EndorphinGirl® 2019 Year In Review
We are constantly hearing words these days telling us to stay present, stay in the moment, be here now, think about right now, and all those other similar combinations of these words. And yes, it’s so important to enjoy the present moment, but as much as we need to do that, it’s not the be all end all. As we’ve been writing these newsletters for almost a year and a half now, we recognize that it’s also beneficial for us to reflect on what we’ve done, but also what we want to do. It’s not only in work matters, though, that this is beneficial. Our personal and professional lives need a healthy dose of reflection from time to time, so that we can make sound decisions that are right for us to continue on the path we want to continue on, while still enjoying where we are in each moment.
So with that said, we wanted to look back on some of the things we, the EndorphinGirl® Team have done in the last year, and share them with you, our readers, as part of our year in review!
While it was a great year for many reasons, it was a tough year too. We’d like to share some of our gains, some of our pains, and how we plan to keep our EndorphinGirl® attitude of gratitude staying present and easing forward.
The EndorphinFam rang in the new year 2019 all in one location, Long Beach, NY, which in recent years is quite rare for this globetrotting family. EndorphinGirl® Barbara spent the next 5 months living there, while Mia set off to Vietnam for round two of teaching at An Giang University for 4 months. This time, she was teaching not only English, but had the opportunity to organize and introduce Yoga classes to students and faculty there. Erik set off in early January to Tucson, Arizona for his second semester of junior year in college, which also finished by May.
January 2019 brought some tweaks and lots of new ideas for the EndophinGirl® brand. The EGFam spent some of their Christmas break time brainstorming on different ideas, which included the template for a book and many other ideas including a comic strip series, which kicked off late December 2018 and introduced the 7 EndorphinGirls™, a colorful group of girls with lots of spunk and spirit - Alisha, Lynn, Taylor, Clara, Luna, Dima, Holly. Their comics shared both on Instagram and our website.
Speaking of Instagram, with this introduction of the seven EndorphinGirls™, we archived our EndorphinGirl® freehand yoga pose drawings for now, but if you’re interested in seeing these again, just let us know and and we will make those posts available!
The revised weekly newsletters were already in circulation with issue number 15 ringing in the New Year. Our theme for the month of January was "Simplifying with EndorphinGirl®" and we covered topics such as healthy foods and mindful practices like meditation and various yoga poses.
February, as it often does, arrived and left very quickly, being the short month that it is! Mia was settled into teaching English and Yoga in Vietnam. She was incredibly excited about the immediate impact yoga was having on the students and faculty at An Giang University. Such a rewarding feeling! The EndorphinGirl® spirit had truly arrived in Vietnam.
The newsletter topic in the spirit of Valentine’s / Friendship Day was "Opening up with EndorphinGirl®" where we introduced various ways to help open up the heart chakra. This included yoga poses, beneficial herbs, and more.
March’s newsletter theme was all about "Unpacking Vulnerability with EndorphinGirl®". Not an easy topic, that’s for sure. We wrote about techniques such as questioning, continuing to question and confronting realities, as well as a reintroduction of meditation, mantras, and different yoga poses to support this topic of unpacking vulnerability. While it may be a difficult topic, the tools offered throughout this month are some we’ve found to be helpful in beginning to allow more vulnerability into our lives!
We were grateful to hear that by the end of Quarter 1, 2019, the topics EndorphinGirl® covered had been useful in one way or another.
When April arrived, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, the cheerfulness seemed to arrive in abundance. EndorphinGirl®’s newsletter theme was “Return to Playfulness" and included topics like ‘laughing meditation’, ‘returning to joy’, ‘thoughts on self-expression’, ‘random act of kindness’, ‘reflecting on judgement’, and more. Definitely some good stuff!
The EGFam certainly had a ‘spring’ (no pun intended) in their steps too, for a chapter was closing and a new one beginning as April came to an end. Their endorphins were activated and a new start in the horizon!
Additionally, they received an official notice of allowance (NOA) from the USPTO for the EndorphinGirl® brand particularly related to "Providing a website featuring information about health and wellness, namely, Yoga, Nutrition, Exercise, Fitness, Nutrition; Providing a website featuring information about health, wellness and nutrition; Providing a website featuring information about nutrition; Providing a website featuring information concerning alternative health and healing; Providing a website featuring information regarding healthy living and lifestyle wellness". Endorphins were flying high!
May, a favorite month for EndorphinGirl® Barbara, arrived with lots of changes approaching for the EGFam, but more on that in a minute. The month’s newsletter theme was "Dis-connecting with EndorphinGirl®" and included a focus on self-care, and managing and monitoring our ‘intake’ of things such as noise and blue-light pollution, as well as thinking about things that can help us disconnect from the excess technology we’re surrounded by.
By the beginning of May, the EGFam started their jet-setting again- Barbara wrapped up beach life in Long Beach, NY and left for Italy to complete her 300 HR yoga teacher training, Mia wrapped up her English and Yoga teachings in Vietnam and left to spend some time in Finland, and Erik completed his junior year of college in Tucson, Arizona, after which he would also leave for Finland to meet Mia and eventually Barbara. They would all reconnect to enjoy time together, as well as work on EG-related things. Exciting!!
June arrived and with the summer solstice happening, the newsletter theme was “Loving the Sun with EndorphinGirl®”. We wrote on topics related to the benefits of the sun, Vitamin D, and sunscreen, and thoughts on why we have become so afraid of the sun were offered as well.
Barbara expanded her Yoga experience and knowledge by attending 300 HRs of training at YogaMea in Misano Adriatic, Italy where she learned in-depth about Hatha Yoga, and was trained in Hatha and Basic Ashtanga. This required teaching every day, along with taking advanced classes in anatomy and yogic philosophy, pranayama and meditation. She worked with extremely experienced Yoga teachers, and left feeling fully equipped to enhance and share her knowledge in her Yoga teaching/classes.
And after 5+ months, the EGFam reunited in the Nordics, Finland specifically. In addition to enjoying time together, they decided to spend several hours each morning creating and writing the EndophinGirl® Chakra Handbook. EG Mia realized it was not a coincidence that the 7 EndorphinGirls™ introduced in the EG comic strip had a purpose - and each was to be introduced and linked to a Chakra. Hence the evolution of the EndorphinGirl® Chakra Handbook. During this time, Erik developed the illustrations and Mia and Barbara worked on the content. It was a very exciting and rewarding time for them, working together on a topic to expand the EG brand with the intention of sharing their knowledge with others.
The time together carried over into July and lots more came about this month. This included a restructuring of the presentation of the EG newsletter to cover not just topics but also ‘news’ about the EG brand, more topics on health and wellness, including a deeper dive into essential oils and an introduction to sporadic blogging in the EG Oil Zone on the website. Additionally, an audio version of the newsletter was introduced, with one of the EGFam voicing the newsletter each issue. July brought lots of cool, new things!
July also meant departures. While Barbara spent a bit more time in Finland, Mia left for her third trip to India and Erik returned to Tucson to spend a little free time there before beginning his senior year of college. Barbara took a short trip to visit a friend in Sweden, a time filled with good friends and nature. July was bittersweet because the EG team wasn’t in the same location anymore, though still just a FaceTime away. They continued to collectively work on the EndorphinGirl® Chakra Handbook and flesh out other ideas.
In July, from remote lands (e.g., India), the EndorphinGirl® website got a facelift, with a softer colored homepage and a bit more of an inviting feeling to it, thanks to EG Mia.
BOOM, then August hit and it must have been a mega full moon because things got a bit shaken up in the EGFam. Some health issues popped up for some of the fam, and life in general was just feeling funky during this month. It was definitely exhausting and some things lingered for weeks, and weeks and weeks . . . but nothing lasts forever, and soon, by late Septemberish, the proverbial sunshine started to shine again. All the while, the EGFam kept with the book creation and The EndorphinGirl® Chakra Handbook was released, which was definitely the highlight amidst all the chaos of the month!
And with all of this, by no coincidence, the newsletter theme of the month was “Updates, Detox, Cleansing, Saunas and More”. Ah September, as above, the EG Chakra handbook became a reality. Mia found herself living in Finland again teaching Yoga, Barbara found herself back in the States, and Erik started his final year of college.
New EG ideas also started to surface. EG Barbara did an Essential Oils 101 podcast, and the newsletter under the revised structure was all about "Refocusing, Essential Oils, Clarity and More”.
October's newsletter included "Fall Faves, Life Musings, and Reflections". We wrote about Halloween shenanigans, foot health, and the reflective time of year. Chakras were also a big topic since the EndorphinGirl® Chakra Handbook was released on Amazon. So so exciting. October was also when we launched the EndorphinGirl® Kit & Caboodle Essential Oils subscription program. Thanks to all of you who have signed up so far! EndorphinGirl® loves sharing oils and all things essential oil info, if you haven't figured that by now. EndorphinGirl® Barbara also got to go on an amazing reflective journey to Camino de Santiago which brought more challenges than expected and an abundance of endorphins flowing.
And, finally, during the months of October and November, Barbara received the Lightarian AngelLinks attunement and is now registered and ready to share! For more information, check out the Lightarian website or email us!
November's newsletter theme was "All Things Essential Oils and Autumn Faves" particularly building on the essential oils new EG service. The EGFam are big users of pure essential oils and have been grateful to be able to share info about them. The other topic covered in the newsletter was getting back to basics with Yoga. When we launched our EndorphinGirl® newsletter we focussed heavily on yoga topics and realized we had moved in a bit of a different direction on other health and wellness topics, so we're glad to get back to this. The different paths of yoga continued in December's newsletter. A topic very close the EGFam. November also included a heavy dose of endorphins released by EG son Erik who honored the EG brand by biking 100 miles on the El Tour de Tucson in Arizona, USA in an EG t-shirt!
December. The EndorphinGirl® Trademark was registered for the Website. You’ll see a shift in our writing from using ™ to ® for all things EndorphinGirl® on the website. Exciting! December's newsletter theme was "Nearing the End of a Decade" and continued with a focus on different paths of yoga as mentioned, as well an appreciation to the darkness in connection with the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and being gentle and kind to ourselves. Barbara also completed her Reiki Level I and Level II trainings and some of the newsletter themes aptly aligned with the 5 Reiki principles.
The best part of December was a reunion of the EGFam for the holidays - all together again and with extended family.
In addition to our newsletters, like this blog, we shared blog posts on a variety of health and wellness topics throughout the year, including a separate section called Oil Zone featuring ideas on how to use different essential oils. We will continue to do so in 2020.
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We are grateful to have this opportunity to share our EndorphinGirl® brand, our experiences, and the knowledge we’ve gained along the way with all of our readers. Thanks for coming along for the ride!
With gratitude.
EndorphinGirl®