A few weeks ago my fiend and I decided to have a little last minute get together. We wanted to make a vision board as life coach Carnisa Berry had recently told us about this project. I had done some cutting and pasting in my youth but this was taking arts and crafting to another level, and it was with adults, so no crazy toddlers with scissors running around. We invited Berry over to our location along with a few friends to join us, at our vision board craft night. I checked Berry’s website to see what kind of information it would need. The page for the Write the Vision Workshop states that “this workshop is for anyone, ages 12 and up. We will use photos and various images to create a vision board that reflects the future you want. The workshop will also empower participants”

The Making of a Vision

Berry started with a presentation on how, and especially why, we should make and have a vision board. She explained that having a vision board can be helpful with achieving your goals. She listed the benefits and helped us decide what we needed most at this moment.

Berry had a helpful worksheet that helped me connect with what I actually wanted most in life right now. Two things stood out for me where health and wealth. These two benefits I though would help me to live a longer and happier life. We started looking through magazines and slowly I found pictures that spoke to me and that i wanted more of. These included things like traveling, mindfulness, another child, sweet dreams, time on the beach, more writing, and healthy eating.

My Vision Board

Carnisa Berry lives in Beijing and is the founder of Berry Thoughtful Life Coaching where she helps her clients live the life they want and make dreams a possibility through guiding people towards their full potential through coaching and workshops. I have had the pleasure to attend some of her passionate workshops and work with Berry and her positive energy is a force to be reckoned with. For more information about Berry check out her website www.berrythoughtfullife.com

Pictures Pauline van Hasselt and Pixabay

The What Women Want scenario of being able to read your wife’s mind after a freak accident in the bathroom is unlikely, to say the least. This would be ideal in figuring out exactly what momma bear wants this Mother’s Day. The fact that gaining this sense would require you dads out there to fall into a bathtub wearing women’s pantyhose while holding a hairdryer is also an extra caveat that would pose more questions than answers. Instead, we recommend giving your partner this Mother’s Day retreat. A less life threatening, and confusing, option to show her that you care.

The goal behind Mothers Retreat Beijing is to give mothers an opportunity to free themselves from the constant responsibility of motherhood for one full day, without the guilt that sometimes comes along with doing something entirely for themselves. The truth that we fathers might not realize is that allowing our significant other this sort of escape, even if it is just for a day, allows for them to reconnect, recharge, and reflect on life beyond motherhood.

What better setting for all of this to go down than the Four Seasons, a luxury five-star hotel in downtown Beijing? The Mothers Retreat Beijing package includes a one night stay at the hotel, unlimited spa access along with discounted treatments, meals and snacks, a 1-hour yoga class with Hannah Northcott, a special seminar by life coach Carnisa Berry, and a goody bag filled with products to use at the retreat. You get all of this for a flat fee of RMB 2,500. This ends up being a pretty great deal when you break it all down.

Mothers Retreat Beijing is an entirely volunteer-run organization founded by beijingkids editor Pauline van Hasselt and Kaci McAllister, two busy expat moms with a passion for building communities and when time permits the occasional luxury spa treatment. It should be quite obvious, that these lovely ladies pulled out all the stops when it came to planning this luxurious event that would likely please even the most discerning of mothers.

The retreat is limited to 20 women to ensure an intimate experience that will help foster long-term connections with fellow moms, so make sure you shoot an email over to mothersretreatbeijing@gmail.com to reserve your spot as soon as humanly possible. What could go wrong? After all, the memories from unique experiences like this last a lifetime, unlike the latest and greatest gadget that will probably end up in a pile of other outdated knickknacks in a couple of years or so. Your wife will no doubt return the favor, by continuing to be that beacon of positivity that the entire family depends on.

photos: Four Season Hotel Beijing, http://spajunction.com/