Shift Seminar at Dropgym Medford
Saying this past weekend at the Shift seminar at Dropgym Medord was life-changing would be a very dishonorable understatement. I can’t even begin to describe the weekend I just had in Oregon, and if you allow me to explain, I hope you keep following along.
For the past 20 years some of my titles included: Jiu Jiteira. Gym owner. Wife. Mom. It wasn’t until the past few years had I learned more about trauma healing, breathwork, regulating nervous systems, etc.
On June 28, my brother called me out on something he has been telling me for years, and proceeded to invite me to a Women’s seminar in Oregon. I asked him what kind. “The healing kind,” he said. Naturally, I hesitated. I don’t like traveling. I don’t like being away from my kids. I do love conferences and seminars, and as of late love learning more about anything and everything that would aid in my own healing from all my past traumas. It’s one thing to be a Christian, to believe in Jesus Christ and His saving grace. It’s another to finally take a deep dive to all the resources available to heal. I am a huge advocate of “God created us not to be alone or isolated and He wants us to build community.” I have been moving farther and farther away from the simple saying of “Just pray about it.” It takes more than that. MUCH more than that.
On June 29, I had a traumatic experience that would spin me into 2 months of questioning my self-confidence, my worth, my purpose in life, my position in the community, and then some. As if I hadn’t already struggled with all those already, it also happened on the day of what would have been my Grandmother’s 103rd birthday. I woke up that morning incredibly hopeful for the rest of the year, only to experience disappointment by someone I considered a friend. I felt lost. Again. Betrayed. AGAIN. “Why does this stuff keep happening to me?” I wondered.
Fast forward to September: I traveled to Oregon with very little expectations. I had no idea what I was doing, I didn’t spend too much researching the activities and schedule. I tried not to anticipate much, as that sometimes contributes to a lot of my anxiety for certain things. All I knew was that both my brother and sister-in-law had so many good things to say about Lu and Shan, and the great things that happen at their seminars.
I’ll try to make the following as simple and sweet, since my intro was a bit lengthy. ☺️I don’t want to explain every little thing that happened at Shift becaus when Lu and Shan say your experience will be unexplainable, they mean it. When they say it will be different from the person next to you, they mean it. When they say it will be life-changing: THEY MEAN IT.
I am so floored about the things I discovered about myself, my purpose, my healing journey and more during the 12 hours I was with these ladies. I say this often in my writing, but I don’t believe in coincidences. I will repeat it often, because I truly believe it. God’s timing in my life has been BEYOND PERFECT.
Here’s a few perfect timing stories:
I know it was God’s perfect timing that my brother booked a flight, accommodations, and my seminar the day before I essentially was let go (if you didn’t already know: surprise)! This led to me rethinking my future career choices, which has been far from pleasant.
We were all given “Battle Buddies” at Shift, and mine was PERFECT. She was the youngest in the group at 23-years-young. I’m so bummed that it didn’t occur to me after we had parted ways that I realized that I first started my journey with Stronghold at the age of 23. If I could have written a book to my 23-year-old self to read, I would have. I’m so grateful to Alex for trusting me with her heart this weekend. She is a beautiful,wise young lady, ready and open for healing, and I can’t wait to keep in touch.
The last activity we did at Shift was so healing and eye-opening. I won’t spoil it for you but all I will say is that it gave me 15 minutes to remind myself of the following: I am a trained fighter, I was CHOSEN for such a time as this, the devil is a LIAR.
The whole time I was Shift, my PR brain was already wondering what I could do to tell all the amazing ladies I know about the experience. How and what do I share to bring these ladies to feel this type of healing and empowerment? How do I tell friends that they should seriously pack their bags and fly to Medford, Oregon to participate in a seminar that will help you learn to breathe, to unpack emotional baggage, to learn how to heal, to become a better human being for the world?
I hope as the days go by, I will have more clarity on how to share my heart and how much these ladies helped me heal it this weekend. They are truly a blessing. Thank you Lu and Shan, for doing what you do, and for my brother Ray and sister-in-law Emmie for always caring for me the way you do.
Lastly, I would like to plug that Lu and Shan will be having their Engage Seminar on October 22-26. If it wasn’t going to be Michaela’s 15th birthday and my brother wasn’t already in San Diego that weekend, I would have bent over backwards to figure out how to go. If you have read this far though, I truly hope you can consider going, and I hope to see you at a future event!
