So this isn’t exactly the scary scenario we were preparing you for in your IMPACT class. This pandemic is not wearing a big duct tape helmet (though maybe we’d be better off if it had been!) but the feelings of anxiety or fear and stress are not that different.

One of the very first things we talk about in class is managing your adrenaline. Adrenaline can make us freeze in response to a stressor, but it’s also the thing can give people super strength when needed. Our current situation could continue for a while, so managing adrenaline is also really important for your long-term health. A really great tool that helps many people manage adrenaline is of course, breathing. 

Welcome to our first IMPACT Bay Area book club!  Join us as we read Know My Name: A Memoir, written by Chanel Miller.  In this book, Chanel describes her experience as a sexual assault survivor in the legal system and her trauma healing journey.  Together, we will reflect on her vulnerability, strength, and heartbreak to honor her story.  

Huge thanks to our community for making our work possible. Please take a moment to celebrate our tremendous 2019 accomplishments - we did this together!

This time of year, people can come up with all kinds of holiday-themed, seasonal excuses to convince you to do things you don't want to do. You have to eat things, go places, or spend time with people "...because it's Christmas" or "...because it's Hanukkah" or "...because that's what families do" and "...it's only for a few days of the year" or "baby, it's cold outside". 

When we think about defending our boundaries and fighting for our own comfort and safety, we can often also think of a list of reasons not to speak up or fight back. Self-defense is about choices and each of us gets to choose if and how we want to respond in any given situation.

Holiday Safety Tip #2: Even Santa Needs Consent   

The holidays bring up a wide variety of unwanted touch – from the handsy person at the office holiday party to the hug-demanding relative. Depending on your relationship with the person and the specific situation, you may make different choices around whether to set a boundary and how to go about it. But if you think a situation like this may come up for you, you can think through some strategies and responses ahead of time!

When it comes to safety, we recommend planning ahead - giving just as much attention to planning your physical and emotional safety as you do to planning your holiday dinner menu or travel logistics. Planning ahead means that you won't have to figure out in the heat of the moment (under stress) how you want to set that boundary or exit that situation. 

Last year IMPACT received an anonymous donation of $35,000. The note enclosed said that the donor wanted to support the leadership of women of color in the Empowerment Self-Defense field and that they wanted the money to go toward increasing the salary, benefits, and professional development of the Executive Director.

I had a lot of feelings in that moment: disbelief (I seriously wondered if the check was real), shock, happiness, relief, and eventually, that deep feeling of acknowledgement. I am here, in a field dominated by people who do not look like me, and someone else not only thinks that it is important that I'm here, but their checkbook does too. 

Happy Summer! We hope the start of summer (or at least, summer weather) means you have some fun and relaxing plans in the works - AND that you will make IMPACT part of your summer plans! Read on to hear about what we've got planned for the next few months!

I found IMPACT at a time when I was struggling with a lot of uncertainty and fear - I had survived an assault and was looking to regain a sense of agency and control in my life.

I'm outdoorsy, I'm stubborn, I consider myself to be a very strong and capable person. Yet when it came down to knowing how to defend myself against an attacker, I found that I was petrified by fear. While the threat of an attack was already scary, freezing and feeling an overwhelming feeling of helplessness was worse. That feeling of helplessness followed me around for months after I was attacked and seemed to affect everything I did. I knew the only thing that would make me feel better was to learn how to defend myself against future assailants, and a quick web search led me to IMPACT.