Exploring Journalling and The Artist's Way with Onika

Unlocking Creativity and Courage: Onika's Transformation Through The Artist's Way

In this inspiring episode, I chat with Onika, a busy mum and business analyst who discovered an unexpected path to wellness through creativity. What started with an out-of-character solo skiing trip to Oslo evolved into a profound journey of self-discovery that transformed her life in ways she never imagined.

At the heart of Onika's transformation was her experience with The Artist's Way, a creative self-discovery course that uses daily journalling and dedicated 'me-time' to unlock hidden potential. She candidly shares how these simple practices helped her overcome the guilt of prioritizing herself and the discomfort of being alone - challenges that many busy women face. Through honest conversation, Onika reveals how making space for creativity helped her reconnect with forgotten passions and embrace new challenges, ultimately leading her from someone who avoided cameras to competing in Hyrox races in front of them.

This episode is packed with practical insights about how small, consistent acts of self-discovery can create ripple effects of positive change in your life. Onika's journey shows that transformation doesn't require expensive programs or huge time commitments - just a willingness to start and the courage to keep going.

Whether you're feeling stuck in life's daily routine, curious about The Artist's Way, or simply searching for a fresh approach to wellness, this conversation offers achievable steps and heartfelt inspiration. Perfect for any woman wondering if there's more to life than just getting through the daily checklist.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Onika's Hyrox journey: https://linktr.ee/lifeopenedup
The Artist's Way Book: https://amzn.to/40vc0Pw [affiliate]

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast

01:05 Meet Onika: A Journey to Self-Discovery

02:24 The Accidental Path to Wellness

05:40 Discovering The Artist's Way

07:50 The Power of Journaling and Play Dates

11:17 Challenges and Revelations

18:08 Creating a Being Board

26:58 Embracing New Challenges: Hyrox

30:06 Final Thoughts and Advice

34:41 Conclusion and Resources

Thanks for listening.

Transcript

Exploring Ways to Wellness - Ep 2 Journalling

​[00:00:00] 

Welcome to the Exploring Ways to Wellness podcast. Today, I'm diving into a fascinating approach to self care that might surprise you. My guest discovered that a solo trip that led to picking up a pen and paper could be the first step to transforming her life. Through writing, a book and course called The Artist's Way and daily journalling, she found a path to wellness that was both practical and profound and I won't spoil the surprise about where her wellness journey has led her.

If you're wondering how creative practices could help you feel more energised and balanced, you're in for a treat. Let's join my conversation with Onika.​

Sarah: [00:01:00] Welcome Onika to the Exploring Ways to Wellness podcast.

How are you doing today?

Onika: I'm good. Thank you. I'm really well.

Sarah: Excellent. We're going to talk a bit today about your journey into, alternative ways of wellness. Do you want to start by just giving us a little bit of background, how you started.

Onika: Sure. So I think I am a mum of two, I'm married. I am a business analyst and my day to day job but over the last almost two years now, I have gone on a journey of a combination of self discovery with a lot of wellness thrown in, in between. And I've gone from not prioritising myself, of not recognised the need for self and time alone to introducing that, which then [00:02:00] opened up a whole new world for me.

Literally my life opened up and... you know what, I'm so excited as to where I am now. I would never have imagined where I am now, what I'm doing with all the things that have come along in that time.

Sarah: I mean, I'm excited for you. I know a little bit about your journey. We've we've known each other for a couple of years. I'm excited to share it with the listeners as well. What kind of led you to looking for a different approach to wellness?

Onika: So it was really accidental, I will say. I think it all started almost two years ago when I travelled on my own, did my first solo trip and just having that space to do the things that I wanted and in the time that I wanted without any kind of rush or compromise. Just was like, I don't know, something, it was just amazing.

It was like a revelation, but off the back of that, what was really interesting was, there were things that I recognised I didn't [00:03:00] know I wanted to do or I hadn't figured out because I just didn't have the headspace for so many years to think about the things that I really like doing other than the things that I knew that I, not I couldn't do, but you know, I was trying to squeeze in around daily life.

So that first trip I... I went skiing on my own and that, that's a love that I've had for a long time that I parked after I, well, basically when I went to university, got married, have kids, kids grew up and then decided to, to get back to it. And so the trip was to go skiing, but actually I left a day on the back end to just sightsee. I went to Oslo for the second time.

Sarah: Wow. 

Onika: Just being able to wander. I went to a museum and saw some beautiful abstract art. I saw The Scream which , that painting for me is really interesting because during that trip and subsequently during the year, that painting kept coming back into my life in different ways.

And, I recognised that I do have a love of abstract [00:04:00] art in particular that I'd forgotten about that I just didn't even register. But having that time to go into the museum and not have to rush and just explore, it came, I don't want to say it came back, but it became clear. And then from that, sorry, this is going to be long winded, but from that, I learned exactly what I was

Sarah: it's so lovely, isn't it, to just be able to spend time on your own after being a mum, you know,

kind of you for a while, doesn't it?

children, that's it. And they're your priority. And that's,

Onika: Exactly,

Sarah: just so lovely. You're able to take that time to just go, well, hang on, I can do what I want to do.

Onika: exactly. And I always remember, you know, the other part of that day was being able to take a boat trip and do the tour of the fjord. And I love water. So wherever there is water, I just want to take some time just to kind of take it in. And that again, it was, I think it was like minus five or something was freezing, but it was so beautiful and so [00:05:00] peaceful.

And that, I will say, introduced a level of peace into my life that I didn't realise was missing until I started experiencing it. So, after that trip, I decided I was going to start saying yes to things that I'd forgotten, or just in general. 

Sarah: I love 

Onika: Fast forward a few months, I've always wanted to write, even as a teenager I'd wanted to write, I don't know what, novels or whatever.

But I discovered Six Word Stories by pure accident. And I started writing them, you know, just for people that I knew off the top of my head and I just couldn't stop writing. And then I realised that was something that I could do well. So I've been writing Six Word Stories from then. And off the back of writing for the first time in, since a teenager, I had come across, I don't know if you've heard about it, but there's something called The Artist's Way.

It's a book that was written by Julia Cameron, I think in the 90s or the late 80s, it's quite an old book. [00:06:00] And it's called The Artist's Way. And it's, it's one of those, books that people refer to for so many reasons. It's, as it says on the tin, it's something that's supposed to help artists

encourage their creativity. So writers, you know, painters, whoever, anybody in the art creative space, will often have at some point in their life gone to that book, especially if they find themselves blocked or struggling with coming up with new ideas. And they, they complete the course. It's a 12 week course that you do in a book, or now you can do as a course.

So I'd heard about this book on and off for literally, I think 10, maybe more than 10 years. And it was interesting, but because it's called The Artist's Way, I was like, Oh, I'm not really interested in that.

Sarah: Yeah,

I mean, I'm, I'm excited to hear about this because, I've dipped into this book and I just, have used kind of morning pages, which is part of it, but, [00:07:00] but I'd love to hear more about the kind of course as a whole, because there's so much more to it than morning pages,

Onika: exactly, exactly. And after I started writing the stories, I then came across a course to paint, doing abstract painting. So I decided to do this. So by the time I this course came up at the end of 23 last year, I was painting. So I thought, wow, now I can call myself an artist.

So I can do the course and that's kind of how it came up. And it was a group course. So it was led, on a weekly basis, which I think made the difference. I'm not sure. I know I would have completed the course going through the book, but I think it would have been quite a different experience. And as you say that

Sarah: just just to buy these things. It sounds like a good idea, but then they end up on the shelf and, and

Onika: exactly. And like you said, the premise and the starting point for the approach, shall we say, and the course is to do morning journal. So [00:08:00] writing a journal every day, but it's not a journal in terms of what you've done. It's kind of a releasing, it's a release, you're just letting out whatever's on your mind for the day, but you need to do it every single day.

For the duration of the course, at least, if not longer, but up until that point, I've been journalling anyway, because I don't know Sarah if you want to kind of divulge how we met, but we met at a women's conference for a particular group. And with that group, we were encouraged to do our daily journalling anyway.

So I've been journalling from. Actually, when I went skiing, so January 23 and had been doing it for that year. The way that they encourage the journalling, it's, it's very much guilt free, judgment free, which is so powerful. And they encourage you not to look at what you've written for months after you've written it.

So there's none of the written it and go back to it two weeks later and be like, Oh my God, what was I thinking? Or trying to enact. [00:09:00] stuff that may have come up. And that for me was a really powerful thing that stuff was coming out that was unexpected and actually also indicated things that I wanted to do, but didn't realise I wanted to do.

But at the same time, there was no pressure to get going with it. It was just very much an acknowledgement exercise.

Sarah: It's so interesting you say that because I think when I started because of the the headspace I was in at the time it ended up being a to do list and that kind of thing and it took me a little while to get into that kind of just free flow um writing of just as you say without judgment without it being something you then need to take action as a result of and it's really insightful some of the things that come up and you're like this is I'm repeating this a lot. I should do something about it.

Onika: powerful about the course as well, it was combined. So they gave you the [00:10:00] toolkit. So the toolkit consisted of your, your daily, daily journalling, as well as something that, we know it as a play date, but I think they called it, uh, I can't remember what they called it, but it was a date with yourself.

It's a weekly date with yourself. And that was the difference. You were expected to take time out for yourself every single week for a minimum of, ideally an hour, but they said half an hour, just so that people were doing it. And you had to do something for you that you wanted to do. It could be as little as having coffee on your own in silence or with music uninterrupted or as involved as going out to, I don't know, do something that you've wanted to do for a long time.

Sarah: So lovely,

Onika: It was, and it's so, exactly.

Sarah: take that time out because we're all so busy and so stressed with everything going on. To say, actually, that's something that I, I have to do. I'm doing this course, so I have to take this time out and [00:11:00] get that into your routine.

Onika: And again, we've got overlap for, for the program that we were doing that was encouraged. So I think I was already familiar with it and had made whatever allowances and changes that I needed to, to incorporate that. But listening to the other ladies on the group, that was a massive thing, a massive challenge for a lot of people.

And I think as also we were encouraged to look at and journal about why was it a challenge? Why did we, why were we uncomfortable with doing it? Why did we? not want to do it. Why was there resistance? You know, you might've been comfortable logically to do it, but actually when it came into practice, certain patterns were coming up when we check in every week.

And that in itself was quite powerful, reflecting on what you struggled with during the week. And a lot of people were saying, you know, I had to plan to do my play date or whatever, and something came up and I parked it and they would do it week after week. And then they recognised that there was, there might've been something else behind that because maybe.

Sarah: resistance.

Onika: Resistance. Is it, is it [00:12:00] self worth? Is it actually the, the, the fear of being alone? Because some people did recognise that. And being alone with your thoughts, if you're not doing something. The fear of perception. How do I feel and how do I think I look doing something on my own if it's an activity that I really want to do.

So they would identify it, book it, but then they wouldn't turn up. So that was really interesting and that I think is really powerful. Again, I had kind of worked through a lot of that stuff myself and I'm that person. I always remember I went, the first thing, first time I did something like that was in COVID, just after as we were coming out.

And I went to the cinema on my own and that was like a massive revelation for me choosing to watch a film that nobody else in the family wanted to watch and going on my own. And I remember thinking, Oh, this is beautiful, but you kind of feel like it's a bit weird.

Sarah: You being naughty? Yeah. [00:13:00] Yeah, and

Onika: on the surface didn't look difficult, but when you actually go through them and you peel off the layers, they were revealing for so many reasons.

They were revealing in terms of the things that you've been carrying, the, the thoughts, the beliefs. the challenges, the things that you parked that you were ignoring, the things that you were dreaming about, but you didn't dare dream about, that came up quite a lot, which was really interesting. And they gave you, I don't want to give it all away because I think everybody should do it at least once in their life, but there's things that tools they gave you and kind of perspectives to work through that and to really explore that, which was so powerful for me and just kind of opened up.

These are aha moments, not every week, but a lot of weeks consecutively, [00:14:00] which then you kind of get into momentum. But interestingly enough, what was, what was happening? Cause it's a 12 week course. So I started, I think this first end of the first or second week of January to the end of March. What was happening was every week people were dropping off.

And they said that at the beginning, they were like, you guys here, you may not be here in four weeks, six weeks. And the people who make it to the end, okay. you're going to be maybe a handful because these things, the course brings up a lot. And I remember thinking, Oh, you know, I'm a completer, a finisher.

That's not going to be an issue for me. And I actually started with two or three other people that I know we were all same thing. They'd heard about it, going to do it. And you saw the numbers dwindle week by week and around the times that it was just getting more and more uncomfortable, 

Sarah: Why do you think that people were dropping off?

Onika: because they didn't want to do that, that work, they didn't want to go through the discomfort. They didn't want to unearth or lift up those stones where things had been, I don't want to say buried because [00:15:00] there were things that came up for me that I wouldn't say were buried.

And I'm, I was aware of, but actually the way that you get, they get you to explore it and to look at it differently. Was a little bit,

Sarah: be quite confronting, I

Onika: yes. Confronting that was the word, but again, with the tool of journalling, that in itself helped you work through a lot of the insights and resistance that you were experiencing if you journalled, but again, a lot of people started journalling and stopped.

So that in itself was quite interesting. So, yeah, so there were those things I'm not going to kind of go into too many of the, of the processes cause they, they are special, but for me, one of the things, the biggest thing that I want to talk about is. Previously, for years, I have written a letter to myself every, on the 1st of January for what I'd like to do in the year, but I say what I'd like to do, it's very much from an envisioning point.

you know, writing to myself from a year's time in a year's time. I

Sarah: I love that.[00:16:00] 

Onika: used to do it every year for years when the kids were young and then last, probably a year before 22 around COVID, I just was like, I'm not doing this. I wasn't in my mind getting much or achieving much. And to be honest, you'd open it, I'd open it and I'd done a lot, but there were some things that kept coming up that just weren't happening.

I'm like, I'm not doing this. So then I kind of shifted to vision boards and I was like, okay, well let me just at least visually, instead of just words that are closed in a letter, look at what I really want to achieve and it's important to me. And I did that again. But what I always remember, I'd done it a couple of times, but the last time I did it, 

I couldn't finish the board. I had four things. And I just struggled. The board was empty. Bearing in mind I'd done it before and filled the board. And that was really interesting. And a little, not a little, it was really quite sad for me. I was like, and this was before kind of that year I went on my solo trip.

That was, I looked at it and I was like, Do I not want much for myself, or do I not believe I can get the things that I want, or [00:17:00] do I not know? I think it was a combination of all of that, I don't know what I want. And when faced with the I don't know what I want, that made me really sad and, and it was quite, not even sad, not just sad, but it was concerning.

That you're going through life and you don't know quite what you want at this age, where in our minds when we were 20 by the time you get to middle age, You know what you want, and you've got it, hopefully, or you're working on it, exactly.

Sarah: And say, oh yeah, I'll have achieved this and achieved that.

Onika: So, so look forward to 

Sarah: fairytale lives.

Onika: Exactly. So looking at that board and I had it, I had it here with me for quite a while, but it was, I think not upsetting me, but there was something not great about it. So I actually ended up moving it. So I'm not looking at this space is empty space every day. So, you know, that was something

similar that we had to do in the course. And I remember just seeing it because some things they would tell you a week in advance that you would do and others they wouldn't, but that was one of the [00:18:00] things. And I was like, Oh, I don't want to do anything that's like a vision board because I'm not interested.

It's not my thing,

Sarah: this experience now and yeah.

Onika: but what we did do and I won't go into the process, but the process in itself was so powerful, so amazing, but ultimately what we created was a. Being board. And my being bored is full as you can see.

Sarah: Amazing.

Onika: something's dropped off here.

There was something here that's dropped off, but it was full and actually doing it was. really easy and fun and exciting. And it was a, it was a process that took, I think, two, two sessions and they asked you to collect the images over the time. And now when I look at this, it makes me so happy and, you know, I pull it out now and again.

And for me actually looking at this now, I've not achieved all of it, but I am in the process of doing all of it, which in itself,

Sarah: can see from your face, just looking at it, your [00:19:00] face is lit up. You've got this massive grin on your face. Clearly it's doing good. Yeah.

Onika: think, again, it's a difference of positioning, isn't it? It's not the. The end goal, whereas it's working towards and that's more fun and more engaging and more. motivating than the end goal. And actually, I think I want to say, I listened to something this week that was really powerful around this specifically, where we are very tempted to look at where we want to go.

And then we look at where we are and the gap between where we are and where we want to go. But actually, it's really important and really powerful, which I think I just spoke to of looking at where we started and where we are. And actually when you, and you reflect on how far you've come, that is powerful and that's motivating and that makes you want to keep going as opposed to, I don't know about you, but when I think of where I am and where I want to go, that might be more disheartening, you lose the motivation.

[00:20:00] So

Sarah: that's really, really powerful. Thanks for sharing that. That's, that's really important.

Onika: no, no problem. But that is essentially I think is the course. It gets you reflect on the journey and you don't have to, you know, be hard on yourself for not having done, even when you get to the end of the course for those who still finish it. . You know, we don't, I didn't really go in with any expectation, but I got so much from it.

But most importantly, I think, and, and I know we spoke about this, I can't really tell you what specifically is the outcome, but it's the feeling and it's the, the sense of opening up and reflection and awareness. I think awareness is really powerful. Then you can build on.

Sarah: yeah, lovely. And did you find that you felt comfortable speaking to people outside the course? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. about the fact that you, I know we talked because we regularly catch up and, and obviously we're both [00:21:00] interested in, in looking at different ways to, to approach things. Did you find that you could talk to friends and family about the fact you were doing something called the Artist's Way or share the tools or anything?

Onika: So, interestingly enough, when you start the course, they tell you very clearly, you really probably shouldn't talk to people about it because a lot of people won't get it. And you won't necessarily get it as you go through it, which I thought was very interesting. But having completed it, I, I, that makes a lot of sense because if you cannot describe the process and what you're getting from it, that will not, that will make it harder for anybody else to understand.

I think with us where I was sharing some of the things, you could see the change, but I couldn't necessarily describe the change if that made sense. So I didn't really tell anybody about it unless it was somebody who had also heard of the course. So I'd say I'm doing it. And then they would ask, how's it going?

I'm like, great, [00:22:00] always great. But on the whole, it's like,

Sarah: trust the process sometimes without questioning it too much. Because you can get really stuck in your head intellectually, can't you? Like trying to justify how or why something's working. sometimes you just need to let go and just go, go through it. And I guess also sharing then with other people, it it open to judgment and having to kind of justify why you're doing it or,

Onika: Exactly. All of,

all of the above. And in so doing, it makes you, it may make you question it, which may add an

resistance. And, and people were saying that, and I think also it's just the, the, the fact that if you, what they described it as don't tell him, not don't tell anybody, but just be careful who you share it with, but let your transformation speak to what it is.

And [00:23:00] they it's quite powerful. So very much. where you feel more positive or you're seeing your change, you will exude that, which will make people more interested, as opposed to you going out and trying to be evangelical. To people who are not really interested. And that's what said, the people who notice the people who notice your change will ask.

And then that's a different conversation to you telling people. And

Sarah: yeah, that's really powerful. I guess as you're going through it, it's such a personal experience as well that you don't, don't necessarily at that point need to be over sharing with people.

Onika: I think for me, what's really interesting just to top it all off. It's called the Artist's Way. I started it because I started painting and I was like, I want to know how I can paint better and where I can, you know, source creativity ideas. It's, I don't like calling self development, but that's what it is.

It's a self development course. Without [00:24:00] being labeled as a self development course, and I think that's genius because, you know, people are going in looking for something. It's that classic, give people what they want, not necessarily, or describe what they need. Because if you told me I was doing a self development course, I have done in the past, don't get me wrong, I'm very into that space, but at the same time, at that point in time, I wasn't looking for that, so I would not have signed up.

Sarah: Wow. And off the side of it, how's your art doing?

Onika: my, my art was going very well, and it was a weekly practice, which I absolutely loved, and I was doing it with my daughter, so that was even more special. But it has since dropped off because I have now started, for the last eight months, I am now training, doing something called High Rocks, and that, the classes take place on a Sunday, so I have parked my painting, not, I don't paint as often as I was, but, It's, I've, you know, I revisit it and I [00:25:00] still enjoy it when I do.

Sarah: Yeah, you still get the benefit from it. So you can try and weave that into your into your weekly routine. Is there anything else that you've taken from the Artist's Way that you try and do on a regular basis or is it something that's in your arsenal to return to if you need it?

Onika: It's in my arsenal to return to, but I have to say, honestly, I don't necessarily remember all of the, all of the elements, but I, it's something I think I would do once a year or every couple of years, definitely just to, this sounds strange, but just to, you know, I don't want to say release, but cleanse.

Residual stuff that may have built up over the year, over life. Because we did a lot of clearing, I say clearing, that's an odd word, but that's I think what it was, through the process. And you probably didn't clear all of it, but recognising some of it, you focus on what you kind of, the biggest pieces. So I think there's definitely stuff to return to, but.

I'm feeling great these days and, and I continue to feel great. So I think, like I said, it's [00:26:00] more maintenance, I think, for me as to starting from scratch and, and trying to work on specific things. It very much, and this is what my last two years has been very much an unfolding, not going in with a clear idea of what I want to get out of it.

And that for me is the biggest transformation. In the last two years, I'm that person who plans and it's quite strategic. And, you know, I need to get this, this and this, or understand this. Cause I'm a business analyst by trade. You know, it's all about data information, finding patterns and correlations, but now I've kind of like opened up and it's just like, let's see where this will take us and say yes, and be curious.

And that process, that process really engenders that and encourages that and develops and nurtures that.

Sarah: Oh, I love that. I absolutely love that, that idea of the unfolding. And as I say, I've seen, I've seen the transformation, so, I'm so excited for you. And this has, of course, led you on to Hyrox. So something that [00:27:00] is a physical challenge. That do you think you would have, we'll, we'll come on to Hyrox in a bit more detail in a minute, but do you think you would have even approached something like that two years ago?

Onika: Not at the beginning of the two years, definitely not, because it's very physical, it's mentally and physically demanding. And whilst I have a history in my teenage years of training at that, not quite at that level, but in a similar way mentally and physically, I, through life, have gotten, I don't want to say soft, but comfortable.

And not wanting to press or, you know, explore the outer edges of my limits. And had I not done the course and cleared and, you know, made myself uncomfortable by doing the difficult bits that a lot of people didn't want to do, it made space for me to be able to

step into a more challenging and uncomfortable space more easily. I [00:28:00] think, I think

Sarah: Yeah.

Onika: I don't need doing one and one is four, but that it feels like it, I feel like in a, in a way, had I not done this, I would have found Hyrox and trained, but it may have taken me a lot longer to get to where I got to in a relatively short space of time.

Sarah: yeah. I mean, you, you threw yourself into racing quite quickly, didn't you? And you, and. Without spoiler alert, this time you've taken on an additional challenge, haven't you?

Onika: Yes. 

Sarah: Got, we've got, at the time of recording, you have actually got a Hyrox race tomorrow,

Onika: have. So

Sarah: I wish you all the luck for, and you're going to be amazing, I'm sure. Yeah.

Onika: thank you. So yes, I am not only racing. I ended up going from my first day of training to the race line in three months exactly, which Yeah, I look back and I'm like, what was I thinking? But I did it with some amazing support, you included. And now I am doing my first doubles race because those races were solo, [00:29:00] but now I'm doing it in front of a camera.

I'm part of a, three athletes that have been featured in a docu series about our preparations for the London race, which is taking place tomorrow. And I literally, I couldn't imagine myself doing this two years ago, even before. I didn't take pictures. I didn't take selfies. I didn't like being seen. And I have to say, I feel like that solo trip last year, and I did two last year actually, and some other stuff, the painting and the writing, and that has, that opened up.

a form of, oh this sounds so cheesy, a form of self love and self appreciation, I don't know what you want to call it, that I finally was in a place comfortable to take pictures and I was like, yes, now I'm ready, yes, take a picture, I'm okay now,

 now, yeah, I'm in front of the camera and that, to be honest, has been very Not difficult, very uncomfortable, very challenging, at the start, but I'm now kind of finding my level.

And [00:30:00] yeah, but an amazing team that have made that happen and have supported me through it.

Sarah: Fantastic. So just to go back, if you had any advice for people who were considering doing the Artist's Way or, personal travel or journalling, what, what, if you had a message to give to them,

What would they do?

Onika: so with the Artist's Way, do it, get the book, but don't read ahead, take it week by week. I am that person. I did read a week ahead because I was always curious what was coming next, which I don't think is a bad thing. But at the same time, if you're somebody who gets overwhelmed, don't just take it.

As you are instructed if you're doing a course or if you're reading it and just be all in and be ready and willing to sit with the discomfort because it's worth it. It's, it can be really, I don't want to say ugly, ugly is strong. It can be really, unattractive at times, but worth it on so [00:31:00] many levels because it gives you that deeper sense of self knowing that you may think you know yourself until you do the course, because I thought I did, even with the kind of the year's worth of unfolding and revelations and discovery.

I'd 12 months, but this gave me another multiple layers that has really helped me appreciate myself and kind of what you've gone through and turning a lot of those experiences, which I may have seen as not positive into the positive in some way or a useful, shall we say useful in some way?

Sarah: Fantastic. Well, I know that I'm going to be getting that book out, having a proper look at it, and potentially looking to do the course myself, because this sounds incredible. And it's been beautiful to see how you have on this journey, and I'm so excited to support you tomorrow in your, in your race. We didn't actually, say [00:32:00] exactly what, what is Hyrox

Onika: Oh yes.

Okay. So Hyrox is a fitness endurance race. It is, it consists of an eight kilometre run in total, but you only run one kilometre at a time. Then you do eight stations. So you run a kilometre, you do a functional, a functional station, So it, that includes, something called the skier that you're pulling down that mimics cross country skiing.

You push a weighted sled, a certain distance. You pull it, a weighted sled, you carry farmer, kettlebells. 200 meters. You do burpees for a distance, which is just

judging on how honestly, you row a kilometre and then you've got a hundred weighted wall balls that you have to do throwing, I think, four kilos, four kgs of weight while squatting.

So it is brutal and

saying it out

Sarah: extreme to me.

Onika: saying it out loud. I just might, why am I doing this? But I love it. I love it.

Sarah: Yeah. And [00:33:00] your documentary. I highly recommend to people because it is so inspiring and I'm really pleased for you. So going forward, is there anything, any other kind of wellness practices that you want to look into? Is this opened your eyes to anything else that

to give a go?

Onika: wellness practice is not so much, but I think it's definitely kind of... got me on the road to exploring lots of other things. I have been quite curious over the years because I have done acupuncture and certain other things. And don't want to call it energy healing, but different things that are non traditional, but I will say, you, you supporting me with the EFT was amazing because we started that last year while I was kind of in a interesting place in my life where everything was kind of opening up, but maybe quicker than I expected.

And I wasn't quite sure how to cope with it. So learning about EFT last year with you was just amazing. And now you top me up every race, which is [00:34:00] so helpful. It really helps kind of ground me and having exposed, having been exposed to that, it, I'm just excited to what else I can come across and I'm just loving the idea of your podcast and look forward to seeing what else we can learn about in the coming months.

Sarah: Fantastic. Well, I really appreciate you coming on as a guest. I hope everybody enjoyed that chat as much as I did. I know I'll be, I'll have taken some notes, so I'll be off to, to be inspired by some of the things you've talked about. So thank you so much, Onika. 

Onika: Thank you and thank you so much for having me. It's been wonderful. 

Thanks for joining us today on Exploring Ways to Wellness. If Onika's story has inspired you to explore The Artist's Way, or start your own journalling practice, remember, you don't need any special skills or expensive tools to [00:35:00] begin. Just grab a pen, some paper, and give yourself permission to write without judgment.

I've put a link to the Artist's Way book we talked about in the show notes if you want to explore that further. And I invite you to find out more about Onika and her journey to Hyrox using the links I've provided. Until next time, I'm Sarah, and remember, there's many paths to wellness and sometimes the simplest ones can be the most powerful.