“I witnessed my mom taking her very last breath! It was such an amazing gift to see, but a difficult gift to receive. Time seemed to stop, my body numb, my life seemed motionless. Death had taken over outside. I found myself drowning in a sea of darkness, staring at an image, a reflection, unrecognizable, uncertain, without definition, purpose, or movement. But at the same time, life was still moving inside. I had a new life inside of me—a baby, developing, growing; clearly defined with purpose and intentional movement. An intense emotional struggle took place on the outside, yet there was a strong connection of image, truth, and life on the inside. As life ended for my mom, life was developing for my daughter, and beginning for me.”
In a single moment, I stood face-to-face with death on the outside, while carrying and experiencing life on the inside. I was caught at the precise point where the external and internal worlds collided. I knew I had a decision to make. I could keep my attention on the darkness and stillness of death on the outside or I could turn my attention to the brightness and movement of life on the inside. This was not a life defining moment, but a life-creating movement. My mom’s death breathed life into the birth of my business Balanced Body Reflections, the publishing of Coming Out of the Water: One HEART, the development of the Intentional Movement Coaching Series, H.I.T. Excellence and the Functional Core Training Programs, “t” Training® and Tiny “t” Training®
My Advice
This collision of life and death revealed this profound truth; that life doesn’t happen to us; it happens for us. It is all about intention; what we see, how we think, and how we move will directly impact the way we live.
Intentional Movement is not just about the physical work; it is about the internal deep core work, the HEART work. HEART work is the HARD work. Our heart, like my unborn child, is the “life” we carry inside of us. It needs more than just our attention; it needs our intention; our love, nurture, and support to not just survive, but to live.
Thank you Stacey for the powerful takeaways and the courage in your vulnerability in sharing! I appreciate the focus on allowing oneself or giving permission to experience the process of healing. That is so key! Thank you for your strength as I know your story touches many lives. God Bless you!
Thank you Laura! The process of healing, is exactly that, a process. I appreciate your encouraging words and for taking the time to hear my story. I love to share with others that their heart is their story—
Healing Energy Always Reflects Truth–my hope is that each person experience this Healing Energy–for it is HE that is the ART of our HEART!
Stacey, thank you for sharing your incredibly heartfelt story!
Losing a loved one is never easy, but they always would want us to move forward and persevere. You have done an amazing job of breathing new life into the world and helping others!
God’s blessings and thank you again for sharing!
Thank you Kate! I really appreciate your encouraging words and your understanding of the difficulty of losing a loved one! May we always learn the ways to step out of circumstance and into life!
Hi Stacey and Gary,
Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing. After listening I think about healing and awakening and the illusionary sense of separation from God that once you (I and likely many others) have created. The observation to identify what you have given mastery over in your life, i.e., the heart or the ego is to commit to the fullness of your energy. Focusing on dynamics, the relationship that holds value is love and surrendering to a desire for perfect peace is not a desire for passivity or inactivity but for more activity (e.g., fulfillment with your family).
Your story proves a point that “there is no one living a life, there is life.” Once we realize this we gain maturity of desire, intention and allowance and we can no longer resist being responsible for our experience. Humility and discipline hold value here so that our internal conflicts are healed and settled. The idea is that for separation to have occurred (or to be created), we identify with a voice that led us to believe that our creations create our identities rather than the wave we call our identity is anchored to the depth of the same ocean. Once this perspective shift happens we can drop the shackles to the presence of love and remember what we are truly here for. The takeaway for me, listening to your story, is that we can be fully committed to happiness as we have been fully committed to unhappiness, limitation and lack. I appreciate your advice to be intentional about experiencing the process of healing our separation from God – the recognition that you do not live life at all, but rather that life is living you. To be vigilant, we must listen for the echo of an old habit (watch for possible danger or difficulties) and practice non-attachment to a passing cloud so that we can know our life differently.
Gary, I appreciate what you are doing with Check Your Game, I realize now the principle that desire is the thread that links us here.
Thank you Jessica for your words! I loved reading your thoughts! It is always such a blessing to hear and see another’s perspective on such a personal “piece” of my story.
Stories are SO powerful and Gary has captured this incredible energy in Check Your Game!!
May we all continue to shine in our greatness as we share the stories that are closest to our hearts!
Stacey, thank you for sharing your painful memories of losing your mom. It reminds me of the time when I lost my mom, whom I was her caregiver. Your ability to experience all feelings during your mourning and moving on positively into your future is admirable. God bless you.
Hi Sara! Thank you for taking the time to listen/read my story! It is great to have things in common, but I wish losing our mom’s wasn’t it! The grief runs deep, but it holds special treasures too.
It has taken me along time to understand this. I look forward to learning more about you and your journey!
This is so beautiful Stacey. Life is for us…. what a compelling thought. Life is a series of profound losses…and those tears are what happen when language is not adequate. Seeing those tears as teachers and speakers is just a wonderful, unique thing. “Experience the process” — intentional movement. This is something I need to learn more about…
Stacey, thank-you for sharing a bit of your story! It’s not easy to lose a loved one, especially your Mom, but you took this moment to dig down and find the positive. Not only did you see how you had a breathing new life in your body that was in you, but also you had another life that was growing in the case with your business. After getting to know you even more Stacey, I see that you have a really good “HEART” and one that cares about others, wants to encourage others and wants the best for others. I can’t wait to see what the good Lord is going to do with your business, your books and how He’s using you to be the LIGHT and to be LIFE for others when they are experiencing “the last breaths” in areas of their lives that need resuscitated. Thanks again for sharing your story and being transparent in our conversation. Always let me know if there’s anything I can do to be of help to you.