21 Days to Bliss

When I first started hearing about "21 Days to Bliss", I knew it was going to be something I wanted to participate in! Even if Abby wouldn't have been one of ramrods and made me do it, I knew I wanted to be a part of it!

Gain Energy. Lose Weight. Balance Your Life. Those sound great, right? And Bliss... what woman doesn't strive for bliss in her life?

Abby, Lindsay Wilson and Jill Williams put together a fabulous course for women... 7 Classes. A Lifetime of Wellness.

In June of this year, I blogged (on my personal blog, not here) about the Health and Wellness Workshop I had recently attended at the Mississippi Modern Homesteading Center. Abby was one of the keynote speakers at that event and spoke about goals. I pondered and gave a lot of thought to my own goals and decided how quickly I wanted to achieve them. Top of my list was to, within the next year, have a total and complete feeling of wellness. As a matter of fact, from my personal blog from June 3rd, I wrote,

 "I want to have a feeling of wellness and wholeness by this time next year.  I am not sure yet just exactly what that looks like for me, but that is one reason I am talking about setting goals for myself and starting to take the necessary steps to achieve those goals.  I need to be healthier, I would like to be a little lighter, I should be in better shape financially.  I want peace, serenity, tranquility.  I want to not feel as much stress as I do now.  I want to enjoy my life.  I want to feel accomplished at something."

Wow. I had forgotten how close that was to when Abby and I started our journey... less than a month actually. How profound, huh? I knew what I wanted, I just wasn't sure how to get it.

That's exactly what 21 Days to Bliss was for... providing women with opportunities, resources and information to find their own bliss.

The instructors for this powerful event were:

Abby Malmstrom, M.S. Exercise Physiologist, Personal Trainer, Nutritionist. Of course, you know about Abby. Abby is my trainer, my boss, "the devil who made me do it", a marathon runner and now, my friend. 

Lindsay Wilson, Yoga Teacher, Wellness Coach, Herbalist. I first met Lindsay when Nickey and I attended our first Seasonal Soiree at the Homesteading Center. She and Marion prepare the most delicious meals! Lindsay also teaches the yoga classes at the Homesteading Center I try to go to on Fridays. Lindsay has lots of interesting life experiences and is just a plethora of knowledge; wise beyond her years, this one is!

Jill Williams, Yoga Instructor, Owner of Bliss Yoga. Jill and I both attended the Methodist Church, but the first time I remember actually talking to her one on one was at my friend Lynn's house at her Pampered Chef party.

I missed the first two classes because I was out of town, so I felt a little late to the party when I joined class three. Luckily, Abby had videotaped the classes, so at least I was able to get a feel for what I had missed, but it sure wasn't the same as being there. 

These ladies started a nutrition plan and, being the black and white person that I am, did not do the elimination diet. I felt like since I had already missed a week, I wasn't going to start late. Remember me, Ms. All or None? Yeah, I was NONE on the nutrition/diet part of Bliss. Even though I didn't do the diet myself, I learned so much about particular foods, why they are (or are not) good for you; I heard about food cravings, rebooting and cleansing the liver, balancing out hormones, having more energy and many other things that our bodies go through with any type of "cleanse" such as this. I did a cleanse at the beginning of this journey, remember? I eliminated things from my diet and I saw the benefits; I felt the changes, so I knew it would work.

The group's theme of our 21 days was "Positive Transformation"; each of us had our own individual theme as well and we had partners who helped keep us accountable. Each week, we had a circle share. We were given our own turn to speak, about anything and not be interrupted. That's such a cool concept, isn't it? How many of us wives, mothers, grandmothers don't get our "turn" to talk, to share about what's going on in our lives, to be heard, to be listened to. It's pretty amazing. I have to admit, though, that one night in particular, all I could talk about was the negativity I felt. Not with the diet, the exercise or anything at all to do with Bliss... just every day life.

We were encouraged to journal about our experience. To get us started, we were given 21 "starters". Because I don't like to journal with a pen a paper, I plan to use those here in my blog in the coming weeks because I think they are wonderful! And I think all of us should think about these ideas. So, as I blog/journal, I encourage you to try and answer those questions for yourself. Be looking for one or two coming up this week.

There was SO much information; it was almost overwhelming. But, to have the gift of this information in one little tidy package... truly priceless. I learned way more than I ever thought I wanted or needed to know about yoga, meditation, exercise, nutrition, herbs, stress, hormones, fake sugars, clean foods, pastured eggs, and so much more!

I got SO much of this experience... and yet, I want to go through it all again. I know there's something I missed. I know there's more for me to soak up. Ladies, when this opportunity presents itself again, I encourage you to to talk to Abby, Jill or Lindsay and get yourself signed up! You won't regret it!