while they are menstruating. These things vary from not going to a temple, not entering the kitchen, to being treated like an untouchable. There are many homes where they have separate rooms, utensils for women menstruating. Nobody enters the room nor do they touch the things used by them. You might find it hard to believe but these things still happen and what’s worse is they are “normalised”.

Menstruation is normal, every woman goes through it every single month. So, why is it still looked down upon? Menstruation has been around for as long as the very existence of human beings. But still, people treat it like a taboo. Here are some things that prove that periods are still taboo.

Why do the commercials of sanitary products show the period blood blue? 

It is considered fine to show blood in movies during a fight but when it comes to period blood it is suddenly “sensitive content”.

Why in schools did we hide the sanitary napkin like it was something illegal? 

This one time in school a female teacher during a bag checking, picked my sanitary napkin and asked what’s this?

Why are sanitary napkins packed in newspaper, or a black bag like we are hiding something? 

Why do we have to hide the fact that we are menstruating from our brothers or father?

Why are menstruation products still so expensive for the women? 

In a lot of places women still have to use newspapers, cloths, rags, hay, or leaves because they cannot afford the sanitary products. The world has come so far yet it fails to provide necessities to the women who cannot afford them.

  • In India, 88% of women don’t have access to menstrual products.
  • 23% of the girls drop out of school after they start menstruating.

Some girls don’t even receive education on menstruation because it is an “uncomfortable” topic to talk about.

The women go through a hard time while menstruating. A lot of women get very painful cramps, that even pain killers do not help. While women go through this, society decided to treat women as impure and dirty while they are already dealing with so much.

I fail to see the justice in that. Society needs to be supportive and not make the girl hate herself for getting her periods.

I know that not everyone suffers from the issues I talked about. But, the majority of the women are going through this. So, it is our responsibility to raise awareness. We need to start talking about it, raising awareness, supporting films like Padman and advertisements like bleeding red: where Radhika Apte shows period blood as red instead of blue.

 Let’s normalise menstruation and help the women out. Raising awareness will bring more and more light to the issues and that is how we will be able to create change. This article is not just for women. It is also for the men, as a men make sure that the females in your family, or your partner, or your female friends know they can talk to you about menstruation. It should be a normal topic and not an uncomfortable taboo.

Breaking taboos is hard but it is something that is needed to be done.

I may not be able to change the mindsets of the people who are older and like to stick to old norms. But, I know I will be able to change the mindsets of the future generation.

The social media addiction

From the past few days, I did not get the time to use social media as often as I would. Today when I went back on social media I realised that I am falling back into the cycle of comparing my life with people. It then hit me that from a past few days where I was busy, the world around me changed, the birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming. This was a joke obviously.

But I did notice that I wasn’t comparing my life and was focussing on myself.

Social media is a place where everyone shows how perfect their lives are, even if taking that one picture took them three hours of hard work. Scrolling through social media makes us have questions like

How are they going out daily?

How are they having so many friends?

How do they get such good pictures?

Well, I am not hating on the people who have friends or spend time taking their pictures. They are doing what they want which is good. The problem arises when we start thinking of their lives as “perfect” and start looking down on our lives.

Let’s take an example of how social media makes us feel bad about our lives:

Imagine you have a day planned for working or doing an assignment. Let me tell you which is completely normal. But then you go on social media and see people have fun and it makes you feel bad about your life.

 I know we do like posting a picture and getting likes and comments. So, I am not telling you to stop using social media. I am just asking you to remember where to stop. So today when I realised that I was going to fall back in that cycle I stopped and took a break from social media. I went and did something else because I am in a good place right now and I don’t want other people’s life to affect my life.

So the next time you are using social media always remember a few things:

No one has a perfect life: There is no such thing as a perfect life, every person has their share of problems. So, don’t make yourself feel bad about why your life isn’t perfect.

Everything we see is not real: we see stories of people going out every day. Well, they may not always have as much fun as it is shown on social media. I have ordered a few fancy-looking food and, to tell you the truth it did not taste as good as it looked. Even in stories that people post with their friends, they show how much fun they are having but in reality, people are just sitting and are using their devices and scrolling through social media.

Quality not quantity: having a big friend group is fun but they have a lot of drama too. So if you are someone with even 2-4 good friends, appreciate that because you would rather spend time with real friends than be surrounded by fake friends.

Gratitude: we need to be grateful for all that we have. We know that some people don’t even have what we currently have. If you are reading this article that means you do have a device to read it in so be thankful for that and don’t compare your life with people.

Live in the moment: There is a difference between living the moment and, only capturing it. I remember going to a concert and only recording the concert and not really enjoying it or living the moment. I wished that I lived in the moment. But, I was 13 at that time and lacked brain cells. So, don’t repeat my mistake.

Social media is a great platform and can be used to promote small businesses, raise funds, help people out, make money, become an influencer, etc. But if your mental health is getting affected by it and you are subconsciously feeling bad about your life you need to stop and take a break from it.

Fear of failure

The word fear is what comes between us and our dreams. It stops us from reaching our potential. It makes us think about questions like what will happen if we don’t succeed or what if I end up making a fool out of myself?

Think about the number of times you did not do things because of the fear of failure.

It stops you from doing simple tasks like giving an answer in class because you are afraid of the answer being wrong. You are afraid of what the teacher and the students will think. Well, the teacher must have appreciated the efforts of trying and would have corrected you and the students don’t care. Do we care if people give the wrong answer? No right

Here is the thing about people, they simply don’t care about us. They are way too involved in their own lives. People sometimes do try to bring us down but, they are just transferring their fear in our lives. So, we don’t have to listen to them nor care about how they are going to react.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” rightly said by Neale Donald Walsch. I can tell you by my experience the best decisions that I took in my life were after overcoming my fear. I wanted to start a YouTube channel ever since I was 14. Now at the age of 19, I actually started it. It took me a long time to start it simply because, I was unsure of how people around me would react. But, recently enough I stopped caring about what people have to say. I uploaded the video for my happiness without thinking about people or the number of likes or views I will get. My video did get a lot of support and appreciation from people. I succeeded and got a good response but, even if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have stopped I would keep trying without letting fear take over me.

Failing is totally fine. We learn so many new lessons from our failures. We get more knowledge from failure than we ever would get from succeeding the first time.

Our life is all about trying new things so stop sticking to your comfort zone. Stepping out of the comfort zone is a big step in itself. It gives us more courage and confidence. So, keep trying even if it comes with the cost of failure.  

We need to stop thinking of failure as a big thing. We need to start treating it as a step towards success. Even the most successful people faced failure and that’s how they got on top.

So, keep challenging yourself to come out of your comfort zone and try things you want. Give yourself regular tasks which you don’t do because of fear. Go volunteer to speak in front of people, even if you mess it up it is okay. Next time you will be way more confident. The only way to grow in life is through failure.

“One day you’ll leave this world behind, So, live a life you will remember” a great line from a song by Avicii, and to live the life you will remember you need to stop fearing things. 

Why should you avoid using perfumes?

Writing this article isn’t easy for me because there was a phase in my life where I was obsessed with perfumes. I would use different scents every day depending on my mood.

But, there were a few times, where I would get a headache or a sneeze when I would come in contact with a strong perfume. I would excuse myself thinking I am sensitive to a few scents.

But, I got to know that a lot of people are allergic to perfumes in general. Some are more severely allergic than others and can even get asthma attacks. Here are some things that I found which made me stop using perfumes:

  • Trade secret: did you know that perfume companies are not required to list their ingredients? Even if they do list the ingredients, it’s only a few out of 3000 chemicals. Fragrance formulation is considered a trade secret that is also protected from the manufacturer.
  • No authority to regulate the formation of perfumes: when I told it is a trade secret I meant there is no state, federal or global authority that regulates the safety of the chemicals used in fragrances.
  • Health problems: inhaling the 3000 chemicals will come at a cost. They cause health problems like asthma, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, coughing, burning of the skin, and many more. The chemicals also mess with our hormones. You might be someone who does not suffer from these but, do you really want to inhale a product with harmful chemicals that cause health issues.
  • Second-hand smoking: using perfumes in the long term can affect our health just as negatively as second-hand smoking does. The toxins used in fragrances are as harmful as that of second-hand smoking.

This article mainly focuses on how perfumes are harmful. But, it’s the entire fragrance industry that is harmful. We buy scented products on a daily basis. Our shampoos, body washes, hair sprays, detergents all have fragrance added to it. Even products for female hygiene sometimes contain fragrance. We don’t know the number of chemicals the word “fragrance” holds in  products. So, it is best to avoid scented products in general.

If you are devastated knowing how bad fragrance is. There are some alternatives you can use:

  • Using essence oils: these oils are extracted from plants and are completely natural. You can add them to your products or use them separately in the form of a roll-on. But, make sure to get 100% pure essence oils.
  • DIY: you can DIY soaps and perfumes by using natural homemade products that won’t harm your body. You can easily get these ingredients in your nearby store. You can also DIY your essence oils.
  • Fragrance-free products: Buying products that are free of fragrance or chemicals are a great alternative.
  • Non-toxic perfumes: Some brands make sustainable or eco-friendly perfumes so you can try using them. These perfumes are made of essential oils or organic ingredients. But, don’t forget to make sure they only natural ingredients.

 These alternatives may seem like a lot of work. But it is way better than exposing yourself to chemicals and toxins daily. The chemicals used by the fragrance industry not just harm us but are also bad for the environment.

How to feel better in a pandemic?

We often feel low, especially during the pandemic. We cannot go out and have fun nor can we physically go to school or work. Yes, the situation is slowly getting better with the distribution of vaccines but it is still a lot to take on our mental health.

So, here are some things you can do in your own house and instantly feel better:

Taking a long hot bath: Our skin releases endorphins in response to warm water. This is why you must have noticed that before taking a shower we tend to be lazy and don’t feel like taking it but once we are in the shower we don’t plan on coming out.

 Make your shower more fun by listening to songs and lighting candles. If you are someone who has a bathtub you can add bath bombs, bath salts, flowers, etc. If you don’t have a bathtub you can use a shower melt which is like a bath bomb but for showers.

Treat for the skin: Now that we are done with our bath. It is time for treating our skin. Doing a small activity like applying a face mask or exfoliating your skin would make you feel good. This will also hydrate your skin and remove the excess oils from it. We often feel great after doing skincare because our skin feels great and we feel relaxed.

Getting ready: just because we don’t have anywhere to go doesn’t mean you can’t look good at home. An issue I faced in the lockdown was not being able to get ready as often. Getting ready is more than just looking good, it also makes us feel more confident. So, wear a good outfit, even if you plan on staying home.

Make the environment cozy: we have to stay in our house most of the time during the pandemic. So, find any place in your house and turn it into your spot. You can decorate it by putting on fairy lights and wallpapers. You can then read your books there, paint or watch movies.

You can also switch things up in your house, move in some furniture or decorate the house. You can do this by adding pictures, posters, or paintings to your walls. You can also add in some indoor plants. Making the house look more lively will automatically brighten the mood. It will also give you a nice change because we are bored seeing the same four walls of our house.

Meditate: we often hear how effective meditating is but we never really try it on our own. Listen to calm music while you meditate. Even doing this for 3-5 minutes will make you feel good.

Cook: I am aware that not everyone is good at it. So, you can try making simple things like a mug cake. It is fun and eating it would brighten your mood.

Watch something light: when you are feeling low I would not recommend watching anything serious. Watch something which will instantly give you light laughter, and improve your mood.

Talk to your friends: during the pandemic, we cannot meet our friends, so video call them instead. Trust me there is nothing better than talking to friends. Whenever I talk to my friends over a video call, it not only brightens my mood up but I keep laughing the entire time. So, call the people who instantly lift your mood.

Saying “no”

We often come across situations where we have trouble saying no to people. We feel pressured to say yes to everything. We think it is our duty to say yes because if we say no we are “bad people”.

Let’s look at why we often have trouble saying no:

It makes us look bad: We as human beings always try to please people or try to stay in everyone’s good books. We think if we say no people won’t like us anymore.

No seems like a rejection: growing up our parents would often say no to a lot of things. They did it to protect us but we took it personally. So, now while saying no we think people will take it personally and consider it a rejection.

We feel guilty: we mostly say yes to everything but sometimes, when we do manage to say no, we tend to die with guilt later. We are more affected by the no than the person who asked for our help. That person would have moved on, asked another person, or figured something else out but we keep feeling guilty.

Here are some tips that could help you say no:

  1. Give them an explanation: when people ask us for help they are going to be prepared for a yes or no answer. So we need to remember that they expect a no too. Now an effective way to saying no is by giving an explanation. Providing them an explanation shows that we are considering their feelings.
  1. Adding but after no: Another way you can say no is by using but after it. If someone asks you for help with their work. You can politely reply “no, but I know someone who can help” or you can try saying “no, but I will be able to help on Saturday”. In this way, you are telling them no but with a possibility of helping them out.
  1. Decline politely: Yes, this article is about saying no. But, I am not asking you to be rude. You can politely decline by using phrases like “I would love to help, but I am booked right now”.
  1. Understand your relationship: we have trouble saying no because we think the other person will feel bad and would not like us anymore. That’s when the need to evaluate our relationship with them comes in. If they are really your friend or someone that cares about you, they would understand that you are just busy. They would not have any hard feelings. If they feel bad after a no, think again if you need such people in your life.  
  1. Prioritize your needs: if prioritizing your needs is considered selfish; I don’t see the harm in it. We know that if we can help we would. But, if it something that will consume our time and drain our energy, we need to say no.

Life is going to give us more situations where we will have to decline politely and move on. We need to learn how to say no and feel okay saying it.

Importance of Journaling

Journaling is maintaining a diary or a journal where we express our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Journaling is like communicating with our thoughts. We often come across people that journal every day. Let us look at why they like maintaining these fancy books.

Clears the mind: A lot of the time our brain is preoccupied with thoughts and it can often come in the middle of our work. So writing down our thoughts and feelings on a piece of paper will help us acknowledge them and come up with a solution as well. When I would feel low I would write my thoughts and, it almost felt like I was venting problems to a friend. In the end, when I was done writing about any issue, I would honestly feel good. Journaling doesn’t make the problem go away but our mind feels more clear.

Something to look back at: Growing up I had written a few journals. I wouldn’t journal daily, but I would write if there was a special occasion or a family trip. Now when I read about those moments it feels like I am reliving them. It has so much detailed explanation of things that I wouldn’t have remembered otherwise. Reading old journals is always a great trip down memory lane. I always thank my younger self for writing those things down.

Makes us stronger: We often write down our hard times. So, when we look back and read those problems it makes us realise how caught up we were in them and we thought they was the worst thing happening to us. But, then we get over it, it makes us realise that problems come and go and we are strong enough to overcome anything.

If you are someone who wants to start journaling, you can start by getting yourself a diary, notebook of your choice. You can bring pens of different colours and some things to decorate it with. It’s up to you how you design your journal.

Here are a few things you can write about in your journal:

Daily goals: Goals keep us motivated, they ensure that we complete all our daily tasks. You can write your daily tasks in the morning then by the end of the day you can check if you completed them or not.  

Ideas: You can write any creative ideas for your work. When I come up with a great idea for my article I like to note it down. So on days where I have nothing to write, I check my journal for reference.

Be creative: You can also have a bucket list section in your journal where you tick the things you have done. You can try new things in life and write about them. The new things don’t have to be as complicated as sky diving, even trying a new flavour of ice cream is included.

Problems: It is a great place to write about your problems. Below that you can also write the solution to it, where you write a few ideas on how you are planning to overcome the situation.  

Grateful: Writing things we are grateful for every day is a positive start to the day. The things you are grateful for can be as easy as a roof above my head, or my family.

Once you start journaling you will notice a lot of positive changes in your life. You will also know more about yourself. It will also make you more productive because you will be giving yourself and your goals more time. Journaling is a safe space you need in your life.

The closet of your dreams

Who doesn’t love good clothes, shoes or accessories? The perfect fit makes us fall in love with ourselves and makes us feel and look confident. A lot of the time we scroll Pinterest and follow celebrities or influencers for their fashion inspiration. We adore what they wear and love their closet.

It makes us think about our dream closet. We might obviously have a few clothes we adore but there are some pieces of clothes we aren’t exactly fond of and we don’t even know why we bought them in the first place.

We all have a closet of our dreams. Some people’s closet is more filled with shoes and accessories while others include clothes. But, we all have this closet that we think we will own someday. Well, the good news is you can start owning the closet from today. But, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

Buy what you will wear: We often go shop and buy these average-looking clothes that don’t match our aesthetic or our style. We buy them thinking we will wear them on a casual day. But we never end up wearing it or even if we wear it someday, we don’t feel so great about it. Well not anymore, the next time you purchase a piece make sure you fall in love with it and can picture yourself wearing it from time to time.

Empty the space: we need space for what we like in our closets. So, give in the clothes you don’t wear to thrift shops or donate them to the people who need them. This way your closet will have more space and the clothes you don’t wear will be out of your vision.

Spice it up: You can always let your creative side experiment with your current clothes. If a pair of boring jeans is sitting in your closet, don’t be afraid to convert them into ripped jeans or shorts. Same way with your t-shirts, you can always crop them, tie-dye them, or dye them a different colour or even add a sequence of your choice. This would be a fun way to spice up your old boring clothes.

Fashion has no rules: Our generation has a certain piece of clothing, shoes, accessories that are considered “trendy”. But just because everyone is wearing it doesn’t mean you have to wear it too. There are no rules when it comes to fashion. You can wear whatever you like and what you feel comfortable in. The trends keep coming and changing so don’t be afraid to try something new.

Don’t go over budget: yes, you heard me right. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get the closet of your dreams. Wearing designer brands shows people you have money, it doesn’t show people that you have a great fashion sense. There is no harm in having a few statement designer pieces but you don’t only have to buy expensive stuff.

Organize: Now that you have the closet of your dreams. Make sure to always organize it nicely. You can always colour coordinate your outfits or arrange them according to the occasion. This will make your closet look great and organized.

Clothes of your choice: If you are someone who isn’t able to find good clothes in the stores near you because they only have fast fashion clothes. Don’t be afraid to order clothes online. You can try a bunch of online sites but make sure they have a return policy. So in case, you don’t like the clothes you can always return them. There are also a lot of influencers who have their clothing lines, you can also try ordering from those. You can always try thrifting but make sure the thrift stores are good. We know that LA has great thrift stores but we don’t know if stores near us have that quality.

Fashion is about wearing what you feel most comfortable and powerful in. It is a way to express ourselves so don’t think about what people have to say. Wear what you like and wear it with confidence.

Plant parenting

Every time we go out and connect with nature we feel calm and relaxed. Now imagine how great we will feel bringing small parts of nature to our home or workplace.  

Plant parenting is getting a plant and taking care of it like a child.  

If you are looking to add some colour to your house, plants are the best way to do that. Don’t just decorate your house with fake plants, get the real ones instead. They add liveliness and colour to the place.

 Plants also contribute to our environment, they take in the carbon dioxide and provide us with oxygen. Did you know houseplants can remove up to 85% of toxins from the air in just 24 hours? Cool isn’t it.

So buying plants can help reduce the toxins from your house and keeps the air purified.

Planting also makes us more responsible because we need to water them daily. Some people look after plants like it’s their job and, they don’t connect with it. Taking care and nourishing plants is very therapeutic if done correctly with peace and concentration. It is our time to connect with nature and watch it grow into something great.  

Plants also reduce our stress and boosts our mood. They create a soothing environment that creates a positive aura in our house or workplace. They also relieve anxiety and improve our mental health. Plants have a subliminal effect that lift our spirits and bring us happiness.

If you are looking for a hobby, gardening or taking care of houseplants is the perfect thing to do. People who garden are very calm and patient because plants take a long time to grow, and they require a lot of work. But, seeing a plant all grown and healthy is a reward to yourself.  

Even taking full care of one-two plants is a great way to start. Then when you succeed at it you can add more plants to your collection. You can either get seeds and watch the plant grow from the start or go to your local nursery and get halfway grown plants.

Here are a few beginners planting tips:

Read about the plant you are getting: Every plant is different. Each plant has its requirements; some need more light some don’t. If you are someone who lives in hot, humid weather, get a plant the similar weather to survive. Knowing about your plant is important or else they don’t survive that long.

Do not overwater your plants: a lot of people don’t read the water requirements of a plant and tend to overwater it which is wrong and can lead to the death of the plant. Roots growing in waterlogged soil cannot absorb the oxygen, and won’t be able to provide nutrients to the plant. Only water your plants if you think the soil is dry this way you will not end up overwatering them.

Make sure the pot has holes: this is important so the excess water can drain out. If the water is collected on the base, the roots may get fungus or bacteria.

Fertilizer: Other than water and light plants also require fertilizers. They are the food of the plant. If you are someone with a lot of plants. You can get a universal fertilizer liquid that works well for all plants and you can mix it with water as per the plant requirement.

Clean the leaves of your plants: If you think the leaves of your plants have dirt on them, water them or take a damp cloth to wipe the dirt off, this allows them to photosynthesize easily.

Water your plants in the morning or the evening: watering during these times will allow the plant to retain the water. If you water them in the afternoon, the water will be evaporated by the sun.

Remember that it is okay if some plants don’t live so long it is a cycle of life. But, if you take full care of them and keep reading more about plants chances are you will get better at it and enjoy your time with them.

Snacking healthy

 We often consider snacks “bad” because a lot of the time people only snack on unhealthy food. But, did you know snacks are as important as any other meals? Snacks if consumed correctly are a great source of energy and nutrients

So, here are a few tips on how to snack healthy:

Avoid eating straight out of a bag: We tend to lose track of how much we eat when we eat directly from the bag. So it is advisable to pour it in a plate or a bowl so you don’t end up overeating.

We eat what we see: When we are hungry we tend to eat the first thing we see. If you go in your kitchen and the first thing you see on the kitchen counter is a bag of chips, chances are you might eat it. Remove all the unhealthy snacks from your sight and instead keep fruits or nuts on the counter. So every time you are hungry you reach out for healthier alternatives.

Planning ahead of time: Plan all the snacks you will be making a week ahead. So, the next time you go grocery shopping you will remember to get the ingredients needed. This will allow your brain to be prepared for making the snacks knowing you purchased all ingredients for it.

Meal prep:  Preparing healthy snacks might seem like a lot of work. We might give up and open a bag of chips instead.

 That’s when meal prep comes to the rescue. We can meal prep by already cutting the fruits or veggies in the morning and place them in small glass containers. This would also make fruits look more appetising and chances are we might eat them. We can also use the fruits and veggies in making smoothies or eating them with our favourite dips. We can also prepare dips like hummus in advance to eat with our veggies.

Spice things up: We normally don’t prefer eating healthy snacks because we don’t think it tastes as good as junk food. So, we need to spice things up a little. Here are some healthy snacks ideas that you can enjoy:

  • Making smoothies of your choice. Smoothies are filled with nutrients and they taste amazing. Add in your favourite fruits in your smoothies and you can always try mixing new things in it to spice things up.
  • Adding pumpkin, sunflower, hemp seeds to your oatmeal or your peanut butter can add extra nutrition to your snacks. You can also add them to your smoothies.
  • Add dips in it. If you are someone who doesn’t like eating fruits alone, you can always dip them in something you like. You can dip your fruits in nut butter or eat your carrots, celery, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes with tzatziki. You can also dip your raw veggies in hummus.
  • Fresh juices. Another thing you can do is prepare fresh juices in the morning. You can have them with your snacks later during the day.
  • Eating raw nuts. Nuts have a lot of health benefits. If you don’t like eating raw nuts you can always add them to your smoothie or you can eat them roasted.
  • Greek yogurt and berries. Greek yogurt is high in protein and berries are a great source of anti-oxidants.

There are a bunch of other healthy snack recipes which are fun and tasty to eat. Eating healthy snacks will fill your craving and give your body the nutrients it needs.

SELF-CARE

Self-care is the practice of taking care of our mental, emotional and, physical health. We must take care of ourselves and our well-being. We often don’t give time to ourselves because we are too busy or are occupied with technology.

People who prioritise self-care practices in their lives are often more likely to be happy, confident and, successful. It also shows people that you value yourself and your life. You instantly feel more productive and are in a state of peace with yourself.  

Here are a few things which you can do daily for self-care. These things don’t consume a lot of time and can easily be added to your daily routine.

Getting adequate sleep: It is a no-brainer that our body needs an adequate amount of sleep to function well. Sleeping for a good amount of time not only helps prevent health problems but also increases our productivity during the day. It also keeps us in a better mood and we are less likely to feel annoyed when things go wrong.

Doing mornings right: Every day is a new day and our day starts in the morning. So, we must do our morning right. Let’s start with waking up a little early than usual so we don’t have to rush to our work.

 The next thing is to not go on our devices, going on social media or thinking about work is not the best thing to do the moment you wake up. We wake up every morning with a positive thought and we need to maintain that so our day goes well.

We need to add an activity that allows us to give time to ourselves. Adding this activity will make us feel better because we are not just waking up to work but we have things that we do for ourselves in the morning.

The activity can be as simple as making your morning tea and drinking it while reading a newspaper, magazine, or book. You can also simply meditate or do yoga for 15 min. Giving yourself a peaceful time in the morning is important.

Giving your body nutrients: An important part of self-care is to take care of our health. Our body needs various vitamins and nutrients. So, make sure you eat food rich in vitamins. Eating healthy will fulfil your body’s needs and will also make you feel good about yourself. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind.

Get your body moving: Doing something physical every day is important. You can choose any activity of your choice. It can vary from an hour of the gym to a walk for 20 minutes. Anything that gets your body moving is considered a physical activity even dancing to your favourite songs.

Getting organized: You will never feel like good working or living in a cluttered environment. So, make sure that your things are organized and are kept properly. A lot of people also consider organizing things therapeutic as it helps them clear their thoughts. If you are someone who procrastinates a lot before cleaning or organizing there is a tip for you too. Every day set a timer for 10 minutes to organize things. This way you won’t feel pressured to work and you will feel accomplished after completing your tasks.

Me time: Giving time to yourself is the most important part of self-care. Me time will allow your brain to connect with yourself. It will help reduce stress and will instantly brighten your mood up. A few things you can do in your me-time are:

  • Cook something fun
  • Sing or dance
  • Create an art piece
  • Journal
  • Take a bubble bath
  • Paint your nails
  • Treat yourself

These things will allow you to enjoy time with yourself and, it will also make you appreciate yourself. Me-time is important because, before we enjoy and spend time with others we need to be happy in our own company.

Things to do when you are feeling low

Do you have one of those days where you don’t feel like getting out of bed? Where you feel like everything is going against you and you feel sad or unaccomplished.

Well good for you, you are not alone.

We all have days where we don’t know what to do. Where we feel lost and unsatisfied. We want to change the way we feel but, there is no motivation to do so

Feeling low is quite normal. It is our brain’s way of telling us to take a break. Now there are two things people do when they feel low.

The first thing is they push themselves to work and forget about their emotions.

The second one is they let their emotions sit in, take a break and, then move forward with a fresh perspective.

Which approach sounds better? The second one right.

So, here are a few things to do when you are feeling low,

The first thing to do is acknowledge your emotions. Cry if you are feeling sad. A lot of people think that crying isn’t good or it shows that you are not strong enough. But, that’s not true. Crying is as normal as laughing when you find something funny.

Did you know that crying makes you feel better?

Crying releases endorphins, these feel-good emotions help you feel better.

Now that you have let your emotions out, give yourself a break so your body can recharge.

Have your favourite meal. You deserve that after going through so much. Forget about the calories and go grab a pizza if that will make you feel better.

Go outside and connect with nature. I am not asking you to go on a vacation. But even going outside to the park near your place can help. Being surrounded by nature will instantly make you feel calm. Nature has a calming effect on human beings. Even lying down under the night sky will help you feel calm and make you realise, how small of a part you are in this universe.

Do not go on social media. It is not the best idea to go on social media, where all you see is people having fun while your life is a mess. We tend to forget that people on social media also have bad days like us but they don’t show that online.

Talk to your trusted ones. Keeping things on your mind can be draining. So, talk to your friends, or family. If you are not comfortable sharing things with them, then you can always talk to your therapists or some trusted friends online. Talking things out and sharing your negative emotions with your trusted ones is profoundly healing.

Do an activity you enjoy. It can be as simple as painting, reading, or singing. You don’t have to be good at it. Do it to enjoy yourselves and to have fun.

We get so involved in our lives that we often don’t get time to do such things. So doing an activity you love would be very therapeutic.

Now that you are done with the break and are ready to go on with your life. Remember to take things slow.

One step at a time. Set small targets for yourself. Give your brain enough time to pick up with the pace.

Doing these activities will help your brain recover and give you a fresh perspective on life. It is always okay to not be okay and, to let our emotions take over. It is okay to take a break and rest for a day or two. Even successful people have bad days. So, don’t be so hard on yourselves for feeling low instead, give yourself time to rejuvenate.

how to drink 8 glasses of water every day?

Yes, it’s one of those articles which will ask you to drink water. I know you already don’t want to read it because we all know the benefits of drinking water. We have been hearing about that since we were little. So, I am not going to bore you by listing all the reasons you should drink water.  

Water is plain and boring. Which sane person would keep drinking a transparent fluid and feel happy about it. Right? Like, go grab a coffee, tea, or a soft drink.

So a while ago, I was thinking about why I don’t drink water. Turns out it was mostly because I do not like the taste of it. I don’t think it is something I can keep drinking all day. So, I decided to spice things up a little.

 Here are some things that I tried and, it helped me increase my intake of water.

So, after I came up with this idea of drinking more water. I was honestly motivated. So the first thing I did was buy a beautiful bottle and a glass with a built-in straw. You must be thinking about how that helped. Well, it did. Drinking water in something you like would make you want to drink more water. I now carry my bottle whenever I go out mostly because I think it looks cute.

Did you know drinking water with a straw increases your intake of water? So go grab a glass bottle with a metal straw. They are reusable and won’t harm the environment.

The next thing I did was add flavour to the water. Yes, let’s get rid of the plain taste of water. Instead of drinking plain water, you can drink fruit-infused water. You can easily make fruit-infused water by adding the fruit of your choice in cold water and letting it sit for 2-4 hours. It will not just keep you hydrated and feeling fresh but it will also remove the toxins from your body.

I usually add lemon, mint, and cucumber. But, to change things up I like to add blueberries and strawberries. You can come up with your own recipes or check out a few recipes online.

If you are one of those people who are very busy in your life that you forget to drink water. I have a solution for you too. Download a drinking water app from the play store or app store. It will give you reminders to drink water. It is fun and you won’t forget to drink water.

Another thing that I do is always keep water next to me especially when I am working on an assignment. So whenever I am tired, I take a sip of water then continue. It gives my brain a little break and helps me stay hydrated.

Remember how I told you at the start that I won’t tell you the health benefits of drinking water. It is because I want you to try these tips and let me know the changes you saw in yourself after increasing your intake of water.

How our screen time affects our lives?

Screen time is the amount of time we spend on any device with a screen like a mobile, TV, or laptop. Experts say that less than 2 hours of screen time outside work is the ideal screen time.

The pandemic has made us more addicted to our devices increasing our screen time. Don’t get me wrong I do appreciate technology. Our economies wouldn’t be functioning in the pandemic if it weren’t for technology. Most of our work became virtual and so did our lives.

Now, we know what the ideal time for our screen is but, it is hard for us to stick to that. Our screens provide us with endless entertainment whether it is binge-watching a series, playing a game on console, or scrolling through social media.

But, what we fail to recognize is how much it affects our lives. Let’s begin with health problems.

Many people have trouble having a good night’s sleep and we all know how important that is for our body. When we can’t sleep we tend to go on our screens.

Did you know that is the reason why we can’t fall asleep?

Digital screens emit blue light which interferes with the production of the sleep hormone melatonin in our body making it harder for us to sleep at night. People who tend to have a high screen time also usually suffer from headaches and eye strains. It also affects our posture.

Let’s move on to how it affects our mental health.

We use technology as a source of entertainment, but we forget where to put a stop to it, and that’s when the problem arises. We slowly fall into this cycle of using technology excessively and, forget that we have a life outside it. Human beings are curious by nature. We learn new things and want to change from time to time. So, we start to feel anxious and depressed when all we do is stare at our screens all day. Excessive screen time also means less time to do other activities like interacting with people which further leads to low social skills.

Yes, sitting at home and using our screen is the easy thing to do. We get entertained and it is in our comfort zone. We don’t have to meet people and do physical activities. But, just because it feels right doesn’t mean it is good for us.

We think that we are just passing time by using our devices. But what we don’t realize is that we are wasting our time doing things we won’t even remember in the future. Are you going to remember the memes you have liked, or the people that you stalk, or the number of games that you have won on your console?

No right? So why are we doing it?

 Let’s go down memory lane. Think of your favorite memories. Does any of the memories involve you using your screen? I don’t think so.

So, let’s all start doing things that we will remember in the future. Let’s talk to people around us. So many times we come across situations where we are surrounded by our loved ones but all we do is stare at our screens.

 We all know that “time is precious”. So why is our screen time more than what it should be?