Meet Chris Shelton

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Shelton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.

Chris, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?My brothers and I grew up kind of poor. And, besides being addicted to pills, my mom was also, unfortunately, addicted to spending. So, there wasn’t a lot of money left for what we needed at the end of the day. We were living hand-to-mouth with government assistance at times, because my dad’s job barely covered the bills.

Also, my dad immigrated from Panama and became a hoarder in his adult life. He also grew up poor and I think that holding on to his belongings became a kind of compensation for not having what he needed in the foundational years of his life. That being said, the environment in our home felt overwhelming and stressful, to say the least.

I would say that both my parents had a poverty mindset and a scarcity perspective around money. Growing up, it was common for me to hear, “we can’t afford that… money doesn’t grow on trees…you have to work hard to get money, etc.” That’s why my father, especially, developed a strong work ethic, because he knew he had to provide for us three boys as best as he was able. He worked long hours, but this also meant he was often missing when I was home.

By the age of nine or ten, I was cooking for myself and my younger brother, because my parents were not around. And, due to our economic situation, we did not have healthy food options available. I remember growing up eating powdered milk and processed government cheese.

To remedy the situation, at the age of 11, I started to do work for two different podiatrist’s offices. For one, I rode my bike 20 miles to Milpitas and East San Jose to clean the office and hand out flyers. For the other, I’d ride fifteen miles to Campbell every other weekend, also to spend the day cleaning the office.

When I needed extra clothing or wanted stuffed animals or Legos, I needed to purchase them myself or come up with a creative solution. As a result, I learned how to sew at a young age. I taught myself how to make my own stuffed animals and other creations, which also helped to keep me occupied in a positive way.

I learned from a young age that if I wanted to have the money for things I desired, I would have to work for it; these things were not simply going to be handed to me. That’s why, at the age of fifteen-and-a-half, I began taking the necessary steps to becoming a butcher. I wanted a job I could work towards that would provide me with a stable life.

It was a solid career, and I eventually worked my way up to becoming a meat manager for Safeway. Yet, although I finally had the stability I needed, I felt intuitively that there was a greater path for me out there, but what it was, I didn’t know at the time. I knew there was more to life than how I had been raised, and I became committed to finding out what it was. Eventually, this instinct led me to seek out the path of beginning my studies in Qigong and Chinese Medicine.

Today, I feel grateful for my challenging past, because the work ethic I developed as a young boy is what allowed me to start and build my company, Morning Crane, after being a butcher for 21 years. That same work ethic allowed me to do what it takes to establish and grow a company that reflects what I truly value and love to do.

The transition was not easy and required that I maintain hours as a meat manager while I was also running the company in its early phases. Due to the difficulties I was facing, I could have easily given up, but my strong work ethic, paired with a deep faith in what I was doing, kept me going—even when, for the first four years of building Morning Crane, I averaged only 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night!

I would go to work at 2:00 a.m. to get everything set up for my guys, getting out of there by 11:00 that morning. Then, I would go home, take a 30-minute power nap, go for a 3 mile run, and head to the office to see clients and teach classes.

My strong work ethic definitely comes from the struggles I faced at a young age. I could have taken the other path and relied upon government assistance or blame my parents while staying stuck in that place, but there was a part of me that didn’t want to be poor for the rest of my life. That alone drove me to work hard at achieving my goals and, eventually, my dreams.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am excited that my vision of bringing Curative Qigong and Chinese medicine to our wider community is coming to fruition. With my second book coming out this year, as well as a feature film and TV series, I’m feeling very blessed and excited about what is ahead.

My services and company, Morning Crane, help natural remedy seekers relieve pain, reduce stress, and access higher levels of well-being. We offer private healing sessions, group classes, teacher certification courses, a mastermind program, and an online membership.

We are experts in understanding the body and help people heal without prescription medication or invasive surgery. We work with all types of conditions, ranging from chronic pain and disease, to things like depression, and even the common cold, viruses, etc.

We’ve helped countless people reclaim their health and enjoy their lives again. We’ve also been fortunate to work with Special Olympics teams, professional athletes and celebrities, allowing us to raise an even greater awareness of what we do.

We are on a mission to raise the consciousness of all people. We teach simple practices with profound results; movement, breath and mind focus techniques that improve health, happiness and self-healing.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. The desire to learn and grow.
2. Commitment to constantly refining my craft.
3. Dedication to the practice of emptying my cup, so I can continue to learn even more.

The advice I have for people who are just beginning their journey is to remember that finding success will depend on their overall foundation of character development. It’s like a muscle that you have to train consistently. With a burning desire to develop more and achieve your goals, you will succeed, no matter what obstacle is in your path.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

We’re looking to collaborate and work with like-minded people who have their own vision and skillset to uplift humanity. As the saying goes, “It takes a village” to raise a child, it also takes a village to heal the world.

You can connect with me on most social media platforms and through our website:

https://sheltonqigong.com/contact-shelton-qigong/

Contact Info:

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