We caught up with Anna Mathur – a psychotherapist and mum of 2, with baby number 3 on the way!
Q1. How do you manage to juggle motherhood, work, friends and fitness particularly
whilst being busy?
Oh the never ending pursuit of balance! I’m juggling okay at the
moment and am enjoying the
mixture of days spent focussing on work, and days spending time play dating
with my two boys.
Although, I’ve got a feeling it’s about to get a little chaotic with our new
arrival.
So, how do I manage the juggle? Firstly, regardless of what time I go to bed
I’m an early riser. That’s
when I have the most energy! I wake before the boys, at 6 when my husband gets
up. This allows me
to squish a little more in to my day, and I usually use this time to do a
workout or some yoga. I have
a rowing machine and some weights in my garage, or I might just opt for a mat
workout on the rug
in the kitchen.
My second rule for the juggle, is to accept all support. My boys really enjoy
their time at nursery,
and this is when I get some work done. When they’re resting at lunchtime that’s
when I can crack on
with my emails. To me, in this stage of life, it’s just about making the most
of all of my time at the
moment and taking the opportunity to rest when I can. Rest has become
increasingly important to
me over these busy years, as not making time for it, finds me hurtling towards
burn out.
Balance is always something I’m trying to work on, I don’t feel like I’ve got
that completely figured
out but I don’t think anyone does!
Q2. What is your favourite part of your job?
I’m a psychotherapist and I do a lot of mental health coaching.
My favourite part of what I do is
called psycho-education. I take psychological concepts and reframe them into
something people
can apply to their lives. It might be encouraging people to address their
internal dialogue, try out
breathing exercises, or implement tips and strategies for dealing with anxiety.
These things really
make a difference. My passion is to educate people in a really warm and
accessible way.
Q3. Being a Psychotherapist what
are your top tips with dealing with negative
thoughts?
My top tip on dealing with negative thoughts is to not give it
too much attention. We have thoughts
going through our minds all the time. You might find it helpful to think of
negative thoughts as a
monster – if you feed that monster with attention and head-space, it’s going to
grow. Think about
about starving it, acknowledging the thought, recognising it’s not a nice one
and just letting it move
on by without choosing to add story, texture, colour and feeling to that
thought. As we begin to
engage in anxious and negative thoughts, our fight or flight response can begin
to kick in, making
us feel stressed or panicked.
It’s common to feel quite passive to negative thoughts, but I believe that we
can have more control
over them than we think we do, so starving them of attention and distracting
ourselves from giving
them too much investment, is a good tool in reducing them.
Q4. What hobby would you take up if time and money were not an issue?
Ooh! I used to do a lot of horse riding when I was young because
my neighbour had a horse. I
absolutely loved it as I find it therapeutic to be outside. I think horse
riding would be amazing but
you need a lot of time and energy to do that. I think it would be a great way
to just get out and be
within nature.
Q5. What is your ideal way to unwind and relax?
Having a bath, definitely, that is always been my go to, I just find it very comforting.
Q6. If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self some advice what would it be?
I would have so many pieces of advice for my 18-year-old self!
So many. I would want to give her a
hug first of all. The thing is, I’d love to have given her some advice, I just
don’t think that younger me
would have listened then. You could have told me all the wise words in the
world but I had my own
thing going on. I was more interested in partying and boys. It would probably
want to sit down with
her and talk to her about people pleasing. I’d want to encourage her that you
can’t please everyone.
I just gave away so much of myself to others and often left little for myself.
I was a huge
perfectionist and not particularly kind to myself, so I’d want to talk to her
about that too and help
her develop some self-compassion.
Q7. Which women inspire you and why?
I can never think of a particular person when I’m asked
questions like this but the qualities that
inspire me are authenticity and kindness. Two amazing qualities often found in
inspirational people.
Q8. If you were a tree what would you be and why?
Cherry Blossom! I just think they are stunning. We had one in my
childhood garden and it bought so
much joy!
