Greetings! If you read my March 31st email you know the pandemic led to me close my Portland practice and move to Michigan to be with family. It’s now been two whole months of not seeing clients. I miss my clients, Portland friends, and massaging bellies. However, Michigan has been keeping me pretty busy! I’ve been doing a lot of hiking, foraging, and learning new skills from those around me. I happen to be around people in law enforcement, outdoors people, retired military (Special Forces), and all-around resilient, resourceful folk.
So as you can imagine, I’m learning some pretty cool stuff:
- My big brother Jim taught me how to disarm a gunman. Yep, you read that right.
- Jim and Special Forces Marc (SFM) taught me how to drop an attacker to his knees leaving him crying out for his mama. Yep, the woman with the business name Nurturance is learning to kick ass. Don’t worry, I’ll only use these Green Beret skills for good.
- My 11-year-old niece, Sharpshooter Sidney, taught me some mad archery skills.
- My little brother, Shane the Pain, taught me how to surf fish, growing food, and we will be fermenting cherry wine together soon.
- My big brother Jim taught me how to fish for walleye on the channel and jump-start a battery.
- SFM gave me tips on fire and shelter building.
- SFM also taught me how to find edible bugs in case I run out of food. Mmmmm, grubs.
- I’ve been teaching myself how to forage for morels, ramps, and teaberries. Foraging gives me lots of time to squat, posterior push-off on all kinds of terrain, and do hamstring stretches. I’ve made some delicious ramp butter!
- I’m also learning how to garden while throat punching Michigan mosquitos.
- My sister-in-law taught me how to make a buck off stuff she finds on the side of the road. Seriously, she’s been doing quite well since being furloughed from her job.
- My 18-year-old niece, Kerah has some mad cooking skills. I can’t wait to see what she can do with grubs. I bet they will be good sauteed in ramp butter.
- My 14-year-old niece, Ava, AKA Little Assassin, (I call her ‘lil Ass for short. She just calls me Ass.) has taught me to laugh in the face of fear. …Except for when it comes to chipmunks. When it comes to chipmunks, you just scream and run like hell! Whatever you do, don’t make eye contact!
Basically, Ava and I have been in SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist, and Escape) Training for wimps. 🙂
‘Lil Ass had the brilliant idea of creating a membership site for those who would like to learn practical life skills alongside us. We’d cover self-defense, foraging, and basically how to be a bad-ass, less fragile, and more self-sufficient. The goal is to use our skills for good, to care for ourselves, loved ones, and those in need while learning from the wisdom of those around us and building a strong intergenerational community.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how important community is and how far we’ve gotten away from supportive community networks. And with the recent pandemic, how vulnerable we are in so many ways. In fact, it’s always been in the back of my mind since I was a young girl. I’m thrilled that my nieces are learning how to defend themselves at such a young age. It’s never too late. I already feel more confident and less fearful knowing what little I’ve learned in the past two months. I feel blessed to be around people with practical and varied skills. So, what do you think? Would you like us to record what we are learning so that you can learn with us?
Eventually, I’ll get back to doing abdominal therapy. I’ve been working on getting my LMT license in Michigan so that I’ll be ready to start seeing clients again when the state allows.
Oh yeah, I’m having a flash sale on my online courses.Â