Nancy Osborne and Kathleen May share the same passion; helping women become their strongest, and best selves both physically and emotionally.
May is an activist for feminism in Muskoka and works for the Muskoka Parry Sound Sexual Assault Services as well as Muskoka Women’s Shelters and Services.
Osborne served in the Security Branch of the Canadian military, retiring as a Major. Following retirement, Osborne was recruited by the United Nations as one of the first women ever deployed as a security risk adviser in the support of UN humanitarian operations in high threat environments. Following that she managed global emergencies affecting UNICEF staff and provided extended surge support in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Haiti and South Sudan.
“Nancy is an amazing keynote speaker”, said May, “She talks about her experiences as a woman in male dominated fields and having to keep her integrity while still breaking glass ceilings”.
When Osborne retired she thought that it would be a shame not to use her training so she launched a not-for-profit called I Got This as a platform for workshops for women called Unlocking Your Instincts. Osborne has been running the workshops for years but when she met May last Fall, the pair formed a strong connection over their passion of helping women.
Osborne encouraged May to participate in one of her workshops and when she did, May was compelled to share her experience of empowerment on her YouTube channel, Women Walking Away.
“Nancy could tell I really took a lot away from the workshops and that I would be the perfect person to help her grow them”, said May, “Initially I was helping with coffee and talking to women one-on-one about the content but now I also handle the admin work, registrations, and social media.”
The pair are passionate about helping women defend themselves, not just physically but emotionally, both during and after a traumatic event.
“Most assaults happen by people we know,” said May. “In the workshops we talk about ‘tonic immobility’ aka, freezing up during an assault and why it happens to us. We also discuss how when you experience freezing you have a much higher chance of PTSD after the assault.”
According to the Unlocking Your Instincts website, at the workshop you will be encouraged to reconnect with the natural instincts that allow you to quickly recognize a predatory situation, realistically assess the risk and appropriately respond in line with your own personal level of risk tolerance. The day moves along the spectrum of managing non-verbal, verbal and physical intimidation and confrontation.
“There are so many incredibly important topics we cover,” said May, “Every single woman needs to practice boundaries and assertiveness. You need to celebrate yourself for having boundaries because I know that has changed my life for the better. If you can say no to things, then people will trust that when you say yes you really mean it. Boundaries are not rude, they’re healthy”.
Unlocking Your Instincts is offering two workshops in September and space is still available.
The first one is spread out over three evenings, September 10, 11 and 12 from 6:30-9:30 pm at Muskoka Rose in Gravenhurst. The second one is a full-day workshop on September 30.
While it usually costs $160 to attend the workshop, Pay it Forward Muskoka has given Unlocking Your Instincts a generous grant, reducing the cost to just $40.
To learn more or sign up click here.
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Hi Donna! Thank you so much for your interest. We are very open to travelling to other areas – Nancy has presented elements of this workshop all over the world! Our preference is for an organization or group to assemble 12 women as participants. We can also gear the workshop to what is relevant for you: workplace, travel, interpersonal, etc. Feel free to contact me at [email protected] for more information.
Kudos, ladies, on your terrific initiative. Strengthening oneself both physically and mentally has always been recognized as key for women-at-risk. But the fact that you are also recognizing the importance of emotional strength is so important, and it’s often neglected.
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I read an in-depth article the other day, which applauded the supremacy of EQ over IQ; especially in the workplace. In fact, most Fortune 500 companies are using EQ as an indicator of leadership potential when hiring.
All women need to be able to defend themselves-just in case. Will these workshops be presented in other municipalities?
This is excellent news and I’m not just saying this because Kathleen is a friend and I admire Nancy’s viewpoints and experience! It’s more because in the 90’s I taught self-defense for women myself in Muskoka, and I’m glad to see that work picked up again (apologies if I missed anyone in between) and in fact expanded.
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Unlocking Your Instincts is precisely what we need! Thanks Nancy, Kathleen and Pay It Forward.