Hi *|FNAME|*,
What an incredible year of stress management workshops, one-on-one stress management strategy sessions, day retreats, meditation, yoga, blogs, posts, podcasts and more. Before I celebrate with you by sharing some highlights, I wanted to share my most recent testimonial from a one-on-one session just before Christmas.
"Before we spoke I felt 'trapped' by all my responsibilities and our brief session has made me see it may not be that hard to shift some fundamental things that can make a huge difference. That feels really good. I loved it! Susie, you are so good at what you do. It's really inspired me as a businesswoman, and as a human, really bloody helpful! Thank you so much." Kate Fennessy, Paperboat Digital.
Kate, the pleasure really is all mine! x (And the best thing about this testimonial? I didn't even have to ask for it! ;)
So if you're keen to kick off the new decade with less stress schedule a call with me in the New Year to find out more about how the one-on-one stress management strategy sessions work.
As many of you will have seen on socials this year has ended on a very sad note as my little family has experienced two momentous back to back losses... The loss of loved ones is the most stressful time one can experience so I've had plenty of opportunities to practice what I preach of late.
Thankfully, I am a firm believer in "no mud, no lotus" - a quote made famous by Thich Naht Hahn - a Vietnamese Buddhist monk whose monastery I once stayed at and where I 'received' the 'five mindfulness trainings' many years ago.
The most challenging times are when we learn and grow the most - if we are willing to. I have written a blog post about some key takeaways from these losses and while I'm currently completely knackered, though recovering now I'm on holidays, these events have also inspired me.
My biggest take away for the year is the importance of community, so I'm going to do everything I can to contribute to my community as much as possible in 2020. There will be tree planting, nature walks, more day retreats, and more contributions to my extended community at every opportunity.
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Treasured - Helping women feel valued during the festive season
Speaking of community, I am so over the moon about the incredible contribution my community made by donating more than 420 pieces of beautiful pre-loved jewellery to women who have spent Christmas-time in crisis accommodation as a result of domestic violence.
By partnering with the amazing New Day Box who provide these women with pamper boxes, we have taken it one step further to let these women know that there are other women who care about them. If you missed out this year but you have some beautiful jewellery that you love but you know you will never wear again go here to find out more and sign up to be kept in the loop for next year's Treasured.
So thank you so very, very much to everyone who contributed! I am still chasing my tail getting in touch with you all to thank you in person (if I have your email) so thanks also for your patience during this crazy time.
Come September or so next year I will be looking for some pro bono help to make sure Treasured runs as smoothly as possible, help with branding and comm's and then later with checking all the jewellery and putting it in the boxes, so get in touch if this interests you.
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Other highlights of 2019
There have been so many highlights in 2019 or Lilo. We ran a dozen workshops for architecture studios and it was an honour to be referred to one studio by the Australian Institute of Architecture (AIA) for stress management training. We are planning to run some stress management workshops at the AIA in 2020 so watch this space.
Another group I have worked with on a number of occasions this year is nurses. As a registered nurse myself, I am super passionate about helping nurses manage stress.
One of the most rewarding gigs for me this year was working with Cabrini Palliative Care. Little did I realise that my dad would pass away under their care. We are so incredibly grateful for how amazing their care was and look forward to doing more work with them in 2020. What incredible people they are, and I am honoured to be able to help them develop skills to be able to cope as well as possible with their huge emotional load.
We are doing more and more outdoors, with another highlight being running workshops by Albert Park Lake. We're also incorporating a LOT more playfulness into our workshops as play absolutely settles our stress response and this is so what we need more of in today's world.
While a personal endeavour, my work community also came along to a nature outing I ran for the Australian Conservation Foundation - and this event led to the formation of a group that is doing ongoing work to protect our natural environment.
Two retreats at the Peninsula Hot Springs were definite highlights, combining yoga, meditation, a stress management workshop, soaking, saunas and more... Jeez I love my job! Could it get much better than this? Get in touch by replying to this email to put your name down for hot springs retreats in 2020.
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Working in partnership with the amazing Engage Health was definitely a massive highlight in 2019. My nursing skills came in very handy as I delivered countless health checks and I urge you to get in touch if providing more clinical wellbeing services such as health checks and flu vaccines is on the horizon for 2020. Between us, we can provide complete wellbeing services.
A huge thanks to Sally Cumming from Engage Health for your friendship and support this year and I look forward to working with you more in 2020!
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I had the pleasure of being asked to do two podcasts this year, one with Smart Healthy Women and my favourite one with Be the Drop - perhaps just because I'm getting a bit more confident with these things... ;) (Click the links for a listen). I also wrote an article about the science of gratitude for Smart Healthy Women as well as a number of posts on the Lilo blog.
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I must also mention that teaching yoga is one of the greatest joys of my working life. Both at the incredible Waverley Yoga Studio - where I have been working for six years and have the most amazing community of loyal regulars - and at workplaces all over Melbourne.
Thanks to all my lovely students for your incredible support this year and over many years. It is an absolute pleasure helping you find some peace in the craziness that many of us are dealing with and in doing so I find more peace too.
My one-on-one coaching work has also been incredibly rewarding this year as I have seen clients make HUGE leaps and bounds towards more peace of mind.
Lastly, to counter all the bad news we hear all year round, I urge you to please read the 99 good news stories compiled by the amazing crew at Future Crunch every year. And do yourself a favour and sign up to their incredible newsletters for good news and intelligent, optimistic commentary all year round.
The end of the year - and the decade - is a powerful time to reflect and a natural time to reset our intentions and create the lives and world we want. I am certainly going to be doing a lot of journaling over the upcoming break to help me gain clarity for plans for 2020 and beyond.
I hope you are going to create plenty of space for reflection and planning for the future. Over the break and into 2020 may you be well, may you be happy, may you be peaceful and may you live with ease.
With warmth and love,
Susie x
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Lilo Wellness
susie@lilowellness.com.au
www.lilowellness.com.au
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