MWC SPECIAL EVENT
Join Us for Support and Connection
There’s still time to register for our interactive Zoom-based Coach-a-Thon, hosted by Modern Widows Club Founder Carolyn Moor.
Join us next Tuesday, January 24 at 8pm ET for this meaningful and supportive session of mentoring and shared wisdom in a safe and non-judgmental environment. All widows are welcome.
Bring your question for Carolyn, which you can ask publicly or privately.
This session will not be recorded, so please don’t forget to register — and join us live.
#MENTORING
The Importance of Mentorship
By Lyn Kienholz, MWC Program Director
January is #NationalMentoringMonth. My widowhood journey dramatically changed when someone told me about Modern Widows Club and when I was able to meet my mentor Carolyn Moor.
“Mentoring widows takes both spiritual audacity and necessity. Millions of women worldwide have the capability, yet require the tools to be fully equipped to receive the blessing it brings.” – Carolyn Moor
Carolyn’s book Inspire Connect Lead: Empowering Your Widow Mentoring and Leadership Gifts shares real-world strategies to help empower and equip anyone wanting to serve widows and build strong and successful widow communities.
Anyone can be a mentor as long as they have the desire and willingness. Every widow has something of great value to share with another widow.
WELLNESS WINDOW
Sitting is the New Smoking
By Tara Gidus Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, ACSM-CPT
Have you heard the saying “sitting is the new smoking”? It’s attributed to James Levine, Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic. The more we sit, the higher our risk of certain diseases and physical ailments. I will say that I think smoking is definitely the worst thing you can do for your health, but not moving moving is definitely a concern in our increasingly sedentary lifestyles.
Our bodies are not designed to sit. They are designed to be in motion! Unfortunately we spend more than half of our waking hours sitting — driving, eating, working, and relaxing.
What about exercise? Even if you work out several times a week, it doesn’t negate the damage done by sitting. The average person could not do enough exercise to counteract the effects of sitting in a chair hour after hour. This doesn’t mean you should drop your regular exercise routine! But start thinking about what you can do in addition to the planned exercise to simply get more movement in your day.
What Happens When We Sit?
Metabolism Bottoms Out. Your calorie burn actually reduces by up to 90% when you’ve been sitting for 30+ minutes. Our muscles are the game changer. When they are resting, their electrical activity shuts off, causing insulin to store fat, slowing the breakdown of blood fats, and lowering good cholesterol levels.
Back and Neck Pain. When we sit there is 90% more pressure on our lower back. We tend to slump our shoulders and look down at our computers or phones which causes postural kyphosis, which in turn causes neck and back pain.
Increased Risk of Disease. This includes certain cancers, heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s, mood disorders (anxiety and depression), and deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Decreased Focus. We literally think better when we have blood flowing throughout our bodies!
Shortened Lifespan. One study found that if we reduced our sitting time to 3 hours a day we could increase our life expectancy by 2 years.
Click below to continue reading Tara’s article.
Tara Gidus Collingwood is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer, and fellow Wister. You can find her at dietdiva.net.
MWC TRAVEL CLUB
Transformational Trips for Widows
Our Wisters (widow + sisters) love adventure, and the MWC Travel Club is full of adventure! In 2023, our Travel Club is headed to Jamaica, Nashville, Ireland, the Rhine River, Bordeaux, St. Louis, New England, and more.
From trips to reach out to other widows around the globe, to trips for pleasure — let’s travel this road together and share new experiences!
If you’re interested in traveling, connect with our Travel Club to learn more — and maybe even join your Wisters on a future trip. Just click below to sign up.
WILLPOWER + WAYPOWER
Small Changes Have Immediate Impact
By Cyndi Williams, MSW, LCSW
For widows, entering a new year can feel overwhelming and sad, as those around you celebrate and look forward to the possibilities of turning the page to the coming year. Someone very important will not be a part of this blank page for you, but your personal resilience can take your grief to growth, and take you from surviving to thriving.
To start off your 2023 strong, let’s continue discussing our January topic, willpower + waypower, terms that are often used to gauge an individual’s personal resilience. Willpower is the level of motivation a person has to keep going in the face of adversity. Waypower is a person’s ability to creatively identify new ways to reach a goal in the face of obstacles.
Many factors can impact willpower and waypower, but let’s touch on a few that specifically relate to widows.
Nature of the Loss. Long-term illness, sudden loss, trauma experienced, violent/crime-related loss, etc.
State of the Relationship. Were you and your partner close and connected or experiencing conflict?
Level of Support. Family and friends, financial, faith community, practical help with children, legal matters, time off from work, etc.
New or Secondary Losses. Financial, relationships, loss of parenting partner, etc.
These and countless other circumstances may impact a person’s mental, physical, financial, and spiritual energy reserves. When any of these resources are strained or depleted, willpower and waypower will suffer.
Click below to continue reading Cyndi’s article.
Widowed in 2013, Cyndi Williams is a mental health advisor and contributor for Modern Widows Club. Follow her on Facebook at CyndiWilliamsLCSW.
BLOGS FOR WIDOWS
Join Us on Widow Life
Did you know that Modern Widows Club Founder Carolyn Moor has a blog? Titled Moor Thoughts, it’s where she shares unmoored musings debunking entrenched widowhood stereotypes and myths.
You’ll find Moor Thoughts on Widow Life, our content area on the Substack online publishing platform.
On Widow Life, you also have access — all in one place! — to other great content: past issues of our biweekly Inside Look newsletter, MWC blogs, and our Healthy Widow Healthy Woman podcast.
We hope you’ll come by to read Moor Thoughts. You can even subscribe if you’d like to be notified each time Carolyn publishes a new blog.
MWC ART CLUB
Growth Through Art
Join our Art Club for widows to connect with our club facilitator, Dr. Linda Shanti McCabe, along with other Wisters (widow + sisters) interested in using art as a medium towards growth.
Our Art Club meets on Zoom the first Saturday of each month at 12pm ET. The next meeting is February 4.
The club is free to join and attend. Your only cost will be your art supplies. Click below to sign up!