A Mindful Daily Routine With Ashley Graham

The model, icon and activist channels mindfulness in these three ways.

Ashley Graham is an icon in her own right. She is a woman of many firsts, including the first curvy or plus-sized model to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine (2016) as well as Vogue Magazine (2017), although (mindfully) she is not a fan of the term “plus-sized”, a stance she has expounded on in her 2015 TEDx Talk at TEDxBerkleeValencia.

In a recent article, published to The Wall Street Journal, Ashley opens up about how she prioritises her time, and sheds light on her daily routine. Here are three things that stuck out to us, and why we ought to consider establishing these practices in our own lives.

Getting Up Early in the Morning

As a mother of three children, Ashley notes that it is important to her that she be up ahead of them to ensure enough space for her to have some alone time before their day begins. Early in this case is approximately 06:30a or 06:45a depending on the day. For others it could be the same, or a bit earlier or later depending on the person.

Getting up early is an important thing to consider. Studies have long demonstrated a link between getting up early and increased productivity or overall wellness, although each case is different per person. For more information on why you should consider getting up earlier in the morning, check out this article published to Healthline, listing ten benefits observed in the adoption of an early riser’s lifestyle.

Taking Vitamins

Mindful of all that her body has gone through in its 32 year journey on this planet, Ashley shares that she is in fact a vitamin consumer. She mentions that she is actually currently working with a naturopath to “regulate literally everything” going on in her body.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition reports as recently as 2019 that nearly 80% of all adults in the United States are using vitamins or dietary supplements. In the same year, the American Osteopathic Association reported an even higher number, however, they made note that out of all the people taking vitamin supplements, “only 21% have a confirmed nutritional deficiency.”

Most people, confirmed nutritional deficiency or not, do not have the means to hire a doctor specifically for the compilation of vitamin supplements, let alone visiting a doctor outside of their primary care physician. So for all our multivitamin consumers out there, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s The Nutrition Journal published an article that lists out some things you should consider before taking vitamin supplements regularly. Here’s a brief look at what they recommended:

“Reasons to use a multivitamin:

• I am eating a limited diet or my appetite is poor so that I am eating less than usual.

• I am following a restricted diet for longer than one week. This could be prescribed such as a liquid diet after a surgical procedure, or a self-imposed diet such as on with the goal of weight loss.

• I have a condition that reduces my body’s ability to absorb nutrients (celiac disease, ulcerative colitis) or have undergone surgery that interferes with the normal absorption of nutrients (gastric bypass surgery, Whipple procedure).

• I temporarily have increased nutrient needs, such as being pregnant.

• I’m very busy and just can’t eat a balanced diet every day.

Reasons that may not need a multivitamin:

• I eat well but am feeling tired all the time (discuss first with your doctor so they can investigate other possible causes).

• I eat a pretty good diet but want to improve my health as much as possible, so it couldn’t hurt to get some extra nutrition from a vitamin.

• I have osteoporosis and need more calcium, or I have iron-deficiency anemia and need more iron (in both scenarios, you may only need to take those individual nutrients rather than a comprehensive multivitamin).”

Of course, at the end of the day, what you choose to invest is between you and your doctor.

Utilising Meditation and Prayer

Another note Ashley touched on in her discourse with Lane Florsheim, the author of the article published to The Wall Street Journal, was one of meditation and prayer. 

“Usually in the mornings, that will be my time for a true meditation prayer. Justin (her husband) and I have been doing it together for years, and we started inviting Isaac into prayer time, and he loves it. Alone time, which is just as important for me, is really when the children go down. Justin and I have a thing where we just know that in order to be better for each other, we also need to have our own time and our own space.”

The impact of meditation and prayer on our mental, emotional and physical health has been studied for years, with varying results. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says “much of the research on these topics has been preliminary or not scientifically rigorous. Because the studies examined many different types of meditation and mindfulness practices, and the effects of those practices are hard to measure, results from the studies have been difficult to analyze and may have been interpreted too optimistically.” Adversely, this article published to the Emory News Center at Emory University notes the benefits observed by a practising psychologist in Sri Lanka following the tsunami of 2004.

Although conclusive research on meditation and prayer is still minimal, the testimonies of those who already use these methods for mindfulness and wellness may make the consideration worthwhile.

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