How to Use This Powerful Tool for Resilience, Courage and Clarity

It strengthens your immune system.
 
It eases stress and trauma.
 
It has long-term health benefits, both physically and psychologically.
 
And it can help you become more resilient.
 
Figured it out yet, have you?
 
I wouldn’t have guessed the answer, even though I’ve been doing it for most of my life.
 
Writing, that is, and specifically expressive writing about emotions.
 
Last week, to open the online workshop we led for Dream Big Darling’s Ready.Set.GROW! series, Rachel Collier spoke about these benefits and the medical research behind them.
 
I can’t speak to it from any clinical perspective but, as someone who writes (expressively and about emotions) for a few hours on most days, I can say that it makes all the sense in the world.
 
Rachel’s idea behind the workshop was to share a tool with our community that she finds very helpful, along with specific prompts that focused on resiliency. “The goal was to remind ourselves through writing,” Rachel said, “that we already have strengths that we can call upon during today’s challenging times and that there are positives that can come from difficulties.”
 
Regular readers of A Balanced Glass may recognize the familiarity of that intention, after Jayne Portnoy’s Pen2Paper workshop for our community in May. This week, I’d like to drill down a bit further on the research, with thanks to Rachel for her legwork and summaries.

• A Harvard Medical School study found that writing in some cases triggered the release of dopamine, similar to music or viewing art. The study also found that the process of writing helped better regulate emotions as the act of constructing a story about a stressful or traumatic event helped break free from rumination.

• Participants in a study at Cambridge University were asked to write about emotional events for 15-20 minutes on 3-5 occasions. Those who did had significantly better physical and psychological outcomes, compared to those who wrote about neutral topics.

• A study reported by the American Psychological Association showed that patients with chronic serious illnesses were able to boost their immune functioning through writing about emotions and stress.

• Another study reported by Wharton professor Adam Grant showed that recently fired engineers who wrote down their thoughts and feelings about losing their jobs reported feeling less anger and hostility. Eight months later, 52% of them were reemployed full time, compared to 19% of the control group.

It adds up to a pretty compelling rationale to give writing for self-expression a try. Participants in the Ready.Set.Grow! workshop last week “tapped into their inner monologue and found courage and clarity,” said Amanda Wittstrom Higgins, President & Founder of Dream Big Darling. “This is one of life’s most powerful lessons.”
 
Try it out and see what you think. Then let us know. We could all use more doses of resilience, courage and clarity.
 
Namaste,
Cathy

What We're Reading:

Here's what has piqued our interest this week in the world of wine and mindfulness.

 Cameron Diaz’s new ‘clean’ wine Avaline meets none of the natural wine standards – Esther Mobley for San Francisco Chronicle.com
Actress Cameron Diaz and fashion CEO Katherine Power have released a wine brand called Avaline that promises to be 'clean.' But its claims are misleading.

Five Guided Meditations to Investigate Panic and Anxiety, by Kylee Ross for Mindful.org
As As COVID-19 restrictions gradually ease, the idea of reconnecting with the outside world can be stressful and overwhelming. Explore these five guided meditations for softening feelings of anxiousness and calming panic.

Why your ‘weak-tie’ friendships may mean more than you think – BBC.com
Close friends are important – but research shows that building networks of casual acquaintances can boost happiness, knowledge and a sense of belonging.
 
The 3 Rs of the New Workplace: Responsive, Resilient, Ready – by Jay Forte for Mindful Leader.org
Wise organizations are using the COVID-19-inspired global reset and how to be successful in a constantly changing global environment, and organization must be responsive, resilient, and ready.
 
Sugar, calories, alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks, what does it all mean? ClubSoda.com
When looking at alcohol-free alternatives, it’s important to think about the type of sugars we are consuming, and make our decisions based on concrete information.  Here are some ways to get started.

Meet the Community!

Our community is only as strong as the company we keep, and here we meet some of the folks who make our profession so dynamic.

Veronica Ruiz, North America Export Manager for the Fernandez Rivera Family, (Québec, Canada)

Years in the Industry
I was born in Mexico City and moved to Montreal, Canada 23 years ago. My first challenge was to learn to speak English and French fluently, and to adapt to a new society. I worked full time and went to University at night, for seven years. Afterwards, I finished my Wine and Spirits Diploma in Montreal.

A few years later, I worked for the SAQ, the wine and spirits monopoly in Québec. Working in different departments (such as Logistics, Marketing and the High End Wines Purchasing Department) gave me a good understanding of the challenges of buying and selling wines. Almost six years ago, I decided to travel to Spain with my resumé and my heart full of hope. After knocking at some friendly and not-so-friendly doors, I returned as Export Manager for the North America Market for the Familia Fernandez Rivera.

My Biggest Challenge to Wellness 
At the beginning of 2020, my biggest challenge was to keep the level of stress low, and keep myself healthy and motivated every day. And then COVID turned our lives up side down.

I learned that we can take nothing and no one for granted, and I developed a sense of gratitude for everything in my life.

I am also learning to reinvent my job and the way that I communicate to sell wine. I want to keep thinking that there are a lot of opportunities, even during this worldwide crisis. I think that the best book to be reading now, if we try to reinvent ourselves, will be 21 Lessons for the 21th Century by Yuval Noah Harari.
 
How I Keep It Together To Stay Well
Every morning, I meditate for twenty minutes and I practice yoga. This ritual allows me to connect with myself, and then I am ready to start my day with a clear and focused mind. For meditation, and books about it, I love Deepak Chopra and Eckart Tolle.

On weekends, I bike or walk in the Canadian Woods, in the province of Québec, with my husband. That is another kind of mediation. John Muir, a naturalist, writer and advocate of US forest conservation, said that "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
 
If someone would like to connect with nature, my favorite book to recommend is The Hidden life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. After I read it couple of years ago, I started thinking about nature and the vineyards development from a very different angle.

You can connect with Veronica on Instagram.

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