SBWC Unravels the Secret to Becoming a Thriving Female Professional

The Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC), an affiliate of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment, recently hosted its third session under the ‘Health is Key to Success’ series, which was launched in August this year in conjunction with the University Hospital Sharjah (UHS).

Titled, ‘Healthy Lifestyle for better professional performance: How to manage stress and maintain a healthy diet for working women’, the session took place at the SBWC headquarters recently. These areas were picked as two of the most important wellbeing-related issues, which determine not just the quality of a working woman’s occupational health, but equally her personal life.  

Led by Dr. Sridevi Parvathareddy, MBBS, BSc Psychology, MRCGP, MRCP (UK) and a Consultant in Family Medicine, the session was attended by 20 members of the  council, and examined the reasons for the global phenomenon of a greater number working women experiencing higher stress levels within and outside their workplace than their male counterparts. Nutrition and a healthy diet comprised the  second part of the discussion as mental health and physical wellbeing are directly correlated.   

"A woman’s physical and mental health are of paramount importance when it comes to succeeding professionally. Here at SBWC, our continuous endeavour is to empower ourselves with the knowledge and tools necessary to continually excel in fulfilling our professional responsibilities. This was the main reason for us to have a session on stress management and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes it is not enough just to possess information – when your thoughts are reaffirmed by an expert in the field, the zeal to achieve your goals are greater. The session was distinctly enlightening as we learnt how being mindful about the simplest things, like making oneself a priority and internalising it in our daily lives can make a real difference," said Thuraiya Abdul Khaliq Albulushi, Membership & Services Senior Executive at SBWC.

Dr. Parvathareddy shared various symptoms of stress, and asked participants to be quick in identifying them. She elucidated stress relief strategies, among which prioritising one’s needs, keeping aside ample time for relaxing mind and body, spending quality moments with family and friends, were highlighted. A healthy diet with a special focus on superfoods like quinoa, cancer preventive white tea and shea seeds, ample physical activity with the perusal of a sport, and 7–8 hours of sleep, were recommended as practices to considerably reduce stress and fatigue experienced by female working professionals. 

At the end of  the presentation, the floor opened for a Q&A session in which attendees came up with several questions and concerns, sharing their thoughts and opinions about the problems of stress and an unhealthy lifestyle. This was followed by one-on-one consults with Dr. Parvathareddy, in which she responded to individual questions, offering need-specific advice to attendees.

As a continuation to the second session titled ‘Have a Wholesome Complexion’, this third convention was greatly appreciated by the attendees in increasing their knowledge and awareness towards achieving a higher level of personal fulfilment and wellbeing.  This was reflected in the excellent results of a post-session survey, which tackled questions about the quality of speakers, usefulness of topics discussed, registration process and overall venue facilities.

Suggestions by attendees for the premise of future health awareness sessions included topics like work–life balance; neurology, psychology and nutrition; investing in women entrepreneurs; and child safety, among others.