#OA9 Your Weekly Dose of Wellness and Wisdom

Take Up Space

Hi Reader

A sweet friend recently asked me, “How’s your heart?” I know how the daily grind can be, so consider this email a soft landing and safe space for you. If you’re good, that’s awesome. Keep choosing gratitude and joy. If you’re feeling meh, I understand. Please keep your head up.

Today, I want to remind you to take up space. What does that even mean? Here’s a quote I found on Pinterest that captures what I want to convey:

Sometimes we unknowingly let work, people, school, and more push us into a corner. We may have told ourselves that we are inadequate, not worthy of being listened to, and we may discount our feelings and hopes. Well, this is me gently but firmly reminding you to stop that. Don’t. Instead, take up space. You’re worthy of being listened to in that work meeting, in your classes, you’re worthy of the time friends take to hear you out. You’re capable of applying for those opportunities, building that business, and it may be uncomfortable but it will be so worth it.

I shared my 100th post on my Instagram the other day, and I questioned the need to post it. I hesitated, but I realised that taking up space by showing up was both for myself and others. To encourage, to inspire, to remind that there’s a reason why our lives are interwoven. Our light might be the brightness that gently forces its way into someone’s dull or dark life.

The Student’s Friend

For the last few years, I’ve poured my time into helping students and early career professionals navigate academics and career, at The Student's Friend. I’ve received feedback about TSF helping provide clarity, guidance with goal setting, support with navigating interests, and offering valuable teaching about character, confidence, and how best to connect with people (networking). Are you unsure about the academic and career steps you’re taking? Do you need some guidance and support? Reply this email, and I will send you details of our services. Alternatively, send us a message @thestudentsfriend on Instagram. See you there!

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Digital Wellness

On the note of showing up online, I want to encourage you to explore digital wellness. Do you get sucked into your phone, laptop, or TV? I’m not calling you out - no worries - these things try to get the best of us, myself included. I wish we would enjoy each other’s company more, brainstorm, allow for creativity, and reset and restore our minds and bodies to function optimally. These devices can reengineer our minds to depend on them; we use them to beat social awkwardness and be our companion in loneliness. The need to check our phones every few seconds when hearing notifications and the need to watch what everyone else is doing isn’t the healthiest way to live.

I went to a Digital Wellness hangout called No Gadget Hangout. Woosh. We. Need. More. Of. This. It was a great time away from our phones—we had to turn them in to the host—and we went through a social card game called Vivify (check it out). It really let people share their honest thoughts, opened the room for disagreements, encouraged learning from other perspectives, and led to a lot of laughter. I highly recommend it. There’s one coming up in Lagos soon; you should follow @doinghealthyafrica on Instagram for updates.

Keep learning

Sometimes we don’t take up space; we shrink and hold back because we feel we don’t know enough. This is valid, and we have to be honest with ourselves. What rooms do you know you need and want to be in? How do you thrive in such rooms? Keep learning. There is knowledge to be gained, and you are capable of learning and making better sense of the world around you. You’re capable of having great conversations in both informal and formal settings. You can be a thermostat and not a thermometer. You can be a problem solver as well as a great listener. Stay in touch with the world around you while paying attention to your wellness, as overdosing on the news these days isn’t the best. Take that free course, watch that 30-minute YouTube video, and subscribe to that news newsletter. Keep learning.

Before I leave your inbox, FRIEND, please look after yourself. I’m a recovering late sleeper, and I can guarantee you that your health will be better and your mind clearer when you prioritise better sleep. Sleep is not for the weak. Sleep is an investment in your body. I’ll leave it at this for now.

Stay healthy,

Oluwatoni

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