My first #IamRemarkable session as a FACILITATOR

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

Success and milestones come in different forms. But accomplishments are for everyone!

In the last year, I’ve attended 2 #IamRemarkable workshops as a participant. Before attending, I had only heard about the initiative, but didn’t know much about it or how powerful it could be.

After attending the first one, I knew immediately I wanted to be facilitate the workshops for working/career moms and members of the BIPOC community.

ICYDK: #IamRemarkable is a #Google initiative empowering women and other underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond.

It’s not bragging, if it’s based on facts!

Why am I so excited about being an #IamRemarkable Facilitator?

Over the last few years, I’ve learned that mentorship and coaching can really improve your circumstances and your surroundings (not only for the mentee, but also the mentor/coach). #IamRemarkable offers a mentor/mentee partnership where benefits are realized almost immediately.

And since hosting my first #IamRemarkable workshop as a facilitator, I saw how participants resonated with the experiences shared. As a facilitator, I got out of my comfort zone & shared my own accomplishments, but more importantly the participants were inspired by my stories and felt empowered by the workshops’ exercises. By the end of the session, everyone left feeling powerful, confident and more joyful.

If you’ve ever spoken about yourself, you may know that self promotion and self-advocacy can feel awkward and be challenging for most people. But mix in culture, societal or modesty norms and it’s usually women and under-represented groups that suffer the most.

Another reason why I knew I wanted to be an #IamRemarkable facilitator was because I’ve learned through my mentors that our careers aren’t just about working heads down all hours of the day. We need to find ways to enjoy the journey! It’s about making space for opportunities/stretch goals, building your personal brand, actively seeking out your board of directors and leaning into your growth mindset.

Don’t get me wrong: working hard is still important but there is more to your work life than that (ahem ~~hustle culture~~) so you need to find the harmony that works best for you, your home life and your mental well being.

And when your hard work pays off and you have accomplished something big – you have to know that accomplishments won’t speak for themselves. You have to actively share your achievements!

That is what #IamRemarkable is all about! Learning to talk about your accomplishments in a way that is true to you. It’s also about challenging the social perception around self promotion!

Even if you are confident in speaking about yourself, you’ll learn about how to build a safe space for others to speak about their accomplishments and the art of active listening as a leader or person of majority.

If you have the chance to attend a workshop, I would highly recommend it! Feel free to reach out in the comments below and share your thoughts on self promotion, being marginalized, unconscious biases and holding space for listening to other peoples accomplishments.

39 for 39

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I have seen recently on Instagram that runners will run a certain distance on their birthdays. For example, when someone turned 36, then run 36km on their birthday. Whoa! Pretty inspiring right!

I figured I wanted to do something similar. Although I’m not going to start running over 20km, I found a birthday running goal that was meaningful to me.

So for my 39th birthday my goal is to run 39 laps around a high school race track.

Now let me explain: A race track is 400m, running 39 laps of that will mean I’ll run 15.6km for my birthday (400mx39) 🎉

right now I’m running about 10km on my weekly run, so I have 4.5 months to add 5km – and I really think I can do it.

I also feel this will mean I’ll need to improve recovery and cross training. Be more disciplined with foam rolling, stretching, cold showers/baths, fartlek (speed training) and weights.

This feels right and makes me feel joyful!

Go me! 🏆

My Skin Care 101 #LazyGirlSkinCare

Posted on April 28, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I should have titled this “Easy Skin Care – because I am the laziest when it comes to taking care of my skin (read: I am gaaahhhhhiilllty of not washing my face most nights).

But mid way through the 1st year of the Pandemic I started doing some research on what was required for my age and my skin (spoiler alert: for my skin type it wasn’t much). And then also what tweaks I could make given that I was creeping every so slightly towards 40!

I love this little infographic because a) I am a visual learner and b) it simplified everything for me.

First things first, I made sure I was using products that would: Cleanse, Moisturize & and provide Sun protection (aka Sunscreen).

A tweak I incorporated was: sun protection for the AM but then luxurious moisturizer in the PM.

I use a few different cleansers depending on the time of day, condition of my skin or what I am in the mood for: Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash, Aveeno Daily Cleanser or Cetaphil Face & Body soap (bar). Also on some occasions I will just use water to splash on my face (keep the natural oils on my skin and prevent unnecessary stripping of my derm!)

For the morning I found it easier to combine the moisturizer and with sunscreen protection and my go-to currently is Aveeno Positively Radiant with SPF 30. In the evening after washing my face, I use The Body Shop’s moisturizing night cream with vitamin E. I should also add that I layer Vichy Normaderm underneath my moisturizer on my T zone if I am breaking out (it has 2% Salicylic which targets pimples throughout their lifecycle but is also very hydrating!)

Another tweak I made was adding a serum or face oil depending on the needs of my skin or the time of day.

If I am breaking out/clear up blemishes: I’ll use The Ordinary Niacinamide & Zinc
Every AM it’s all about the Vitamin C: Olay B3 + Vitamin C Serum
PM I’ll use an Anti-Aging Skin Replenish (only twice a week): Pixi Overnight Retinol Oil
Evening Serum on the days I don’t use Retinol: The Ordinary “Buffet”

Lastly, I’ll use The Ordinary “Buffet” on my T zone if I want a break from Niacinamide/Zinc.

And now you may be wondering, what about face masks, exfoliating and eye creams – yes I use all of them too (following the cheat sheet I shared above)!

Now the most obvious questions? Does all this work?

I can say for sure that the anti-acne products do help, but time will tell with the other stuff. For me this has really been about creating a ritual for self care. It feels sooo good to pamper my skin, gave my face a little massage with my finger tips and see the glow on my skin :)

So what’s next / aka v2 for my skin care routine?

I definitely want to convert to clean and cruelty free products. I also want to glow from the inside out. I know I can adjust my food and incorporate herbs/supplements to improve my skin.

Do you have a skin care routine? Do you have products that you can’t live without? Would love to hear more about it in the comments below?

Season of rest

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

We’ve been in this for over a year now. Take this as your sign.

It is okay to have a season of rest.

It’s okay to be feelings orientated if you need a break from being results orientated (or vice versa).

In the old time, the future seemed multifaceted. We had careers, families, personal aspirations, places to go, friends to see, bucket lists – the hum of human dreams we took for granted.

But we were sleepwalking, just one step away from trading all those possible futures for the shared fate of the Freeze.

// Monologue by Melanie Cavill of Snowpiercer

I am officially a winter runner!

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I read this quote recently and couldn’t agree more…

Running is the hardest thing to start. But when you are running regularly, it’s the hardest thing to stop.

I started running when I was in middle school. I have memories of being dropped off early at school to run cross country. I remember running on grassy trails, in forests and along rivers. As I got older I moved indoors on to tracks and treadmills. I’ve been running indoors for a majority of my adult life. I only became a winter runner at the end of 2020.

I am slowly getting more used to it. I still have to psych myself up for weekend runs (aka long runs in cold weather). But what I’ve learned is that winter running is very refreshing, it’s a challenge I didn’t know I needed and with a little planning can be a great experience.

On cold days I like to double up on the pants, starting with a thermal layer and then adding a brushed or fleece lined legging on top. Same goes for tops, I like to wear 2 long sleeves, tucked into my pants (to prevent cold drafts!). I wear merino wool socks, mitts, windbreaker and even a balaclava. I’ve also considered wearing ski goggles on days with blowing snow!

Some other tips to keep in mind with winter running:

If you don’t have access to clear side walks, run on fresh snow!
Walk over icy patches
Hydrate
Wear sunglasses, the sun’s reflection off the snow can be intense
Add a pre-run routine (I’ve been following this one)
Be sure to swap out into warm clothes when you get home

Sitting still and breathing

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I used to think that meditation was about sitting, uncomfortably, for long periods of time. I thought it was mythical and that only a few people achieve it’s intended benefits. I thought it had to be done in complete silence. I thought people who meditated could easily turn off the sounds, sensations around them and thoughts in their mind could be ignored.

I had to let all those ideas go to find my own meditation journey. That said maybe some day I’ll be able to meditate that way. Until then I’ll rely on my favourite guided mediation app Insight Timer.

This app lets you choose the topic of your meditation and a preferred time of the meditation.

My topics of choice are usually: morning meditation, chakra clearing, future self, protective white light, breath work, affirmations or mindfulness. Time wise the sweet spot for me is 7-11 min, preferably 8-9 min.

Now for me the absolute game changer has been to journal after my meditation. I always include a gratitude list but other than that I may journal about what the meditation taught me, what I saw or learned, affirmations, future journaling/thank you letter etc.

I learned this trick after completing the 21 day meditation challenge created by Deepak Chopra and Oprah. It was a whatsapp meditation group (sounds awks – but the community was helpful). And although the meditation topics didn’t resonate with me completely, the practice did (thankfully!)