Womenlines welcomes Anji Hallewell as an Influencer of Positive Mindset on the Womenlines panel. Anji is a Natural Strengths Coach, Trainer, and Founder of Hidden Lava.  In her sharing for this month, Anji is telling tips for living in the ‘Present Moment’-

When you are on public transport, what is everyone doing? Are they alert and aware of their surroundings or are they buried in their phones and minds? How much of your waking days do you spend thinking? Whether that be thinking about the future or what has already happened. How much of that thinking turns in to worry and frustration? How much of that causes stress and physical complaints? And how much is even necessary?  All of this is a product of the mind running away with itself and the opposite of being conscious, aware and connected to what is happening now. It’s time to take control.

I was in my 30’s when I started to feel that life had become very serious. Where was the fun and zest that I had experienced in my 20’s? I felt very torn because I wanted a successful career, but I didn’t want to be burnt out and miserable with it. Despite working in more -creative environments, I still felt overworked, stressed and drained all too often. It really was time to do something about this, because this was no fun or any good for me in mind, body or soul.

Both spirituality and science understand that in shifting your attention to the present it can settle the mind. And by continual practice, something powerful happens, because as you increase your awareness you are also becoming more conscious of how you think, feel and behave. This may not sound like a very big deal, but the majority of the issues that we face are behavioural and behaviour stems from what we think and feel. Now you see it as a bigger deal!

Being present allowed me to become more aware of what was happening in situations, so I could cease opportunities and just generally respond better. I was more switched on in meetings and in conversations that it became very obvious what I needed to do to get the outcomes that I desired. I also worried less and because of this, I became less stressed and nicer to be around.

Suddenly, I was able to think outside of the box and see a whole range of different options and solutions to problems and obstacles. I became the go-to person in the department, I was trusted with larger projects and my relationships were so much stronger. I had become far sharper in mind and happier too. Who wouldn’t want that!

So, how can you start to become more present in life? Here are three simple things that you can start doing.

1. CURIOSITY: Reconnect with that childlike curiously that you once had. Children are fantastic at being curious. They are naturally inquisitive as they are growing up and learning about the world. Then at some point, we stop asking questions. Either we think we should already know and are too embarrassed to let other people know our little secret or we think we already know all there is to know.  Curiosity allows you to stop and appreciate whilst learning more about something you’re interested in. It also ignites positive energy and creativity, so you elevate your thinking to another level!

2. PAUSE: Secondly, pause every once in a while. We are always busy doing something. The one thing we don’t have an abundance of is time, but if you whiz through life at high speed you’ll miss out on the things that matter to you. So, if things feel a bit too busy and you need to stop, just momentarily pause.  Slowing down is not a sign of weakness, it’s smart.

3. REFLECT: Become aware of who you are and how you operate. Sometimes you will achieve great things and other times you may not handle something as well as you had hoped. The point that we often miss is that both give us great insight into ourselves. You must take the rough with the smooth to fully understand how you can improve yourself. Being able to see your shortcomings and not be self-critical is a very powerful place to be because it means that your mistakes will not define you.

Learning how to be more present doesn’t mean that you will be in a constant state of euphoria, nor will it make your life perfect, but it will allow you to see things clearly and put you in control to determine how you live your life.

Anji Hallewell

Coach, Trainer & Founder

+65 8408 5042

It is such a pleasure to welcome Puja Talesara, co-founder of Leadership Demystified, a podcast series on Linkedin, as a ‘Guest Influencer’ at Womenlines panel!

A leadership coach mentored by John Mattone (former executive coach to the late Steve Jobs ), HR expert, podcaster and mother of 2 lovely kids, Puja Talesara has donned multiple hats with success.

Podcast 3 is about-   Find Your ‘Purpose’ in Life following tips from Leadership Coach Puja Talesara. Key takeaways from the podcast-

• Live your life intentionally. Whatever role you are playing in life, whether of a wife, a mother, a professional woman, play it with clear intentions, what are you looking forward to doing for that role?
• Start journaling. Whatever you like take a note of it. What are the things you don’t like? Then connect the dots and see what common connection is coming in front.
• Think about when you will be 70 years old what you would like to get introduced to your grandkids as?
• Read out the statements and you will get to know your ‘Purpose’ in life.

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting Excellence in Women

Founder Womenlines!

Have you ever thought of maintaining mental hygiene or has someone close to you suffered from anxiety, depression, stress, neurological problems etc. anytime in your life?

We hear a lot about it nowadays. Even a 6-year-old kid is using stress and depressed word very often.

Almost all the clients I talk to, everybody mentions that they have varying degrees of anxiety. Everyone talks about how anxious they get over small things. How stress has occupied their every aspect of life.

We have the best healthcare available, but we are still behind in managing our mental health.

Statistics show that 1 in 6 adults experiences a common mental health problem, such as anxiety or depression.

5.8% of the adult population in Singapore has suffered from depression at some point in their lives

51% of mental illness patients suffer from a chronic physical illness because there is a link between the two.

Yes, physical and mental health is interconnected. The physical illness causes mental disturbance. It affects confidence and energy. Also, mental illness affects the physical body. When it affects the physical body, these diseases are called psychosomatic ailments, which means diseases connected with the Mind and body. Which is hypertension, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, anxiety and depression, Migraine etc. It is all about empowering oneself with the knowledge to take proper care of health all over. There are many health and wellness websites sharing health-related information. vetted by certified physicians, for example, CFAH which also shares about the latest news in the field of medicine.

Multitasking, peer pressure, overthinking, impatience, fear, and unknown and unexpected outcome causes stress and anxiety.

Do you agree with that?

So positive Mental health is very important to have a balanced, healthy and happy life.

Let’s see, how one single thought is responsible to create an effect on an emotional and physical levels.

A thought creates either negative or positive emotions, which affect the energy level and are visible on the physical body e.g: Angry thought creates fast breathing with muscle tightening. Positive thought brings joy. It affects your actions e.g: If you are angry, you either shout at the person next to you, start throwing things etc. Depending on the pattern of actions, it becomes your habit e.g: Some person is always angry, or frustrated. It becomes their attitude, where we label that person as angry, kind etc. It becomes their nature, which becomes their destiny.

We give energy to thoughts. Actions fairly depend upon what we concentrate on positive or negative thoughts.

Here are a few tips to maintain positive mental hygiene so that it doesn’t become our destiny

Acknowledge

Many times, we are not ready to accept the issues we are going through or what we are dealing with e.g: We don’t accept that you are still thinking about a past event, which is bothering us.

Everyday activities cause stress affecting health, but you think that this is part of life, which I must go through it.

So, acknowledging the problem, it makes easier to find a solution.

You cannot fix a problem that you refuse to acknowledge.

Exercise/Yoga

The body is meant to move, but very often we choose to rest, due to our lifestyle, work conditions etc. Exercise or simple yoga stretching improves blood circulation. It improves cardiovascular health. Yoga improves brain function, structure and connectivity, which helps in improving learning, memory and cognitive functions. It is proven an effective treatment for depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD etc.

To keep the body healthy is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear…~ Budha

Meditation

We have thousands of thoughts throughout the day, out of that 85% of thoughts are from the past, 15% of thoughts are related to the future and only 5% are present. So basically 95% of thoughts are repeat thoughts. Meditation helps to reduce these repeated thoughts. It brings awareness and consciousness. It increases the silence space in between thoughts.

The goal of meditation isn’t to control your thoughts, it’s to stop letting them control you.

Talk to friends/close ones

Often, we don’t want to be vulnerable to the problems, and issues we are facing. Sometimes, we think that we can deal with it all alone but talking to a friend, just relieves the stress or tension you are holding on to. Sometimes you might get a solution as well.

Talking to your best friend is sometimes all the therapy you need.

Positive Affirmation

Affirmations are autosuggestions. When practised sincerely and consistently, they reinforce chemical pathways in the brain, strengthening neural connections. Affirmations are short, positive and powerful statements about yourself, your abilities, your goals and your intentions. It helps to change the way you think and feel about yourself and as a result, change your reality as your subconscious mind accepts these statements as truth.

An affirmation opens the door. It’s the beginning point on the path to change. ~ Louise HA

Journaling

Journaling is a way to release emotions. It is the healthy way to deal with overwhelming emotions where you can express yourself freely, which helps in managing anxiety, reducing stress and coping up with depression. It also helps to prioritize your activities and be aware of your fears and concerns. It can help to identify the cause of stress and anxiety. So at least write your thoughts once a day.

Journaling is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time..~ Mina Murray

In addition to that, you can also

• Spend time in nature regularly
• Take up any hobby and interest like dancing, singing, swimming etc.
• Do some volunteer work
• Maintain daily health routines

Your mental health is more important than the test, the interview, the lunch date, the meeting, the project deadline, the soccer game, or the grocery run. Take care of yourself.

Archana has served the corporate industry for twelve years, she finally decided to give up her corporate career and explore her inner self through Yoga and help people to find their life balance using Yoga as a tool. Her gentle teaching style makes her students at ease and comfortable in the class. She believes that Yoga is a way of life and aims to incorporate all aspects of Yoga into her teaching. She is very enthusiastic about learning new things and new ways, which makes her classes interesting, and focused on mind body and soul wellness.
http://Www.ojasyog.com
http://Www.facebook.com/ojasyog
Instagram: ojasyoga0704
Linkedin: Archana Amlapure

Pic credit to BD Hypno Plus 

Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome  Lenny Suijkerbuijk, expert guide for essential oils benefits, as a Guest Influencer on Womenlines panel. Every month she will be sharing informative articles related to various benefits of Essential Oils.

It is such a pleasure to welcome Puja Talesara, co-founder of Leadership Demystified, a podcast series on Linkedin, as a ‘Guest Influencer’ at Womenlines panel!

A leadership coach mentored by John Mattone (former executive coach to the late Steve Jobs ), HR expert, Podcaster and mother of 2 lovely kids, Puja Talesara has donned multiple hats with success.

In the 2nd podcast of the series, ‘Discover Excellence with Puja and Charu’ Puja is stating that Maternity Break Should not Be a Break’

Key takeaways from Puja’s sharing-

• Maternity phase should be termed ‘Reignite’ and ‘Reinvent’ phase.
•  This phase should be used to discover own hidden strength
• If you are not happy you cannot make your child happy. So work upon your mind, body and soul to make yourself happy.
• Let not other people noise become your inner voice
• Stop judging yourself and stop carrying guilt for things which you are not able to do for kids.
• Focus on managing your energy. Draw a circle, where is your time going and how much energy going. As a mother your time and energy is precious.
• Respond to the things in life, don’t react

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting Excellence in Women!

Founder Womenlines

As an online media partner, Womenlines takes pleasure to share brief about International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (2018) in Singapore-

Marks have got only little to do with the future readiness of our children. If that is the case, what helps them to make them future-proof? That was the main thread that IYLIF 2018 dealt with in its annual conference.

International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF) was held on the 23rd and 24th of September at Lifelong Learning Institute, Singapore.Radio Masti 24*7 Live Singapore was the ‘Official Radio Station’ for IYLIF 2018. As in the previous year, this year also had a theme that was very timely. “Education Disruption in the world of artificial intelligence”, was the theme of IYLIF 2018.

In order to make our children future-ready, it is essential to reimagine education. That will only be fair when we bring all stakeholders of education together. And that is exactly what IYLIF conferences do. Youth, educators, industry experts, thought leaders and parents came together to create a dialogue to reimagine education.

The most commendable aspect of IYLIF is its tradition of making youth one of the stakeholders of education. International Youth Ambassadors, identified through a selection process, from various countries, is a major voice of this conference. What is even more commendable is its strong focus on coaching the International Youth Ambassadors with confidence and public speaking skills and mentoring them to take their ideas into action.

IYLIF 2018 was very successful in empowering the students, parents, educators with the strong mindset and knowledge about how to groom students from an early stage of life with the skillset required for future.

 Sindu Sreebhavan is the Founder and Chairperson of IYLIF, CEO of As Many Minds Pte Ltd, author of Infinite Possibilities and lead author of Breakthrough. She is doing the amazing work of promoting excellence in youth through the incredible platform of International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF). Sindu says, “IYLIF is in the process of creating a pool of young change makers from around the world and to help them realize their real potential. In the next five years, we have a mission to help 1 million youth unlock their potential.” With such a vision, it is easy to see why eminent personalities and organizations rally behind her to support her achieve her goal.

The first day of the event was the IYLIF 2018 Annual Conference. It was highlighted by speeches and panel discussions by keynote speakers, and International Youth Ambassadors, from various countries.A vision becomes a success only when it is supported by people who have the calibre to execute it. Sindu has put together a great team in achieving that. The chief mentor of the IYLIF program is the internationally famous next-level leadership readiness expert, author of international bestsellers on leadership and the World Champion of Public Speaking Manoj Vasudevan.

Dr. Snighdha Sharma worked together with Sindu to ensure the management of the highly successful IYLIF 2018. The speakers and mentors at the forum were another testimony to the fact that IYLIF is going to stay for years to come. Dynamic international speaker Avi Liran was the opening keynote speaker for the event. He encouraged the audience to DARE. Vivek Kumar, Executive Director, NTUC Singapore; Board Member of IMDA, NTUC Club, ESH Honorary Chairman of Asia Pacific Advisory Board of CMO Council spoke on “Being ready for the Future”. Hitesh Ramchandani, the young international celebrity speaker empowered the audience with his speech “Better than normal Gen Z.” Tay Guan Hin spoke about “Paper or Passion”, the age-old question by sharing his inspiring life story of an academic failure to becoming the Global Executive Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson.

 Other eminent speakers and panelists such as Jonathan Chee, Khyati Kapai, Lavinia Thanapathy, Mavis Ho, Michael Henry, Michelle Martin, Ms. Suchi, Puja Talesara, Rahul Shah, Ramesh I. Perera, Rayson Choo, Samiksha Tembhurne, Sandeep Pachpande, Selvakumar Simon, Sonia Kapur, Varada Murthy, Vicky Vaswani, Vivek Iyyani, Yana Fry.

Ruby Mathur, Aditi Vasudevan, Andrena Phoon and Sehr Sannah Kapur did a great job with hosting the conference as the masters of ceremonies. The three International Youth Ambassadors from last year, Aditi Vasudevan, Andrena Phoon and Sehr Sannah Kapur took the responsibility of MCing the event, along with Ruby, with much enthusiasm and confidence. All panel discussions sparkled with interaction. The combination of masterful facilitation and expert panelists resulted in making it one of the best interactive events in the city. What is more interesting is the fact that the forum also used technological platforms to boost audience interaction.

 IYLIF 2018 explored four major perspectives in relation to education disruption – technology, values and soft skills, diversity and professional development for teachers to equip them to face the uncertain future. Keynote by Zubin Daruwalla on the topic “Role of mentorship in education” opened up a crucial area we often tend to miss. International Youth Ambassadors amazed the audience with their impressive speaking skills, ideas and quality of thoughts. The mentoring provided to them was evident in their speeches.

 On Day 2 of IYLIF 2018, there were separate workshops for teachers and parents. The students took on a journey from a growth mindset to SMILE to design thinking to Morse Code translation. At the students’ workshop, while Sindu Sreebhavan facilitated her favourite topics Growth Mindset and Design Thinking, Ruqya Khan took a session on SMILE and Gabriel Perumal on Morse Code translation. At the teachers’ workshop, Manoj Vasudevan mesmerized his audience with his talk on public speaking and storytelling skills for teachers. Furthermore, there was a mesmerizing session on values by Mallika Kripalani. Sindu Sreebhavan took a session on “How to implement growth mindset in the classroom.”

We see how IYLIF is becoming a major voice in implementing its tagline – “Creating the future.” IYLIF 2018 was extremely successful in giving the much-needed pointers to the education industry, parents, youth and educators. We are sure the education systems around the world has taken notice of the takeaways from this forum. If they take action on at least ten-per cent of those pointers, I am sure we will have a brighter future ahead.

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting Excellence in Women!

Founder Womenlines

Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Dr Lakshmi Ramachandran as a ‘Guest Influencer’ at Womenlines panel. Dr Lakshmi is an active proponent of female participation in science. She is a keynote speaker, blogger, author and mother of two. Passionate about writing and speaking Lakshmi loves to inspire, provide hope and motivate people around the world through diverse stories from her life as a woman in science and mother. In this article, Dr Lakshmi is sharing an interesting aspect of how volunteering can help you in career advancement-

Here I share my experiences volunteering in science and my learnings on how it can help to advance your career.

1. Identifying a suitable volunteering opportunity
Although I used to volunteer in local groups, committees and activities all through my career in science, my first opportunity to volunteer in an international group came quite unexpectedly. I met Dr.Fanuel Muindi, co-founder of The STEM Advocacy Institute at the UNESCO international symposium and policy forum focused on girls education in STEM. He had presented the stories in science project at the symposium. Stories in Science is an initiative through which real stories of scientists are curated from around the world. These stories, which bring to light the challenges, failures and successes of people in science serve as a resource for the public and aspiring scientists to understand the nature of science.

Later, through follow-up emails, I got to know more about the goals and mission of this think tank, which is to conduct advocacy research that leads to the development of new ideas, tools, and insights to support trainees, organizations, and policy makers in science around the world. The concept resonated well with my personal values, ideas, and vision for science to benefit all. I shared my own story in science and very soon I found myself in an enthusiastic science think tank discussing and implementing ideas.

2. Volunteering in science helps to expand your knowledge base

Despite being a busy working mother, I found time to volunteer for the STEM Advocacy Institute owing to a passion I developed for the stories in science initiative and the wonderful and supportive team. Also, I have felt that when volunteering, the pressure is less and satisfaction is high. Although the responsibility when taking up assignments is the same as a regular job, there is greater flexibility and added the fun element to volunteering. I felt that in very little time, I gained more knowledge on science communications, especially global insights, and realized the power of stories in science to effectively penetrate the society. Also, the amount of learning I have gained being in this group is significant as every idea, publication, initiative and tool is shared through the group and regular team meetings.

3. Volunteering in science helps to expand your network
Needless to say, volunteering for the STEM advocacy institute has helped to expand my professional network considerably. I now collaborate with people from all over the world and the experience is phenomenally rewarding.

4. Volunteering enables you to give back to the society
Besides the STEM Advocacy Institute, I have self-initiated a couple of voluntary projects to promote the participation of females in the STEM (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) education and careers. One of this is the organizing of the Gender Summit in Singapore in 2019 (Aug 27/28). In my experience, I have not only felt empowered myself through these activities but also have gained a lot of fulfilment in empowering others in the process. I have received tremendous support from like-minded people and that is fuel and strength for forging ahead despite challenges. Finally, when the focus is the benefit of the society and people, it benefits everyone involved. Volunteering in science can help you bridge a career gap and land your next job in science
I joined the team initially as the stories in science ambassador and was later recruited as a Senior Program Specialist at the STEM Advocacy Institute. This helped me put to use my biggest strengths- thorough analysis and development of strategies – as well as networking and communication skills. The volunteering experience enabled me to pursue the next level in my career through renewed confidence, exciting new network and opportunities. Based on my personal experience I highly recommend volunteering/internship in science as a way to expand your horizon and advance your career in science.

5. Volunteering in science can help bridge a career break/ land your next job in science

I joined the team initially as the stories in science ambassador and was later recruited as a Senior Program Specialist at the STEM Advocacy Institute. This helped me put to use my biggest strengths- thorough analysis and development of strategies – as well as networking and communication skills. The volunteering experience enabled me to pursue the next level in my career through renewed confidence, exciting new network and opportunities. Based on my personal experience I highly recommend volunteering/internship in science as a way to expand your horizon and advance your career in science. This is also an excellent way for those, especially women, who have taken a career break to focus on family, to maintain and build networks that may help bridge your career gap and land your next job.

What are the types of volunteering opportunities in science?

You could look for volunteering opportunities 1) within your institute/university such as contributing to outreach and career development programs, 2) local or global non profit organizations such as the UN or UNESCO (https://www.unv.org/become-volunteer) 3) programs such as the On-Call scientists by AAAS (https://oncallscientists.aaas.org/en) 4) freelancing to write articles on science and health care for biotech platforms 5) Self-initiate projects/missions close to your heart such as going to schools and talking about STEM.

Those passionate about science and the society could explore joining the STEM Advocacy Institute through https://www.stemadvocacy.org/about-us/join-us/

#science #career #STEM #volunteering #advocacy

Please enrich this article by sharing your volunteering experiences below in the comments section. Thank you!

Dr Lakshmi Ramachandran

Dr Lakshmi Ramachandran, PhD in Cell & Molecular Biology (SUNY Buffalo, USA), is an active proponent of female participation in science. She is presently co-leading the organising of Gender Summit Asia Pacific, Singapore, scheduled to take place on 27-28 August 2019 (https://gender-summit.com/gs16-ap). She is a keynote speaker, blogger, author and mother of two. Do check out  her  interesting sharings at her blog lakshmiramachandran.com

It is such a pleasure to welcome Puja Talesara, co-founder of Leadership Demystified, a podcast series on Linkedin, as a ‘Guest Influencer’ at Womenlines panel!

A leadership coach mentored by John Mattone (former executive coach to the late Steve Jobs ), HR expert, Podcaster and mother of 2 lovely kids, Puja Talesara has donned multiple hats with success. Puja will be sharing podcasts on her perspective on excellence which is garnered through her journey of playing different roles and learning through different life experiences. She has climbed the ladder of success facing those challenges which probably every woman has to face and she has come out with solutions with every challenge. So we invite you to discover your excellence following incredible tips shared by Puja Talesera. Who know those tips might do wonders for you!

Puja is an internationally certified leadership and workplace coach. She firmly believes inward excellence leads to outward excellence and impact. Puja has over a decade of rich and accomplished experience in HR. She dabbles her role as an OD consultant and Podcaster. She is the Co-founder of the Leadership Demystified, a LinkedIn based podcast series, which unravels the conundrum around leadership. Her series has reached viewership of around 200k within the span of six months. She was mentored and trained by John Mattone, ex-coach of Steve jobs and Rogers of PepsiCo. She is being interviewed by Global podcast channels and Millennial blogs to share her perspective.

In its 12th year in Singapore, Study in Europe presents a diverse array of study programmes on offer throughout Europe and highlights a range of scholarship options that facilitate studying in Europe for Singaporean students

The programmes on offer at European universities bring together students from all over the world. The intent is to assist students to foster closer networks not just with universities but also with the countries they choose to study in.  Popular annual higher education fair aims to connect students in Singapore with European universities and provide them first hand and easy access to useful information about the wide variety of study options in Europe, details of the application processes, and the range of bond-free scholarships which they may apply for. The fair provides information about the many European universities where courses are conducted in English and where the option to work part-time while studying is available.

Barbara Plinkert

European Union Ambassador to Singapore

Visit https://studyineurope.sg/ for details!!

Woman love shopping and if they get a gift card which they can use to do online shopping for whatever thing they want, I am sure they are going to love it!

Amazon.com is there to help you to save your time shopping and searching for gifts. So you can buy a gift card, in fact, get it printed at home and can give to your friends. Amazon.com Gift Cards never expire and carry no fees. No returns and no refunds on gift cards. Redeemable towards millions of items store-wide atAmazon.com or certain affiliated websites.

Amazon.com is just like a marketplace which is virtual, where individuals can buy home-related products, electronics, books, movies, housewares and a variety of other products. Amazon allows users to purchase and print gift cards directly from its website. There are many people who will love buying their gift themselves online. Rather than picking out a gift for such friend, you can share Amazon Gift Card.

You can make your friend or anybody’s day special by gifting Amazon shopping gift card. If you want to purchase, please click

AMAZONGIFTCARD