THE ROOTS

Awakening Moments

Jess' Moment

Jess: I was walking through the house and stopped in my tracks, looking around at everything I had ever dreamed of. We had beautiful artwork from our travels and lovely furniture. Everything was paid off, we had no debt, and we were at the point in life where you're "supposed" to be. We were putting money in the bank, affording our lives, and I was choking on all of it.

BJ: One day at work, I was standing at my desk when I got a text from my wife. She had just come out of a meditation and said, "We’re outta here, I've got a plan."  We didn't know exactly where we were going, but we knew we were moving. And honestly, I didn't really care where...as long as it was warm! 

We started right then and there with the plan. Downsizing was hard at first. You look at your house and see all this stuff. But over the course of six months, we slowly rid ourselves of all that weight.

Jess: This process became known as our "Ride the High Vibe Tour," where we moved into our Honda Fit with our dog, Clark, and toured the country with no itinerary, no idea how long we’d be on the road, and no address.

It was an amazing time of growth as a couple and as individuals. The point of the tour was to raise awareness that living a more vibrant life is within reach for everyone.

BJ: We focused on what we could control in the moment. The more you do that, the more greatness happens. You can’t live life in the future or past; you live it in every moment. Knowing this is what we teach and what YogiTriathlete is about, we had to experience it ourselves.

BJ's Moment

I was injured while caring for my dying dog, Harrison, a golden retriever, and my first dog. I tried to pick him up to place him in the car and pulled something in my back. At the time, I was in training for Ironman Lake Placid, and only had 4 weeks until the race. I tried to push through the pain. It didn’t work. I ending spending my time going to my office job instead of spending time with Harrison. I was already feeling unhappy in my job, so with the combination of all these things happening at once - it created the perfect storm.

Eventually I was able to understand that triathlon was not who I was, but what I did. This realization began to open up the opportunity for me to heal, both physically and mentally. I started working with Bob, our meditation teacher, and sadly Harrison passed away. So I put myself in service, and started coaching others for free while I couldn’t train. This started to expand as I loved it more and more, always knowing I would eventually be a coach someday - thought it would be high school basketball - but never knew how it would unfold. Here it was gifted to me. I discovered I had a way of welcoming people into the sport from where they were, not focusing on who they were before or who they would become. My quiet self opened up to be an extrovert, and now I love to talk to people, be confident in my approach and to do it all from a place of love, compassion and kindness.