What Beth Olsen enjoys about volunteering at Crossroads for Women are the opportunities for personal growth and fulfillment that emerge through direct communion with the women, especially through sharing life skills. From the age of thirteen when Beth first started (sports/coaching), she discovered in herself a deep personal desire to help empower others. “One of the most beautiful things,” Beth says, ”is to witness people discovering their own intelligence.” And she certainly has a facility for helping them do so.
Beth is a woman of many talents. As an architect with a passion for socially and environmentally sustainable design, she first volunteered at Maya’s Place seven years ago, with an eye toward enhancing the aesthetics and functionality of the landscape. From that initiative, all sorts of projects have evolved.
A community garden was developed, giving the women an opportunity to learn about growing food, at the same time providing a space to grow relationships, with each other and with the environment. Beth also started a nutrition class, using the garden to begin a discussion about better food choices, and to “consider wellness in relation to food and the body.”
Beth’s interest in holistic wellness also takes her to the playing field; she excels in a variety of sports, and has competed in diving events at the national level. In complement to the action sports, Beth is also a long-time yoga practitioner. It’s a personal practice, a “constant presence” in her life, to which she dedicates herself daily. Beth has also studied trauma-informed yoga where yoga and meditation are used to support self-worth, well-being, and the capacity to make healthy life choices.
And it is trauma-informed yoga practice that describes the program she facilitates at Crossroads for Women. Beth seeks to provide an experience that is immediately accessible to the women. Instead of rigid poses and modes of dress, the focus is on “movement in response to breath,” supporting participants in becoming more present in and aware of their bodies. Beth will describe a pose, and demonstrate; copying it is optional, as participants are encouraged to express their own interpretative response.
Beth cultivates an environment of trust, where participants can peacefully focus on breath, and slow down physically and emotionally, creating a space where they can begin to acknowledge and release some of the pain and anxiety of past trauma. And this, Beth believes, is what can ultimately enable people to make more empowered life choices – and again open doors.
–Written by Lisa Stone
