Dr. Kim

Why Arizona or Building Faith

I am often asked why I moved to Arizona. I usually tell people, it was because of school. That is partially true but here is the rest of the story. The last several years have been crazily hard. I expected the divorce to be hard yet I hadn’t anticipated everything that happened. It was definitely a test, not only of my faith and spirituality, but also of my emotional health and physical well being.

A couple of years ago, almost a year and a half into my separation, I went on a little overnight trip to Manti with my mom and sisters. It was good to get away and have some fun. It was during a really hard time when my older kids were unhappy with me and I was hardly seeing them. My ex husband was doing everything he could to stall the divorce. I was struggling, grieving my loss, feeling very burdened and sad.

The last night of our trip I had a terrible dream where I was in a car that went out of control. It went off the road and was crashing down a hill through the trees and shrubbery, eventually crashing into a big tree. The final crash killed me and then I woke up. It was incredibly disturbing. I had never died in a dream before. I didn’t even think that was possible. Don’t you always wake up just before then and realize it was just a dream? I told my sisters about the dream, asking for interpretation. Googling for a dream interpreter and what it might mean they all said the same thing. It meant a rebirth or starting a new story. That made sense to me but it was still disturbing. I didn’t want to die, or start over.

As we all packed up and headed to the Manti temple for our last day. I was so overwhelmed. I had so many things on my mind that needed answers. Was I handling the divorce right? How do I do a better job helping my children with this? What should I do about work and the stress of my new work assignment? What was the dream telling me? I decided I would just ask my Father in Heaven what’s the most important thing for me to focus on right now. What is my highest priority? As I sat in the temple and prayed for guidance, a quiet voice clearly told me to go back to school and move to Arizona. I instantly wanted to argue and question the guidance. While I love school and I knew it was part of my future, someday, it wasn’t right then. It was the furthest thing from my mind and moving wasn’t on my radar at all. Yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was what I had to do. I came out of the temple and told my sis, “I have to go back to school and move to Arizona. She said are you sure? “No!”, I said. “I’m sure about school but the move part doesn’t sound right”. I had lived all my life in Salt Lake City. I love the mountains, being outdoors and the seasons. I never thought I would leave Salt Lake. Yet I couldn’t deny the guidance I had been given.

There were so many obstacles to following this prompting. I was in the middle of a divorce and couldn’t responsibly pick up and leave. My children, grandchildren, parents, brothers and sisters, friends, essentially my entire support system were all in Utah! Yet one of the things I had been keenly tuned into since I had taken out my endowments, only a couple of years earlier, was learning how to have faith, trust my Heavenly Father, and act on promptings. I had denied this for so many years in my life that it took a lot of courage to trust and act when given guidance by the Holy Ghost. I was relearning that taking action is the only way to grow in faith and build my spiritual confidence.

So I came home from that trip and started looking for doctoral programs I could start online. I found a program that perfectly aligned with my desires and background at Arizona State University. I added applying for the doctoral program to my already overwhelming list. I was accepted. Yet it had never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be accepted. Later, I found out it is hard to find an online accredited doctoral program and be accepted. I had planned to start in spring of 2020, thinking by then my divorce would surely be finished. I also started researching jobs that were remote or Arizona based with my current company. Unfortunately, all of them would have been at a lower grade and not aligned with my skills or interests.

For years I had been preparing for my dream retirement job. I was taking courses to become a coach and EFT (emotional freedom technique) practitioner. Yet this kind of change would mean starting over from a financial perspective and with the pending divorce I had no idea what my financial future would look like. I didn’t know how I would move, start a new career, and financially take care of myself after the divorce. At the same time I was struggling with work and all the required travel. I eventually had to take a six week leave from work. The emotional and physical demands were too much. During this time I prayed over and over often thinking I must have gotten this all wrong. But I was consistently told this was the thing to do. As I continued to move forward and act with faith I was watched over. Little-by-little I was getting the help I needed. I was offered a new role when I came back to work with less stress and no travel. Meanwhile the divorce continued to stall.

One day as I was pouring my heart out to my parents, my Dad said why don’t you retire so you can start your coaching business. It was like he had handed me a gift. Just like that, he had lifted the burden of my self-doubt, I had been carrying for so long, off my shoulders. It showed he had confidence in me and my ability, and it was reassurance that I deserved to go after my dreams. I also knew God had confidence in me, so the day I turned 55, I announced my retirement. In February of 2020 I retired and started my coaching business full time. The pandemic hit and I was able to stay home, go to school, and coach. Yet all the while I was wondering how I would get to Arizona. If I would even like it there. Because of the pandemic I couldn’t travel to check out the area or explore.

My Ex was unhappy I had retired and filed an order to try and get me to go back to work, threatening I was destroying marital assets. Thankfully the judge found no grounds for that and dismissed it. But he continued to fight for more money while at the same time delaying every court date. I began wondering if I would ever be divorced and decided I had better plan to go to Arizona divorced or not. Yet I was still hoping our next court negotiation in November would finalize the divorce. However another delay was filed and it went into December. The December negotiation failed and as a new court date grew near, I grew more and more stressed. Again I found myself completely broken and ultimately decided no amount of money was worth my mental health. So I had my lawyer write a proposal giving my Ex what he wanted in hopes to settle out of court. Perhaps that’s what my Heavenly Father was waiting for. Ultimately, letting go of my ego and humbly recognizing that no amount of money should get in the way of the guidance and direction I had been given, the divorce was settled. Finally on Dec 23rd, exactly 38 years from the day I was engaged to be married, I received my divorce decree and on January 1st, 2021 I signed a lease for a condo in Scottsdale. A new beginning.

Arizona already feels very much like home. It seems every day I am here I experience a small tender mercy that reassures me my Heavenly Father is still watching over me and I am following God’s plan for me. Do I still have doubts? Yes. In Fact just the other day I was struggling with self-doubt and as I prayed and turned to my scriptures I was taken to Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost”.

I am filled with hope and steeped in His love as I continue to have faith that he will guide and direct me on this new journey. I am in God’s hands, learning to turn my will over to him and trust more. Energized by the knowledge God is watching over me, I gratefully and humbly coach to inspire others to embrace their power, grow their spiritual confidence and achieve their dreams.

Love Always,

Kim

Free from Worry

Well worrying is a fact of life. If we are pushing ourselves to grow and do new things there will always be things to worry about. However, sometimes worry can cause us to get stuck, or repeat unhealthy patterns we would like to eliminate. There are ways to help us manage and move through our worries in a better way.

Last December I held a workshop on worry and provided some tools and tips on how to work through worry and ease some of the discomfort. Recently I updated the handout and saved off the sections where we did a guided meditation and some tapping so you can listen to them without loading the entire workshop. This workshop just scratches the surface of things we can do to help ease our worries but in an effort to reduce all the worry in the world today, I wanted to share this with you.

A couple of notes: I chose to only share the audio to better protect the privacy of the attendees. Since it was a zoom workshop and we were all online I didn’t do a great job of stating each point we were tapping on. So if you are new to tapping I recommend having the diagram in the handout handy and moving through the points on the diagram as you tap, for the times when I am not stating the points.

I hope you find this valuable and share it with those who might need some extra support in managing their worries.

Much Love, Kim

Worry Workshop Handout Download

Complete Worry Workshop

Tapping Away Worry

Guided Meditation on Worry

Worry Sneak Away

For more resources check out my Become Triumphant Page

What in the world is EFT?

EFT stands for emotional freedom technique. It is a powerful tool and so simple. EFT uses elements of cognitive psychology and oriental medicine. The simple definition is, it is an emotional or psychological version of acupressure. There are over 300 evidence based studies (as of January 2023), proving the benefits and efficacy of EFT as a way to address issues like anxiety, depression, stress, weight loss, money issues, phobias, PTSD, and more. NOTE: In evidence based studies a repeatable process must be used. This is what is called “Clinical EFT”. Because EFT is so easy to use and flexible, often times you will see variation in tapping points and styles on the internet or YouTube. In order to have evidence based studies, clinical EFT is used during research in order to ensure a consistent, repeatable technique was used to validate the efficacy of the results. I have listed examples of evidence based studies below.

Tapping or EFT has changed my life! EFT is powerful because you can use it yourself as well as with a practitioner. I continue to use it every day along with many other techniques and tools I use for myself and with clients.

A movie was produced illustrating the science behind EFT. Watch the trailer posted at the top of the blog and message me if you would like to know more or get access to the whole movie. I have also posted an older video I use with new clients to give them some background before our first session and a visual of the tapping points.

Bach, D., Groesbeck, G., Stapleton, P., Sims, R., Katharina, B., & Dawson, C. (2019). Clinical EFT (emotional freedom techniques) improves multiple physiological markers of health. Journal of Evidence – Based Integrative Medicine, 24 doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2515690X18823691
Clond, M. P. (2016). emotional freedom techniques for anxiety; a systematic review with meta-analysis. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 388-395.
Nelms, J. A., & Castel, L. (2016). A systematic review and Meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized trials of clinical emotion freedom techniques (EFT) for the Treatment of depression. Explore, 12(6), 416-426. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2016.08.001
Sebastian, B. M., & Nelms, J. P. (2017). the effectiveness of emotional freedom techniques in the treatment posttraumatic stress disorder: a meta-analysis. EXPLORE, 10.

Much Love,

Dr. Kim

Using Invisible Counselors

I have had some amazing experiences with clients when walking them through guided meditations. I use a meditation during a session if I think the client needs to move into a more relaxed state and open their mind to additional options or considerations. I also use it at the end of a session to ensure the client is feeling relaxed and peaceful.

One of my favorite meditations is designed to help a client resolve troubles or find solutions to challenges. When I am in a coaching session, I modify the meditation based on what they are working on, but I have also done group meditations using a more general approach and have had some fantastic outcomes. I would love for you to have a similar experience, so I am sharing the meditation for you to download.

There are a lot of meditations out on YouTube or the internet and I have downloaded and enjoyed many of them. I often wonder about the descriptions and guidance given and if there is significant meaning or methods in the guidance. I thought it might be helpful to provide some the of background and science around this meditation and my approach.

First, I use physiological techniques to cue the brain and body. The cues trigger a physiological response inducing relaxation and helps to put the body in an alpha state and relax the autonomic nervous system. This is important because to resolve issues or receive guidance you don’t want to be limited by your conscious mind. So, I have to get the body in a higher state of consciousness. This is a very different place than when you are reacting from your limited, small, conditioned, conscious mind. Some of these cues are “relaxing the tongue on the floor of the mouth”. This always calms the body. Check right now to see where your tongue is or any time you are feeling tense. By letting your tongue rest loosely on the floor of your mouth you are sending a signal to your body that there is no external threat. I also slow the breathing down. This often helps to put your autonomic system into a more relaxed state, calming the body and the mind.

Once you are in a state of higher consciousness, I bring in a counselor. I attribute this technique to Napolean Hill. In his book, Think and Grow Rich, he discusses bringing in his counselors. I love the idea of being able to create a board of counselors to help me with all my big decisions. This meditation brings in a primary counselor and any support beings you feel necessary. When you are in a relaxed state of higher consciousness you are more creative and open minded. I am constantly amazed at the creativity and the wisdom of my clients and the type of counselors they envision.

During the meditation it is also critical to make sure the client is in a safe space. Often times clients don’t have a real safe space. During the meditation it is critical to feel safe because any perceived threat prevents you from staying in a relaxed state. I also engage all 5 of your senses. This helps to access deeper parts of the brain and equip us to not only access memories from the hippocampus, but this also helps us retain what we learn during the meditation in our long-term memory.

Finally, this meditation has you work with what is troubling you. We pull the troubles out of our body in order to distance you from your troubles and to acknowledge you are not your troubles or your disease. Often, clients want to get rid of their troubles, however, hard times and troubles are still a part of you. We don’t want to label a part of ourselves as wrong or bad or ugly. Your troubles exist because in some way they are trying to protect you or help you from a perceived threat. This meditation is designed to integrate and transition those troubles into a gift because they are gifts of knowledge and learning. This is an important part of your healing journey. We want to process troubles and transition them into something more positive.

I hope you enjoy this meditation.

Much love,

Kim

Bucket Lists and God

Do you have a bucket list? I have multiple vision boards, an audio vision board, and a digital vision board but I had never really sat down to make a bucket list until this year. As I began making the list it brought up a lot of emotion for me. I realized I was starting to feel hopeful again. Just making the list inspired me to dream and allow myself to consider I might actually get to do some of these things. It was a great activity and super fun just to brainstorm all the exciting things I would like to do and achieve. Many of them were things like visiting far off places, learning about new cultures, finishing my book, singing a whole song on key, learning to fly fish, the usual kind of bucket list items. Soon after I made my bucket list along came COVID-19. It hasn’t dashed my hopes, but it definitely meant some of my travels would be delayed and that’s where God comes in.

My sweet kids gave me a journal making kit, for Mother’s Day. They know I love to journal and when I finished it, I knew this one was extra special and needed a special assignment. So, it’s my “I see the lord’s hand in…” journal. What does that have to do with my bucket list? Well one of the items on my bucket list was to go to a sunflower farm. I love sunflowers. It is like they somehow call to me. Since I have learned they actually recorded sunflowers making a melodic song, maybe they actually do call to me. That love is why visiting a sunflower farm was on my bucket list. I figured this meant traveling to the Midwest, or Italy, or Spain. With COVID-19 and many other things in my life in a state of unrest this item seemed far off.

But our Heavenly Father is always watching over us and today in my special journal I wrote about how he brought the sunflowers to me. Because of COVID-19 a little farm in the Wasatch Valley, CrossERanch, decided to plant 14 acres of sunflowers. Saturday, I got to wander through rows and rows of those beautiful sunshine faces in all shapes, sizes, and colors. It truly filled my heart with sunshine, happiness and optimism as I acknowledged God’s hand in my life. The symbolism was not lost on me. Sunflowers put themselves in position to directly receive the sun’s rays and are often thought to represent faith and loyalty in something bigger and brighter than themselves. He sees us, He knows us, He is watching over us, and He loves us. Where do you see God’s hand in your life?

Much Love,

Kim

Is it time to start kedging?

Do you have a big goal, yet you just haven’t been able to get any traction? I do. I need to improve my health and fitness. Gradually over the last few months I have been increasing my activity and thanks to finding B3 Bands I have been able to increase my activity significantly. But it hasn’t been enough, so I decided it is time to start kedging.

What is kedging? It is a technique used when you are sailing to help move the boat against a strong tide. Years ago, when ships didn’t have engines and they were trying to get to shore, if the wind wasn’t cooperating and the tide was strong, they couldn’t get there. Doesn’t that feel like our lives sometimes? We are trying so hard, but it seems like things keep coming up to block us or slow us down?

To fix this the captain would put a light anchor, called a kedge, on a boat. A bunch of strapping young men would row the boat out 600 feet or so and drop the anchor. Next the crew would pull like deamons to haul the ship to the anchor and then they would do it again until they got to shore. It sounds like a lot of work but may be the only way to overcome strong winds or a tide to get you to the shore.

My version of kedging was adding additional coaching to get me back on track. First, I worked with my Emotional Freedom Technique coach to eliminate any core beliefs, entrenched stories and/or secondary gains I might be struggling with related to weight, health, and fitness. A secondary gain is when there may be unconscious benefits to keeping the weight on. An example of a secondary gain is when someone is sick and getting disability checks, if they get well, they will lose their income. Another example would be if someone starts achieving their goals, they may have a fear their spouse will leave them. So, in other words you have an unconscious benefit to staying the way you are. A core belief is when you have a deep seeded belief about yourself that prevents you from achieving goals. Examples of core beliefs are I don’t deserve this, or I am not good enough, etc. And a story is basically the story you have been telling yourself about who you are.

Working with my coach was huge. I had some amazing breakthroughs. I coupled this with attending the Tony Robbins Virtual Unleash the Power Within workshop which was four 12-hour immersive days of working on changing the stories you have been telling yourself.

Normally when this is a live session one of the evenings you walk on coals. But of course, virtually this wouldn’t be safe so instead they sent us all a board. The goal was to break the board with our bare hand, showing us how much power, we have in overcoming our fears. So, as part of the exercise I wrote my fear on the top of the board and then on the other side I wrote who and what I would be without that fear. Breaking the board was a metaphor for breaking through my fear to the other side. I recorded breaking through the board. I decided to be vulnerable and share it with you. Every time I listen to it, I smile at myself and my 10-year-old giddy little girl laughter. By the way I was at home alone with my dog Ellie when I did this. So, she is the one I celebrated with.

The point is sometimes we need to do a little kedging to get us back on track. Kedging for you may be signing up for an adventure trip you need to get in shape for, agreeing to give a presentation you don’t feel quite ready for, hiring a coach to keep you accountable, signing up for a workshop, or making a pitch to an investor forcing you to define your business.

How am I doing on my fitness goal? I am 6 days in to my 10-day detox and feeling awesome. Take a look at your goals and if you are feeling stuck or things out of your control like COVID-19 are getting in your way, maybe it’s time to start Kedging.

Love Always,

Kim

Excited about Exercise and B3

Learn the New Way I Exercise from Home and Boost my Immune System,

I can’t tell you how excited I am about my bands. BFR has been around for ages but these are the only bands that are safe, waterproof, convenient and comfortable. I still have a long way to go but I am already feeling the benefits of using my B3 Bands. I have reduced my arthritis medication, I have less pain, I feel stronger and I can finally do some light jogging again. Exercising in the outdoors is one of my primary ways to reduce stress and I am so thankful I can do more now. As I learn more about the benefits of the bands I get more and more excited.

B3 Bands may be the solution for everyone from 8-90 years old, to get health boosting exercise even right from home.

Everyone understands the benefits of exercise . . . but do they also know vigorous exercise for 45 minutes can boost your immune systems ‘natural killer cells’ by up to 10 times?

Imagine doing a 10 minute light exercise session at home with no equipment or weights and getting the benefit of 45 minutes of vigorous exercise
Imagine going for a 10 minute walk and getting the benefit of 45 minutes of vigorous exercise
Imagine exercising from work in 10 minutes and not even changing your clothes and getting the benefit of 45 minutes of vigorous exercise

On June 26, Dr. Mike did a presentation on B3 Bands and the benefit to your Immune System with light exercise, you can watch it now online: Recorded Presentation

Scientific Proof: Science proves that 45 minutes of vigorous exercise boosts your immune system. Read this study

If you want to fast forward to the summary: ‘during exercise, the number of some immune cells in the bloodstream can increase dramatically by up to 10 times, especially ‘natural killer cells‘ which deal with infections’

Proof on BFR: Science proves light exercise with BFR creates the same benefits to your Immune: Read this study on BFR

If you want to fast forward to the summary: ‘the recent literature has pointed out that metabolic stimuli (induced by resistance training plus BFR) such as hypoxia and metabolic overload (H+, Pi, lactate accumulation) are also potential activators of IL-6, macrophages and neutrophils‘ and ‘ BFR exercises, although characterized as low force exercises, are effective not only to increase the MPS response, but also the multitude of immune cell responses that accompanies muscle hypertrophy’

If you are ready to exercise the new way and boost your immune system, contact me and I can help you order your B3 Bands or go right to my web page to learn more or place your order!

Questions?

Contact KimCobler@gmail.com

All of us need to focus on improving our emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Exercise can helps us thrive in all three areas.

Much Love, Kim

What Are You?

I was recently marked down a half a point on a paper I wrote for graduate school. The paper was focused around self-critiquing your leadership style based on the many tools available, to determine our communication style, behavior traits and motivators. I focused on the Enneagram, Myers Briggs, DISC, and Gallup’s CliftonStrengths. Have any of you taken any of these?

Just to get the mystery out of the way “What am I?” My Enneagram is a 9 -The Peacemaker, a 2- The Helper, and 3- The Achiever (The Enneagram Institute, 2020). My Myer’s Briggs is an INFJ-A which is an assertive advocate with a role of diplomat (16 Personalities, 2020). In Gallup’s CliftonStrengths my top five strengths are learner, belief, focus, achiever and relator (Gallup, 2020). In DISC, I am supportive and persuasive (discprofile, 2020).

What does all this mean? Well the achiever in me wasn’t happy about the .5 markdown on my paper. The learner and the peacemaker caused me to pause and consider the professors feedback which was “would have liked to see more plan on improving weaknesses”. The peacemaker/supporter/belief in me was distraught by the fact I didn’t do something I should have. The persuader/coach in me is why I am writing this blog.

After years of taking multiple tests like these I have a lot of opinions about these tests that I didn’t share in my paper. One of the tenet’s in my coaching principles is – Tell yourself the truth. I think these types of tests are a great way to give you clues and insights as to how we interact and are perceived by others. But here is my bottom line. We should all be taking in input and owning who we are, why we do the things we do and what we do. For years I wanted red, more dominating, extroverted, competitive type traits to show up in my tests. Let’s face it in corporate America those things are rewarded with promotions and recognition. But I had to face it. That ISN’T WHO I AM.

I don’t believe in fixing my weaknesses I believe in becoming a better version of myself. Self-improvement, helping others, pushing myself to become a better version of me is in my DNA and part of me to the core (that’s my belief showing up). So much so that I probably didn’t detail it out enough in my paper because it’s obvious to me. Ha, that is a weakness! Communication is at the bottom of my list in Gallup’s CliftonStrengths. So is Woo and Competition. Well what do I do about that? I work on being more self-aware and mindful. I work on healing because the more I heal the more I eliminate limiting beliefs like I am not good enough. I assess my strengths and recognize that those strengths may also be my kryptonite. For example, being selfless may also mean I put up with crap way longer than I should, it may cause me to appear weak to others when in reality I have the internal strength of Thor. Being a supporter may mean I won’t be a CEO in corporate America, but it does mean they want me as part of their team, and it makes me an amazing coach.

So, if you take the Enneagram, which is quite popular right now, or any of the other tests. Think twice before you decide you need to fix something. Sit in some discomfort and be willing to own what it is telling you. Then decide to do something about it to bring you closer to why you are here on earth and what you are being called to do. Learn to leverage what is good, learn to value and honor what others are, but most importantly learn to value who you are!

I use my strengths every day to push myself out of my comfort zone and pioneer new things. I work to recognize my weaknesses so that I can find a way to offset them and support me in becoming a better person and achieve my life’s dreams and goals. I am happy with who I am and who I am becoming, not because I fixed my weaknesses but because I chose to own them!

References

16 Personalities. (2020). 16Personalities profile. Retrieved from 16Personalities: https://www.16personalities.com/

discprofile. (2020). Retrieved from DISC overview: https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/overview/

Gallup. (2020). Gallup. Retrieved from CliftonStrengths: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/253868/popular-cliftonstrengths-assessment-products.aspx

The Enneagram Institute. (2020). The Enneagram Institute testing center. Retrieved from The Enneagram Institute: https://tests.enneagraminstitute.com/

My last, not final triathlon!

I ran my last triathlon almost two years ago. It was in the top 5 most challenging eras of my life. I had recently separated from my husband and requested no contact, so I could focus on getting the healing time I needed. My adult children were unhappy and barely talking to me. My youngest son was still in high school and really struggling. I was leading a team of 35 people through an organizational transformation. It was highly dependent on technology from a different team and it was significantly behind schedule. This was causing my team incredible amounts of stress and anxiety. My team was very unhappy, and morale was low. I was working anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day and traveling to NY for two weeks then home a week then NY for two weeks, etc. My house was in various states of disrepair with a leaky roof, unfinished rooms, a barely working heater and no air conditioning.

So, I did what I had always done. Kept smiling on the outside, decided I could gut my way through anything, and tried to manage my stress by working out. I started training for a sprint triathlon. I bought a bike in NY and stored it at the office. I found a hotel close to a park and next door to a rec center with a pool. My coach at home gave me virtual workouts and tracked my progress through my Garmin results. Then she adjusted my workouts based on how I was doing.

I met with a therapist when at home and checked in via phone while I was traveling. I did my best to continue letting my kids know I loved them, no matter what! I worked tirelessly with my youngest to help him deal with his anger, stress, and anxiety. I worked hard and trained hard. Finally, the day came for my sprint triathlon. I wanted it to be a statement. Proof that I could do anything I put my mind to. A message to myself and others of victory. A story of triumph.

I was nervous that morning. While I knew I had given my training everything I had to give, I wondered if it was enough. I worried that most of my training was at sea level and we were at high elevation. Honestly, I knew I was tired. I wasn’t worried about the swim. I am not thin, so I have plenty of buoyancy. I love the water and the race was in a lake. I love open water swimming. The race started and I moved with the crowd into the water and started the swim. After several strokes and what felt like constant people running into me, I started to feel like I was swimming in quicksand. I didn’t grasp what was happening until someone stopped and asked me if I was OK. I looked around and realized I had hardly moved at all. I was one of the last swimmers. My heart was racing, and I thought to myself, “I am having a panic attack”. I worked to relax and get myself in a rhythm, thinking about how good the water felt and what a beautiful day it was, to calm myself down. I turned onto my back, but I don’t like the backstroke. I much prefer the crawl it is more relaxing, so I just tried to swim slow and breathe relaxed. Finally, the swim was done, and I was walking out of the water. The swim had taken almost twice as long as the last time I had done this triathlon. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make up that kind of time.

My mindset changed from getting a PR to finishing strong with the best bike and run I could muster. I got my bike and pushed hard through the 12 miles, changed over to the run and worked as hard as I could to get through. I was one of the last ones finished. I was tenth in my age group (not many 53-year-old females) and it took me 2 hours and 50 minutes. I was so disappointed. I tried to find comfort in the fact I had finished. But I was disheartened and exhausted. The 60-minute drive home was so lonely and long. I paid a huge price for pushing myself that hard. I ultimately ended up having to take a six week leave from work and had trouble doing any kind of exercise for several months.

Finally, I was able to start walking again. But every time I would try to jog my joints and muscles would scream out in pain. I couldn’t go fast enough to get my heart rate up. I hired a personal trainer and we worked for three months on trying to build my strength to try and compensate for the pain in my back and knees, but I hardly made any progress at all. With all the stress and inactivity, I gained weight and the increased weight just made everything harder. I was starting to feel like there was no hope. Then a dear friend introduced me to B3 bands. I was skeptical for sure! But I started using them. I have only been using them for three weeks and for the first time in almost two years I was able to slowly jog almost two miles. I was elated. I finally feel some hope again.

“The B3 Bands are based on a scientific discovery in exercise that uses BFR (Blood Flow Resistance). While doing light exercise with the B3 Bands on my arms or legs, the blood exiting out of the venous system back to the heart is slowed down. This reduction in blood flow while doing exercises causes the muscle to fatigue quicker. When a muscle fatigues, a signal is sent to the brain which results in a surging hormone release. These hormones then send a signal back to the muscles to stimulate them to adapt. This hormone release has many other anti-aging and rejuvenating effects on the Body.” Dr. Mike DeBord

I wanted to wait and share this information with you after I had started losing weight and was able to run further but I am so happy about getting stronger that I can’t keep quiet! I feel so blessed to have been given this new tool. If you want to learn more about B3 bands or try them out, please message me or checkout my website – B3 Bands. I am looking forward to keeping you posted on how I am doing and have my sights set on doing an Olympic triathlon once again!!

Sometimes things don’t turn out as planned but there is always a lesson that eventually will become a gift to get you through the next big thing and help you on your journey going forward. You may have to take a different route but never give up.

Much Love,

Kim

What’s In a Name!

My Company Name, Courage To Emerge Triumphant, is a bit clunky and awkward, it doesn’t work very well for branding or trying to use for business accounts, domain names, logos and such. But, for right now I am keeping it. I connect with it. If I have learned anything in life, it is stay true to what resonates with you and feels authentic. If someone asks me, where do you work, Courage To Emerge Triumphant is almost like one of those silly jokes where you can say “I know you are but where do you work?” Yet, who wouldn’t want to work for a company where there is Courage To Emerge Triumphant. Let’s break this down.

Courage is actually a medium vibration word. It can be positive but it also implies your going to have to do something hard. All kinds of things take courage. It took courage for me to train and run 5 marathons. The last one I trained all by myself with a knee injury so my long training runs took 6 and 7 hours. Maybe some would say that’s stupidity. I call it courage. The runner, John “The Penguin” Bingham, has one of my favorite quotes. “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

Courage is also speaking your truth, admitting to yourself your marriage is unhealthy and needs to end even when some of your grown children, church community, and friends disagree. Courage is retiring from your corporate job at age 55 and starting your own business doing what you feel you were called to do for as long as you can remember. Courage is choosing to be your authentic self regardless of what others think you should be. Courage is limiting time with people you love and care about but don’t support you in becoming a better version of yourself. You get it! Courage comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Moving on to Emerge.

Emerge is the word that inspires me to love butterflies. It’s a power word describing the action of coming out of the cocoon. I used to think if I could just Emerge! Like it was a one time event. I have since learned, a life well lived is a continuous process of emerging from an old form to a new and improved one. I recently read a quote, in Jim Kwik’s new book Limitless, “If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside.”

Have you ever watched baby chicks hatch? It is mesmerizing. The second I see the first little hole in the egg I am instantly turned into a cheerleader. I am willing that little chick to break out and desperately wanting to help, but know if I do it’s over. It all up to them just like in life. As a coach I can give people all the right tools and conditions, just like we give an egg a warm incubator safe from predators. But, in the end, it is ultimately up to us to break free. When that little chick Emerges from the shell and walks on those wobbly legs for the first time, I feel euphoric! Which brings me to the final word, Triumphant.

Triumphant is a very high vibe word. Triumphant isn’t a one time event either. Triumphant is when you cross the finish line. It’s looking out my window and savoring the joy in watching a hummingbird drink nectar from the feeder. It is making the difference in the life of others. It is standing up for what you believe in. It is standing up for yourself and saying NO to a bully at work, or in your home. Triumphant is sitting peacefully alone and truly knowing you are loved and enough. It’s inspiring others to become a better version of themselves.

That’s why my company name is Courage To Emerge Triumphant! It’s an awesome place to be!

Much Love,

Kim