Do you wonder?
Do you wonder?
Do you wonder?
"Why am I the person who takes everyone to the airport?"
"Why do my friends always borrow money?"
"Why do my coworkers heap all the projects on me?"
"Why am I everyone’s caregiver?"
"Why are so-called friends always hitting on me?”
“Why do I always end up volunteering my services?”
“Why do I keep putting up with these put-downs?”
Do you know?
Do you wonder?
Do you wonder?
It’s a fact: the majority of threats to our personal safety as women do not come from strangers. It’s people we know. It’s shocking and it’s not what we’re told to prepare for, but statistics don’t lie. This is our reality.
It doesn’t happen because women forget to kick or punch, It’s not about strength. We are smart, strong, and endlessly brave.
Now consider power dynamics. And fear. There’s learned tolerance, leaving us polite and quiet. There’s cycles of abuse. There’s self-loathing. And so much more.
The classic, “Kick ‘em in the balls,” isn’t available in so many of our nuanced day to day interactions. The question is, why has self-defense training of women and girls focused on tools that only apply to this one specific area of women's safety?
Do you want?
Do you wonder?
Do you want?
Do you want change?
Build safety into your life. Not just against strangers; you deserve to be safe in all aspects of life. Self-defense has to begin with self.
Safety starts within.
It’s understanding where we come from. It’s recognizing and celebrating our own value. It’s developing skills to protect this perfectly worthy today version of *us*.
It’s setting and communicating our needs and boundaries. It’s apologizing less and taking up space. It’s your own personal version of getting to the next place.
The Workshop
Self-protection begins with self.
Imagine a room of women brought together by a single goal: to build safety into their lives. Surrounded by strength and compassion, you step into your own.
The Workshop addresses the reality of our experience as women. Typically, conversation around self-defense focuses upon one primary risk to women: physical attack by a stranger and how to physically respond. In truth, there is no single kind of danger and for this reason, there is no single path to safety.
At The Workshop, we go so much further:
- What vulnerability for women can include: Anything from feeling taken advantage of, to inappropriate coworkers, dates gone wrong, or abuse at home.
- How did we get here? Explore your beliefs about how women should interact in the world, which are serving you, and which you are ready to let go.
- Boundaries: who they are for, and the impact they have upon our self-worth, work, relationships, and physical safety.
- Skill-building around boundaries: creating them, maintaining them, and yes—receiving them.
Self-defense is a practice. Its foundations were set early in our lives and will continue to develop throughout. Self-worth, empowerment, and voice help form the core of each person’s strategies for safety.
During our time together we will practice skills that apply to personal safety within our everyday lives. As women, we know that threats to our safety range far beyond “stranger danger”.
What We Will Not Do:
- We will not practice physical self-defense techniques. While these are of great value, they generally focus on an outside-in approach. Our time together will be spent focusing on the self we bring to each interaction—a rare opportunity to explore safety from the inside out.
- We will not judge. Not others, and not ourselves. We recognize that attendance is an act of bravery. Change is vital, and at the same time, it is a time of vulnerability.
- We will not ask anyone to participate outside of their comfort level. We each arrive from different starting points. Not further ahead or behind, just different. For some, reading this website is an act of bravery. For others, the bravery is in attending. For yet others, it’s participating. It’s in setting intentions—or acting on those intentions. We will celebrate the you who arrives as much as the aspirational you. Stay comfortable. Be at ease. That’s the point.
Led by Jackie Kelleher, 3rd degree black belt, doula, and mother of 4–all roles requiring boundaries and confidence.