Our modern lives have admittedly left the best of us frayed at the seams. Often, the success of any nature is quantified by how much we are willing to sacrifice in our own personal lives. A high toll is exacted when trying to ‘live life in the fast lane’ and it takes a global pandemic for us to pause and reevaluate, assessing all the relationships, opportunities, regrets and frustration strewn in our wake. It is these stresses, coupled with being homebound, worrying about friends and family all around the world, and making sense of an uncertain future that we all have to contend with at present.
Women and mothers are especially feeling the brunt of this emotional upheaval. As is often the case, mothers are the emotional locus of their familial unit, providing support to those in their families, without necessarily having outlets of their own through which to vent. Work, the gym and other social interactions provide a much-needed valve to release a buildup of pressure accumulated over the course of taking care of a family. However, in an age of social distancing, self-quarantining, and being marooned in foreign countries away from one’s social circle in China, what are these women and mothers left to do?
This need for women’s emotional and psychological well-being is part of the reason why WellWomen, a social platform for women in China and across the world, came to be. Founded by Rebecca Archer and Hannah Northcott, WellWomen continues to bridge the gap in these uncertain times.
We spoke to Archer and Northcott to find out what WellWomen is really about, and how they wish to continue providing support to women, mothers, and families well beyond China’s borders.
Unless specified, all answers were provided collaboratively.
Ladies, tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Rebecca: I have degrees in communication studies and education, and have a background in marketing, events, media and am now a communications consultant. I am the founder of the Clothing Auction Network and an advocate for sustainable fashion. I am here in Beijing with my husband who is the head of a private bilingual school, and have three children. We are originally from New Zealand and have lived internationally for ten years in Nigeria, Indonesia and the last six years have been in Beijing.
Hannah: I’m from the Philippines, but have lived in Michigan, New York, Vancouver (British Columbia), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and China. It’s our eighth year in Beijing. My husband, Steve Northcott and I, teach middle school Art and Drama respectively at one of the international schools in Beijing. We have two daughters. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication from the University of the Philippines, a Master’s degree in Education from Simon Fraser University, Canada as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and am a master yoga instructor certified in yoga therapy, with a yoga instructor’s certification and more than 500 hours of yoga certification from H-RYT.
What was the inspiration behind the start of WellWomen?
The inspiration behind the start of WellWomen came from being surrounded by inspirational expat women who had a heart for community and personal development, and from a desire to create a multimedia platform from which these women could share and inspire others to thrive in their minds, hearts, bodies, their families and the planet.
What are some of the services/forms of information that WellWomen provides?
WellWomen provides women with the tools to thrive in their expat lives. We provide curated high-quality content to educate and empower women to journey towards the best version of themselves. We provide inspirational stories to connect people with our community and we run various WeChat groups focusing on areas such as parenting, fitness, style, home, and sustainable living.
We also have different mentors who lead different community, skill-building, and personal development challenges.
These groups connect our WellWomen community. We are a global digital village providing space for women to be open and vulnerable with each other. We share our struggles, celebrate successes, reach out for help and advice, and keep each other accountable to reach and achieve our goals.
Has the COVID-19 crisis affected how you run your blog and the information you provide to your readership?
Yes, it made our purpose clear. To give the community a safe space to process what is happening, support women through the emotional and mental roller coaster that a global pandemic provides and empower the community with tools, strategies, and techniques to cope well with this situation.
It has definitely brought a closer bond between the women in our communities as we have shared our ups and downs.
We discovered that our mental health, well-being, and relationships have been positively affected when we have a focus other than COVID-19, so we have run the following community-building challenges to give women something positive to focus on and create joyful experiences amidst a global crisis:
- 21-Day Fitness, Self-care and Nutrition challenges to ensure we’re taking care of our health, fitness, and wellbeing
- 5-Day Style challenges that got women out of their quarantine pajamas and educated them about basic style principles while boosting their mood and productivity through creative and fun outfits
- Decluttering challenges to help us calm the chaos in our home environment
- Fun-uary challenge that gave parents fun ideas to play with their kids while stuck at home
- March is for Mom that inspired us to create joyful moments where we are at
When connecting through social media and digitally with photos, videos, laughter, and tears, we feel less isolated even though we are separated by distance. For our women, like Hannah, who are overseas and unable to return home to China, these groups are a great way to remain connected.
Additionally, we have had a lot of requests to be able to share our content with the wider community, so in response, we are expanding from WeChat to build our international presence beginning with a Facebook page and our website will be launching soon: www.wellwomen.me
How do you think the COVID-19 crisis has affected the mothers and women of Beijing, both negatively and positively?
What we are seeing in our WellWomen is incredible resilience, empathy, and connection in our community.
While there have been the expected lows in mental health due to social distancing, struggles with work and childcare, lack of physical activity, anxiety over COVID-19, separation from home and families and uncertainty about when this will end, what we have witnessed in our global village is how women have found the following in WellWomen:
- A safe space to process their experiences – both pain and joy
- Positive challenges to focus on
- Support, empathy, and encouragement from other women
- Connection with amazing women who are passionate about their lives, families, communities and the world
Many of us have been forced to slow down and get back to basics. A lot of the conversation we have been having is how to find and create joy in the everyday moments at home. We have seen women needing to let go of the high expectations that we place on others and ourselves and accept ourselves as we are – messy, beautiful and loved.
What has your biggest accomplishment in WellWomen been so far?
We have transformed lives, have positively impacted families and built a strong community where women have thrived, no matter the circumstances.
For example, in our fitness group, women have shared how they have gone from feeling depressed about their lives and bodies to finding an exercise program where they have not only lost weight and inches but have discovered how strong they are and have now become mentors in inspiring, empowering and encouraging others.
We empower women to journey from feeling unloved, unknown and insecure to finding their voices, making peace with their bodies and being confident to share authentically about themselves with others. We have also created opportunities for ladies to grow in their leadership and mentorship skills.
When one woman is inspired by one of our messages and implements it to bring a positive change in her life, then we’ve reached our goal.
Plus, as they say, happy wives, happy lives.
Do you receive any sort of community engagement and feedback? If so, what sort?
We receive a high level of community engagement. Our articles receive a high proportion of views for our follower numbers which is really encouraging. We also receive personal messages often from women who express their gratitude for the content we are sharing, and how being a part of a community for the various “challenges” have had a positive impact on them during this challenging time.
We have several articles that share how women have benefited from being a part of the WellWomen community.
What does the future look like for WellWomen and for you personally? Any ambitions or goals you have in mind?
We will continue to bring relevant, inspirational, useful content to our community while reaching out into the broader global community of expat women with online and offline events.
What can the rest of the Beijing population do to continue engaging and supporting each other through and beyond the COVID-19 crisis?
Rebecca: Now that the weather is warming up, get outside more and connect with your neighbors. As expats, we need to continue supporting our local community by being sensible with physical distancing and wearing masks. I’m passionate about supporting local businesses because this has been and continues to be an extremely difficult time for them. Check-in with your family and friends often and regularly to make sure they are doing okay.
Hannah: Our family is currently in Thailand waiting for China to lift the travel ban so we can come home. There is a different kind of struggle being away from Beijing. Although we are thankful to be in a beautiful place, have job security, are working remotely and are with our family, we’re also battling with the uncertainty. For instance, “When will we be allowed to return to Beijing?” “What will quarantine look like when we do?” “When will that be?”
Whether one is displaced or in China, here are some things that have helped us both cope during this pandemic:
- Practice Magical Mornings
- Connect deeply and meaningfully with others. Loneliness and isolation can be countered by reaching out to a friend, messaging in one of our communities, zooming with family members, WeChat calling friends, etc.
- Move your bodies, exercise, yoga, walking or running outside, etc.
- Curate your media and be mindful of the narratives that you are telling yourself at this time
- Find and create joyful moments wherever you are. We can carry joy and pain at the same time. That’s what makes us humans. We can acknowledge the sadness, despair, and death happening all around us, but at the same time fight for joy.
How can partners and spouses provide some much-needed support to Beijing moms and women in general?
Rebecca: There’s a model for well-being which I’ve found really helpful to ensuring that I stay balanced, the four areas are body (health & well-being), achievement (activity & work), contact (social interaction & connection), and meaning (future & control). When one of these areas gets out of balance, we can experience stress. Talking and connecting with our partners about our needs and giving each other the space and opportunity to focus on these different areas can really be helpful in ensuring we have a healthy balance in our lives.
Hannah: It’s so important for partners and spouses to find their way of working together at this time because for those of us who are in a lockdown or quarantining for an indefinite period of time, our family is all we’ve got.
I also wonder what if we flip the question and ask:
“How can we show-up, be present and provide what our partner needs, as well?”
Any words of hope and encouragement to the Women of Beijing and the rest of the vast Beijinger family, both foreign and local?
We don’t need to just be in a state of surviving during this time, we have everything we need inside us to thrive. None of us knows how long this is going to go on for, so if we can accept the ways things are, then we can start creating our beautiful new “normal” lives together.
We’re all in this together. This is a shared human experience and we will need one another to get through to the other side.
Where can we find your blog and how can we contact you?
WeChatID: WellWomen, Facebook: WellWomen.me, Website: www.wellwomen.me (launching soon)
Rebecca: becstarnz
Hannah: Hannah_Northcott, www.dramayogi.com, Instagram: @dramayogi
Photos: Courtesy of WellWomen
