Psychologist Shruti Ahuja

In my workshop tomorrow with HealthyMinds World], I will be talking about addiction to pornographic content.

You can send your questions anonymously to me or to HealthyMinds World] and we will answer them on our IG pages shortly after the workshop!

On the 24th of July, I will be doing a short workshop in collaboration with HealthyMinds World] on the new behavioral addiction plaguing society: po*******hy!

You can contact my friends HealthyMinds World] to sign up. We have some interesting things lined up that we will discuss.

The next two weekends, I am heading a workshop on the interpretation of dreams in collaboration with .world.

Based on Sigmund Freud’s early theories of dream analysis; we will take a deeper look into his writings, his use of dream analysis in patients and his experiences. Finally, we will end with a short discussion on the latest research surrounding dreams.

We will target questions such as: What are dreams? Do they have a meaning? Are they relevant in psychotherapy? Do they correspond to your life when you are awake? Do they make sense at all? If you want to know more, join us.

Dates: 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th June
Timing: 6:00-7:30pm IST
2:30-4:00pm CET
Price: Rs. 2499 or $39.99

Contact me via DM if you are interested and I will re-direct your request to my partners at .world!

Today, I want to focus on a topic very close to my heart: Nutrition. I see food, cooking and dining as an essential way to enjoy life and to build relationships. Food is a cultural, mental and physical source of fuel. While types of food matter, it’s all about creating balance and eating right as a way to enjoy life all the while providing the right nourishment for your soul and body.

As some one who is trained in mental health, I too, have fought my battles with food and the food chain system. I have been overweight most of my younger years. I struggled with body image issues as well. One day, I decided to change my relationship to food. I started to learn about the types of foods and how they are digested. What happens when you eat. How it’s processed by the body & what component does it add to my cells.

The second step was to stop viewing food as the source of my problems. In reality, it’s the mental battle to make healthier choices that is the problem. And this is built into the way food is advertised and made available easily. This leads to an over load on the decision making process in our mind and we end up making poor choices.

For me, the big change happened when I stopped giving myself so many choices. For example; if I wanted a burger, I didn’t have to choose between McDonald’s and Burger King. I made myself cook a burger at home. This made all the difference. Not only did I end up cooking a lot of my food myself, I also stopped craving the junk versions of it.

No food is off the table at our home. We just try to eat better and cook. The process of buying at markets, cooking together and eating together is what makes us uniquely human. We have ability to build an entire culture around something that other animal species only see as survival.

It’s a gift and when we view it that way, a lot changes. Use the power of your mind to eat better and you will see that you feel better.

In the next post of the “Mind over Matter” series, I bring you another effective tool that I have used when I have been faced with difficulties.

Imagination. Now you may wonder how imagination helps? Aside from the tips listed in my images, I have used imagination to my advantage countless times.

Especially for people struggling with body image issues or unhealthy lifestyle issues, imagination is a great tool to visualize healthy body image, healthy eating behaviors, healthy exercise behaviors and disciplined life habits.

You can even use imagination to set healthy boundaries with difficult people. Plan to have the difficult conversations in your mind. Imagine every reaction and scenario presented to you. And imagine your response. This way when you face the difficult person/conversation/moment, you will be ready to handle it effectively.

Try it, practice it and as always, leave your valuable feedback! Stay strong and stay safe!

In the first post of my “Mind over Matter” series, I will bring you daily affirmations, goals, tools and coping strategies that have helped me and many others to cope up with life’s difficulties.

To begin with, I choose the words “mind over matter” because the mind holds unimaginable power over the quality of your life. Matter is something that exists everywhere. And matter also stands for an issue or subject that can trouble you. The mind can help you cope with the latter.

Today’s tool that I want to talk about is “Introspection.” It is the unique ability that humans have to examine our own mental and emotional world. So far, we don’t know if any other species is capable of introspection.

As a concept, it has been heavily used in psychotherapy and even in relaxation techniques such as mediation. It has other names too such as mindfulness. It has been heavily criticized by scientists and researchers as a phenomenon that cannot be proved, hence, doesn’t exist.

But it does, doesn’t it? All the times you think about your day, your love, your behavior, your body, anything really, you are introspecting. And it’s a powerful tool if you know how to use it.

Each day, I practice introspection while I carry out other activities.

The questions you can ask yourself as you introspect: What was my day like? What made me happy/sad today? Am I okay with my life right now? How does my body feel physically? Do I feel healthy? How can I feel happier? Was I the best version of myself today?

Asking these questions daily might start a cycle of events for you.
You might realize you have feelings you weren’t even aware of. Many a times, you may even become aware of physical pain your body has been trying to communicate to you. Just listen. Listen to all the messages and learn. Try it, practice it and keep giving feedback! Stay strong and stay safe!

I see that I have a many new followers in the last few months. Welcome! And let me re-introduce myself.

I am Shruti Ahuja, a psychologist. I specialize in Clinical & Health Psychology. I was born and raised in India but I live in Europe. I finished my studies here too.

I am passionate about psychology and science. But I have deviated from traditional psychological subjects and turned my attention towards using the power of the mind to live a life of well-being.

Over the past one year, the world has faced turmoil due to Covid. We have been inundated with physical health issues. But the mental health crisis has gotten even worse than the physical health crisis. I have learnt a lot about how to keep one’s balance and calm during these difficult times by using my own practical knowledge, psychological training and spiritual alignment.

Stay tuned to my page as I will speak more about this in the coming days! Stay strong and stay safe!