Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michelle Lauren. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michelle, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Resilience is NOT born it is made through daily recommitting to be the best version of yourself.
Up until 2020 I was an endurance athlete, training at Orange Theory, consistently running half marathons, and running
Ragnar relays with friends. In fact, it was during the 2020 Disney Princess Challenge (19.3) miles that my period started and never stopped. Little did I know then that the bleeding would continue for two years and create a comorbidity serious health condition for me.
Such loss of blood lead to profound anemia, which lead to chronic dehydration, which lead to cardiac issues. In summary, I went from running half marathons to only being able to walk for 10 minutes before having to sit down and catch my breath (including sometimes vertigo). I remember sitting on the edge of my bed visualizing the steps to undressing and taking a shower and back to sitting down. Then again, standing up, dressing from my closet, and sitting down. These 10-minute visualization to action segments continued until I was fully ready to go to work. I learned to live moment by moment and day to day. Going to work meant independence from the bathroom, which meant 3 adult “Depend” diapers daily to contain the volume of hemorrhaging blood I was losing.
The Way Back to Me journey was a blood transfusion, bi-monthly 1000 mg intravenous iron infusions, and ultimately surgery to remove the uterine fibroid pressing on the uterine lining that was causing all the hemorrhaging (or Menorrhagia) which occurred following two misdiagnosis. The miraculous surgery was a myomectomy performed by a skilled young surgeon training in non-evasive female surgeries (keeping all my parts, sans fibroid). That surgery was the end of 2021.
The Come Back started in 2022 with an Ayurveda retreat with Dr. Deepak Chopra. After that, it started with walking longer and longer distances, and then enrolling in CycleBar weekend classes, then enrolling back into Orange Theory weekend classes, to now 4 classes a week at Orange Theory. The vision of becoming the best version of myself was not overnight and was certainly not a straight line. As of this article I have taken 165 classes since 2022. It has taken me 1.5 years of daily recommitting to the best version of myself to get here. This level of fitness also includes choosing to hydrate, eat nutritious meals, sleep, supplementation, community support, monthly massages, and a dedicated spiritual practice.
There is no arriving, there is only next leveling!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My passion is to educate, heal, and empower female entrepreneurs and leaders.
(t)The Well Within Me is about helping women leaders design and embody the life and business they love without sacrificing their relationships or well-being.
LEVEL UP is my signature mind-body-spirit integration community and COME ALIVE TO THRIVE is my core masterclass..
A trauma-informed system of transformation that empowers women to design and embody a spiritually aligned “lifestyle” from within their most authentic selves! It is essentially the “Foders Travel Guide” for where to go and what to do after you have come through trauma.
Credentials:
I have a B.A. in Human Resource Management and an M.A. in Organizational Development with over 10 years experience in different HR roles and leadership levels. Additionally, I am a trauma-informed coach and a classically trained chaplain.
My studies have included a deep exploration of family systems, which I have applied extensively to my own healing journey. I also have a background in early childhood development.
For my master’s thesis, I focused on the work of Dr. Murray Bowen’s Family Systems Theory, (Family of Origin impacts on the workplace) and further delved into Dr. Richard C. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems Theory, specifically parts work.
I am fortunate to receive ongoing mentorship from esteemed individuals such as Dean Graziosi, Tony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, Maya Comerota, Gabrielle Bernstein, Koya Webb, and Dr. Bill Winston.
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?
The framework from my core Masterclass, “Come Alive to Thrive”. It is the same framework I used to educate, heal, and empower myself into becoming the best physical version of myself.
DISCOVER — DECIDE — INTEGRATE
DISCOVER 😊 THE WHO you are Becoming … “Best physical version of myself”
DECIDE 😊 THE HOW! START-STOP-CONTINUE + Massive Action Plan to get yourself there.
DECIDE for what you want, what you would love and WHY you must! You are the interior designer of your own life.
WHY! because this is who we are, and this is what we do! An ambitious woman in the best physical version of herself. WHY! For her 70-year-old self still running around with power, strength, endurance, and energy!
INTEGRATE – IMPLEMENT 😊 TEACH! it to others. Show others how to get sustainable results with one catalyst decision for change! AND just do the thing! AND Condition the change daily. Do the thing the you that is in the best physical version of herself would do each day/each week. Focus on one lifestyle change. Simplify to amplify.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
Next leveling. Saturday, April 20, 2024 is the first race I have entered since being debilitatingly sick in 2020. It is a Triathlon (no water) run (5k), row (2000 meters), bike (7 miles) being held at Orange Theory.
I am challenging myself to see what I am capable of and go beyond where I have been before (half-marathons and relay races).
In the words of Brendon Burchard, “It’s by putting challenges in front of ourselves that we learn to grow. Our next level involves risk.”
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewellwithin_me/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellelauren/
Image Credits
Photo Shoot Courtesy of Lauren Watai Photography
