Really, walking outdoors is fun. It’s actually great. And if the weather outside is amazing, then one should take full advantage of it.
Yesterday evening, after many days, in fact months, I went on the terrace for my evening walk. The weather was great. The air was a bit breezy. And I had a good half an hour walk.
I enjoyed my walk a lot more than I usually enjoy my regular treadmill walks indoors. And the difference was really something big. I could feel my whole body moving differently and a bit more freely compared to my straight standing posture on the treadmill.
Sure, I do enjoy my treadmill walks, and I have been continuously walking on a treadmill for the past two months or so, almost every day. It’s great. It helps me to have the proper sweaty walk and great cardio. But the outdoors is also fun.
And I have decided that now winter has almost ended, so I am going to have a mix of both types of walk in my everyday life. I think it’s going to be more interesting, fun, and beautiful.
I am excited for my outdoor walks. What about you? Don’t wait too much. Spring is in its full charm right now. Go, have a walk outside. It’s good for your health and longevity. Don’t think too much now. Just put on those shoes and go. You will enjoy it.
I am noticing one thing. As I am growing older, I am more and more inclined towards home-cooked meals. For me, now, the Ghar ka khana is ultimate heaven.
Although since childhood I have been that kid who used to eat home-cooked meals only, and chips, biscuits, icecreams, or samosas were the things of the weekend. I was never that kid with a junk food habit.
But there was one more thing. I was also not the one who used to eat ghar ka khana happily. Actually, till age 8, I can remember I was the kid whose parents really struggled to feed her. I was very thin, usually sick, and an underweight kid then. Mummy papa tried many things, but it just didn’t work. I hated eating veggies and used to throw them in the dustbin. I had no liking for any fruit as such. Daal I didn’t like, roti, and rice I used to eat with a little oil and salt. Yeah, that was me. And bread? I used to like bread, jam, or bread with ghar ki malai then.
Mumma papa got me a few medicinal syrups so that I can feel hungry and eat proper meals, but that wasn’t very helpful either. Yes, samosa, maggie, noodles, icecream, chocolates, chips were all my occasional friends then. Occasionally means once a week or every two weeks here.
I was 8 when I got admitted to my hostel in Banasthali in the 4th standard. It was the year 2005.
There, things started changing. We had fixed meal times, and we had to reach our mess on time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. We used to take our plates, and our wardens used to serve us the meals. There, I started eating healthily. I don’t know what it was! Was that the effect of community, because we used to go together for our meals, sit with each other, eat and talk, and sometimes talk a lot and eat while we talked? I don’t know!
I kind of started eating like a healthy kid. The hatred for veggies took a bit of time to go, and it had to go because there I couldn’t throw my food in the dustbin so easily. I had to finish my food properly. And then, the variety of food, the taste, the menu was fortunately very good in my hostel. Sure, the hostel food goes through its own share of downs, but those few days were nothing compared to the tasty meals we had and enjoyed during our hostel days.
I developed my liking for eating healthy and normal ghar ka khana because of my hostel days. I know it might sound ironic to many of you, but it’s true in my case. My health got better. I went from an underweight kid to a healthy BMI girl over time, and it stayed very well during all those years there.
Then, after coming to Delhi for my college studies, I naturally became inclined towards ghar ka khana as I started living with my parents. And then, I kind of started admiring and loving Mumma’s specialities more and more. I remember those were the days when I used to think that I had missed a lot of my mumma’s food, and now I am going to make up for all those years. Yes, I used to eat in my college canteen as well, and that was the time when I fell in love with momos, but ghar ka khana had become the ultimate satisfaction by then.
Today, I am not living in my hostel or with my mom permanently, but one thing I am grateful for is that I have fairly developed the taste and a lot more liking for ghar ka healthy and tasty khana. And honestly, I am grateful for this liking.
Yes, I do have my KFC chicken burger, momos, and chocolates, and cakes, but I have intentionally brought them to a few cheat meals or day outs in a month. They are occasional. Ghar ka khana is the regular thing for me.
I hope more and more people start including more home-cooked meals in their lives. I know it’s not easy every time. Especially when you are not good at cooking, it is difficult. And many times, you have a time crunch as well. However, taking a step towards making this happen is a hundred percent worth your time. I have no doubt about it.
It truly is. Imagine you wake up naturally, without an alarm, after a deep restorative sleep at night, and feel very fresh and excited to get up and start your day on a healthy note. Isn’t it a blessing?
For me, it surely is. And especially now, when I have started to listen to my body and understand my rhythm and energy throughout the day, I have started seeing the immediate results of proper sleep, proper rest time, and waking up feeling fresh and healthy towards the day ahead.
It’s like you are starting your day with your happy hormones, right? Isn’t that cool? For me, a hundred percent.
Honestly, I am kind of developing a lot of love and respect for early to bed and early to rise thing. And when you actually live it, you get to know what all you actually miss while scrolling social media and Netflixing all night. I have done that. And I do these things still now and then. But the time, energy, and intention behind those things have changed, or I can say are changing. And for me, it’s a healthy and positive thing.
The feeling of having a proper, good night, restful, and happy sleep without any interruptions, and waking up naturally after a few good hours of rest is pure gold. And this is one of the foundations of our health and longevity, which we don’t take seriously enough.
Sure, life happens. You fall sick. You are not in a good physical and mental state, relatively, and sleep gets affected. No doubt about it. But, we have the power to start, restart, again start, and restart again and again to sleep early, take proper rest for our body and mind rejuvenation, and wake up not because of an alarm, but your internal body alarm, every day.
I hope you have a good sleep, a very good rest time, and a very beautiful, calm, quiet, and soft mornings ahead.
Many people, even doctors, recommend walking a few steps for a few minutes after our meals. It has many benefits, including sugar control and weight loss in the long term. Ayurveda also talks about it.
For me, especially these days when I am taking medicines 3 times a day for many days, this walk is really helping me stay awake a little longer after my lunch time. The heavy doses of medicine sometimes make it very difficult to stay awake and do anything. And me being me, always prefers a body and mind well rested for any kind of work, so I sleep when my body asks for it.
But sleeping a day thrice, I mean, once after breakfast and medicines, then if you can’t control it after lunch, and then of course, the nighttime dose makes it too much. And I don’t want to see my puffy face and swollen eyes anymore. Rest is fine. Deep sleep is good. But sleeping three times, I didn’t feel so good. So, my post-lunch walk for around half an hour is saving me from falling asleep these days.
Can’t say much about what my metabolism, sugar, cholesterol, thyroid, and insulin levels are, but my sleeping and staying awake balance, with a short nap after breakfast, is right right now. And I am happy for that.
Tell me about yourself. Have you noticed any positive changes in your daytime or just general everyday life because of this simple act?
Sometimes, when you can hear many things at once in your mind, it’s time to free up your mental space. Free it up.
Take your diary, open your notes app, or go to your blog – wherever you feel safe, and just start scribbling whatever is bothering you. Start scribbling whatever is not making any sense to you. Just start, and it will do its job.
You don’t have to explain anything to anyone if you don’t want to; you just need to see what’s going on inside your head. That’s it. That’s the whole point. And you know what, you can do it.
No matter what the world says 1000s of times every day to you, listen to me carefully. Just shut up and listen to me. You are capable of sitting alone with yourself. You are capable enough to listen and talk to yourself without hating an inch of your existence. You can listen to yourself, talk to yourself, solve your problems, take one step at a time, and move ahead in your life with a heart full of gratitude, a mind full of peace, and days full of happiness in your life.
Today, just sit. Just sit and write. Write your heart out. No order, no structure, no headlines, and no paragraphs. Write your story without any edits. Talk to yourself without any filters. And then, see the magic! You are born to live that magic. Own it.
Write whatever bothers you. Write whatever uplifts you. Write whatever makes you cry. Write about the things that make you smile. Write to imagine your future. Write to come to terms with your past. Write so that your present becomes more beautiful. Write so your life can be peaceful. Just write.
Write for yourself. Write to yourself. Write. You will feel good. And that’s the whole point.
Srishti Kumari 