Meet Autumn Duskey

What originally drew you to DropGym?

Jesus. I was walking through a difficult season of life. My husband had just been murdered and I was attempting to process his death. But as I did this I continually found myself struggling to breath, to process, to cope with the pain (physically and mentally), to do simple daily tasks, struggling to sleep. My body hurt. My heart hurt. My soul was desperate for a solution because I didn’t know if I could bear the pain for another day. So in these sleepless nights I prayed and asked God for help. I would tell him over and over that I knew He knew what I needed but I didn’t and would he help me. He replied back with one word “MOVE”. It took me a minute to figure out what this meant but soon in those conversation I learned that He was asking me to move my body. And so I did.

I began looking for a gym. I started googling and searching facebook for a place that I could workout and I found DropGym. I had no idea that the things happening in my life not only needed to be processed mentally but also needed to be processed physically. My body needed to process the grief of losing my husband, the events leading up to his death, and all the things that had happened throughout my life. My body had been storing all of this information and now was on complete overload. The pain I was feeling was actually a sign that I needed to do something. So I began my journey at DropGym peeling back one layer at a time processing all the things and in the midst of it slowly coming to life.

What does consistency look like for you?

Showing up.

As simple as this sounds, I learned somewhere along the way that “to show up” was half the battle for me. So whether it’s a new situation and I am awkwardly uncomfortable, I show up. If it's a hard thing I do not want to face, I show up. If I am struggling to feel happiness or joy, I show up. The battle is in showing up and choosing to show up is how I remain consistent.

What are you most proud of yourself for facing at the gym?

It was 24/7, Tribe 3. Shantell was talking to us about the empathy walk. I had done this walk once before when I did my first camp. I knew somewhat what to expect and had been anticipating this walk all week long, but I was in a completely different place in life this time around. I knew it would not be the same. The first time I carried the 40 lb bag and really struggled to make it around the block. Now, I had trained here for two years and knew I could carry more.

I thought to myself, "I think I will try for the 80 or 100lb this time. I think I can do that." But as Shantell spoke to us she challenged us to possibly do something that maybe we didn’t know we could do. My buddy went first and I was still undecided of what I would do. But then I looked at her and said “If I can get the bag off the ground I am going to go for it”. She nodded and we went. I went over to the bags and picked the 120 pound bag up. I got it off the ground and so we went.

I had this lid on my life that I would put on all things. I was tired of it being there. I remember the moment as I came around the first bend, that the lid flew off like a fire hydrant. Boy was that a proud moment of accomplishment. No one told me to do it, I trusted myself and yet I tried something new, something challenging, something I didn’t know if I could do. I faced failure in the eye and said, "I am going to try." I faced that lid I kept trying to put on all the things of life. I got rowdy, I let my self be excited, tired, celebrate victory. And all the while I did it in community with others allowing myself to be vulnerable and let others be in the hard, messy, thrilling, and exciting places with me.

Who’s one of your greatest superhero’s / role models?

Lu. I have never met someone so willing to fight for life like you. You have this deep passion to live, to love, to see, to embrace, to challenge, to speak truth. You are willing to go to the depths, to get messy, to enter in. You walk into those places that others are afraid to go and turn on the light so that other can follow. The most amazing part of this is that you not only live this out for yourself but you desire to bring that to each person you meet. Your presence calls hearts and souls to attention. Your presence calls truth to to the room. You living the life you were called and destined to live has changed life and changed the course of families who have followed the same path for generations. Your life well lived has changed the course of history. You are a world changer. You are the most courageous beautiful person I have ever met.

Is there a movement in the gym that has spoken to you or changed how you approach life?

All things sandbags have changed how I approach life. I think I have solved how I struggle in all of life’s problems through how I carry, don’t carry, give up, choose to fight through, and wrestle around with a sandbag. For me a sandbag is like that good friend who will always tell you the good hard truth when you are not willing to see it.

In one year from now, what would you like to wake up thinking/feeling every morning?

To feel true joy, and to know that it’s going to be a good day regardless of circumstances. I felt really worn down prior to joining DropGym. All I could see was the bad, so much so that I struggled to find the good in things. I had come to expect the bad, and lost the feeling of excitement, joy, and to be expectant of the good. I have learned the past few years that both good and hard simultaneously exist together. The bad things are going to happen, but so are the good. I would like to wake up being able to see them both, be engaged in both, and acknowledging them both fully.

Describe one memory where you felt the most like yourself and the most alive.

It was 2002, and I was in my car driving to Eugene to interview for a college scholarship. I remember driving in the car and listening to a song called “Hold it up to the light”. I knew that I was headed to the “interview”, but in life I had no idea where I was going. I went to college after my first son was born. My love for him led me somewhere new, and I wanted a different life for him, I wanted a better life for us. I knew there was something else out there. So I headed off on a journey and in blessed naivety, in the simplest of faith, chose to do something different. I felt the most alive in this moment driving in the car with music blaring, singing loudly, and believing that there was hope for something more.

What’s one thing you’d want the woman working out next to you to know about you?

I am so grateful for each one of you. Your presence has radically changed me as a person, a woman, a mother, a friend. I am honored to run along side of each of you and it is not something I take lightly that you would allow me to do this with you and that you would do it with me. I will fight for you, cheer you on, celebrate your victories, and be consistent to show up for you. I will do this first by doing all of these things for myself, so that I can be a good buddy for you.