As part of my month of self-love, I have covered a couple of topics and now I get to end it off by sharing a conversation with a powerhouse of a woman, SA-born, LA-based, actress Roxane Hayward.
Known for her acting and dancing and roles in various South African and international shows, I chat to her about something “off-stage”. Namely, how the solitude of covid has reminded her to feed herself (and others) holistically.
Roxane’s journey with nutrition started as one half of ‘The Banting Blondes’ – a blogging duo that quickly became one of South Africa’s top Health/Nutrition/Recipe-focused blogs. However the worldwide pandemic taught her that there is more to “feeding oneself” than “feeding oneself”
According to Roxanne a few years plus a pandemic later, she has learnt that real wellness has to do with more than just the food on our plate, but also a strong emphasis on how we nourish our bodies away from the kitchen – our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
“Those, along with food, are life’s nutrients. 2020 couldn’t have highlighted this more. So with a new qualification under my belt out of IIN New York, I’ve been virtually working with individuals on regaining power over their overall health.”
With this in mind, I asked the amazing woman who was motivated to learn and now teach self-defense after a near kidnapping five years ago how she nourishes herself?
Hmmm… Nourish. I love that word! As mentioned earlier, there are are countless ways in which one can nourish themselves.
For me, I feel most nourished when I incorporate the following into my day:
1. A phone call with a friend / family member. And no, they are not on loud speaker while I flick through my social media. I give them my undivided attention, the same way I would if we were sitting in a coffee shop together and our phones were left in the car.
2. Igniting my creativity. I love to paint, so if time permits, nothing beats zoning out to the sound of the paintbrush on the canvas. However, on days where time seems to be flying by, I come up with ’creative games’ for myself that I can incorporate into my daily routine – eg. Taking 5 mins longer with my makeup for the day to try out something new, driving home via a different route and exploring the area, cooking dinner centred around a new ingredient I have never tried before, combining different clothes to create a ‘new look’ – the options are endless.
3. Ask questions. If I don’t know what someone means – I ask them, I google the topic/word, I investigate and I discover. This means I am constantly learning. I always try to put my ego aside and admit if I don’t know something – that means that every day, I have an opportunity to be educated on a new topic.
4. One physical activity a day. It doesn’t have to be an hour long work out, so long as I get my body moving and grooving. This could mean a sweaty HIIT Muaythai session, or even 10 minutes giving some attention to my vegetable garden.
5. Food food food – an obvious one. Rather than focusing on what to cut out of my diet, I try to look at how I can incorporate more good into my diet. This, naturally (without the added ‘can’t have’ pressure) crowds out the ‘bad stuff’. One nonnegotiable for me is adding green leafy vegetables to my main meal of the day.
