A Letter to My Younger Self; 6 Things I wish I Knew Before

I usually pre-plan my blog posts but sometimes I don’t. This one is completely spontaneous.

As I reach my late twenties this year, I look back and reflect on the younger me who was a teenager & who was in her early twenties.

Truth be told, I am hoping my thirties will turn out to be better than my twenties and unlike some people who make a hue & cry about their twenties being over, I am glad I am turning older & wiser & fast approaching my thirties.

I have gained a lot of perspective in my late twenties and I am much calmer & overall just like this version of myself better than the previous one.

So today, I am writing a letter from the current version of myself to the younger version of me.

Here it goes:

Dear Mini-Manasi,

I am sharing a few things I have learnt as I have reached my late twenties.. I hope you find these points useful in dealing with your life.

1. It’s okay if people don’t understand your journey

You are young and you expect people to understand where you come from. Especially certain people you considered close enough.

You aren’t very vocal about it, but you expect people to understand. Life doesn’t work that way. It’s okay for people to not understand you and your problems. Even if you understand people, you cannot expect the same understanding from them in return, since they are not obliged to do so. Each individual is different & has different ways of perceiving things.

2. Ignore the body-shamers & stay confident.

While you have never been obese, you have been overweight for quite some time, especially when you were a teenager & in your early twenties. You have been healthy & have made efforts to keep yourself in shape. Yet, you have been body shamed to be a certain ‘size’ by many people including extended family & friends circle. I know that you have received lots of unsolicited advice by people who themselves are not perfect and try to portay themselves as being so. You have gone through hurt and periods of depression because of certain comments & have felt underconfident of yourself.

This is a recent realisation and although your approach towards dealing with such people has evolved through the years, it was not until recently that you had the complete realisation of all these things.

I hope you realise that just because someone calls you their ‘friend’ or is in familial relation with you, does not automatically change the basic character & nature of that person. If a certain person is spiteful, jealous or hateful, they will remain so, irrespective of how close to you they appear to be.

To be fair, you have also received a lot of good comments and many people, even strangers have complimented you and called you ‘pretty’, ‘beautiful’ and the likes..

Also, you are lucky to be surrounded by certain good friends & your parents as well, who have been your pillar of support, especially your mother.

You are someone who has never body shamed people or tried to put others down to make yourself feel better. Unfortunately, I have often come across people who are like this and I have realised there is little you can do about such people.

Dear younger self, don’t get bothered about comments from other people. Just stay confident & do your thing. Be grateful for all the positivity you have recieved till date & ignore the negative.

After all, “What people say about you is a reflection of what they are, not what you are.”

3. It is okay to say ‘No’ sometimes & have boundaries.

As a young girl, you did so much for everyone, you listened to people’s problems, became an agony aunt for your friends, gave relationship advice to your peers and in general you were the typical introverted teenager who listened to people but kept her own issues to herself.

You have been kind, caring, loving and compassionate to the point of exhausting your energy and saving none of it for yourself.

It’s good to be compassionate & the world definitely needs a lot of it, but save some of it for yourself too.

Dear younger self- Its okay to create boundaries & speak up and do things you like and stay away from toxic people & situations.

After all, an empty cup can offer nothing. A cup filled with self-care & love, will offer good things to others as well, right?

4. Don’t try to downplay & undervalue yourself

As a teenager & in your early twenties, you have always tried to downplay your talents & worth. You felt you that you were worthless and you worked on low salaries for a long period of time when you started out. You never went out and asked for more and because you tricked yourself into believing that you weren’t good enough.

You also downplayed your degrees,your education & your qualifications because if you spoke about yourself when people asked you to, they seemed intimidated by you, or acted cold towards you.

You then started downplaying yourself to win the affection of people. You did it to a point that you started believing you are a loser. You started to not be yourself and you became someone else altogether. Of course, being vain is not the answer, but having a basic belief in yourself is vital for your sanity.

Dear mini-me, it’s okay to be yourself. Just acknowledge who you are and stay self-assured. Don’t underestimate or overestimate yourself.

5. Don’t get swayed away by emotions & be more practical

You have always been someone who is extremely emotional (I know, you’ll say most women are), but you have been just too emotional in your dealings with people & you have been swinging from one emotion to the other.

I know now, that your emotional side helps you to be more sensitive towards other people and care for them. but if you don’t watch yourself, you can take certain decisions based on emotions rather than logic and it can be deterimental.

Dear younger self, while it’s okay to be emotional, you need a practical view towards life as well, in order to live a well balanced life.

6. Don’t take everything so seriously, have more fun!

I have realised that you took a lot of things too seriously in life. Every comment, every assignment, every task. Oh my goodness!

While this seriousness & sincerity has definitely helped you professionally, in your personal life, having a great sense of humour can change the way you see things.

Dear Mini-Manasi. just lighten up and take things easy. Don’t be so serious all the time! Enjoy and have fun and learn to see humour in the toughest times, it wil make things easier for you!

I hope you found this letter useful,

Yours Lovingly,

Manasi.

…………………………………………………………………………………

To sum it all up, I would just simply wish that my younger self knew all the things I know now, that is, to be more carefree & have fun, to strive to be healthy and to ignore the haters & not let negative comments get under my skin and to set boundaries & realise everyone is wired differenly & not to expect people around me to understand me.

I still struggle with certain things that I have said above and many other things as well, but I have realised that I have come a long way in acknowledging certain things & that I am not perfect, I have my flaws & that itis absolutely fine to be imperfect as long as I am true to myself!

No one owes anything to anyone in this life, we all are free to make choices, it’s upto us to make the one’s we feel are right for us and for the poeple around us.

Also, it’s okay to make mistakes, because, otherwise, how will we learn??

Every step of life brings out a different & upgraded version of ourselves, doesn’t it?

So, I hope you enjoyed this article and maybe some points hit home for you and were applicable to you too!

What kind of letter would you write to your younger self?

Dance Movement Therapy- The new way for holistic healing

Hello everyone! In today’s post, I am going to share my journey as Dance Movement Therapist and explain a bit about what it exactly is and how it is a new and amazing way to heal yourself holistically.

Definition of Dance Movement Therapy?

“The American Dance Therapy Association defines dance/movement therapy as the psycho-therapeutic use of movement to further the emotional, cognitive, physical and social integration of the individual.”

In other words, it uses dance as a medium to help you achieve better physical, mental and emotional health.

My Journey

Writing has been my passion and I have been writing on this blog, while pursuing my profession i.e Physiotherapy. A few years back when I had newly graduated, I did a short course in manual therapy in Australia and came back to India; after which, I landed up in Mumbai with a job.

A short while after, I got an opportunity to speak at and attend a Dance Movement Therapy workshop. The concept was new for me at the time, so I did some research and study before attending and giving my take at the workshop.

The workshop was a dance therapy workshop for the physically and differently-abled people. What I saw at that workshop was inspiring. All of the participants used their wheelchairs, crutches and walkers as props, thus enabling themselves to dance to the rhythm. They were all smiling with happiness. It was indeed a special experience for me to see so much grace, strength, purpose and determination all at the same time. I was awed.

After this workshop, something changed in me and the way I perceived things. It dawned to me that apart from youth, most people of other age groups or areas are often neglected when it comes to dance. Why? Don’t they need some joy in their life, especially if they have been through a lot in their lives?

For that matter, don’t common people like you and me, need a bit of healing, joy and positivity in our lives?

That’s when, I decided to professionally study Dance Therapy and ended up doing a certified Dance Movement Psychotherapy course from Centre Of Excellence, UK.

Today as a physiotherapist, studying Dance Movement Therapy has enhanced my skills. It has helped me reach out to all kinds to people, irrespective of their age, gender and occupation and of course, now that I am in Singapore, I would say irrespective of nationalities as well. The combination of physiotherapy and dance therapy has provided me with great tools and new treatment methods, which I implement in my professional life.

I conduct workshops and I am able to help people lead a better life not just by helping them be physically fit, but also be mentally & emotionally healthy. I am able to make a difference in their lives, much more significantly than I used be able to do earlier.

I also volunteer at an NGO called AWWA in Singapore, where I teach dance therapy to senior citizens, free of cost. Seeing them smile is usually the highlight of the week for me.

Me with the lovely seniors at AWWA Singapore

So who can practice Dance Therapy?

To practice DMT one need not be a perfect dancer, professional choreographer or anything else. Anyone from any age group and gender is free to practice it, of course keeping in mind any health conditions you have (like Heart ailments, Diabetes, High or Low Blood Pressure, Asthma, etc) which you would need to inform your dance therapy instructor about.

It is especially beneficial for those with reduced mobility, developmental delays and the differently abled.

One just needs to have an open mind and show willingness to get out of the comfort zone. The more you participate, the more you will get, from each DMT session.

Who can teach Dance Movement Therapy?

Being a certified instructor is mandatory to be able to teach dance therapy to others.

For me personally, It’s a combination of physiotherapy and dance therapy both, that I use in my workshops and classes.

How is dance therapy different from normal dancing?

Now this is the most favorite and frequently asked question. Normal dancing includes high end physical activities. Also, usually most dancers stick to certain dance styles and practice them independently. In short, normal dancing helps in physical fitness.

Now, in Dance Therapy, one focuses not only on the physical aspect of dancing, but also on the emotional, mental and spiritual aspects. In short, instead of focusing on specific movements, it uses movement to heal your body, mind and spirit. It focuses on the psychological aspects and finer details in a person. It also combines and uses different forms and styles of dancing, rather than using just one. Pychology and psychotherapeutic talks are an integral and important part of dance movement psychotherapy.

It focuses on a person as whole, and thus, it is very holistic in nature.

Benefits of Dance Movement Therapy

There are multiple benefits of DMT and it is impossible to list them all here; however, sharing a few with all of you.

• Stress relief
• Improved confidence
• Improved flexibility
• Improved body and mind co-ordination
• Improved self-awareness
• Improved focus and attention
• Ability to express yourself freely
• New sense of enthusiasm
• Ability to analyse and confront your problems better

Thus Dance Movement Therapy is a perfect way to heal yourself holistically. I hope you as a reader, have gotten some insight on what dance therapy really is.

If you have any further questions about it, don’t hesitate to contact me or drop a comment. If you are in Singapore, do attend one of our Programs and get the experience yourself.

More Information on DMT Program Here

Till the next post,

Dream. Imagine. Be Crazy. Be You.

Summer Care tips. Beat the heat!

It’s summer again. Whether you live in cities which have dry heat like Delhi, Bangalore or Pune or humid heat like Mumbai, Chennai or Goa, summer is in and we all need a few handy tips to beat the heat!

Here are a few tips which may be handy-

1. Stay hydrated.

Keep yourself hydrated and prevent dehydration and fatigue by drinking lots of water. Drinking 3-4 litres of water in a day is a must in summer, especially if you travel outside frequently like I do. So always carry your bottle of water with you. 

2. Protect your head.

Whether it is wearing a scarf or a cap or carrying an umbrella, it is always better to protect your head to avoid sun strokes and giddiness and sun burns.

3. Wear Sunglasses.

The UV rays are high during summer and it is always best to wear sunglasses to beat them.

4. Wear summer clothing.

By summer clothing I mean something not very tight and sticking to the skin. Loose clothing, preferably cotton, and something covering your body to avoid too much tanning. 

5. Food.

Consuming fresh vegetables and fruits, curd, yogurt and butter milk help your body in summer. Coconut water helps and so does adding a little salt to your fruit dishes.

 Also, I find that eating in smaller portions at regular intervals helps during summer as the appetite goes for a toss and one does not feel really very hungry to consume large meals in one go. Consuming smaller portions at intervals also aids in weight loss and aids digestion.

6. Skin care.

Yeah, skin care is one really important aspect overall and especially in summer. 

The UV rays can do quite some damage to the skin and leave it burnt and tanned.

Exfoliate- Using scrubs and masks to exfoliate the skin is useful which helps in removing tan and dead skin.

Moisturize- Applying moisturizer to your body prevents skin from dehydrating.

Sunscreen- Applying sunscreen in summer to exposed body parts is important to prevent damage by UV rays. sun block creams with SPF of 15-30 are good enough but you can use an SPF of 45 too if you feel the need. ( My personal favourite are Lotus herbal sunscreens.)

Once you apply, after a while, you can reapply sunscreens if you feel the need to.

7. Lip care. Lips tend to be forgotten when it comes to summer care. They can get chapped and damaged faster since the skin layer is thinner. So applying a sunscreen over your lips or a chapstick, lip balm which has sunscreen factor in it can be useful. (Personal favourite- Maybelline baby lips with SPF 20) 

There you are!! Those were some of the tips to beat the summer heat. Hope you find them useful!

Happy Summer, keep glowing!

Physiotherapy myths

Physiotherapy or Physical Therapy, is a field which is very well known to many people, known to some and yet a mystery and unknown to most. As a physiotherapist myself, I come across several misconceptions that people have in their minds about physiotherapy and certain myths which are totally untrue.

I have already written a post on what physiotherapy is here- http://www.manasiwrites.com/2015/03/physiotherapy-way-to-better-life.html

In this post, I list some myths and misconceptions surrounding physiotherapy-

Myth 1- A person needs a referral to see a physiotherapist.
Yes, there are physicians and surgeons who refer a patient for physiotherapy, but that doesn’t not mean you always need their referral to get yourself checked by a physiotherapist. A person can visit a physiotherapist directly and get checked by him/her. In case the physiotherapist feels that the condition cannot be cured by physiotherapy, he will redirect the person to the appropriate specialist.

Myth 2- Physiotherapy is just applying electrical machines and modalities.
Physiotherapy is a rehabilitative science and branch of medicine which focuses primarily on exercise to help a patient get better. Electrical modalities or machines are add-ons which provide temporary relief from pain but to get long term results, proper rehabilitative program is essential. Unfortunately, there are many physiotherapists who just strap a patient to a machine and don’t provide any other input, hence, this misconception that physiotherapy means machine application has spread quite a bit.

Myth 3- Physiotherapists only treat muscle, ligament or tendon related problem or sports injuries.
Although a large portion of physiotherapy includes muscle, ligament and tendon related injury treatment and sports related injuries, a variety of other conditions is also treated by physiotherapy.
Not only are physiotherapists specialized in diagnosing and treating all musculoskeletal pathologies in any area of the body, some also follow advanced courses in vestibular rehabilitation, mental imagery for chronic pain, pelvic floor rehab for urinary incontinence, etc.
Even in cardiac conditions, neurological conditions, old age problems, child physiotherapy and pre and post pregnancy, physiotherapy plays a vital role.

Myth 4- Physiotherapy is a temporary fix and if you don’t see immediate results, physiotherapy does not work.
Physiotherapy is a lasting therapy and the aim is to not just cure a condition but also to prevent a patient from falling prone to an injury again.
A good, authentic and well learned physiotherapist will always know that physiotherapy gives long term benefit and not just a temporary fix.
You do see immediate results in  certain conditions, but in long standing cases like a stroke patient, physiotherapy may take time, but that does not mean it is not working. Just that the progression towards a result may take some time, patience and persistence and follow up from the patient’s side.

Myth 5- Surgery is the only option available.
In many cases, physiotherapy has been shown to be as effective as
surgery in treating a wide range of conditions—from rotator cuff tears
and degenerative disk disease, to meniscal tears and some forms of knee
osteoarthritis.
In fact, physiotherapy is the best form of cure and in most cases is successful in preventing people from undergoing surgery, unless of course, the condition of the patient is beyond the scope of physiotherapy or cannot be cured by it. 

Myth 6- Physiotherapy means massage.
This is the most hilarious and common one. Physiotherapists are NOT masseuses or spa people giving massage.
Techniques called as Mayofascial Release(MFR) or Deep Tissue Release (DTR) are done where in the physiotherapist will release an affected group of muscles or a particular muscle which can be at times really painful and not at all compared to a massage! The physiotherapist has studied and has the anatomical knowledge regarding the position and location of each muscle and treats it accordingly if and when required.

So there you are, here I have listed a few of the myths surrounding physiotherapy. Hope it helps in clearing the misconceptions regarding the profession.

Stay healthy, stay safe!

–Dr. Manasi Joshi
Physiotherapist, Writer, Blogger.