Spring Growth

Many people ask me what I do in my spare time when I am not skiing.  Well, that is a weighted question these days with many ways to answer.  This spring has presented many changes, challenges and inspiration.  I have been incredibly busy with  a multitude of different endeavors, including starting up a new business, speaking to schools, taking my Yoga Teacher Training course, planning my Olympic cycle, gardening and spending time with family and friends.

    
My best friend and I had been plotting and scheming to open an artisan shop for about a year, so while I was on the World Cup tour I was working behind the scenes contacting artists, suppliers and preparing the business plan.  Any time off of the tour was spend grinding away at the renovations, learning bits and pieces of the trades like plumbing, drywalling, concrete refinishing and electrical work.  It was such a great project with the help of our very talented friends and family, and the finished product is better that we could have imagined.  We excitedly opened the doors to “One Earth Collection” on April 22nd and it has been well received in the community of Pemberton, offering a place to find local art, handmade goods and eco-minded gifts.

    
As an Olympic ambassador for the Act Now BC program, I traveled to nine schools throughout the province this spring, including schools in Summerland, Kelowna, Kamloops, Terrace, West Vancouver, Nelson and Windermere.  I corresponded via webcasts with all nine schools twice within the World Cup season, so it was amazing to be able to connect with them in person.  I shared with them some of my ski warm up routines, stretches, eating habits, focusing tips, how to overcome adversity, and how to develop meaningful goals and dreams.  To know that I can make a positive impact on so many kids means a lot.  It inspires me to keep going after my own life goals.

    
I fulfilled one of my big goals this spring, which was to take my Yoga Teacher Training Course with Eoin Finn.  Eoin has created Blissology Yoga, which integrates very precise and safe biomechanics with the feelings of ease, suppleness, connection to our environment and following your bliss.  It strongly resonates with my path of learning and values, and it was an incredibly magical experience.  It filled me with so much life, love and knowledge and it gave me the tools to be able to share that with others. The people that I met there and the connections that were made will be life long, and I am so grateful for that experience.

Some of my most blissful moments this spring have been in my garden and around my house.  I love to see the seeds that I planted sprout and grow into something so nourishing and fulfilling.  I love to be connected to the earth and to my food source.  I feel so blessed to live in such a bountiful province.  Mark has been busy in the backyard building an oasis with a sauna, cold pools and a hot tub!  Our own little healing centre!  The amount of rock he has collected and the time that he has been putting in is outstanding. 

    
Spending time with friends and family has definitely been a priority for me after the Games.  After the intensity and the focus of the lead up to the Olympics, it is important to come back to the people that have been there for me through thick and thin.  To prepare for the Games I had to become shut off from so many of my friends and social events, but now it is time to reconnect and give some energy to those important relationships.  Relationships are like flowers and without attention they become brittle and weak.  
The next Olympics in Russia is approaching quickly, and my plan to peak at that precise moment in 2014 is coming together with some careful strategic planning and thought.  I will be working closely with my coaches and support staff over the next few months to dial in that plan.  Again it will be a very different path to the Games, with so many new challenges to embrace and learn from.  

Thank you for following my journey.