In the summer of 2014, we at BoominGroup had the good fortune to connect, collaborate, and work with Hilde Schirmer and John Simmonds and learned about wellness . As with most of the entrepreneurs within the BoominGroup ecosystem, we felt an instant spark, deep connection, almost like we had known each other forever. We felt enthusiasm as well as the “bigness” of our visions coming together. We marvel that in just one year, Hilde and John, as well as Bodhi Vida have come so far. Both have a wealth of knowledge, tools and wisdom from their entrepreneurial journey and their experience as holistic wellness practitioners, that have greatly inspired us on our own path. We sat down with Hilde and John so we could share those gems with you.
Ushi: To begin, can you share about the inspiration behind Bodhi Vida? Why did you decide the build this company?
Hilde: While I was growing a life in my belly, I was witnessing my beloved mother pass from cancer. The lotus flower rises from the mud, expressing its radiance out of the murky depths. From this most challenging period of simultaneously experiencing death and birth, Bodhi Vida was born. My partner, John and I, evolved as more compassionate people, inspired to share with others what we have learned. His desire, met my desire, which is to entrust knowledge and tools to future generations, as we wish my mother had been empowered with knowledge of preventative and natural medicine. Bodhi Vida is an invitation to be a part of our journey.
John: We believe in every cell within our bodies that combining self-love and self-nurture can inspire global healing. Caring for self, others and mother earth go hand in hand. After all, the undercurrent of self-love is the value for life. Positive thinking creates a positive reality. Developing a healthy relationship with the foods we consume, the products we indulge in and the relationships we choose to invest in, can greatly improve our lives. This in turn, fuels us to extend our positivity into the world and be the change we want to see.
Hilde: In this era we have so many tools; access to preventative care and various healing modalities, vast seas of knowledge accessible via the internet, game changers are taking action, so what an opportunity to be called into action and step into our power! This is the time to place the power, knowledge and wellness back into people’s hands. We want to give people access to wellness and we hope to inspire consumers of our eco-luxury products to be the face of change.
Ushi: How do you define wellness? I see and hear the term often and with all the noise and information about health or wellness, sometimes it’s hard to know what to implement or listen to.
Hilde: We see true wellness as a state of optimal well-being that maximizes an individual’s potential. Wellness matters because when a person feels well, they are able to be their best self and get the most out of life. Wellness is complex and many think of it simply relating to physical health, however holistic wellness has seven aspects (like the seven chakras), Physical, Occupational, Social, Environmental, Intellectual, and Spiritual. When we care for each of these aspects as an integrated whole, wellness is realized. Listening to your inner guide is the best way to get answers about your own health and wellness. What makes one person well may not be what makes another person well. It can help to run through the seven aspects of wellness and give yourself a score 1-10 (1 being of least value and 10 being of highest) and then gauge your level of true wellness. What we envision at Bodhi Vida, is that people everywhere have the knowledge and tools to be aware of their level wellness and what they might need in any given moment to adjust, course-correct, sustain and thrive. The first step is awareness.
Ushi: In my own experience as an entrepreneur and what many entrepreneurs have shared with us, is that health and wellness is the last priority. We find it hard to schedule time for self-care within our daily tasks and duties. What has worked for you? How have you been able to focus on wellness with everything you also do as entrepreneurs and parents?
John: This is a challenge for everyone. For entrepreneurs however, we tend to get consumed by our passions and visions. Create a schedule that sets boundaries for when to work, around time to play, keeping in mind that when you follow your passions and visions, work and play are one. It is important to know what you need to do for yourself to keep you happy, alert, feeling energized and healthy. Integrate that into tour schedule with as much importance as a meeting or emails. Treat it as one in the same. Entrepreneurs often forget to put themselves first. For us, everything we do is color-coded on the computer calendar. This gives us a visual on how we are spending our time. Hilde and I make efforts to work out, have “us time,” be social and get bodywork as part of our business, not separate from it. When we are healthy, our business is healthy. We give both importance. Otherwise we risk burning out, stress can get the better of us, and the enjoyment in the work we choose to do diminishes.
Ushi: Another challenge I have personally faced and often hear other entrepreneurs share about, is connection to the body. We feel like we are always in our heads or running nerves! Do you have a simple daily exercise for entrepreneurs that can help?
John: Of course! We face the same challenge! Our bodies are vehicles to accomplishing our goals. When we function optimally in body, mind and spirit, we work much more efficiently. Daily juicing is an excellent way to provide our vehicles with nutrient dense fuel. A minimum of 20 minutes meditation a day is also beneficial in clearing the brain clutter, settling the monkey mind and enhancing focus. Sleeping 8 hours per night and getting to sleep at the same time every night helps regulate our pineal gland. In the long run, working late hours and pushing yourself excessively is actually not productive. Rhythm, routine and regularity are the foundations for good health and productivity. That’s why working for yourself requires a lot more focus, but once we create a structure and stick to it, we actually work less, but more effectively. I recommend starting by shifting one aspect of your schedule to see how your body responds – try meditating for a week, or exercise, or juicing or sleeping and waking at the same time. Your body and mind will let you know what works best for you. Then, you can continue from there to integrate more into your schedule to keep your body, mind and spirit in harmony.
Ushi: There are a couple other tricks you have up your sleeve. You were generous to gift the BoominGroup team The Turn Around Trio and we have all noticed a difference in our energy levels and skin. Can you tell us more?
Hilde: As we’ve been talking about, self-nurture can fall to the wayside when we are enveloped in pursuing our dreams. We created the skincare products included in the Turnaround Trio to facilitate self-nurture and keep our skin looking healthy and vibrant. What we have found is that when we look good we feel good and vice versa. We are more motivated and energized to give more. It’s a powerful part of fortifying ourselves, and when we are in good health (our appearance being a great barometer of this) we can work better and feel better about working. That’s not to be understated.
John: As part of The Turn Around Trio we are offering a bonus bottle of Rejuvenox. Rejuvenox was a game change for us in our own journey. We created Rejuvenox to address some of the challenges we’ve talked about today, fueling the body with energy on a cellular level. Entrepreneurs need a lot of energy to pursue their passions. Many entrepreneurs experience stress, which leads to oxidative stress, which in turn leads to disease and imbalance in the body. Rejuvenox is a combination of some of nature’s most potent antioxidants that aid the immune system in preventing oxidative stress and scavenging the free radicals that result from stress. Rejuvenox also enhances circulation and entrepreneurs may tend to spend hours sitting on calls and the computer. Antioxidants are critical for optimal brain function, and that means effectiveness at work, better moods and protection of the mitochondria, the cell’s powerhouse. In order to take on the workload of life and work, we need to take care of our physical hardware. That’s what we wanted Rejuvenox to achieve. So far, so good.
Ushi: What is one of the most significant breakthroughs about wellness and about being an entrepreneur that you’ve had?
Hilde: That it isn’t selfish to put our selves first. If we don’t, we won’t have enough energy to maintain the momentum. Putting ourselves first is an expression of self-love, which allows for expanding further into the world and having a far-reaching positive effect.
Ushi: What were some of the moments in your entrepreneurial journey that you felt fear or like you wanted to give up? Why and how did you decide to keep going?
Hilde: For the first 3 years there was mostly excitement around the business we were creating. When we approached the launch, so many challenges arose and the reality of what we had chosen to do, was upon us. In our experience, when the dream nears manifestation is when fear and doubt tend to sneak in. We firmly believe that humans do not evolve when in our comfort zone, nor do we learn and grow. Our goal is to evolve and to become the best versions of our selves, so this was motivation to work through it and not give up. Also, creating a diverse and supportive team is key in the success of a business. We have chosen an exceptional team who was capable of providing extra support and guidance when we ran out of steam.
Ushi: As an entrepreneur where do you go to get inspired?
John: Both of us are internally driven.
Hilde: For me, inspiration is built in and fed by the visions and passion that has been with me my entire life.
John: And for me, inspiration often peaks after deep meditations. We both read a lot, which furthers the inquiries and have us seeking deeper within. We have surrounded ourselves with inspiring, intelligent friends who are aligned with our drive to continually evolve. Reading books written by entrepreneurs, speakers and philosophers we admire (like Richard Branson, David Wilcock, Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle, Tim Ferriss, Chip Connelly, David Perlmutter, Paramahansa Yogananda and a few others) also feeds our inspiration.
Ushi: What is the meaning and significance of being life partners and business partners? What wisdom can you share with entrepreneurs about how to find a good partner? What are the things to be aware of and to observe?
Hilde: This is not something that we necessarily have that much control over. Finding our optimal life partner involves a great deal of self-knowledge, combined with the willingness to constantly work on shedding the layers of who we thought we were and becoming true to our blueprint of ourselves. The perfect partner is not the one who makes life fun, but the one who sticks with us, while we evolve and it’s not always pretty. Having a shared amount of drive is important, and being willing to submit to development of self-discipline and moderating boundaries are critical.
When your business becomes your life, you have to make uncomfortable decisions, and the constant reminder of our aims and objectives (contributing to the creation of a better world for the next generation) keeps us on track. To some extent you are always “on” but when you are “on” together, it makes life less isolating. Our family has become the main focus of our lives, and choosing a simpler and more productive lifestyle has been a major influence in our drive and the maintenance of our vision for change. We upped and left everything that was familiar to us. It was a big gamble, or so we thought, but what we found was something entirely more rewarding. We could not have achieved this without mutual support and the willingness to take on whatever obstacles may come.
You can find our more about Hilde and John and Bodhi Vida @ BodhiVida.com. Be sure to check our their magazine chock full of free wellness tools and tips!
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