Wellness Week 2014

I am so excited for you all to read this and I sincerely hope I will not be on this train alone (I feel like I start off every blog this way)!!!!!!!

The inspiration behind this idea comes from a few things....

1. I have literally been working ALL summer... not very fun!

2. I have witnessed a TREMENDOUS amount of support from everyone who actually reads these things. I cannot tell you how DELIGHTED and HUMBLED I am when people I haven't talked to in years, or people I barely even know, message me in some form to tell me to keep up the motivation, or that they are thoroughly enjoying my posts. 

3. It is my absolute MISSION to stress the importance of self-worth along this journey. And your self-worth is not defined by how toned your body is, despite my inviting you to "Get muscles with Meags!"

When I was studying at Brock University, the student union there used to have a week allotted to promoting a healthy lifestyle for students,  called "Wellness Week." During the week, there were plenty of educational and entertaining resources set up for students all over the school so that for one week, they could help students to optimize and focus on the five main areas of wellness:

1. Physical Wellness

2. Mental Wellness

3. Emotional Wellness

4. Spiritual Wellness

5. Lifestyle Wellness

It took me graduating university and starting my fitness journey to realize the value and brilliance of this idea. The key? It's about STUDENT wellness. All of these things can be worked on individually, but how much would our wellness enhance if we were all working on it at the same time? To motivate each other, educate each other.. support each other.

It is for that reason that I am coining the next coming week, August 3 - August 10th, my very own WELLNESS WEEK.

This week will be devoted to small but immensely impactful daily assignments that will (hopefully!) lead to some peace of mind, focus, dream navigation and personal development. Each day, I will have a small assignment for you, that will reflect one (sometimes more than one) pillar of WELLNESS that I listed above. The assignments will not be strenuous, and will not be marked. It's not that kind of assignment! Know this my friends, I am here to uplift and support you, but I WILL NOT chase you. The courage you need to make a difference in your life has to come from you, and you alone. I will be here to encourage you and motivate you, but at the end of the day YOU will be the one to put your vision into action. And I am so excited for to US to do that. How do you start putting your visions into action?

BE CONSISTENT. 

This may sound like the total opposite from what you are used to reading, but for one second, FORGET about the big picture. Forget about the end result (temporarily). I whole heartedly believe that consistency will be yOUR key to success. Work on one positive thing every day, even if only for five minutes. I remember when I was young my dad used to flip SHIT when we would stress out studying for tests and exams. Why? Because we were inconsistent! My brother and sisters were clever enough to wing assignments at the last minute, but with that came stress and sometimes disappointment. My dad told us EVERY night, I kid you not, EVERY. DAMN. NIGHT. 

"Study a little bit tonight." 

"But dad, I don't have a test tomorrow." 

"Meaghan, study a bit tonight anyways." (Did I ever? NOPE.)

or

"Kids, go do your homework."

"Dad, we don't HAVE homework!"

"Kids, YOU ALWAYS HAVE HOMEWORK!"

Back then I thought he was just being a hard ass or maybe wanted time alone to de-stress. Was he trying to teach us to be smart? No. Was he trying to teach us to be teachers pets? No. He was trying to teach us to be CONSISTENT. THAT is where the difference will come. That is where you'll get to where you want to be. 

So, for sake of not going on another family tangent, I encourage you this week to be CONSISTENT. Do the assignments Focus on your NEEDS this week. Focus on your wellness.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT:

Overall Wellness: Be prepared to UNPLUG this week. I am going up to a cottage with my parents where my cellphone connection and wifi will be VERY unpredictable. Try to sign onto your social media websites at maximum once a day this week, to get your daily assignment in, and/or post your observations about it. See how far you can go when you "unplug." If you work in a job that REQUIRES you to be connected, try to keep your connection for work purposes only. Remember, I won't chase you. 

Physical Wellness: Minimum 15 Minutes of Physical Activity (Swimming, hiking, running, playing a sport)

Mental Wellness: PERSONAL. DEVELOPMENT. Have any self-help books in your house? If not, have any fiction in your house that will temporarily let you unwind and exercise that beautiful mind of yours? Pull them out. Expect to read at least ONCE this week for 15 minutes.

Emotional Wellness: Take a risk. Do you have a person in your life thats causing you stress or anxiety? Think about that person. This week you will do something to IMPROVE this relationship, or move away from it. It CANNOT stay the same.

Spiritual Wellness: 15 Minutes of Prayer, Meditation, Yoga, or perhaps a nature walk. Not spiritually affiliated? For one minute, even if YOU were responsible for every good thing in your life, think about something, or someone that you are THANKFUL for. Keep that person or thing in mind this week.

Lifestyle Wellness: I don't care what anyone says, a bad diet will rake havoc on your lifestyle wellness, if you do it all the time. Prepare to eat clean for ONE WHOLE DAY this week. NO junk food. NO pop. I'll keep you posted for tips on that.

If you do NOT have me on Facebook, PLEASE do add me. I LOVE meeting new people and am excited to get to know YOU. You will find my badge on this blog!

So excited to get this started with you folks. The countdown begins NOW.

xo M