One of my teenage students looked at me after her third session and said, “I just wish I was as confident as you!”

I could see she was getting upset and frustrated with the process. It wasn’t about the physical moves. She was fast, she had a crazy right elbow and her heel palm strike would have dropped someone to the floor but the look in her eyes made me pause. I looked at her and said, “It took 24 years to get this confident” and that was true.

Tomorrow is the Big Day — another turn around the sun and I almost missed it. I almost missed the feeling of joy that comes with being 40 and appreciating it. You see, tomorrow, I turn 41 and this whole year, I haven’t hyped up turning 40. Why?! Look at the media, how women who get older are treated often. Also, for many of us hitting the big 4-0, we don’t feel our age. Really! What does it mean to be 40?

Anyone ever say forgive and forget or you have to forgive because it is what god would want you to do?

Here is an unpopular opinion from a survivor and empowerment coach — The only person you need to forgive is you.

Lahaina Town at its finest. When I was getting ready for the launch of my Empowerment Course, I asked my partner’s friend for footage of Lahaina. He sent me a video of this. So beautiful and so tragic.

Have you ever been called Sweetie? Doll? Cutie? Have you been the one calling people these terms because you think you're being sweet? Cultural? Generational? Here are some thoughts on the matter. Find ways to set boundaries when being called nicknames or when people cross your boundaries & the response isn't a Heel Palm Smash or an Intense, Raging Yell. You can respond Assertively in your Power.

Emotional Terrorism is an extreme form of psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse; it is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Emotional abuse can include dominance, control, isolation, ridicule, mockery, verbal assault, or using intimate knowledge of the other person for degradation (Follingstad, Coyne, & Gambone, 2005).

This blog post is something I wanted to address because it has come up in conversation with clients who had experienced abuse and are now so very angry. I also wrote this because so many people have internalized emotions and are not dealing with them. It is sad to see and being an Empowerment Self-Defense coach, I have been able to support my clients on Maui and beyond in healing.