RELAXED WOMAN REVOLUTION

Photography by Tanita Seton Photography

AUTHOR, SPEAKER AND A RELAXED WOMAN, ELIZABETH GILBERT, WHO ONLY A MERE 16 YEARS AGO PROCLAIMED THAT SHE WAS IN A DEEP STATE OF DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND SHAME.

She felt like a failure due to her believing she blew up her marriage and didn’t want to have kids and was sick and suffering. She put herself through hell due to feeling the one person she wanted to love her, rejected her.

Liz openly shared on her Instagram earlier this year about the pivotal changing point in her life that instigated her Eat, Pray, Love journey; It was up until that point in her life, she had been guided only by two forces: People pleasing and addictive impulse” which meant that she was continually wavering between abandoning herself and trying to be good, and abandoning herself and acting out for immediate gratification.

She then went on to say “But here is what I DID have: A tiny whisp of a thread barely connecting me to a dim, distant sense of God...and I had a weird, faint, illogical idea that I wanted to learn to speak Italian... and I had my work as a writer. (My writing: The one aspect of my life that I had never degraded, and had always nourished and held sacred.)”

She goes on to say “I wrote an email to my editor, who had already published three of my books. The letter was no more than a page long. I told him what I wanted to do. Where I wanted to travel and why. I told him that I wanted to write a memoir, even though I had never written about myself before.”

“I don’t remember exactly what I said in that letter, but I remember what he said: “Do it. Go.”

And on September 3, 2004, she did it.

She went.

Now sixteen years later, Liz is creating a “relaxed revolution” – it might seem unusual as ‘relaxed’ isn’t a word or state that is common when describing women. Yet, the one thing we all need more of to completely revolutionise our lives is relaxation.

At the Ultimate Girls Week Away in February this year, Liz held one workshop and a keynote that was based on her Relax Revolution which had the room full of women in awe

and fully engaged “Purpose has become an assault weapon for women to hurt themselves with,” the multi-awardwinning and bestselling author shared. “You have no idea what you’re here for. No one truly knows what their purpose is.“ How would it feel if we let it all go and live a purposeful life by spending time with the people we love, serving them and relaxing? Her talk has left an impact on all of our lives.

Here are Four ways Liz Shared for you to live a more relaxed life

Prioritise your priorities

Sounds simple doesn’t it, yet for many who are people, pleasers struggle immensely with this. Choose wisely on who and what you spend your time on. Be brave in letting go of people, things and situations that aren’t benefiting you and don’t wait until tragedy strikes to do

this as she says “Priorities become clear in times of tragedy – but don’t want until one hits to work out what yours are”

Be Strong with your Boundaries

Create boundaries around your priorities. A simple yet effective exercise Liz gave us was she told everyone to write down the above priorities (people and things) that they cared about, and draw a circle around it, and to place ourselves in the centre. “You are at the centre of your circle. You need to have boundaries, or else you’ll never be relaxed.” Liz powerfully stated. Making sure that you only have the most important people and things as these take time and energy and you don’t want to spread yourself too thin.

We can not control everything

We need to acknowledge that we can not control everything! and that behind the scenes there are larger, benevolent forces at work in the world working on our behalf so whatever we are experiencing “it’s all going to be alright” as her beloved friend who she warmly introduced as Richard from Texas (who was part of her Eat, Pray Love journey) would always say in any situation however big or small.

We need to be brave enough to break the cycle of this fast-paced, anxiety-filled lives we are living and do all that we can to find more relaxation and self-care so we can show up as better humans and create a relaxed revolution that we so desperately need.

Tammie Pike

"CEO & Creator of Empowered Publishing, Mumpreneur Movement & Loved by Gaia, Tammie has collaborated and worked with the likes of Elizabeth Gilbert, Lisa Messenger, Denise Duffield-Thomas and in March 2021 at the Ultimate Girls Week Away in Vietnam, Gabrielle Bernstein.

Since 2015 Tammie has been inspiring the lives of hundreds of thousands of others from around the world on & offline through her coaching, mentoring, courses, retreats, resources & events.

Tammie believes that the new way to achieve sustainable success is through priortising self-care, self-belief, collaboration and empowering oneself that enables you to climb unimaginable heights whilst staying grounding and positively influencing those around you.

Tammie is here to support others to step into their power by igniting their purpose, awakening their belief and recognising their potential to empower others through sharing their story and lived experiences.

Dear Women of the World,

Are you ready for the Ultimate Girls Week Away 2021?

Two years ago, I had a vision for a retreat that would be for women from all around the world, who could come together in a safe place, where we can connect without fear of rejection, isolation, or being judged because of the colour of our skin. Where cultural background, or whom we loved didn’t matter—a safe place for all women. A place for women who want to grow, learn, connect and be inspired; for women who want to have difficult conversations, who want to laugh, cry and be themselves—building a community of nations and cultures, a community of change, that starts with us. UGWA is a feeling, a safe container for all women, no matter what.

It is fitting that UGWA starts on International Women’s Day, a perfect way to celebrate being women—together.

Our team are diverse and come from different corners of the earth - Australia, Lebanon, India, United Kingdom, Arab Emirates, Africa, and the USA, and Indigenous Women that we can grow and learn from. Some are keynote speakers, artists, and healers who add diversity to our team and what we do and offer. They are women of different ages (our youngest member is 25 and oldest 73), culture, background, history, professions,

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family dynamics, health challenges, skillset and more. Our keynotes are none other than Gabrielle Bernstein motivational speaker, life coach, and author and SARK an American author and illustrator of selfhelp books who has sold over two million books worldwide. These women will share their wisdom with us over our time together, both virtually and in person.

Our theme is Dream Chasers as during this time of world instability dreaming is what has gotten many of us through. I hear and see it every day - it is written in social media posts, in conversations amongst ourselves, and discussions in the UGWA team. We are the ones who are yearning for the new future that began at the beginning of time, and you are the women who are emerging with strong voices who want to be part of a global community. You are the ones who will step your communities and circles forward.

The Ultimate Girls Week Away is designed for women just like you, so you can just be, rest, laugh, sleep, play and everything in between - designed for women by women who understand.

If you have forgotten who you are - who you were born to be, and what you are here to do, this is for you.

If you often put other people’s priorities before your own. If you care too much, think too long and wonder what else is out there. If you yearn to feel deep connections to others. UGWA 2021 is for you, because just like Elizabeth Gilbert at UGWA 2020 said “the most powerful

woman is a relaxed woman”.

By committing to this life-changing event you are committing to prioritising yourself. We know there will be questions and some of you will be thinking how are we going to pull this off when the world is just a little bit crazy right now, we have complete faith that it will all flow precisely how it is meant to, it isn’t until March next year after all! So reach out today and let’s have a chat.

With love

Liesel Albrecht

CEO UGWA and Ultimate Retreat Experiences

I went not knowing a soul and came home with some lifelong connections. It is so wonderful to be with women for a whole week, challenging yourself and growing and learning. Doing this in a beautiful setting was the icing on the cake. I am so proud of myself for taking the leap of faith and going on this retreat. It was life-altering. Thank you to Liesel and her wonderful team.

Holly Severson, Portland, Oregon UGWA 2020

Are you craving time out to relax and connect with like-minded women?

LINKS:

Gabirelle Bernstein Sark Ultimate Girls Week Away Video