Step UP!

Stepping outside your comfort zone is never easy. However, the exhilaration you feel once you do it is well worth the trip. A few members of the Mind Body & Soul magazine team headed off this past September to YMCA Storer camps in Jackson, Mich. for their annual Women's Wellness & Adventure Weekend.

Over 200 women gathered for a weekend of relaxation, adventure, soul searching, peace, and more. The beauty of it was watching all these
women from different walks of life bonding, sharing and, at times, showing their most vulnerable sides.

My favorite part of the entire weekend was what they call the high ropes. (Pictured on e-zine and in our photo gallery on web site.) All the women came together and encouraged, motivated and supported one another on this very challenging event. As I reflected on this moment later in the weekend it made me realize how different our society is in a work environment as opposed to this social situation. How different the work environment would be if more men and women encouraged, motivated and supported one another. Instead unfortunately, many times it seems that we’re intimidated or insecure in our abilities, so we fail to step up and help the other person to encourage them - let alone cheer them on as we saw at camp. It was a real eye-opener. For myself personally, I try to remember that event and the impact it had on everyone involved and try to apply the same principles that came naturally to us on the high ropes in my daily life.

If you’re interested in participating in this year’s Women’s Adventure and Wellness Weekend you can go to the YMCA web site at www.ymcastorercamps.org/register-specialty.asp

Ó2008 Mind Body & Soul magazine.