Ruth Limkin, CEO of The Banyans, has recently spoken at numerous women’s events, noticing an encouraging trend towards wellbeing, resilience and self-care as topics of interest.
Self-care trend soaring at recent women’s events
Ruth Limkin, CEO of The Banyans, has recently spoken at numerous women’s events, noticing an encouraging trend towards wellbeing, resilience and self-care as topics of interest.
As a former writer for The Courier Mail, a regular public speaker and social justice advocate, Ruth has contributed to social commentary for many years and has provided insight and education on a range of issues that contribute to personal and social wellbeing.
Wellness trend growing as popular topic of conversation
Noticing a growing demand for workplace and community presentations on topics that include emotional health, holistic wellbeing and mental health care, Ruth commented on the positive trend.
“When leaders get healthier, organisations get healthier. Whether you are involved in a community organisation, a business or a government agency, the wellbeing of people influences the wellbeing of people. Smart organisations realise that the wellbeing and health of their people affect the productivity and performance of their whole organisation,” said Ruth.
Many organisations have recognised this, with prominent companies and charities organising wellness themed events, including Medibank Private, Women for Women, and Virgin Australia. (Emily – perhaps we link to these articles or include extracts from them to give this sentence some context?.)
Ruth advocates for sustainable wellbeing strategies
The Banyans Health and Wellness is a residential treatment centre for individuals experiencing mental health, addiction, eating disorder, trauma and burnout. Unlike many hospital programs however, The Banyans has developed an integrated treatment protocol drawing on medical support and holistic natural therapies.
“At The Banyans, we draw on the Dimensions of Wellness framework designed by the National Wellness Institute,” she explains. “It can feel overwhelming to focus on all areas [of wellness] at once. In my presentations, I often encourage individuals to pick one area to focus on for the next three months, before moving on to the next dimension of wellness. Focusing on one area avoids people feeling overwhelmed, while also recognising that the integrated nature of wellbeing means other dimensions are positively influenced as well.”
Alarming statistics highlight necessity for change
In her role as CEO of The Banyans, Ruth’s experience has equipped her well to share on the risks and prevalence of poor wellbeing among women, especially alcohol or drug misuse and anxiety.
“Some of the statistics are alarming,” Ruth comments. “One in three women will experience anxiety in their lifetime”
Moreover, women between the age of 30 and 55 are four times more likely to die of an accidental overdose than in a car accident.
The Why of Wellness
“It’s incredibly important that society is speaking about the risk and harms associated with poor wellbeing,” expressed Ruth. “It is an honour to be a part of the broader conversation.”
She hopes that the trend towards wellbeing continues to grow, and that the community continues to speak about wellbeing at women’s events and conferences, workplace seminars, professional development events, doctor’s offices and homes.
“Lasting change begins with education,” she comments. “You must know the why behind your actions if the change is to be sustainable.” Her speaking engagements take a practical yet comprehensive approach, making sure audiences leave with the what, why and how of sustainable wellbeing.
A wellbeing retreat for busy women
Ruth’s passion for helping women make sustainable lifestyle change prompted a new initiative in 2019 which is set to return in 2020. The team at The Banyans will host The Life Audit for the second year in a row. The Life Audit is described as a “wellbeing retreat for the busy woman” and will be held in June 2020.
When asked what sparked the idea in 2019, Ruth quoted the well-known adage that “prevention is better than cure” and the retreat gives women the time and tools to review and improve their life.
“Many people don’t need to attend a residential program at The Banyans. The Life Audit is designed to help women turn their good intentions into positive action, to come and take stock of their lives, and recalibrate towards prioritising their wellbeing as front and centre.”
Registrations open on November 1, 2019. For more information about The Life Audit: a wellbeing retreat for the busy woman, click here.
