Balancing your life and taking care of your body, mind and spirit will be the focus for a speech by ZBM news presenter Sangita Iyer at the 2008 Bermuda Business Women's Conference on Saturday.

Ms Iyer will be talking from first-hand experience of how she maintains a work/life balance through her busy schedule during the 'Balancing Act - Life 24/7' session to delegates at the event.

Ms Iyer, who is a highly experienced senior broadcast journalist, has worked in the media since the 1990s and for the past three years has been one of the most recognisable faces of television news in Bermuda as an anchorwoman with the Bermuda Broadcasting Co.

"It not only applies to Bermuda's business women, it applies to women in general, but in particular Bermuda's business women because as a woman you are in charge of your home, your work and your children," she said.

"There are so many demands placed on women that you end up taking care of others and so what women need to do is pause and remind themselves that if they do not take care of themselves they cannot be productive in what they are trying to achieve.

"You have to balance your life, meaning you have to balance your time carefully and take care of your body by exercising properly and your mind and spirit must be in tune to be able to manage your emotions better."

Her own working day starts at 3.30am, when she wakes up two hours before her early morning slot to give herself time to pray, meditate, exercise and shower before going on air.

"When you start your day on a positive note, you are so much in control of how you deal with the circumstances of what happens," said Ms Iyer.

"It is so much more productive and effective and you can think, feel and do things much better."

Ms Iyer, has bridged several cultural divides in her life's journey and career, having come originally from India, before moving to Kenya and then onto Toronto Canada, where she worked for newspapers such as the Toronto Star and Daily Mirror and TV channels including CTV and Omni, for which she was responsible for programming aimed at the city's sizeable South Asian community.

She also created community programmes such as 'Smooth Transition' to help new immigrants make the successful switch between cultural surroundings and has given a number of talks on similar themes, including 'Dressing for Success' to help woman move their lives forward.

While in Toronto, Sangita also did print modeling and was an actress, appearing in lead roles in several films.

Her love for the environment was, meanwhile, shown in the formation of a 13-show EnviroShorts documentary TV series for Bermuda, for which she won the inaugural DeForest Trimingham Award - the top award for environmental awareness from the Bermuda National Trust.