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Fertility and You

As far as mankind has progressed with science and medicine, ironically there also seems to be an increased number of individuals/couples struggling with fertility.

The natural function of bearing a child is getting harder and harder due to a large number of factors, namely poor diet, stress, hyper/hectic lifestyles and unreasonable demands we put on ourselves, our bodies and our partners.  We have unknowingly created this vicious cycle that is now inhibiting a natural function of our body.

Today, the words ‘holistic’ and ‘mindfulness’ are so common and used in every context possible.  There is a reason for this.  We have lost touch with ourselves and with basic human needs such as love, affection, respect, time, and long deep breaths.  We make check lists, bucket lists, expectation lists, to do lists, etc, and just keep ploughing through them until we hit a major road block.  This causes anxiety, stress, depression, self-doubt and a vicious cycle that then makes us keep hitting more road blocks.

When it comes to fertility and family planning, we need to move away from the check-list and approach it ‘holistically’ from the get go.

Here are some thoughts to consider before embarking on this beautiful and sometimes trying journey:

  1.  Are you mentally and emotionally ready for this ride?
  2. Is your partner mentally and emotionally ready for this journey?
  3. Are you taking a step back from your hectic lifestyle and the pressures you put on yourself?
  4. Have you taken a moment to breathe and exhale?
  5. Are you physically fit? By this I mean, healthy and active with a good diet.

You and your partner need to be in a good (healthy – physically, emotionally and mentally) place to conceive.  It is natural to have at least one unsuccessful attempts, sometimes 2.  Let this not send you into a tail spin as once again you will get on that vicious cycle.

What I would like to suggest before you reach out for medical assistance/intervention, is to get your mind and body ‘baby ready‘.

Here are some basic and common ideas but they are very powerful in their effect:

  1. Evaluate your diet – ensure it is nutritious and wholesome.
  2. Start or maintain a physical fitness routine – this doesn’t have to be a heavy session at the gym, but even a long walk 2-3 times a week out in nature.
  3. Spend more ‘quality’ time with your partner – romantic, light, happy, positive, fun.  Spend less time discussing ‘baby’, to-do’s etc.
  4. Surround yourself with positive people, energy, books, activities, music.
  5. Cleanse, re-balance and revitalise your body – this is where natural therapies come in.  Use a complementary therapy that resonates with you and a therapist you connect with to remove negative energies in your aura and in your body, unblock your internal blocks be it mental or emotional and re-align and re-connect with yourself.
  6. Engage in a hobby or activity that you really enjoy and love – dance, musical instruments, performing arts, reading, cycling…

All of the above give your cells what they need to make your body function the way it is intended to.   Treat your body with love and respect.  Once you have made it so ‘baby-friendly’ you will experience a much higher success rate with either naturally conceiving or having IVF or hormone therapy.   You have a responsibility to yourself to make it happen.

Happy thoughts!

 

 

 

 

The Lakshmi Principle

 

Goddess Lakshmi

Who is Lakshmi?

Put very simply, Lakshmi is the Hindu Goddess of Wealth.

In a Hindu family, when a girl is born, it is said that ‘Lakshmi has come in to the home’.  When a girl gets married, it is also said that ‘Lakshmi has come in to our home’.  – The latter bearing a lot of pressure! 😉

Unfortunately to most people, the term ‘wealth’ only relates to monetary wealth.  To have and to be able to possess luxuries.  And if we do not posses this form of wealth forever, we feel that ‘Lakshmi‘ has abandoned us for another.

What does ‘wealth’ mean to you?

I attended a lovely discourse last week, ‘Women without Walls’, by Swamini (Religious Teacher) Supriyananda at the Chinmaya Mission in Hendon.

The ‘Women’ in question were the Hindu Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and how we can ‘take’ their attributes and strength and make them OURS.  How we can be ‘complete’ women when possessing these amazing characteristics of these lovely Celestial Beings.  They are solely there for us to learn from and relate to.  We read signs and books that say that all of us women are Goddesses or we have a Goddess inside us.  But, do we understand what that means?  What does it mean to be a Goddess?  And if we believed we are Goddesses or have a Goddess inside of us then we would perhaps not be prone to feeling like ‘victims’ of circumstance but instead always feel empowered by these special qualities of a Goddess. No?

(Durga:  Goddess of Power (Shakti) – she destroys evil forces that threaten the better good.  Saraswati:  Goddess of Knowledge – education, arts, music, intelligence.)

So, back to Goddess Lakshmi.  Why Lakshmi?  So much of the discussion resonated with me, my upbringing, it also gave me so much more adoration for my own mother.

What is ‘wealth’ to you?

Wealth to me has always been my health, my family, my friends, my values, my reputation. I would go further to say, I am blessed to have this wealth in ABUNDANCE.

Let’s go deeper in to Lakshmi and her ‘wealth’:

Resourceful, Virtues, Generosity, Devotion, Beauty, Compassion, Intelligence, Carefree, Pure, Charismatic-Charming, Radiant, Happiness, Love.

At the discussion it took as ages and prodding from Swaminiji  for us to come with the latter to, but the most important of them all:  HAPPINESS AND LOVE!

Did you think about it? 😉

Lakshmi is ABUNDANT in all of the above.  This is the Lakshmi principle.  Being resourceful, abundant, happiness, love, generous, virtuous, beautiful, devoted,  compassionate, smart, carefree, pure, charismatic, raidant.

Do we not aim to possess these qualities or to make these qualities in us shine?

Are we not resourceful as women?  We just know how to get the job done no matter where and what.  We never fall short of resources.

Which qualities of Lakshmi are you aware that you possess?  Which attributes would you wish to sharpen?

Namaste! The Goddess of me salutes the Goddess in you!

 

 

 

 

 

‘Leaving Something for Our Kids…’

Goosebumps all over my arms, my breath held for goodness knows how long, my heart racing and I found a lump in my throat and tears welling up in my eyes.

All this while I was listening to Michelle Obama’s Democratic Convention Speech.  Oh my!  What a woman, what a delivery of such words full of impact.

I was listening to her speech – more focused on the actual words than who they were about.  I was not thinking of Hillary Clinton or the elections.  The words, the emotion, the impact – was about each one of us in our own leadership roles be it at work, at home, social and community organizations, as civilians.

*disclaimer:  I am not representing any political party or individual.  This article is purely inspired by content that can inspire you, me and everyone out there who wants to make a difference.

What do we aspire to be?  Do we want to be regarded as role models for the next generation and generations to come?  We need to carry ourselves in such honourable ways and know that we are ‘leaving something for our kids’.

Let’s look at some of the key phrases she uses and really soak it in.  Can we take some of it or all of it and apply it to our own roles?  You do not need to be a mother or for that matter a parent but just a person in a community who wants to leave a healthy heritage.

MO: “spent decades doing the relentless work to actually make a difference”

That’s a Mother, that’s a CEO, that’s a teacher, that’s a Guru, that’s a Volunteer, that’s all of us.  Everything we do serves a bigger and a higher purpose.

MO:  “when she did not win the nomination eight years ago, she did not get angry or disillusioned”

The game of life is not easy.  There are moments we win there are moments we concede. Some days I’m a winner, some days I’m still running.  But who draws the finish line?  We’ve created it ourselves and get disillusioned by it.  Keep your goal and vision in sight always… and don’t waiver with emotions.  You’ll get there – ‘there’ is ‘where’ you definite it to be.

MO:  “proudly stepped up to serve”

We do as family members no matter where in the hierarchy we are.  We do as team players no matter what our position is.  We do this in our respective communities to serve as a ‘whole’.

MO:  “she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out.  ….(she)  has never quit on anything in her life”  (‘she’ can be replaced with ‘he’)

Some of us buckle, some of us throw in the towel some of the time.  But most of the time, we get back up and do it all over again, and again, and again…

Something to keep in mind – keep yourself surrounded by great leaders but more than that surround yourself with a great support group who will not let you loose sight of your goals.

MO:  “when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady and measured and well-informed.”

As heads of families and organizations,  as members of the community – we hold a lot of power that most of the time we are not aware of .  How we affect the moods of the people around us.  How we can be encouraging or discouraging.  How we can create a positive or negative environment.  How we react to the people around us – calmly or do we lash out?  We underestimate the power we have – but once we become aware of this power – we need to be smart and constructive in how we use it.

MO:  “Someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase fame and fortune for ourselves; we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed. And we give back even when we are struggling ourselves because we know that there is someone worse off.”

I want to be that someone for me.  For my children.  For the children in my family.  For the children in my community.  Can you be that someone with me?

MO: “we are all created equal, each a beloved part…”

So why do we discriminate?  We are all created equal.  Who are we to judge who’s worthy of our time, our attention, our love, our respect?  We are all a part of the ‘big’ picture.  We ALL make a difference.

MO:  “It is about leaving something better for our kids.”

AMEN!  That’s my bottom line and the reason for why I need to continue to grow.

MO:  “Volunteering to coach the team, teach the Sunday school class, because they know it takes a village.”

A little time spent to enhance our community, to serve our community, to serve the children.

MO:  “Leaders … who show our kids what decency and devotion look like. Leaders… who have the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting those cracks in the highest and hardest glass ceiling until they finally break through, lifting all of us along with …”

“I want a leader who is worthy of that truth, a leader worthy of my girls’ promise and all of our kids’ promise. A leader who will be guided every day by the love and hope and impossibly big dreams that we all have for our children.”

I want that leader too to inspire me.  I want to be a little or a lot like that leader too to inspire someone..

*thank you Michelle Obama for that fantastic delivery and inspiration*

 

 

 

Colourful Women

This site is about Women in our lives who inspire us and who leave a lasting impression on us.

The first woman in most of our lives to do so is our Mother.

So, I start this page as a dedication to my wonderful mother, Jyoti Manu Nagrani (JMN as she loves to sign off), who is 73 years old, and still amazingly dynamic.  She is my inspiration to start this blog and is my daily inner voice, guiding me, strengthening me.  When I do get a few minutes in a day to pray, I pray that I get blessed with at least 50% of her will power and her strength.

mum

At 73, 20+ years post removal and treatment of an oral cyst, she is still running her retail business which she started at the age of 45, with so much enthusiasm and still sets her daily sales targets, which she states first thing every morning to her staff.  By the end of the day they have accomplish this.  Mum can still charm anyone in seconds and can sell them products they were not shopping for, making us all chuckle at the end of the sale.

Mum is an entrepreneur.  Mum is creative.  Mum can be very flamboyant (while making sure I was the conservative daughter and she did her job right!- double-standard!) and modern for a lady of her times.

As a wife, mother and grandmother, mum is still so aware and still caters to all our needs effortlessly.  Mum just needs to know we are on our way to her, and all our favourite food, our children’s favourite food, and yes, some lovely gifts, get prepared and purchased…….. but that’s not all…… even my husband  is always left ‘mesmerized’ with her ‘presentation’ of all the above….’.  The advantage of this is….. when he does cook for me…. he presents his food as artistically as she does.  Thank you mamma… 😉 for inspiring him as well!

As a daughter, I have seen mum ‘evolve’ so beautifully, with time, with change, adapting to so many cultures and to her colourful 6 children and 6 grandchildren… and yet, her appearance and presence is so timeless.

I have still to meet another who can do so much, and look after such a big family, tirelessly, and always with a smile.  She beams and has a private ‘winnning moment’ every time she does something for us.

I can go on for pages on my mamma while all of you are probably thinking…. ‘well…. that sounds exactly like my mother’….. yes, it probably does.  So share, share, share…..

10 + 1 Big Lessons I have learnt from My Mamma:

1.  Dream, and Dream Big

2.  Follow your Dreams

3.  Anything done with a good and pure heart is real devotion.  Keep your intentions and actions pure.

4.  Serve, Serve, Serve – serve the big, serve the small, always with a smile & let go of your ego when you do so.

5. Work hard.  Persevere.  You will Achieve.

6.  Carry yourself elegantly. Always.

7.  Handle trials and tribulations calmly, clearly, purely.  Stand out like a Lotus Flower.

8.  Do your duty 200%, don’t fall short and don’t let anyone get the better of you.

9.  Treasure your true friends.  Cherish your girly moments with them.

10.  Never sit idle.  Be productive, be constructive.

11.  And just 2 months ago, she taught my boys to say…’Ouwee… GO AWAY!’.  Now that’s how she’s battled her health issues.

Mamma, I have a long way to go still but thank you for always reinforcing these.   Pappa – I love you as much, and you have taught me all these things too and more…but this one’s for the ladies.. 🙂

 

 WATCH THIS SPACE FOR OUR NEXT FEATURE OF A COLOURFUL WOMAN!