Hey! My name is Shannon and I have been a member of The Motion Room since July 2015.

Since then I have completed 49 hours of intense Motion Room workouts. The several years prior to joining The Motion Room were filled with incredible loss and sadness. I witnessed my father bravely fight for his life while battling esophagus and lung cancer. Sadly, he passed away in his sleep on his 58th birthday. He was never one to shy away from a moment of optimism and loosing him as my #1 fan hit me hard.

Experiencing the breakdown of my marriage was something I never thought would happen to me, but it did, and I was left trying to pick up the pieces while coping with the realization that the life I wanted for my son and I would suddenly look different.

Unfortunately, I had little time to grieve the ending of my marriage before I learned that my mother had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. I took time off of work so that I could be there for her. Watching everyday as she fought so hard to maintain her ability to function, but she ultimately lost that fight while my sister and I embraced her.

The feelings I had after those experiences can only be described as ‘feeling-like-I-woke-up-after-the-apocalypse-and-had- nothing-above-me-or-beside-me’. It was an intense feeling and one that very well could have been debilitating. I was faced with a decision; I could wallow in the pain and sadness and allow others to carry me along or I could find the strength and carry myself. I grappled with this decision for what felt like forever. Each time I looked in my son’s eyes I saw the life and the spirit that he had in him (and at times its that ‘special’ spirit that only a 5 year old boy that’s eaten a lot of sugar could possess!), And I knew I couldn’t let him down.

Nevertheless, I took stock of what I was left with: A boy that needed his mamma something fierce, a career that was challenging and rewarding and a new partner that had been a unknowing pillar throughout the previous year. I realized that there really was not a decision to be made. You see, in order for my loss and sadness to mean something and have value in my life, I would need to use it to fuel my future. The first step was to gain my own strength. I was not sure how to gain emotional strength on demand, so I decided to grow it physically. Hence, The Motion Room.

Each time I walk through the doors I bring a commitment to myself to work as hard as I can and to challenge every muscle in my body for the entire 60 minutes. These two hours a week are my way of maintaining my physical strength. The benefits of weight loss, muscle gain, and biceps are added bonuses! I trust the trainers completely, which is a testament to their professionalism and their knowledge about the program. The program works, it works well. I treat my time at The Motion Room like I do food, sleep and water, it’s a necessity.

I would like to end with a conversation my son and I had just before Christmas:

Me: We are going to get a Christmas Tree now!

Him: But you cant do it alone, you need someone to help you.

Me: Ha! No. **We walk to the store, pick out a tree and I carry it home**

Him: Boys are usually stronger then girls, but you are the strongest girl I know.