Embrace the Mistakes and Enjoy the Process

by | Dec 14, 2018 | mindandbody, selfimprovement, wellness | 0 comments

I make more mistakes than the average person, lots and lots of them in fact. As a creative, artistic, emotional, and intuitive person, I am constantly flooded with ideas and strong urges. Urges that tell me DO, HELP, INFORM, CREATE, EMOTE, and to HUG people even those who might feel slightly uncomfortable (don’t worry, I do self-regulate).

Lucky for me I know how to pick myself up when I fall down and keep moving forward. This, I believe, is what allows me to maintain close connections and constantly develop and redefine my best life.

WHY do you ask? I believe it is because I allow myself to be imperfect and never allow fear to overwhelm me. My suggestions to you as you prepare to embark on this challenging, life-changing journey include:

Embrace ALL of you.

Laugh at imperfections, it makes you more accessible because you are REAL.

Open your mind to EVERY possibility (the alternative is to limit or diminish yourself).

Connect with others – understanding and empathy are built in proximity

Maintain an “I am interesting and lovable” mantra. The only person you need to impress is yourself!

Push your limits in all areas. Get out of your comfort zone to expand your mind.

Choose carefully the people you allow into your life – you are influenced by those around you. Try to make them genuine, active, interesting and interested.

Please don’t’ fall into the trap of thinking you need to be “happy-happy” all the time. This only leads to more sadness and self-blaming (by the way: it’s not possible. Suffering with insight = growth)

Keep your body strong but flexible by keeping your mind strong but flexible. You’re doing that now by committing to this training and adventure.

ENJOY THE PROCESS. If you have started training, you are already reaping the benefits of:

Strengthening your body

Pushing your limits

Connecting to fascinating women – you are one

Finding peace

Searching for answers

Releasing tons of natural anti-depressants

Working HARD for yourself

Having F U N

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Our History

The Women's Heritage Walk is a life-affirming trek inspired by the worldwide history of women who walked to feed their families, bring water to the villages, trade goods and services, and migrate to safer, more hospitable lands. Women have been on the move for centuries, often reacting to the weather, food, and resources.

The Walks was a natural corollary to the three-day Wellness Seminars established in and around the mountains of Garmisch, Germany, in 1992. This format expanded to Poland, Rome, Italy, and into schools to meet the growing need to address the social and emotional need to cope with increased stress, particularly bullying in schools. Women's Heritage Walk, established in 2015, has become an unrivaled multi-layered experience for women.

The Women's Heritage Walk is an unrivaled multi-layered experience for women. It is rooted in the belief that women empower each other, their families, communities, and themselves through growth, learning, and pushing their limits.

Preparation begins three months in advance with a curated program to prepare walkers mentally and physically for an arduous, exciting adventure. This experiential journey captivates all the senses and enhances each woman's physical strength and internal fortitude while enhancing an individual's personal health and wellness path.

This adventure allows walkers to immerse themselves authentically in the local country's cultural heritage. Daily programs stimulate a more profound understanding of our foremothers' life experiences and offer a new appreciation for the habits and customs borne from the hardships of early life.

Participants forge deeper bonds with themselves and each other through physical, mental, and emotional development. Shared hardships endured with common goals create lifelong attachments, increase mutual understanding, widen tolerance parameters, heighten mutual respect, and reinforce shared values. Once accomplished, it accentuates individual strengths and potential more fully.

This transformational endeavor impacts the Walkers and their network of friends, family, colleagues, and community members. Each person learns vicariously from the participant's persistence, perseverance, lifestyle changes, growth, reinvigoration, and heightened knowledge.

Each year brings a new adventure and opportunity to connect as we obtain the most up-to-date research to augment and improve upon the four pillars of Culture and Heritage, Health and wellness, Strength and Leadership, and Community Connection.

We employ an overarching approach encompassing all human needs. We focus on physical and mental health, joy and balance in relationships and spiritual and intellectual curiosity.

Tolerance, perseverance, self-awareness, and cultural respect are themes discussed in the Wellness Component. These become more relevant as the event brings women from multiple nationalities together. The journey provides an open forum for the women to discuss culture, values, and traditions and to learn from each other without judgment. Through it, they discover more that unites them than separates them.

Each woman takes a chance by overcoming fear and disrupting their life momentarily, hoping to find something special inside and outside themselves. Through connections to others unlike themselves, they learn and grow.

"A heart afraid never learns to dance and never takes a chance." Bette Midler

Fear isolates us and diminishes our opportunity to live our best lives by finding our best selves. We must be challenged to do this, and the Women's Heritage will challenge you. Complacency and walking through our lives on autopilot does not. When we think of adventures, we think of exploring something outside ourselves. However, in this Walk, a large part of this challenge and any arduous struggle happens inside ourselves. This Walk challenges you to go outside your comfort zone in all areas.

This program is guided by integrity and honors heritage. The Women's Heritage Walk develops personal and collective strength. Proximity and shared hardship build not only tolerance but respect. By finishing, they teach our daughters, families, and community that difficult does not mean impossible. The challenging walks teach us to persevere with compassion, humbly appreciate nature's power, and draw on inner strength to keep moving forward when weary. This gift of struggling fortifies a heightened and profound belief in oneself and gratitude for the support given.

Along with her in-country cultural experts, Jody continues to develop a modern and ever-growing tribe of a global 'sisterhood.'

26-year-old UAE national Waheeda Al Hadhrami participated in 2017 and said about the event, "Walking through our beautiful deserts and reconnecting with our past was life-changing, although it was physically and mentally challenging. The experience allowed me to meet many women from different backgrounds and walks of life, and I enjoyed the cultural exchange. I loved every step of the journey!"