It has been 2,5 months since I arrived in Brazil. As if all the pieces of the puzzle would come together and found the right place. 2 days ago I woke up with a strange feeling in my ear - probably an ear infection. This was not the plan, as I had planned to go to Praia do Macapa, get some nice content for my coaching business, and kite at that location.
At the same time, it made me realize, how incredible those 2 months were and I decided to share all those incredible moments, I have experienced.
One of the main reasons I am sharing this is because of the incredible flow, I have had throughout this time. It has just been happening and coming together so naturally.
As my Olympic campaign was not going as planned as I would have loved that, especially because of a lack of finances and support, I have set an alternative goal. To win the foil freestyle world championship title in the competition in Brazil. So instead of going to cold England and persuading the qualifiers for the Olympics in the European championship, as I was lacking a huge part of the equipment.
First, I mentioned to a girl, I met just one time in Cumbuco, Brazil, that I am planning to come. She was just an amazing support for the first weeks. I had a very beautiful experience, living with a Brazilian family and picking up a bit of the local culture and language. 
Just a few days before arriving, I received a message through Instagram of a girl who had reached out as she would love to do some retreats together. I have agreed to see her at the beach club Outro in Cumbuco, where she has been working on a few projects.
Well, meeting Kelly meant the beginning of a lot of incredible things. Immediately we started to promote my workshop for kiters, to help them release their fears and limitations and teach them strategies on how to use their mental abilities better to improve faster and enjoy the process of learning.
From this activity, the owner of Outro Beach Club and Muda restaurant has hired me to implement a stress management program for his employees. We have worked on the group level but most of the work was done through individual sessions. With very impressive immediate results on personal and objective measures. What was very impressive to me - I did this whole program in Portuguese. And you have to imagine before coming to Brasil I basically couldn't express nearly any word in this language. I studied for a half year in Lisbon and by then my Portuguese was decent, but since the last summer that I spent in Italy, I was just able to speak Italian.
As I have been blessed with flying standby - I had to fly through Sao Paolo. So I just decided to take the opportunity and spend a few days in this city. Through my friend, I was connected with her ex-boyfriend who turned out to be working in the same field I do. So we have been developing a new program in the athletic field - accessing the needs of athletes after their athletic careers.
Before coming to Brazil, I was invited as a speaker to a 2-day festival of a female kite community. I agreed to a group session on the essential factors of successful kitting and the favorite - how to overcome fears.
The event was very interesting, as it had the support of big sponsors - Redbull, Corona, and big logistic companies from nearby port. However, the organization and timing of the event were rather spontaneous. So I was asked to lead a smaller workshop group with the topic - of fear, just 10 minutes before it was supposed to take place. This was unexpected, as I was prepared for the big workshop for next day. Well, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and structured my workshop. Of course, it was supposed to be in Portuguese, which was the biggest challenge - will I be able to do it? Interestingly, through this experience, I have realized, that I am better at giving speeches or workshops in a language I don't dominate properly, rather than in a language I dominate perfectly. I delivered an hour and half long workshop where I talked most of the time introducing the girls to the essentials of overcoming their fears, and reaching their kiting goals while having fun and a good time. After this, the big speech that was meant for all the participants on a podium was feeling like the easiest thing ever.
All this has just happened around my actual goal - which was to come here, train, and prepare myself for the last stop of the world tour competition in freestyle foiling. From the first week, I reduced the hours of foiling to a few short sessions during the day, I was working on my tricks, starting in the evening in lighter conditions and working myself up to performing the tricks in stronger winds.
I pretty much organised my base at a very comfortable beach club Outro to optimize my times the best. Be able to work on my new programs, sponsorships, and collaborations, in between attending clients and jumping on the race foil or freestyle foil to train.
One of my dreams came true - attending clients in 1:1 sessions with an ocean view. Not to talk about all the other dreams coming true. For example, I randomly met a neighbor who is a neuroscientist - which enabled very profound scientific discussions. On behalf of this, I have been able to share with her my biggest realizations of the last weeks: How foiling brings us into a very profound state of flow and leads us to very creative thinking and even to our actual intuition. All this makes us incredibly more effective, happy, and healthy.
I was very blessed as my 2 training partners and a coach joined me and we had a month of training together. Between the seaside and the lagoon. Also throughout the training time, we have received the most amazing wooden board out there - Mio special edition. Very strong and yet super light, in a small size of 105cm. In combination with the high-end Armstrong foil it is the best setup on the market. It also made me finally land board off the Kiteloop transition.
Finally, the competition day arrived - it was a real mess and everything was a bit unclear. Starting with changing the location just in the evening before the competition, followed by changing the competition format from freestyle to big air. Fortunately, I have done my mental preparation with my mental coach using the EFT tapping technique and was just in a real flow enjoying the contest.
The competition was interesting from another point of view - I entered the men's division as there was no women's division. A few days before the start I was pretty nervous - as I was feeling weak and not even able to perform my casual tricks. I realized I started to put myself into the position of - I am a woman so that is the reason why I should be performing worse, worse than I do, and worse than the men. It didn't have any realistic foundation, as since I started foiling 3 years ago I have always been training with guys. On top of it this May I entered a men's division in freestyle foil in the Dominican Republic and got 3rd after the world vice-champion and vice-champion. It was a very interesting experience that the expectation of your surroundings can make such a difference.
So what did I do to get back on track and rock the way I did? EFT Tapping with my coach and EMDR brought me back to being focused and in flow. Ad during the competition I just rocked. Not to mention that the conditions were very tough - huge beach breaks and waves making it challenging to go fast and a strong wind. I have just been getting used to strong winds, it was not a comfort zone at all.
My flow let me enjoy those moments, in the first heat I entered with the world vice-champion and my coach, which was a very special moment. It made me feel very supported and feeling in comfort - as if it was like any other day of training. The most incredible situation was that I performed as never before - the tricks I had respect towards, just a few weeks before the competition like kite loops and backroll kite loops I performed much bigger than ever before. I was very happy that I had this opportunity to enter with guys performing much better than I am - as it showed me I could do much more than I thought. It was the best motivation I could have wished for.
As my athletic career seems to be inspiring, I am having some articles written about my journey and the combination with my psychological approach in the kiting articles.
Now, when everything is a bit quieter, I have been feeling a bit down - as there was not the constant release of dopamine through different out-of-comfort zone activities. So writing this article was the implementation of one of the very useful methods that boosts the contentment of what is there and what has been achieved. From the rewarding neural system point of view, this way leads towards your goals much faster rather than paying attention to what is not there yet or falling into a frustration spiral.
One of my highlights was a relaxing weekend at beachpark resort which has an incredible kite spot with turquoise water and decent well-built waves. It has an incredibly delicious kitchen and super helpful staff at the kite school. I have enjoyed it a lot.
I have been very blessed with amazing spots to train, live and work. And I am recognizing and celebrating all the achievements of the past 2 months. This exercise is recommended to be done every day to strengthen the achievements and build up on those.