Who the Heck is Phyllis?
I am back! It is Marnie!
It feels so darn good to be writing a blog again! I have been buried deep in course creation and video editing… working my buns off to help get our ‘Functional Healing Course’ launched into the world!
It has been a life changing journey… working on this project with Liesl and Debbi, and I would like to use our blog, over the upcoming weeks, to write about some of the lessons and surprising outcomes that I experienced over the past three years of creation.
Let’s start by answering the opening question -Who the Heck is Phyllis?
Phyllis is our avatar!
In the Fall of 2023 Liesl, Debbi and I formed a partnership and our first ‘partnerly act’ was to purchase a course on how to create a course.
The first lesson asked us to develop and create an ‘avatar.’ A model of our perfect client. The type of person we want to help with the creation of our course. We were asked to get very granular in the description and really make our avatar come to life.
We created Phyllis!
A57 year old woman, who has had a desk job for the past 30 years and has risen to middle or upper management within her organization. She makes good money and is considering the right time to retire.
She is experiencing body pain from all of the years of sitting and has put on an extra 20 lbs. She is also starting to experience some symptoms of autoimmune disease. She played soft ball and tennis as a young woman. She is married, has three kids and five grandkids. She is amazing at helping others and not so amazing at taking care of herself.
She has talked with her Doctor, attended Physio sessions and purchased a gym membership to try and deal with some of her body pain. Things feel a little better for a while and then life gets in the way and her pain levels elevate again.
She is ‘Holistic Curious’… has tried a couple essential oils, been to an acupuncture appointment and listens to Oprah and several other self-help gurus.
She is starting to complain about ‘getting older’ and blames a lot of her body pain on the aging process.
She dislikes wasting time. She is a busy woman and wants her actions to yield immediate and long term results.
Now… I need to be honest here… I did not always connect with Phyllis!
Liesl and Debbi would often say “Marnie… what would Phyllis think of that?” Or “Marnie… Phyllis is not that sporty or sciencey.”
Phyllis kept us on track when designing our lessons and videos.
Debbi and Liesl have both had careers where they sat at a desk for 25 years, while I have had a career of constant movement. They had a much easier time relating to that aspect of Phyllis.
Prior to creating our Functional Healing Course I used the tools and techniques to heal sports injuries and deal with auto-immune symptoms.
Being stationary was not my problem!
Until it was!
I have now been sitting at my iPad for three years video editing and holy crap does it ever make my body sore!
Over the past 6 months I have blessed our sweet Phyllis so many times… because she helped to design parts of the course that I did not even know I would need or understand how profoundly they would help others!
I can honestly say that I have used ‘our healing method’ to deal with crazy nerve pain in my low back, shoulder injuries on both sides and a chronically sore neck… all from sitting too long and too much!
I can now totally relate to Phyllis! Long term sitting sucks!
I would like to offer you my favourite sitting-too-long technique that we teach over and over again throughout the course… I secretly call it ‘The Phyllis’:
Use every movement transition - from sitting to standing - as a conscious healing opportunity
Inhale- sit tall, engage your core and pivot to stand
Drop your chin slightly and Exhale as you stand up
Now stand still for one or two breaths- give your body the opportunity to adapt to this new position. It is so important to allow your hip flexors to elongate and to not limp away immediately with a stiff sore body. (My low back pain was caused by NOT doing this)
Walk away gracefully or if you are feeling super cool… get your groove on and dance down the hallway to the bathroom!
This may seem too simple to make a huge difference… but I promise you… it has saved my low back and neck from so much additional pain.
Give it a try! Whether you are getting up from a desk or off of the couch watching TV. This simple act of conscious breathing and movement will help to free your body from the painful confines of too much sitting!
Please remember that you have until May 16th to claim your special discount of $111 off of our course!(Only for the delightful humans on our email list)
Your coupon code:SOFTLAUNCH2026
🤩 You can explore all the details of our Functional Healing course… including modules, testimonials, and FAQs HERE
Or
🤩 You can go directly to the private checkout page we have created just for you by clicking HERE and let the healing begin!
Much love,
Marnie
