DATE
Black History Month: Damini reflects on her experience of Black Health and Wellness
This year, the theme for Black History Month is “Time for Change: Action Not Words”. At Moorhouse, it’s time for action not just words in relation to Black Health and Wellness. As part of our Black History Month celebrations, we asked some of our colleagues what this means to them, and how they look after their own health and wellness.
Last week, we spoke to Amatey Doku, a Consultant in our People and Change team. This week, we spoke to Damini Oladipupo-Wilgar, a Senior Consultant from our Health team.
Damini, what does health and wellness mean to you?
To me, health and wellness is looking after yourself in whatever form this takes. It is allowing yourself to just ‘be’ and not feeling sorry for that. It is also taking the time to become more self-aware, knowing what makes you feel healthy and what makes you feel stressed or anxious and taking the time to focus more on the positive that makes you feel well, and managing your triggers as much as possible.
How do you take care of your health and wellness?
I like to refer to myself as an ‘extroverted introvert’, so the way I like to look after my health and wellness really depends. I enjoy spending time with family and friends, I’m always hosting or planning things to do with the people I love. I find these sessions act as a sort of pick-me-up, and I really value them in moments when I might be feeling down. When I need to ‘recharge’ or need a bit of downtime, I like to read, pray, meditate.
What is your top tip to others?
Ensure you are setting boundaries with yourself and others. Life can get quite full-on, and it can be hard to keep up when it feels like people are always requesting something from you, or pulling you in all sorts of directions. Sometimes you need to let people know that it’s all a bit much and you need time to yourself, or you don’t have the capacity to do something and that is okay. I think we all need to get more comfortable with setting boundaries and also respecting other people’s boundaries.
A black British person who has inspired me
So, I tried to think of someone well known, but the person that actually came to mind is my best friend, who I’ve known for about 15 years. She’s a doctor but didn’t do medicine as her first degree. For me, seeing her go back to uni to get this degree, exemplifies hard work, commitment, and dedication. She also manages to do her day job and run a successful business on the side. I don’t know how she does it, I think it’s so inspiring. She’s a big advocate of taking care of yourself and prioritising yourself and I feel like I’m always learning from her!
Thank you to Damini for sharing your personal experience.
Author: Damini Oladipupo-Wilgar
Damini is a project professional with 7 years’ experience in delivering complex programmes and transformations across a number of industries. She currently sits within the Health team at Moorhouse.