As the owner of PMC Events & Coaching one of my passions is to create events that inspire people to achieve the success, they desire in life and in business. Most often to succeed you need to get out of your comfort zone. So I created a transformational trek in the boundary waters in Northern, Minnesota to help women do just that! You’d be amazed at how reconnecting to nature and pushing your limits outdoors can help you succeed in life and business!
The Transformational Trek Begins
Our trek began at Seagull Outfitters at the end of the Gunflint Trail in Grand Marias. Our adventure team consisted of my sister Lori, friend & colleague Beverly, family friend Catherine, and me. We spent the first night bonding in a lovely cabin before embarking on our wilderness adventure. As an experienced outdoor person, Lori was our guide. Catherine and I had enjoyed the beauty of the wilderness in years past but Beverly had never done anything like this before. Although she had her fears, she had been asking the universe for a chance to spend more time outdoors. So she decided to “feel the fear” and do it anyway. Her two primary concerns were toilet paper and bears.
Are there Bears in The Woods?
We assured her that in all the years we have ventured into the boundary waters we have never seen a bear and we always bring toilet paper (used sparingly & properly in the woods). As we were explaining to Bev there was nothing to worry about a bear crossed in front of us. Luckily, we were inside the vehicle taking us to the drop-off point. It was a humorous beginning to our trip. We didn’t see any other bears during our trek but had the pleasure of seeing several loons and otters.
The trip was designed to be moderate in difficulty & start slow. We planned to paddle two lakes, take two small portages and find a campsite early just to get “our feet wet”. It was a lovely sunny day, with mild temperatures and easy paddling. Unfortunately, when we got to the lake we planned to camp on there were no sites left. It was a beautiful day and we felt good so we pushed on to the next lake…and the next one and the next one. We ended up paddling across five lakes and taking five portages before we found our first campsite just before dark. Our inability to get set up before dark was our biggest fear though no one shared their fears until later.
Chanting Our Way Through the Woods
On that first day, Beverly came up with a chant that helped us to persevere through all our portages. “My footing is secure and my pack is light.” We chanted during our transformational trek either to ourselves or out loud ss needed to support one another (and laughed a lot). The portages were wet, muddy, and rocky, including many large boulders, making footing interesting. As a team, we accepted each challenge as it came, with grace and perseverance.
“As a team we worked together remarkably well, and each of our strengths and weaknesses were well complimented and covered by one another.” Beverly
The next day was Sunday. So we decided to honor it as a day of rest. After all, we had traveled two days worth of our trip in one already. We went fishing, had lunch on the water using a paddle as a cutting board to cut cheese and sausages, while we floated along. Catherine stayed back at camp because she wanted to spend the day in quiet reflection in this beautiful place.
“Meditation was an added bonus along with the Qigong and what a better place to do both than in the wilderness on shore, in a setting of absolute peace and tranquility.” Catherine
We supported one other’s choices and made group decisions as to how far we would push ourselves each day.
The Women of The Mist
Monday we woke to a misty rain that continued on and off for the next two days. This is when we became “the women of the mist”. Despite this, our spirits were high from the great conversations around the fire, Qigong in the morning, and afternoon meditations in the peace of our natural surroundings.
“Qigong was a wonderful addition to the trip. We learned the value of it and felt the benefits from it.” Lori
We saw very few other people on the rest of the journey but enjoyed immensely our time together. “Adventure forward” became our mantra each day as we arouse to the beauty and faced the day ahead.
On our last day, no one was anxious to get back. Each of us kept a journal daily of our adventures, although each read differently. Some detailed everything we experienced. Others caught snapshots of inspirational moments or funny stories. I wish I could share them all with you. But alas another one of our mantras is; “You gotta go to know.”
If you would like to engage in the experience visit the Transformational Treks Website for upcoming dates or LuAnnB.com for other opportunities to transform!
LuAnn Buechler, CMP, Passionate Business Owner, Author, Transformational Speaker
Passionate about everything she does. LuAnn uses her unique personality and experiences to relate to her audiences in delivering passionate presentations that inspire people to achieve the success they desire in business and in life. As a Certified Facilitator of The Passion Test, LuAnn shares with audiences a simply yet powerful system (Saving Your Self Time Energy & Money) to determine your true passions and set a course to living your life’s destiny.
As a director for BNI (Business Network International), LuAnn has built a repertoire of presentations on networking skills and relationship marketing which she uniquely relates to delivering high quality customer service.
Caring is the ultimate competitive advantage. LuAnn delivers Customer Service training with the same passion that she delivers customer service in her own event management business. When you hire LuAnn to speak at your events, you get the added value of a professional event planner. LuAnn has unique ability to capture the audience with her passionate, energetic personality. For testimonials from past participants visit www.pmcevents.com/testimonials. And call LuAnn to discuss your next event.
LuAnn is also a part of the Transformational Leadership Council working team. An organization created by Jack Canfield, best-selling author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, where transformational leaders share best practices and co-create humanitarian projects to transform the world.
Free Gift from LuAnn: 7 principals of Living with Passion – https://www.livinghealthylist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/7-principals-of-Living-with-Passion-1.pdf