Saumya POOJARI responds to ThinkWellness360 questionnaire:
Your view on beauty?
I believe in the timeless adage — that outer beauty attracts, while inner beauty captivates. A person may be tall, fair, have beautiful eyes, among other embellishments, but what is of paramount importance is having a mindful soul. Else, beauty, in spite of everything, may have no meaning at all. People, in most instances, get attracted first to one’s external, also riveting, features, but the moment you interact, and reflect your inner sense, they may either like you, or not like you. Also, no person in this world is ugly. Every human being has their own charm — this defines their inner and outer personality. We all have that X factor too, which when presented well attracts everything, including our environment.
Your ‘take’ on fitness?
Being fit is in my genetics. My grandfather and dad were football players; my sister was a state level athlete. I continued the legacy as an athlete till my MBA studies. Now, I’m back at it, and notwithstanding my busy schedule today, I see to it that I exercise for 45 minutes daily. On days that are swamped with endless work, I try to brisk walk post-dinner for 30 minutes. I don’t believe in making a resolution to being fit and breaking it on New Year’s Day. Fitness is an everyday affair which I swear by. A healthy body is built not only through exercise, but also healthy food. I try my best to eat home-made food and whenever I eat junk-food I burn ‘excess,’ or ‘hoarded,’ calories the next day. I follow a simple mantra: keep fit, eat healthy and stay healthy.
Your view of health and wellness?
As Ralph Waldo Emerson articulated, health is the first wealth. It’s a simple credo too. You can’t do without a good, healthy lifestyle. Our jobs are extremely strenuous and stressful — they require constant delivery of results and in order to succeed we need to focus on our well-being just as well. With newer illnesses, growing pollution and skewed changes in lifestyle, our health has taken a toll. A ‘perfect’ balance vis-à-vis physical and mental well-being is fundamental to living a fit, healthy and peaceful life. Once you catch a bad habit, whether it is drinking, smoking, or binge eating, for that matter, it becomes difficult to getting back on track. Wait a moment. Trust me that this is just another habit and habits can be formed, or changes made by constantly doing something useful on a daily basis. It is said that when you conduct a task for a week, or two, a new neuron is developed and later our body gets ‘wired’ to it — this becomes a habit. So, the onus is on us to choose healthy food, exercise and meditate, or drink, smoke, and lead a stressful life. Eating on time, exercising and sleeping are a sine qua non for our circadian rhythms, or our inner bio-clock, and their harmonious functioning — this paves the way to leading a balanced, stress-free life and in the best manner possible too.
Your ‘take’ on work-life balance?
Balancing work and life is a not just a task, but a waltzing act, in today’s world. It all depends on the choices and priorities you make. I believe that one should be ambitious, yes, but, at the same time, understand when to break the shackles, as it were, and set oneself ‘free.’ As we grow up, we are bound to multiple responsibilities — it is, therefore, imperative, that we set our priorities and understand ‘when to do what, or not.’ In today’s work-from-home [WFH] scenario, it is, perhaps, difficult to give quality time to our loved ones. We end up spending more time at ‘work from home’ — this stresses us up to the tipping point, affecting our health. The best thing to do is to know our limits, also our bodily and emotional needs, and act upon our options wisely.
Your mantra to beat stress?
Stress blocks our brain activity — it is the biggest hurdle to carrying out our tasks efficiently. Stress comes naturally, but there are ways to dealing with it. My simple secret is to keep off distractive stresses, maintain a good exercise regimen, along with a balanced diet programme. This helps me to mindfully ease, or beat, stress. Add to this, my meditative practice, and it all helps me to rejuvenate and get back to work with a new zest. I also make it a point to travel, explore new places, or dance, and ‘let go,’ while purging my hassles — whatever their connotation.
