I am _____ . 

A simple, yet powerful statement. We create our lives with the thoughts and beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world. Words can be both empowering or destructive. Choose yours wisely!

Lauren and I both learned through experience as pro athletes the ramifications (both good and bad) of our internal dialogue and saw for ourselves that our thoughts DO help create our reality. Mark Forstater once wrote; "We are not cameras, we are artists and the world is our canvas." How we perceive the world, has a very significant effect on our destiny. The place inside our grey matter where our thoughts arise is in reality a very small area. However, those few cells can create thoughts that empower or destroy our sense of self. The sentence "I AM (insert positive word here)." lift us up and allow us to believe we can be what we want to be and do what we want to do. Those same words followed by a different ending (a negative word) make us feel unworthy of happiness, success and real relationships. 

Lauren and I both experienced the journey of chasing our dreams in sport. We independently learned that anxiety, feelings of unworthiness and fear resulted in disappointment and under performance in our chosen careers. Luckily in different places and times in our lives we also learned that when we took control of that negative conversation in our mind, we could elevate our energy, our feelings, our experiences, our performances, our relationships and our careers. Our internal world was truly reflected in our external reality.

Our mission for Believe I Am is to relay our life lessons with other women, help them change the conversation and let go of the negative chatter. We know that we can learn to "think positive", but many of us soon forget and fall back into old patterns. We know life can throw us many obstacles along the way—we can become full of stress, hormones can go bizerk, injuries happen, energy sources gets drained—to put it mildly, we can be tested. In those moments when the stakes are high and when the pressure is on, our mind is most likely sabotage our preparation, our training, and our true intentions. Our internal doubts and lack of belief will be exposed and brought forth. We can get sucked into the vortex of a negative cloud, and find it hard to see the light that is shining behind it. Lauren and I both know we can easily forget in the darkness what we learned in the light. 

Believe I Am creates tool that can remind you to bring awareness to the conversations you are having with YOURSELF. In sports, athletes use "cues" or "mantras" to help anchor their thoughts and evoke the desired emotion. Our products aim to remind ourselves and our Sisters In Sport (YOU!), to guard the mind and make the choice to cultivate productive, empowering thoughts that allow your true nature to grow and blossom. We use the analogy of the mind being like a garden and encourage you to plant flowers (positive thoughts) so that weeds (negative thoughts) cannot take over and ruin your space. 

Butterflies pollinate flowers in our gardens. This is where our logo of the "I Am" butterfly comes in :). Doing field work for this project (in my local library), I studied many books on flowers. One book in particular contained some amazing photos of butterflies as well. They truly were as beautiful as some of the flowers, and I was amazed. 

After lots of doodling around our "I Am" Butterfly came to be.

Our butterfly can be found on our apparel, so that the graphics as a whole (butterfly + flower) literally spell out mantras such as I am Strong; I am Mind, Body, Soul; I am Relaxed. 

Our butterfly also contains three hearts and it stands alone as its own mantra. Each heart represents a definition of "heart": I am health & fitness; I am courage; I am love. Wearing the butterfly can remind you to be healthy & fit, to be brave, courageous and passionate, and above all else, the big heart reminds you to be LOVING to yourself and others.

Unless you see a thing in the light of love, you do not see it at all - Kathleen Raine

Our butterfly can prompt you to believe its message to live one vibrant, full and passionate life. Butterflies move gracefully, have amazing endurance, are enchanting and sensitive. They are symbols of transformation and an awesome representation of nature's design sense.Ro met super talented silversmith Dora Szekelyof Liv&Lov and asked her to make a butterfly necklace for Believe I Am. We loved them so much, wore them everywhere, and got such a great reaction from others that we decided to make them available on our site. Dora lovingly hand saws and polishes every butterfly which is made using recycled Argentium sterling. And just like no two people or flowers or journals are exactly the same, each butterfly has a slight variation as this is a handcrafted piece made in Rhode Island, USA. Check it out! Get one for yourself or someone you love!

Even my ultimate role model Oprah tweeted about the power of the statement " I am __" !!!