Let The Healing Continue
Cara Wykowski
In light of the recent events impacting our nation, what advice would you give to people in order to help them navigate the uncertainty?
I go back to my simple wellness formula.
1. Move your body.
2. Write it down.
3. And instead of volunteer work which may be difficult during quarantine, I suggest a commitment to staying connected. Reach out and talk to someone!
Please share one or two available resources that can help people right now.
Feed your mind with inspiration, mindfulness tips, and humor. One of my favorite resources for inspiration is www.projecthappiness.org I love their daily emails. Secondly, I limit my consumption of the news so I subscribed to a daily digest from www.theSkimm.com Both are free!
What is your personal mission in life?
My personal mission is to be a good mother, friend, citizen and leader; to thrive as my authentic self, and to help other women learn to neutralize their inner critic while nurturing their inner mentor. Emotional resiliency is my super-power!
What is one of the biggest challenges you have overcome?
The biggest challenge I have overcome is a lifetime of inadequate coping skills. My resulting unhappiness led to health issues including clinical depression in 2009. I was my own worst enemy, with "busy-ness" as my drug of choice. I had no time to feel anything and when I did, there was overwhelming guilt, shame, blame and hopelessness.
What is one action that helped you overcome this challenge?
I listened to the advice of my doctor. She said there were three things that would immediately contribute to my wellness.
1. Move your body for at least ten minutes daily.
2. Write it down. Move your thoughts from your head on to paper by journaling.
3. Do something for someone else, someone you are not related to or responsible for. Find a volunteer job. It does the heart good!
How do you define leadership?
Leadership is the ability to mentor and develop others; to inspire and facilitate solutions. A great leader has confidence, integrity, vision and impeccable communication skills.
What advice would you give to someone ashamed to share their story?
I would invite the person to use curiosity to help unlock the shame surrounding the story. Where does the shame arise from? If he/she wasn't able to share the story publicly then perhaps share privately as a first step in the healing process. One of my favorite sayings is, "Find your voice, find your power."
People can reach me at?
On Facebook and IG, you can find me at My Girlfrirend Voice. My website is www.mygirlfriendvoice.com
Cara Wykowski Bio
Originally from Michigan, Cara found her niche in technical sale, combining her Biochemistry degree with her extroverted style, she has twenty years of experience working with Biotechnology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was in 2011 that she began writing a blog called My Girlfriend Voice. In the past nine years she has developed a following on social media platforms, served as a featured speaker, and launched a small group coaching program called The Becoming Project. Cara's lives in Oakland, CA and has one son living in San Francisco and the other in Los Angeles.