Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 8-13-21

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Creator Of Christian Wellness Movement For Black Women, Wants Them To Find Their Strength
By MONIQUE STAMPS SENTINEL Staff Writer
Erin Marie Waller is a walking, breathing example of Christian Well- ness. As the founder and owner of @BWFwoman (Beautiful Wild Free Woman), Waller is on a mission to help Black women find their strength through God.
Waller was raised in St. Peters- burg, Tampa, and Gainesville. She is a Rattler, having graduating from the School of Business and Industry (SIB) program at FAMU. After college, while she was working at Eli Lilly, Inc., she discovered that more and more women were looking for fitness and wellness.
At this point in 2001, the wellness movement had not really gotten off the ground. So, Waller decided to open her own business and BWFwoman was born. It was an extension of a Bible study that Waller started at FAMU called Renew.
As she walked the journey God set out for her, she started publishing her morning meditations, after sitting in God’s presence and hearing God’s prompting on Instagram in 2014. Now over 25,000 readers follow her medita- tions daily.
Waller says her biggest joy has been the transformation of the women who have followed her program.
“Everything we do is based on and grounded in the Word of God,” states Waller.
Seeing the sisterhood that grew out of BWFwoman has inspired Waller to keep growing her ministry and gift.
Waller says, “There is a narrative that women, especially Black women, can’t work with each other or support each other. This narrative is pushed by the media and supported by non-Black
ERIN WALLER
... Founder of BWFwoman, and Mindset Coach
people.”
“This has been proven wrong by
BWFwoman, and more Black women need to hear this.”
Waller says in her own life there were times that things were challeng- ing, but she learned that leaning into God and the person she knew she was, required strength and a vision of the outcome she saw for herself.
She references 2 Corinthians 4:18 “
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Manifestation and seeing things we want to happen has been commonly seen as New Age, but Waller says it is all grounded in the Bible. She says that this must be taught and learned by those seeking a higher purpose for themselves.
Waller feels that her greatest gift to her clients and her circle of followers is her ability to create remarkable, spiri- tual growth for women. When she looks
at her followers, she sees women on a spiritual and godly journey.
Coming out of 2020 and COVID, Waller says she sees peace in her com- munity of women in the program. The ability to walk with clarity and use your intuition (Holy Spirit) provides that peace.
Waller also speaks about joy and pleasure. Black women have the repu- tation as the backbone of the Black community. While this is often true, Waller says that instead of doing what society expects you to do, you should do what God wants you to do.
God wants us to live in joy and Waller wants to help Black women get there.
Waller hosts classes on Facebook and hosts Renew retreats for women looking to manifest through God. The retreats are a luxury travel experience for women.
She says the #1 thing that she wants women to know is that whatever you want or desire for yourself, you already have. The seed is inside of you. You just need to create the environment for it to grow.
Waller has developed a reading plan in the Bible app called Becoming Fully Committed by Erin Marie Waller. You can find it in the Bible app or at Bible.com.
Those interested in receiving the morning meditation texts can text (214) 319-8652 to be added.
Her podcast is #9 in Spirituality in the country and has over 17k downloads per month. Go here to listen or down- load:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/pod- cast/i-am-beautiful-wild-free-guided- affirmation-meditation/id1503070840.
To participate in Waller’s Wellness Worthiness challenge starting on Sep-
tember 1, 2021, in her Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups- /manifestherdaily.
In the future, she sees her wellness movement growing and sees herself be- coming New York Times bestselling author in her future by writing a guide to spiritual wellness. She has already published three books.
Waller has been featured on ABC News, Bloom TV, Essence, and numer- ous local media outlets.
Recently, Waller was invited to lead a program at the Wellness House at the Essence Music Festival. Waller shared a live miracle manifestation to the virtual audience.
Waller loves to travel, and is an ac- tive member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She and her husband have two children and live in the Tampa Bay area.
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