About
My life
Books →Cal→Chemical Engineering→Research Engineer→mom→Portrait Photography→Singapore→Health Coach/Personal Trainer
Running→Gym→More running→Different Gym→More Running→Broken Foot→Walking→Singapore coaches→Racewalking
Stuck on a mountain in India
We moved to Singapore in early 2012. It is a land of growth mindset, going from third world to first in about 30 years. Many diverse cultures are represented there, like the space bar in Star Wars. When we landed, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be, so I headed out to the territory ahead to see. We all have had moments when a choice dramatically impacts the course of our life, Robert Frost wrote a poem about this. A close call on a mountain in Agra, a remote village (electricity 4 hours/day) in India changed my life forever.
My 23 year old daughter and I embarked on a road trip in Northern India. One day, Narendra, the guide, and I set off from Agra, through the bushes and rocks, hopping boulders across a stream—we’re getting to the trail, right? No trail—sort of a beaten track, then straight up a mountain of scree, gnarly, slippery gravel. I’ve done a fair amount of climbing, you avoid scree, it’s treacherous. There I was, in the 90°F heat, slipping and sliding my way up a talus slope behind Narendra in remote India. Not willing to admit failure, I thought to myself, I’m tough, I can do this. We continued for what seemed like forever, about ⅔ of the way up. I looked down, YIKES!
Time for a halt, going down is way worse than going up. I sat on a rock, pondering my choices. Visions of the helicopter scene from Babel, the 2006 film where a woman is airlifted out of Morocco, filled my head. Could I do this? Was it worth it? I just couldn’t ask for help, from a man, LOL. I considered my situation: my balance just wasn’t as good as I thought it was, I really didn’t want to lie, injured, on that hill waiting for the helicopter, did I? Would I do that hike in the USA? No way! What was I thinking? I was stuck! I swallowed my pride and told Narender. An accomplished mountaineer, and a gentleman, he very nicely helped me down. The next day, as we drove through the expanse of rocks on the way to Leigh, I thanked my HP for keeping me from signing up for the rock trek across the Indian moonscape, it had looked exciting.
When we returned to Singapore I was determined to take action. Coaches abound in Singapore, as everyone wants to grow and change. It’s the national pastime. For the first time in my life I hired a coach for myself. Eric, an enigmatic, sumo wrestler pilates instructor, coached me on my balance, “engage the abs ma’m”. The results were so amazing, I hired a tennis and fitness coach. I went from okay to fabulous in months.
After spending hours traveling, hiking and playing tennis in the equatorial sun, I got a little sick, skin lupus, an autoimmune disease, so back to the USA. Did conventional medicine fix it? No, but I did by eliminating poisons, mental, pharmaceutical, food, bad sleep, clutter, everything I could control and… I hired a coach, Shelly-Anne McKay. The Lupus markers resolved and I changed.
Now I’m an Adapt Certified Functional Health Coach and NASM Personal Trainer (pending).
