top of page

Body Care

August 1, 2021

Global Wellness Day at the Carillon 

Word / Parker Sloan | IG: therollingsloan

CARILLON_EVENT_DAV54.jpg

Health and wellness is not a new topic for many people, especially within the past year following the worldwide pandemic. However, did you know that there is an entire day dedicated to this matter? Global Wellness Day has been celebrated June 2nd since 2012 and was created by leading woman in wellness Belgin Aksoy. With the recent reopening of many businesses worldwide, this year's Wellness Day was surely one for the books. And what better way to celebrate it than

at the Carillon Wellness Resort here in Miami?

This June, the Carillon hosted a free, open-to-the-public event to help the community live their healthiest lives while enjoying a variety of fitness classes, wellness activations, and learning about mindfulness.

CARILLON_EVENT_DAV33.jpg

The event was kicked off at 9am with a meditation and breath work session by Michael Stasko, Spiritual Growth Coach who received his extensive knowledge on meditation and mindfulness from his 10 years of living in India. This was followed by a yoga session led by Miami-based yoga instructor Mimi Ghandour, founder of mimiyoga.com. We asked both Mimi and Michael why they believe yoga and meditation are so deeply intertwined with wellness, and they each had beautiful responses. According to Mimi, the reason she became a yoga instructor was because she didn't not believe that you could keep a gift such as this practice and simply not share it. To her, the most profound thing about yoga isn't just about the poses or the breathing, but the community. "Life is beautiful and hard, and we need a community that can grow together and not judge each other...we were born to connect," she says. Now more than ever, people need not only a community, but a supportive, uplifting one – and yoga gives you that. When we asked Michael why he thinks these practices go hand-in-hand with wellness, he had quite a few things to say. He mentioned how many people approach him to learn meditation to address their stress and anxiety, but he says that meditation alone is not the answer. Rather, it is how you live and think every day while you aren't meditating. "There's only one thing we 

CARILLON_EVENT_DAV9.jpg

Mimi Ghandour, Yoga Instructor, Founder of Mimiyoga.com

all want. We want to feel connected. Safe, whole, loved...and the only thing that needs to be 'healed' is the belief that you are separate. Meditation and yoga are one of the ways that we can form that connection to ourself", says Michael.

 

After meditation and yoga on the lawn, there was a panel hosted by Dr. Shanequa Fleming, Founder and CEO of Culture Accelerators consulting firm as well as the Founder of The Well Executive®, helping people to up-level their leadership and transform the culture of their organizations. Her panel was on Life and Love, but also touched upon the well-being of many people during the pandemic and how she has helped to counsel people through their trials of emotions that arose for them during the past year.

After the panel, we asked Dr. Fleming how someone who is experiencing stress and anxiety can go about addressing their thoughts and emotions, especially if they have never dealt with something like this before. For many people, these kinds of emotions were brought up more than ever with the rise of the pandemic. She said one of the best recommendations she could give for someone to start right away is journaling, and gave some guidelines on how to go about it:

​

  • Do a 7, 14, 21 journaling practice where you commit to writing every day for 7 days, for at least 10 minutes in the morning when you wake up and before you go to bed. Make note of your level of clarity, self-awareness, and commitment to any goals and dreams you currently have. If you are inspired to keep writing after the 7 days choose a cadence of how often you want to journals (every day, every other day, in the morning or evening, both morning and evening, etc.)

  • Remember that as with any new habit or change in routine, feelings of anxiety or apprehension may come up and this is completely normal.

  • It is very useful to use prompts to write with rather than simply putting pen to a blank page. Here are some prompts that she gives her clients:​

CARILLON_EVENT_DAV17.jpg

Morning Practice:

  • I am grateful for. . . (Write as many things as possible that come to mind. Be very specific. If you find this prompt challenging, stay with it until you list at least 10 things.)

  • Today I want to feel. . .

  • Today I want to accomplish. . .

  • I am open and available for help and guidance today with. . .

​

Evening Practice Prompts

  • In what ways have I been a giver today?

  • In what ways have I supported others today?

  • What did I learn today?

  • How has today added to the quality of my life and leadership? How can I create similar experiences?

​

So there you have it! Not only did this Global Wellness Day event have us feeling physically and mentally refreshed while there, but also left us with lasting and applicable habits to take home and keep our state of state of wellness strong every day. Thanks to people like Mimi, Michael, and Dr. Fleming, we can use tools and practices like yoga, meditation, and mindful daily rituals to be the best versions of ourselves, for ourselves and others.

bottom of page