Self-Care For Health & Well-being
By: Andréa Drottholm
Ever since I was 2 years of age my mother made sure I had sport activities throughout my youth. Born and bread in Sweden, ice skating was a natural choice for her, so I had the smallest ice skating boots the shop could offer.
From there I went on to dance, swimming, soccer, basketball, karate etc.
Bicycling has always been my means of transport for as long as I can remember.
So yes physical activity has always played a big part in my life.
My Daily Rituals
I wake up at 4 am, drink a big glass of water and a cup of tea to kick start.
Every morning, on my way to the Ubuntu shala, I collect various flowers fallen from the trees, to place on the altar. An altar is a place where we might keep objects, candles, statues, photos, a place of worship or as I like to see it of gratitude. Gratitude for this beautiful gift called life.
To get myself in to a place of grounding, I do some pranayama and meditation.
My yoga practice used to be quite vigorous, I like to push myself, challenge and overcome fear about certain yoga asanas. These days I tend to be more in tune with how I feel, how my body feels, much more gentle and accepting.
If I feel my female cycle calls for more of a shanti approach, or I did not get enough sleep, feeling un-grounded then I slow it all down.
The practice takes between 1.5 - 2 hours.
After I finish I spend another 15 minutes chanting, which is not only a means for me to meditate but also to use my breath appropriately, my teacher would say its a form of pranayama.
Self-Care & Food
My first meal of the day is after teaching yoga, typically around 10 am, I have breakfast which again depends on how I feel that day. I tend to be drawn to fibers. It can be granola and yogurt with fruit, smoothie with granola, oat porridge, quinoa porridge or an omelet. I drink 2 liters of coconut water a day on top of regular water consumption.
Most days, I eat twice a day, breakfast and a late lunch. My digestive system is slow and I feel sluggish in the morning if I have dinner. Though if I feel hungry naturally I do eat, again I find it important to listen to the body.
Mainly vegetarian food, but sometimes I do eat fish. I do not eat meat, as I simply do not trust the meat industry, the hormones, antibiotics and keeping animals in confined unhealthy spaces, putting any of that in the mouth feels unethical and unhealthy all together.
Maintaining A Health Mindset
Positive thinking is a great contributor to my life style, I fully believe a healthy mind is a healthy body. That is not to say that I suppress emotions of sadness and negativity, but rather try to look at it and find the source of these emotions, and more importantly let it out, either by talking about it to dear friends, or simply crying it out. However always taking responsibility for my emotions, and knowing that I can change the way I look at things in order to feel positive.
Connections with people is very important to me. Valuable conversations, and exchanges with people from all walks of life, to learn and grow, as I only have this life I do not want to waste my time with superficial interactions.
Keeping a creative flow, I design yoga clothes, jewellery write poems or just thoughts, I cook, sing and love taking photos.
Its my creativity outlet. I am curious by nature, I like to explore, travel, this I feel keeps me young and excited about life along with everything else I add to my life style.
I believe Nature is our natural medicine.
At the end of the day I will take Timmy my dog for a walk on the beach. If we are not beach side we might head out to the jungle or rice fields. Nature has a soothing feeling, it gives me grounding and infinite feeling of excitement when I watch the sun set over the horizon, or an old tree with its massive trunk and intricate complex patterns from leaves.
