The last 5 or 6 months has been a real test for many of us to find our strength within. We have all, at some point, gone sideways. For me, it was when I was back in NZ for summer having just celebrated my wedding to my soul mate Trent. We were mid buying a family home in Bali when news of the severity of the pandemic struck. Realising how we stood to lose everything we had worked so hard for – our business had dried up, we couldn’t make our payments for the new home meaning we would lose it, and wondering what to tell our staff – I froze and woke each morning feeling like someone was kneeling on my chest, being overwhelmed with anxiety and feeling like I couldn’t breath.
Over that harrowing week Trent and I turned to our meditation, sleep rituals, morning programmes and breath work tools to gain clarity and balance to keep the anxiety and fear at bay. We also called in some of our smartest friends to assess our options. We hatched a plan about moving the business online and used every waking hour to train on how to do this. Later, that week, NZ went into a level 4 lock down.
We made the big decision, within the hour of this news, to pack up our entire house and return to Bali, taking the last flight out before lock down, the following day. We took our young family back to an island while others were fleeing Bali in panic. Countries were sending ‘mercy mission flights’ to ‘rescue’ people from the very island we were returning to.
It may have seemed like a crazy decision on the outside, yet it proved to be the best decision we made. This year would have played out very differently if we had chosen the safe route.
Within days of returning, we had turned around and pivoted our retreat business into the online world, serving 3,000 women days later, that needed some support to navigate this tough time, through a week long Bali retreat, virtually. What a huge learning curve and what a lot of fun!
We managed to transform our business to produce online courses, retreats and programmes, support our staff of 70 by keeping them in employment, when there was no safety net for them (no government support), and escaped all the media fear and frenzy that wasn’t present in the Bali community.
By making that decision and investing in our wellbeing rituals and tools to support us, it gave us the space and the perspective to think about how we could survive as a business, for our family, for our customers that needed support now more than ever and for our staff that were all looking to us to help them and their families. We also were able to set up fundraising and fed our local community for months through generating significant donations from our community, our alumnae and friends via two fundraising initiatives. We needed to keep our head above water and reach deep to find our way out of this hole. We are not there yet and continue climbing confidently towards our goals trusting that we are heading in the right direction and that has made all the difference.
When we work on our wellness it allows us to move fear aside so we can see the path. Then confidently follow this path. Once we have started on it, one foot in front of the other, we continue by focussing on what we can control with our wellbeing and emotional health in tact and not focussing on what we can’t control. Often the anxiety, panic and paralysis comes from not making a decision, so its important to create the calmness and perspective to make that first step. That’s where the momentum is, after that first step it becomes easier.
The Lows Of The Journey Teach Us the Most
I’m thankful for my entrepreneurial path in these challenging times as the journey can be tough, yet, its what the lows of the journey teach us – resilience, how strong you are and a deep understanding and belief in your ability to whether any storm. It also teaches you about the importance of wellness rituals as these become the foundation for going far and fast.
Being trapped by fear and overwhelm disables us from making good decisions. We can be trapped in paralysis and drop the very thing that is the cornerstone to our lives – our wellbeing.
When we activate fear and anxiety from forces outside our control, it’s natural to feel out of balance, to lose sleep, feel overwhelmed, like ‘our gloss’ is slipping.
When our minds are consumed with anxiety, our health suffers. We don’t sleep well, wake up tired, low mood, inflammation flares up in our body, fatigue consumes us and we are overwhelmed with endless worry.
They’re all symptoms of one core problem: In the midst of all the current stress, we’ve forgotten to take care of ourselves and our overall wellbeing and health suffers and the cycle continues.
We hyper focus on what we can’t control and forget the practices we can control and use to restore balance. For most of you, what’s going on in our world right now is far from the only crisis you’ve faced. Once more, it’s time to reconnect with yourself, nurture yourself and remember that you can decide how you want to respond.
My Top Ten Tips To Thrive In Challenging Times
Here are 10 tips on how to thrive in challenging times that are sure fire ways to reduce overwhelm, making you sleep better, feel better and have more energy to move through it all. Before you start, make a decision to connect with yourself, nurture yourself and empower yourself to control what you are able to – your wellbeing. So begin by investing the time to bring wellness rituals into your life. These tools are what we take our guests through weekly and what has made all the difference to them this year on our private facebook group.
1. Breathwork
This is one of the quickest, most powerful tools available to change your mental and energetic state in the least amount of time. When we are in fight or flight, or the sympathetic nervous system, the fear centre of our brain (amygdala) is being used and the part of our brain, where we make logical decisions, is shut down. In that state we make decisions or say things we regret. Breathwork helps activate the para sympathetic nervous system or rest and digest, which then allows the logic and wise part of our brain to reign. We have regular Breathwork classes available in our inner circle and class pass groups and run regular week long challenges to help integrate this game changing technique into our guests lives.
2. Meditation
Meditation is one of the best ways to dissolve stress and worry and restore an inner state of calm. It is something that is available to everyone. It takes less than 10 minutes, making it an easy fit for your daily routine. Just hit play on any of our guided audio meditations to interrupt spiralling thoughts, de-stress and recenter—in as little as 10 minutes.
3. Gratitude
Gratitude – gratitude is strongly associated with happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive, re live good experiences, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. In our Inner Circle we create gratitude practices. It’s as simple as every evening writing down 3 things you are most grateful for in your life. When we have a grateful heart, our stress and worry melts away.
4. Nutrition
Nutrition has a profound impact on our mood. When we are eating foods that are free of additives and preservatives and sugar, we are regulating our energy, our mood and getting the nutrients that our body craves. Gut health is imperative and is where the feel good chemical serotonin is produced. There is such a big link between our belly and our brain so eat gut healthy food to feel and function better. You can watch our Nutritionist Nikki talk about gut health here .
5. Journalling
This is a great self reflection tool which helps you get things out of your head and onto paper. It doesn’t have to be long and can be as little as a few minutes of dumping what’s in your head onto paper. Best practised in the morning and in a quiet spot. It’s another way to activate gratitude by creating a gratitude list each day at the end of your journalling session. Invest in a journal that’s solely for this purpose so it doesn’t end up being a to do or shopping list.
6. Sleep
Sleep – When we don’t have enough sleep, its hard to function and think properly. There is a direct correlation between low mood and lack of sleep. When we are in fight or flight from stress, its common to wake in the middle of the night and struggle to get back to sleep. Yin and Yoga Nidra can help. We offer these daily at our Bali retreat. Check out our sleep tips here and one of our Yoga Nidra videos here. We do a whole sleep rituals module in our inner circle and Escape Haven @ Home Retreat which focusses on optimising your ability to achieve a great quality sleep.
7. Yoga
Like Meditation and Breathwork, Yoga allows you to go within and is such a powerful resilience tool. That’s why its so foundational at our Bali yoga retreat, When we are present, practising mindfulness, we are able to make good decisions, seeing the bigger picture. Try out our Yin Yoga here.
8. Fitness
Fitness activates dopamine – the feel good chemicals in your body. Physical activity also stimulates the release of dopamine, endorphins, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These brain chemicals play an important part in regulating your mood. For example, regular exercise can positively impact serotonin levels in your brain. Dopamine, the neurotransmitter linked to happiness and rewards, also appears to play a role in the motivation to move so find something you enjoy doing for exercise and the feel good chemical will kick in as soon as you start thinking about it. Here’s an express workout for you, from us in Bali. Why not start your day with a flood of feel good dopamine by playing this off your smart tv or laptop and notice how you feel after.
9. Find the right community
Research proves that you go further when you go together. Having the right environment – community of friends/colleagues or perhaps online community in our private facebook group, that are also on the same journey, Having the support and accountability of others will help you to stay on track.
10. Inspiration
Seek out those that are experts in the wellness space. Look at their stories, paths and tips and tools for things that you might incorporate. Wellness is not a destination but rather a journey and to be supported on that journey means you will go further and are much more likely to create sustainable change too than going it alone.