The Unwind is Yahoo Life’s well-being edition by which the specialists, celebrities, and influencers share their respective approaches to mental health and wellness, starting from self-care rituals to setting wholesome boundaries to the exclusive mantras that keep them afloat.
Talking about singer Kelly Rowland, heart health is just not essential but rather a very intimate and private matter. After she lost her mother to cardiac arrest in 2014, the singer has somehow made it her mission to educate others about the necessity of taking care of oneself, especially the ones with cardiovascular diseases which is the leading cause of death of women in the United States. In a partnership with the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement, Rowland is all set to virtually sit down with the surrogate mother Tina Knowles-Lawson on February 24 on Instagram Live to spread more awareness as the American Heart Month reaches its end.
Apart from honoring her mother’s legacy, Rowland knows how important it is for her to take care of her health as she is now a mom to sons Titan, 6, and now Noah who was born last month. She spoke to Yahoo Life about staying active, being pregnant during the pandemic, and her special trick to keep her cool when things get all worked up.
Why is heart health so important to you, and what role does being physically healthy play in your overall mental health?
Given the increasing numbers in the Black community, it is especially difficult being a Black woman with kids to not be concerned with the heart thing. Years back the singer has lost her mother to cardiac arrest and therefore the heart is everything to her. For her, getting the right education and knowledge about heart health, and knowing what’s going on with the body and especially the heart is very crucial. While speaking, she recollected how much she had learned during the Red Dress runway show which they used to do in New York. It’s great to find that there’s an opportunity to express how important this heart health is through fashion, through beauty, and now is all set to talk about the topic with Mama T, Tina Knowles-Lawson. She even recollected how she feels blessed to be able to go to the doctor and had the freedom of knowing everything about her body. It directly impacts mental health. Once a person is aware of the state, they can thereby take up good decisions when it comes to food, exercise, meditation, etc.
In what ways have you been taking care of your heart health amid the pandemic?
To her exercise has been an integral part of her daily routine, and that is what has kept her going throughout. Rowland didn’t go much crazy with the food thing because while staying in the house, everything got so easy. When she was pregnant, all she did was take a walk, hang out with her son, and her husband, and exercising help. However, she pointed on how while opening the refrigerator she had to e sure that she made all the right choices with her food. She mentioned how during the pandemic things can get a bit confusing as there’s an instant connection with comfort and food. She just wanted to make sure that she made the correct choices for the baby. She learned to cook fresh vegetables, fruits, and things like that. With slight changes in her diet, Rowland felt better and it worked wonders during her labor as well. It was a different experience altogether. She suggests all be thoughtful while making decisions related to food, as one must always take care of the body.
What are your go-to techniques for fighting stress and anxiety?
For Rowland, it’s meditation, breathing, and counting. At times when she feels too worked up, she prefers counting backward or forwards, and it helps to kind of take her mind off things. She practices it with her son.
Do you have any small self-care rituals that you use to brighten your day?
To this Rowland exclaimed that she loves getting in the bathtub. She loves having candles around her and flowers work magic to calm her down for some reason. She loves to have a nice relaxing bath while listening to music. Her bath remains covered with rose petals and salts, and with a lot of smiles, she added on how much she loves bubbles. Rowland loves a good bath salt, something that relaxes her body even more. Milk, lavender oil, and all such things, she added.
You were pregnant and gave birth during the pandemic. Did that take a toll on your mental health, given the uncertainty of the first few months? How did you work through that?
Unlike popular belief, for some strange reason, the pandemic has helped her. Since she was already inside the house, she got ample time to spend with her husband and her son, while learning even more about their love language, and what exactly they needed as a bond. The pandemic gave her check-in time with her family, which she loved. Even though it was quite stressful for her to become a teacher and trying to figure out school, it was more stressful to see her son not being able to meet his friends. She has been concerned about the kids throughout. As for her, she was quite happy with the being-in-home thing as she got to be creative and she is grateful for that, and other things had been tough for her, she added.
You worked out consistently throughout your pregnancy. What motivated you to keep going?
Firstly, she knew that this would help to get the baby down, and secondly, she just wanted to have some fun, since the pandemic had her locked in a home with no work to do. It was like that this period allowed her to do everything she wished for, like dancing in the backyard, and be silly, and have fun. This was important as it allowed her to deal with frustrations and anxiety. Rowland feels that one should just dance it out!
How have you and your husband been helping your son adjust to the changes of the pandemic and a new baby?
To this question, Rowland said that they all are just trying to figure it out. Her son went for a full-on meltdown and needed a therapist to talk it through. Titan, her son, his whole world has supposedly changed and eventually things changed for her and her husband too. All of them have got used to this new normal thing, and it’s quite a beautiful new normal, she added. However, it’s a different dynamic all together because Titan is very much used to all the attention but now things will be split. Therefore, it’s all about learning everything all over again, which is more than good.
What mantra do you live by?
Her secret mantra- take out time for things you genuinely want to make time for. Make time for your kids, make time to make better decisions, make time to eat better, make time to take care of yourself, make time to love yourself, and hence, make time for everything you want to make time for.
Follow her on Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/kellyrowland/
https://www.facebook.com/kellyrowland/
https://twitter.com/kellyrowland