Traci Philips breaks down the What, How & Where to your Best Life. (Staff photo by Tiayana Ford)
On a recent Wednesday, a small group of women took a break from the demands of the outside world to focus on themselves at Collective Wellness in Durham.
The free Wednesday workshop, this particular week, focused on reflecting on individual values, beliefs and language to live one’s best life. Each week there is a different theme for the sessions that last from noon to 1 p.m.
Heather Travis founded Collective Wellness in late 2015. She is a licensed massage and bodywork therapist. She created the space for health-minded individuals in the community as well as individuals who might be dealing with pain to find healing. Health is the center’s primary goal.
“I think my favorite thing about having to create a space like this is being able to meet such a diverse group of people that are truly passionate about making a difference in people’s lives,” said Travis.
Massages, yoga and meditation, nutrition, and counseling are some of the many services offered at Collective Wellness.
“After spending 10 years working in an office, I felt drawn to make a drastic change. Massage was something I had enjoyed as a pampering treat for years but it was brought to my attention by a family member that it could be so much more,” said Travis. “It has always been important to me to be able to help others.”
According to Huffington Post, a new study found that massages really do work to ease those sore muscles after a tough workout. Just 10 minutes can reduce inflammation, which can help your body recover.
The Wednesday workshops are designed to give an educational and experiential look at different elements of wellness to participants. Traci Philips led the recent class “The What, How & Where to Your Best Life”.
She broke the segment down in 4 parts: Identify, Define, Express and Activate. Identify means that you’re bringing awareness to what a value is. Being able to put language to understand your purpose.
The class did a small exercise where they had to come up with three inherited skills and/or values and three weak point about themselves.
“In order to express ourselves to others, we have to be able to express it to ourselves first,” said Philips.
The women in the audience nodded their heads in agreement with Philips statement.
The women then completed other exercises to learn more about themselves which she connected to then making themselves available to other people to improve their listening.
She said that when you realize what you’re bringing to the table, it makes you available to the other person when it comes to listening. You’re available energetically, mentally, emotionally and physically.
According to Psychology Today, listening is an active process. It does not mean simply sitting silent and staring at someone. To be effective you must understand another’s perspective and helping them through a difficult time. You need to do things, which show interest and genuine concern.
Upcoming Wednesday workshops will focus on the benefits of laughter and tips from a transformational life coach. The full schedule and registration is located at http://collectivewellnessnc.com/classes.html. Collective Wellness is located at 3326 Chapel Hill Blvd Service Road in Durham.