“Like so many of us, the path that we envision ourselves embarking upon is often quite different from the one we eventually discover under our feet. So, too, in my case—however, the life-experiences I’ve had thus far have all contributed their own part to the life-lessons I’ve needed to learn. It’s all good!”
My Journey
Robyn’s running career spans 17 years on the Canadian National Team. Her remarkable longevity speaks to her simple joy of running. As she says, “I just loved running on the trails in nature—it was a meditative process for me.” Her love of running resulted in some impressive accomplishments—2 time Olympian, World Cup and Commonwealth Games Silver Medalist along with dozens of other national, provincial and local championship titles.
Undoubtedly, one of her most memorable races was her Silver Medal performance in the 1994 Commonwealth Games 3000 meter final hosted in Victoria, British Columbia. After a challenging winter and spring season hampered with health issues, she arrived at the track the morning of her final determined to put in the best performance she could regardless of her circumstances.
After a slow start, one lap into the race, she found herself tied for last. At the halfway mark Robyn was still sitting in the second group far back from the leaders. However, with four laps remaining she began her move. The mainly Canadian crowd, now on their feet, cheered on Robyn as she moved from 4th to 3rd to 2nd place where she finished the race behind teammate Angela Chalmers.
Pursuing health education and wellness in her undergraduate studies (University of Victoria, 1991) was a natural fit for Robyn’s passions. Seeing the primacy of relationships to quality of life led her to further training in building healthy relationships (Rosenberg’s nonviolent communication, 1990) and conflict resolution with the Justice Institute’s certificate in Conflict Resolution (1998, mediation and negotiation). Robyn applied her skills to her work as a mediator with the Fraser Region Community Justice Initiative (1997-1998) and their Victim Offender Reconciliation Program.
Seeing the effectiveness of process oriented psychologies work with addictions and being drawn to its use of creativity, Robyn pursued a two year certificate in Process Work (1998 Langara College and PWES). Process Work as developed by Dr. Arnold Mindell is an awareness practice that takes an innovative approach to individual and collective change. It brings together psychology, spirituality, social activism and creative expression within a single paradigm.