Living a life of authenticity to me, is where each day, your actions are in line with your goals and your goals are healthy and beneficial to not only yourself but also your community and the earth.
This morning Peer Success Saturday Workshop was the best I can recall. There were 3 young ladies in attendance who, I believe, are ready for positive change in their lives. We had 10 total and it was perfect.
I am doing a series that I call, ” HOW TO GET OUT OF PRISON EARLY “.
This morning I gave them a four page RE-ENTRY PLAN; we talked about how the plan can be used in three ways: as a personal guide for what needs to be done here in preparation for the next phase of actually re-entering society, but then also as a guide for what needs to be addressed in a Compassionate Release or Clemency Petition.
The worksheet has a space called SELF CARE and I encouraged them to begin there. I was explaining how some of the folks her, quite a few possibly, are here due to neglecting their physical needs.
So many people think the physical spoke of the wellness wheel is all about working out to get fine….it’s also so much about “being fine” on the inside.
A regimen of strength and wellness translates to a calm state of greater self control. I used the example of a mom who is totally overwhelmed,over stressed and shakes her baby.
I am not sure why I used that example but I celebrate that I was meant to.
One of the ladies told me she had an experience like that. And where as I didn’t give her the space to share the details in our meeting, I met with her one on one after the meeting and asked her how she felt about writing the story of what happened with her when she had that experience. I told her that there is power in her writing it all out and sharing it. She smiled and told me she would be glad to.
We talked about the wellness wheel and how sometimes it seems like we aren’t ready to face all the spokes of the wheel; perhaps we aren’t ready to heal relationships or figure out what our career will be, but no matter what, we can all find our breath in a workout and make an authentic effort to connect to our higher self or our creator.
Some of the girls in attendance are ones who I know have some toxic habits, I let them know that the more they hit the gym, the more they add positive exercise to their schedule, the less they will want to hunch down over a wire.
I went on to say that we need to get into the habit of working hard, reaching our goals and finding ways to celebrate the sweet fact that we reached them.
Little by little.
Self Care is key and we have the space here to get it together and make it a habitual way of life so that when we are back home and have young children, spouses or difficult bosses, we are unshakable. Calm under pressure becomes part of who we are through diligent self care, self love.
I am going to miss these beautiful, curious, smart people.
