Experiencing the Magic of Our Love. Everyday.

In October of 2014, Sara and Aleks met for the first time in person during a week-long training course for the CHEK Institute in California... Aleks: "We arrived and one day Sara re-introduced herself to me. It wasn't a very friendly exchange. Sara was very stand-offish and guarded. One day she sat by me at the table for lunch and began talking about her shoulder hurting. I was annoyed by her rigidity towards me and decided to break the ice. (If you know Sara, then you know what I'm talking about). I didn't let her finish complaining before I pulled her right arm up and dug into her subscaps. I noticed her internally questioning the whole process as I'd invaded a clear boundary, but the next day she approached me with curiosity and informed me that whatever I did had fixed her shoulder. She was a serious student, kept to herself mostly. After that, she loosened up & we talked a lot during breaks." Sara: "Yeah, I saw Aleks as just another shirtless 'bro' peacocking himself around & because I was married at the time, I usually asserted myself as intolerant and rigid to avoid silly nonsense. But in spite of my judgments, I quickly felt connected to him. He was brilliant, kind, genuine & enthusiastic. Being 8 yrs my junior, I dubbed him my "little brother" as our connection intensified. I left that training knowing we'd stay in touch, and we did!"

After their training in California, Aleks returned to Chicago and Sara flew back to Austin. Aleks was a 26yo bachelor running his practice out of a clinic in Wheeling, IL. Sara was a 34yo married mother of 2 who was practicing in downtown Austin and working as the Director of Operations for Paleo f(x). They kept in touch and Sara began to consult with Aleks on a fitness scoring project with the conference. Unbeknownst to Aleks, Sara's world had been turned upside down and she was going through an intense personal crisis between November-December. Sara: "I had just moved my family to our new home we'd been building for 2 years the week after I returned from that training in CA. Just a few weeks after that my former husband asked for a divorce. I think I was in a lot of denial. I buried myself in work & the kids & preparing for the holidays, but 5 weeks later the divorce was finalized and I found myself moving yet again. The stress of it all was incomprehensible. I focused on embracing a new life & identity that was emerging from all that chaos. Aleks and I spoke often during this time but I didn't share much of my personal life with him. After complications from a routine surgery in January, I then found myself facing a life threatening illness. Everything kept piling up. One day, I received a gorgeous flower arrangement of Birds of Paradise. The same flowers I had admired in California. It touched my heart that he remembered." Aleks: "Looking back, no- I didn't fully understand or have knowledge of what Sara was going through at the time. Just small bits here and there. I knew she was going through a divorce and was busy with her 2 daughters and work. But through our conversations, I became enchanted by her. She was smart, grounded and deeply connected spiritually. I knew something was 'there', but she was guarded. I know she felt it too but she was in crisis."

Sara: "Despite the narrative I desperately tried to create about my deep connection with Aleks, I found it difficult to avoid the cosmic magnetism and numerous moments of serendipity. How easy it felt to share thoughts, ideas & dreams with him that I'd spent years withholding out of fear of judgement & shame. I tried very hard to stick to this story that my mind was creating a fantasy projected by the vulnerabilities of my personal life, so it was an emotional tug of war for months as I seemed to live 2 lives thinking, eventually this will fizzle out. But then I got the shock of my life. In May 2015 I discovered I was pregnant. It wasn't good news for me. I was only 4 mos out of a 13 yr relationship, had only just begun my physical recovery from several traumatic surgeries, losing my breasts & a life threatening infection, and really - just wanted to focus on establishing consistent security for my 2 girls. This pregnancy took fear & uncertainty to another level. Aleks was in Isreal at the time, so I was very close to keeping this to myself and not going through with it. No one would know. Problem solved. But once again, forces beyond explanation took me into the realization that this pregnancy wasn't happening TO me. It was happening FOR me. I feared everything. I felt like a failure. I was scared of how this would impact my children, who were still adjusting to the divorce of their parents. I was terrified of what this would cost my health; how could I handle this on top of everything else? Financially, what does this mean? And truthfully, I was most scared of being judged. I knew, bottom line, that was the real hold-up and therefore this was a gifted opportunity for me to move past some of the greatest fears I've had my entire life. So I sat down... and wrote Aleks an email. He didn't have great service in Isreal, so he got the news before hopping on a bus one morning and that's where this journey started!"

Aleks received an email while on a trip in Isreal. He recounts this email being a 400 page novel. Sara disagrees. Nonetheless, he immediately purchased a cuban cigar, told everyone he was with that he was going to be a Dad and joyfully celebrated! Sara, on the other hand, was not celebrating. Sara: "The truth was, because I'd been going through so much personally while trying to keep my head above water and remain consistent for my children, much of my private life had remained just that; private. There were still many people in my life that were learning about my divorce! And with the great distance between Aleks and I, most of my closest friends and family members had not even met Aleks. Yet, here I was pregnant with his child and about to embark and another great journey of the unknown. One-by-one, I sat each important person in my life down and shared the news. Too exhausted to call each sibling and have the same conversation, I sent a group email to them all and then hid from the world. I was ready for the onslaught of criticisms and disappointments. Instead, to my humiliation, I was blanketed by love, support and encouragement. From my sister: 'one of us has to supply the grandkids, thanks for taking another one for the team!' and the closest to a passive-aggressive response I got was from my long-time pal, Cale, who said, 'that kid just better not be some lactose intolerant nerd'. So the majority voted and I knew I was going to be okay."

Aleks moved to Austin in September 2015, almost a year after he and Sara had connected at that CHEK Institute training in California. They bought a house for the expanding family and moved AGAIN (3rd time in a year for Sara) and merged their two practices, launching the new Primal Fusion Holistic Health & Performance. Arielle Tatyana Rybchinskiy was born 1/13/16, joining two very proud big sisters, Sydney Morgan & Kelli Harper- making this newly blended family a house full of women! The emotional range that Aleks experiences on a daily basis is quite comedic; but the universe supplied exactly what he needed! Sara: "We have experienced so many ups and downs throughout our relationship. It didn't help that we collided during a time in my life where I was struggling so hard to trust anyone, and Aleks paid dearly for that. I credit him for sticking through the hardest times, no matter what. Getting to know someone intimately while bringing a child into the world together, and navigating a relationship while being so guarded in front of the children I already had, then simultaneously operating a business together with such different personalities was hands-down the most agonizing, irritating, painful and REWARDING journey I've ever been on. No matter how tough it got, we had that connection to return to. It never fizzled. It only intensified, and continues to intensify. They say every couple goes through a honeymoon period and then things sort of flatten out, but there's something about *us*... a chemistry incapable of "going flat". No matter how busy we get, stressed, irritated, angry, sad, scared, or tired- there's always an intense energy of passion between us. Even though we are together 24/7, I never grow tired of watching him, listening to him and crawling into bed next to him. He EXCITES me. Our future excites me. I am forever blessed by this intelligent wizard of a man; who makes all of us laugh until we cry, and has the patience of a monk."