Speaker 1 – Between raising children and managing households, and pursuing careers. Women have a lot on their plates, and the stress could affect their health. Dr. Erica Steele from holistic family practice in Virginia Beach has some tips for balancing our busy lives. Hey, doctors, Hey, how are you? I’m well; I get treatment every time a counseling session. I really think everybody does. By the way, going on. So you know, all the stuff I have going on here. Yeah, ching. Um, firstly, how do we create balance in our life?
Speaker 2 – Yeah. Well, we’ve talked about this, I think, many times before; I think number one is not being so hard on ourselves. Okay. I think we, as women, tend to strive for perfection. And it just doesn’t exist. In my office, I have this picture hanging from a quote from Salvador Dali: Have no fear of perfection; you’ll never reach it. Oh, great.
Speaker 1 – I just fit, be forgiving.
Speaker 2 – credibly forgiving of yourself and accepting of yourself, okay. It’s unrealistic to be able to do everything and be all things to all people. And I think we, as women, because we’re so compassionate, empathetic, understanding. And we have that capacity to raise children, and we extend that throughout all of our relationships and tasks that we have to accomplish.
Speaker 1 – Yeah, you hear some Wiser moms telling you, like, act like you’re on an airplane, put the mask on yourself first. And then on your children? Are you fine? Yes, we are doing that, though.
Speaker 2 – I think they’re crashing and burning, you know, they’re coming into my office, and they’re stressed out, their hormones are a mess, they’re eating unhealthy, they’re exhausted, they’re trying to keep up with everything. And they, unfortunately, develop, you know, debilitating health care conditions due to all of the internalized pressure and stress.
Speaker 1 – Okay, what must we do to solve this problem? We know that it’s a problem; we know that it can help, hurt our immune system and make us unhealthy. So what do we do?
Speaker 2 -So what I always recommend people to do is the first hour of the day is just for them. Okay? That may mean you have to go to bed a little later. That may mean you have to get wake up a little bit earlier. Right. But that first hour is dedicated to and may not even be an hour as well, like, but the first, you know, once you open your eyes, breathwork, you know, just deep breathing, you know, deep meditative breathing for 10 rounds. Right? Okay? Meditation has been shown to improve a lot of mental focus, balance, health, overall stress levels, and reduction. And then from there, you know, do the normal, take a shower, personal hygiene, all of that stuff before you even set the day? I had a lot of cases before that. They’d be like, Well, I have little kids. Oh, my gosh, I think we don’t realize that we can teach our children how to live and take care of themselves. Yeah, so we created a little snack drawer for them. So like, if they get up early in the morning, they know they go to little snack drawer, they go, and they eat that up, they sit at the table, they do their thing right now, obviously, you want to make sure else’s
Speaker 1 – child Right, exactly.
Speaker 2 – Like it, I’m not saying, just leave them, but you know, you don’t have to jump up, be there. You know, like, it’s okay, we can start the day because if you start the day like that, then the tone sets for the day, meaning that you’re not going to be rushed and hurried into every single instance circumstance situation, you’re going to be more mindful and more attentive. And
Speaker 1 – what role do you think societal norms play in women working themselves to death? I mean, you know, making themselves sick because they’re unwilling to take time for themselves. Yes,
Speaker 2 – I think we are constantly comparing ourselves to culture, you know, we see this celebrity, this mom, or the team guys. Hello, exactly. Or then we’re looking at Facebook and Instagram. And we’re like, you know, envious. I had a case, unfortunately, this last week, and they’re like, you know, this other family bought this big, $5,000 5000 square foot house. And this is, and they’re upset because they don’t have that. And I’m like. First, you have to clean that thing. My mind goes practical, always. However, it’s like, you know, being grateful for who you are, what you have. And what you’ve created for yourself is so important. You see, we have and do exactly what we have. And we can do, and we can’t do anymore. Right? And that going back to that perfection and need to perform and do and drive and our culture society, just as Americans, we are very much in the Go, go, go go go. Unlike other countries, let’s say in Europe, where you know, they have a lot of downtime and relaxation, and they’re walking everywhere. And it’s a little bit more steadfast. Well, you
Speaker 1 – know, I have more questions. And so, where do people go if they have more questions? I understand you’re doing a Facebook Live as well? Yes,
Speaker 2 – we are. So we have two options for consultation with our office for all those moms that are super, super exhausted, and tired. We have a wellness exam and a comprehensive initial consultation just mentioned Coast Live, and we’ll get you set up. All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I’ll ask her questions during the show. So that’s how you can get in touch with Dr exactly, and we have our Facebook Live coming up from the 20th to the 30
Speaker 1 – Great, thank you, Dr. Steele, sure.