My Be Activated Journey began in 2015. I have since gone onto complete 3 more courses (L1/2’s), each one unique, learning so much about myself and others.
After leaving a fast-paced job in Finance and having three wonderful daughters I retrained as a PT in 2009. My work and clients were going from strength to strength, but there was always something missing. Little did I know at the time it was ‘Muscle activation” as it used to be called.
I will never forget the first Level 1 course. I had to leave home before 5,30am, get my three daughters ready for their day, and drive an hour and a half to the training centre in treacherous conditions. As you can imagine I did not breathe for the entire morning, so when it came to the ‘introductions’ I was a complete mess, and since found out
an exhausted zero.
Third in line, prepping nervously in my head, feeling sick, dry mouth, not listening to the other stories as too focused on ‘my’ turn. Doug’s immediate response to my intro was ‘boring’ and he made it very clear in front of a room full of strangers. I just wanted the ground to open and swallow me up and had even considered leaving during the first break.
It turned out that there was a good reason for Doug’s response and a hidden message for everyone, which we were all about to learn.
I was so overwhelmed by the other people in the room, telling myself they all had more experience, knowledge, and qualifications so where do I fit in? What can I possibly bring? I did not have any traumatic life-changing experiences so why was my story worth hearing? How wrong I was, and quickly learnt that everyone has their own journey and experiences that have had an impact or effect on their lives regardless of its content.
From that ‘Doug” moment, I learnt to breathe, squeeze, believe, and look after the star. To not assume or overthink, sit back, look at the body, listen to the full story, and most importantly for me personally to lose the ego. Do not focus on others, their looks, knowledge, and academic qualifications as all is irrelevant to the process and life. Instead, let the body talk for itself, go with your gut feel, believe in you, your touch and if you follow the sequence, enjoy watching the story unfold in front of you, allowing natural changes to occur.
It is not about pleasing or impressing anyone, it is about facilitating a change and shift that our amazing bodies are capable of. Do not interrupt someone’s moment by offering a tissue, a hug, or asking how they feel, but instead let them go through their release and wait until the person is ready to share. They might not always want to share and that is OK too, remember it is not about ‘me ‘.
BA has truly changed my life, the way I work, my outlook, and I am learning to put the ‘star’ first, followed by the ‘circle’, and to keep ‘ATOF’ at bay. Surround me with people who ‘Zap not Sap’ and in some circumstances remove those people completely, including paying clients and some family too.
There is not a day that goes by I do not practice BA on me or others and absolutely loves the discovery process. It is very rarely the same and never seems to amaze how the body learns to create cheat patterns just to move.
I would be kidding myself if I thought that my self-doubt and self-worth does not raise its ugly head occasionally. BUT the difference now is that I have a set of tools to use. I think back to that ‘Doug moment’ have a quick rub of zone 1, breath (let out some big loud sighs), squeeze my butt, smile and do ‘my’ thing.
A massive thank you to Doug, the sequence, and the fabulous fellow ‘Be Activators” some of which have become part of my ‘circle’.
I Look forward to seeing old faces and new ones when we can all safely meet again. In the meantime, this is my story.