This is Chrissy Brady-Smith, and I am one of COR’s facilitators.
Ever since doing COR’s Leadership Development Training 4.5 years ago, the Divine has tested me year after year in challenging crisis-like situations. In these times, I learned to trust myself. To trust my passion, intuition, and heart. Last month, I was tested again and this felt like the final Rite of Passage into my leadership as a certified COR Woman facilitator. Where was it? On a crowded airplane that just landed, with hundreds of impatient people trying to get off the plane during the holidays.
Here’s the story.
We land in San Francisco, and everyone begins to stand up so we can exit the plane, and I hear screams in the aisle, “My husband is fainting… Shaking… Help!” I look up from my window seat and notice the scene. I see a mixture of chaos, fear, and hysteria surrounding a man who was falling to the ground, unconscious and shaking. I immediately shout out, “We need a doctor! Is there a doctor on the plane?”
The man is caught before hitting the ground, and flight attendants make their way to the scene asking, “Sir, are you okay? What’s wrong?” He comes back into a bit of consciousness but isn’t there. The flight attendants continue questioning him, but something is very off. The man keeps slurring his words, and his eyes go to the back of his head.
It takes me about 10 seconds to realize that no one is helping amidst the chaos and it doesn’t seem like any doctor is on board. Everyone is either frozen in fear or hysterical.
That’s when I feel the tug from Grace telling me that it’s time to step up. Before I know it, I’m jumping over my seated neighbors sharing that I have some emergency training, and then grab the man’s hands and have him look into my eyes.
I’m calm, present, alert, and firm. His eyes are like “deer in headlights.”
I say, “Sir, you just fainted. Look into my eyes and take a breath with me, good.” We breathe, eyes locked (and I sense the whole plane take a breath too). “Do you feel my hands on your hands, sir?” He nods his head. “I’m going to squeeze your hands tighter now, okay? Let me know when it’s too much.” He nods again. Then with a calm smile on my face, I say with the next breath, “Good. Now look into my eyes. Sir, stay with me. What color are my eyes?” He focuses in, and says, “Blue… green?” “Good.” Then pointing to his shirt I say, “Tell me, what color is your shirt?” This takes him a while… but finally, he says, “Blue.”
I keep doing this sensory work with him (with the whole plane’s eyes on me) to keep him present and connected to his body. I have him sense temperatures and even textures against his skin. We repeat this process until EMTs enter the scene to help this man and wife off the plane, and the (angry and loud) passengers are finally allowed to leave the plane too.
I gather my things, take a huge resourcing breath, and head off the plane— but am stopped by every flight attendant and even the pilot himself with a hug of gratitude for taking charge and helping this man (and the entire plane) remain calm. They had never seen anything like it before. After watching me work with this man, they’re now going to ask their supervisors for more crisis training for their entire airline.
They realized when they saw me bring this man back to presence inside of his senses, that in really simple ways, he could calm down and communicate effectively. The EMTs later told me that the work I did to keep his brain “online” and his heart rate calm was incredibly beneficial.
I’m sharing this story with you today as inspiration for your own New Beginning this year.
The New Beginning I received was total trust in myself on as a leader, even on a crowded airplane with hundreds of people yelling at me to get out of the way. This was a “trial by fire” experience, one that tested me to the limits but showed me that I’m ready to be certified as a COR Woman Facilitator.
What is it that you are being called to trust in this new year, dear reader? Where is your “trial by fire?” It probably is not as dramatic as mine on that plane, but we are all always asked to step into something bigger that requires trusting our deepest selves.
On my cab ride home that evening, I reflected on how grateful I was for COR’s Leadership Development Training. I couldn’t have stepped up in this way without the skills and confidence that I developed in that program. LDT taught me how to be a leader in any given circumstance. That program empowered me to believe in my voice and calling, even in the face of fear.
If you feel a nudge in your heart to step up as a leader this year, I invite you to set up a Discovery Call with one of our team members to see if COR’s Leadership Development Training is right for you.
I didn’t believe in myself as a leader when I signed up for this training years ago, but like the call I received on the plane to step up, I trusted the whisper from Grace telling me that it was time to sign up. It was worth it.
Thank you so much for reading my story. It’s so great to connect with you like this and I hope to give you a big hug at one of our future workshops.
Love,
Chrissy
P.S. Know women in your life who could use a New Beginning in their bodies, hearts, and minds? Get your girlfriends in touch with me at Chrissy@corexperience.com and we’ll discuss our COR Woman workshop and see if this healing experience is right for them.
