photo credit: Moments by Andrea Photography (both images)
Keeping up with the demands of work, juggling the responsibilities of running a household, making sure that the kids are doing well in school and staying on top of their busy schedules…phew! It’s easy for anyone to feel like your own needs are getting lost in the shuffle. In fact, have you ever asked yourself the question:
“What about ME?”
Two Wilton professionals have created a series of events and empowerment workshops to help participants answer that exact question. Targeting women to help them rediscover happiness, peace and self-confidence, motivational speaker Alison Jacobson and nutritionist Loryn Galardi will be hosting the first event of the series on Thursday, Jan. 23, entitled, “What About Me – Putting YOU Back into Your Life.”
As Galardi explained, these workshops are for anyone who feels that they have lost their own happiness taking care of everyone else. “Whether you are caring for your kids, busy with work, busy with your family or your spouse, your chores, all kinds of stuff–even our dogs–it comes before us. We all too often fall off our own list. We forget who we were before we took on these roles and have forgotten how to be happy, at peace and in control. Ultimately this takes a toll on our physical and emotional well-being. This workshop is designed to give women practical, easy steps on how to transform their lives and find the joy they’ve lost. This is to put you back into your own life.”
Jacobson added, “We get to a certain age when we wake up and say, ‘What the heck happened to me?’ We’re not even on our own to-do list, we’re so busy. It’s, ‘I’m that gerbil on the habitrail, and I’ve lost me in the process.’”
She spoke from a place of experience; the question “How do you do it?” is asked of Jacobson on a daily basis. She’s caregiver to three generations of men in her life–her dad with Alzheimer’s, her husband with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and her son with intellectual disabilities–plus she works full time and is mom to three kids.
But she’s also got a noticibly positive attitude and outward exuberance. “That’s not the way I always was.” she explained. “The past several years were not easy as I went through a bad divorce, struggled to find the appropriate school environment for my son, dealt with my husband’s diagnosis of MS and helped my mother with my dad’s decline. It was an extremely difficult time and there were days where I could barely get out of bed.”
So what worked?
“I’ve had to do a lot of work on myself–through meditation, yoga, prayer, I’ve found a way to get back to who I am. And a lot of that is through living in the present moment, mindful meditation. I learned about Law of Attraction and how to be present in the moment–stop the ‘gerbils from running around in my head.’ I also met Loryn, who helped me also look at what effect food could have on my emotional as well as physical well-being.”
The result? “I am so happy with my life. I’m blessed and grateful for everything I have because I remember who I am and I’ve gotten back to loving myself.”
The two women want to share their approach. Galardi’s role is to helping participants really remember to nurture themselves, in a very basic, important way.
“You would never think about letting your kids go to school without their lunch. It’s about making yourself a priority when it comes to packing snacks, and feeding yourself. What’s convenient and healthy? If you get sick, nothing gets done. My part is to make you more mindful of a couple things you can do–don’t skip meals, don’t just plow on through.”
Jacobson and Galardi realized that that their individual professions–Alison is a family safety and wellness expert known as ‘The Safety Mom’ and Loryn is a clinical nutritionist and owner of Comprehensive Nutrition–could match well in reaching their mutual goal: helping other women become happier and healthier.
“We both have very similar passions helping women rediscover themselves, spiritually, emotionally, mentally,” Jacobson said.
She and Galardi will lead each workshop and retreat, and they’ll encorporate other experts–doctors to talk about heart health, yoga teachers, spiritual advisors, artists, “Anyone who can help women feel better about themselves, gain self-confidence, relieve stress, help get us back to remembering what we loved about ourselves. We can be our own worst critic, it’s about time to find peacefulness, calm that chaos and stress and remember who we are, and make that blossom again,” Jacobson explained.
The first workshop will be held at the Fairfield Museum on Thursday, Jan. 23 from 10 – 2. The special guests will be yoga and meditation expert Matan Cohen-Citron, and Wilton resident Angela Lowy of Grace Home Style Design, who will provide tips on creating a calmer home environment.
The women are planning other events, including weekend retreats–Jacobson mentioned some scheduled around summer solstice as well as for caregivers, for empty-nesters, and for mothers and daughters together. “As mothers, the way we look at our own bodies, the dialogues we have so creates how our daughters look at themselves. It’s really important that we come together to empower them to feel good about themselves and say, ‘I’m beautiful.’”
One neat element about the series is the fact that the women connected in Wilton, and they’re tapping many Wilton resources.
“I will give the shout-out to the Wilton Women’s Small Business Owners network [on Facebook]. My life has changed connecting to so many incredible women. When you bring them together in the room, the power is incredible,” Jacobson attested.
To register, visit either Loryn Galardi’s website or Alison Jacobson’s blog. The cost of the event is $50, which includes lunch and snacks.