Seminary Sendoff

Styling and Styling by Sara Goldstein

We’re saying goodbye to our seminary girls, and they’re saying hello to a year of learning that goes far beyond the classroom.

During my own seminary year, I didn’t know the impact my behavior had on my health. All I knew was that after a few weeks of mac-’n’-cheese parties with our friends at 1 a.m., my roommate and I realized that we weren’t functioning. We decided to turn our room into the “bubby room,” with lights off before midnight.

Since becoming a health coach, I’ve worked with many post-seminary girls, and after sending my own daughter off to sem, I realized how hard it is for our girls to maintain healthy habits while away from home. A girl’s seminary year is the time where she gets to experience her first taste of independence and responsibility. Aside from being a year meant to set our girls on their spiritual journey, it’s a crucial time for them to begin taking responsibility for their own health as well. But the lifestyle our girls often adopt in seminary — a year that’s meant to start them off on a healthy path, both spiritually and physically — often leads to the development of unhealthy patterns that take a lot to repair.

Health vs. Rhythms

As human beings, our bodies depend on a lot of rhythms and cycles, including digestive, sleep, and hormonal cycles. All of those cycles are intricately connected. When one is off, the others get thrown off as well.