TLDR The kids of the Downtown Eastside need your help. Boxing has the power to HEAL. I know because finding boxing saved my life. It means the world to me to give back and offer others the opportunity to find a safe space to reshape their lives through boxing too. Please support me in raising money for Eastside Boxing’s programs for at-risk women and youth. Thanks :)

“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow

Anyone who knows me well knows that I hate having my photo taken. I am a quite shy and private person. I don’t like putting myself out there or revealing my story and don’t allow very many people to get close to me. It’s just so much easier to stay within the confines of my protective bubble.

But I deeply believe that the ability to live a happy and fulfilled life only begins when we step beyond our comfort zone, so I am pushing past my personal barriers, reaching out asking for your support, even though doing so is extremely difficult for me.

Breaking out of my comfort zone is made easier by the fact that I have found something I am passionately behind. Finding yourself in a situation where your passion outweighs your fears doesn’t necessarily happen very often in life, so I’m seizing this opportunity to push forward. Knowing I am helping to accomplish a greater good while conquering my own fears helps carry me through. Two birds. One stone…

I’m extremely proud to announce I have signed up to compete in Restaurant Rumble 2018 to RAISE FUNDS for Eastside Boxing’s programs for at-risk women and youth.

Please HELP me reach my fund-raising goals and come watch me FIGHT (if I get a match-up) July 26th at   The Commodore Ballroom!

Many people think that boxing is about violence and aggression, but more than anything else, I have found that BOXING is about CONNECTION. Connection with yourself. Connection with others. And it is through connection that we become stronger happier individuals and a stronger happier community.

Human suffering is on constant display in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Individuals who have been exposed to violence, abuse, and neglect often cope with overwhelming feelings of sadness and anger by stifling their emotions. Pushing down our emotions allows us to cope in the moment but inevitably wreaks havoc on our health and well-being. The mind wanders but the body doesn’t forget.

When you are scared or frightened your body naturally stiffens. Whether you want to be or not, you are on guard against future attack. Scared and angry people live in scared and angry bodies. People who have experienced violence and abuse are trapped in tense and defensive bodies until they can find a way to relax and feel safe.

Drugs, alcohol, food, shopping, and constant ever-present media distract and allow us to hide but never escape. Left unchecked, the only time our ball of pent up emotions is released is when we hit a boiling point and explode, further perpetuating violence and abuse.

Supporting the youth programs at Eastside Boxing is a cause close to my heart because I know the transformative power of boxing first-hand. I began boxing just over 3 years when my nearly 20-year abusive relationship suddenly finally imploded and my whole life came crashing down around me.

Life with my ex had been bad for a long time, pretty much forever if I’m honest, but while I was in it, I just accepted life as it was, and that is how I expected it always to continue. Life was shitty, but shitty was comfortable. Comfortably numb.

When my ex ended our relationship, it was like a bomb had been dropped on my life. I was shell-shocked, and in the beginning, I was in so much pain from feeling betrayed that I could barely stand up. I was devastated and felt so much shame, “How could I allow this to happen to my life?”

But the same time, I also felt an overwhelming sense of freedom and gratitude for being given the chance to start my life over, and my will to build a better life is what brought me to boxing.

When I started boxing I didn’t know the first thing about it and wouldn’t say I was even particularly interested when I first walked into the gym. But the “sweet science” of boxing and the people that I met at the gym captured my heart and soul and I’ve never looked back.

A much as I love it, boxing has not come easy to me. When I started, I was not at all in my body, to the point that I barely knew my right from my left. I was terrible at it. I didn’t think of myself as an athlete or even having athletic ability for that matter and certainly wasn’t used to being coached. It had been over 25 years since I last participated in a sport and it showed in my ability to pick things up quickly.

But despite my limitations, I loved boxing anyway, and was determined to keep at it. I knew in my heart I had found exactly what I needed, and through boxing I have found the ability to reconnect with myself, connect with others, and begin to heal.

Those who have experienced trauma are unable to recover until they become in touch with how their feelings manifest in the body. Martial arts are an extremely effective tool for realizing body/mind connection. In an environment that feels safe, we can finally allow ourselves to process the negative emotions that have become trapped in our bodies and begin to release them. This is what boxing has done and continues to do for me and I am so grateful that I found it.

It can be very difficult for people who have experienced abuse to find a place that they feel safe enough to begin to unravel how deeply they have been wound up. Eastside Boxing (and boxing gyms and martial arts studios across Vancouver and around the world) offer up such a place.

Training boxing has transformed my life. Boxing means everything to me. I will box till I drop and the bonds I have made and continue to make through boxing help carry me through adversity.

There is so much suffering in this world and it can seem so overwhelming that it is easy to just throw up your hands and say nothing can be done, so it doesn’t matter if I try to help or not. But big problems can only be solved by breaking them down into smaller parts.

By supporting the boxing programs for at risk women and youth at Eastside Boxing you are helping to sustain a safe place where people, maybe for the first time in their lives, can find connection between body and mind, release negative energy in a healthy way, while learning to understand and manage their emotions, allowing them to build a healthy and happy life.

You are also offering those who often feel pushed down and alienated from society a place where they feel welcomed and respected, a place where they can build a community of support that will help carry them through life.

By doing these small things, we begin to break the seemingly unstoppable cycle of violence, abuse, addiction, and despair, creating a healthier happier future for all of us.

On my own journey, I still have a long way to go. I am still tense. I am still stiff. I still find it easier to tune out and push away and hide from my feelings than face them head-on. But I am also proud that I have made it this far and try to be grateful for even the smallest victories. I am a work in progress and will keep pushing forward. Anyone who has watched me spar knows that lol

It is so beautiful to wake up every day and know that while I may not always achieve what I want, I am working to give it my all.

I am and will be a fighter to the end.

Boxing has my heart and I feel like finding it saved my life. It means the world to me to give back and offer others the opportunity to find a safe place and reshape their lives through boxing too.

Please help support me in this.

ANYTHING you can offer means a great deal.

Tax receipts can be given for donations of $500+.

Thank you so much for your support :)