Honour Yourself By Julie Cross

> WELLNESS HONOUR YOURSELF By Julie Cross

Some of you may be back at work, some of you may not, some of you may still be trying to work out what work now looks like, and some of you may be feeling in control, while some of you may feel very much out of control. Some of you may be feeling scared and uncertain about the future while others not so much… and I think I have been through all of that myself, just in one morning!

And what I want you to know is that, however you are feeling, it is OK! When we land in times like this it is normal to feel a little overwhelmed and disorientated, there is no rulebook for this. So today I want to talk about you, and keeping you safe… and I don’t mean I am going to talk about keeping you Covid physically safe… (you have already been educated about that!) I am talking about being mentally and emotionally safe.

I think that we underestimate the ongoing affect on us hearing months and months of negative messages, filled with fear and gloom and doom… so I am not saying we need to be unrealistic, or we shouldn’t be informed, but once you have done that, it is time to turn it all off, it is time to bring yourself back into the moment where you are right now, and find what is good and great.

And I know you will find lots of things to focus on, and when you do that you will feel your energy lift, and remember, like energy attracts like energy. We are allowed to find the positives within the Pandemic… and start small if you have to, and go from there. I am glad we are doing the Pandemic here in Australia that is for sure. We will come through it, and, to some extent, we will decide how well we come through, because remember, we can’t always control what happens to us, but we can control what we think and do about it! And on that, let us remember that we need to focus on what IS in our control, rather than focussing on what is not. It is such a waste of our time to focus on, talk about, get angry about and get upset about, things that we can’t really change… so let’s focus, instead what we CAN control, not there is power and positivity in that!

The other thing I notice in times like this is that we almost feel like we have to get permission to feel happy, positive and joyful! In hard and challenging times, you still have a right to your joy. Being happy and optimistic during these times doesn’t mean that you are ignoring or denying the gravity of the situation or a problem, or a pandemic; instead it is about connecting to the energy that can best support you and the people around you to affirm a solution!

“Take the time to fill yourself up, do things you love with people you love and focus on all that is good… you deserve that!”

And you are leading the people around you through it… if you are the manager or the owner of your business, you are leading your people through this, they will catch your attitude… and as a parent we are leading our children through this, we are that important, so let us look after ourselves through this.

The best place to start is to be aware of your thinking, muscle up mentally and control those thoughts, make sure that your thoughts are serving you… and the best indicator of that is your energy… how are you feeling, and are your thoughts serving you to feel better or contributing to you feeling worse… and then know that you can change your thoughts to focus on things that lift your energy… yes, this is a time when we need to muscle up mentally. I have noticed for me this has been a time to teach us to really practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is about a real knowing that all you have for sure is the moment you are in, so treat that moment with the respect it deserves and live the length, depth, width and the breadth of that moment. If you are with a client, then no matter what is happening out there, what you can control is the interactions with that client, so give them all you have, in this time of ‘social distancing’ we need to connect deeper than ever before, this is your time to take your stage and give it all you have got. When you are with your family, BE with them; let us really dive deep into gratitude for our loved ones and for them being healthy and happy.

Yes, this is a time where we can get back to delighting in the simplest of things and it is so good for your mental, spiritual and emotional health to do so.

I think we underestimate the assault on our positive energy through this time, so please take the time to fill yourself up, do things you love with people you love and focus on all that is good… you deserve that! And it is also so good for your immunity system! Winning!

Stay well, happy and safe… and keep sparkling!

> DERMAL HOW A BUSINESS CAN EXPAND DURING COVID

Thirty two years ago Riana van Rensburg started a sole trading beauty salon. Riana’s Health Skin Care Clinic in George, South-Africa and after emigrating to Australia she re-opened the brand in Canberra, ACT. In 2014, DermaplanePro Australia was founded, which is now a well-known brand to over a thousand beauty therapists, nurses and health practitioners.

DermaplanePro Australia is the professionals choice for dermaplaning supplies, education and support and now offers Aesthetic Skin Care Courses through ITEC including:-Needling, Dermabrasion, Skin Peeling Systems, IPL, Laser and Light treatments, Cosmetic Tattooing, to name a few.

During the recent lockdowns many business’ have had to look at pivoting and changing their business model and Riana has certainly done that with her business.

“When the government shut me down, I was devastated,” says Riana, “I had never taken off more than two weeks at a time away from my clinic and the thought of sitting at home waiting out this uncertain time was horrifying. Sitting at home, looking at my bank account and seeing how my money went to insurance companies, lease agreements and business loans made me realise that I needed to get off the couch!”

Instead of accepting what was with an unfavourable outcome, Riana designed a new business plan, vision and mission statement for the Covid-19 period.

“I realized that during the closures, all beauty therapists across Australia were sitting at home, waiting out the time and they became my focus point.”

Riana looked at how she could expand her business during Covid and worked on many projects that certainly kept her busy but also gave her a new foundation for additional strings to her bow so that she could use this time to continue growth in different ways.

Her ‘Covid’ list was impressive chalking up quite a few career bests! Her list of achievements diring this time included:-

students with distant education. 2) Implementation of various virtual training aids, e.g. facetime, facebook, skype and zoom. 3) Creation of a private FB site with new uploaded educational videos ready for students to learn from and practice with. 4) Creation of a logbook system for students to enter all learning time. 5) Reduction of prices making it affordable, desirable and achievable for her clients 6) Opened a 24/7 communication mobile number for students to communicate with her which created a one-on-one system to support them. 7) An invitation to all students to Instagram page, assisting them with marketing material to advertise their services.

During the period from 24th March through to 23th July, Riana has trained 134 students in dermaplaning and 8 students in a qualification of skin care, make up, manicure/pedicure and cosmetic tattooing. during this tough time to not only assist students of beauty therapy but also has allowed her to create more avenues of education that in normal times she may not have had the time to do so.

Although it is clear that recent times have been tough, it has also shown us that we need to be flexible in business and the 2018 ABIA Hall of Fame winner is testament to that.

Riana’s passion for the industry has given her the opportunity to serve on the board of many beauty therapy organisations in SouthAfrica and here in Australia, e.g. Chamber of woman in business (Vice-Principal) & SAAHSP (Education board). Riana has won many awards and accolades, e.g. South-African Businesswoman of the year award for ABSA bank. Australia: CWB Best New Business, APAA Best Sole Trader, and CWB Highly Commended Business. Riana was a finalist for ABIA best salon and best therapist award, has been a TELSTRA Business owner award finalist twice in 2013 and 2014 and was inducted into the ABIA HALL OF FAME in 2018.