As a woman, we know that your attention is sought by many: family, work, friends, depending on where you are in life. And you’re expected to show up in all of these areas, but how do you show up for yourself? We had an e-chat with Cassandra Nuamah, COO & Master Trainer of Kukuwa® Fitness, to share how she balances her life with self-care.
Name: Cassandra “Coach Cass” Nuamah
City/Country: Accra, Ghana
Company: Kukuwa Fitness
Title: COO & Master Trainer of Kukuwa® Fitness
Other roles played: Head of Operations for Africa with Us ( the African Travel Curation Company of KUKUWA® Fitness)
Describe your mornings, from when you wake up to when work begins: My mornings usually start off with brief reflection and prayer of thanks to God then a 30-minute intense workout( strength training, or kukuwa dance, or HIIT drills) then shower to begin my day filled with conference calls, emails, social media, and content creation for Kukuwa® Fitness program ( including new choreography, new workouts, and recording workouts for our streaming platform) So each day is definitely different but this is a simplified version of my very busy day:
6:30am or 7am – Wakeup reflection and prayer
7:30am – Workout and shower
8:30am – Breakfast write out to do list for the day
9am – Start the day
9-11am – Emails, social media, conference calls
11am-1pm – Video recordings
Lunch
2-5pm – More conference calls, emails, social media
6pm – Close of day evening workout
7pm – Dinner
What happens when work ends? I try and do one thing that helps me unwind:
– Eat a tasty town healthy dinner:)
– Go for a walk or run
– Chat with a good friend or family member
– Listen to a podcaster or YouTuber I admire
– And listen to an audio book ( I prefer audio books over regular books)
Nighttime routine: Shower, reflect on the day, think about the to-dos for the next day and what’s an absolute priority, read & answer social media messages that I’m able to, try my best to make myself lay down to sleep instead of falling asleep( definitely still working on this)
What is self-care to you? Self-care is 100% necessary. Especially in the field I’m in, I need to be very intentional about self care or else you’ll find yourself trying to pour from an empty cup, and that won’t work.
Favorite self-care hacks: Schedule your workouts, or anything you find of importance in your life like real meetings on your calendar that NEED to get done or else they just become a “nice to do”. Find what makes you feel your best and also schedule that as a non-negotiable meeting:
– A massage
– Maybe your hair or nails
– Maybe a therapy session
– Maybe a night out with the guys or girls
Look at your workouts and well-being the same way you [view] your hygiene (like taking a shower and brushing your teeth) you’ll prioritize it and make it non-negotiable more
Favorite guilty pleasure: Eating something sweet and watching a good show or movie show or movie