What is the Nate Pose!? What does it mean or symbolize?! It stands for many things, but for starters here are some core principles:

-  Set Goals and Work Passionately to Achieve Them
-  Climb Mountains, yet Savor the Journey and Pace (figuratively and literally)
-  Dominate Your Days
-  Celebrate Your Wins
-  Flex Often

The pose symbolizes the exhilaration of accomplishing a feat, big or small; it’s all relative to each individual.  How was it birthed?  My good friend Sara Burgess (@sara_loves_nature), coined it.  She’s no longer with us which makes it that much more special when I personally flex it.  Before I get into the exact moment when the pose was birthed, I want to take it back even further.  The more I thought about what it really means to me, the more I wanted to share its deep origins.  I hesitated even writing about it because of how it can come off as pretentious, however, I know my true intentions and I feel I owe it to Sara and everyone who’s ever flexed it, because it’s not about me.  It’s not about “Nate”. It’s about the euphoric feeling of being ALIVE.

Flashback to the late 70’s and early 80’s.  My parents, alongside many other Laotians, decided to escape the communism of Laos and flee to Thailand, on foot. (Yeah, imagine that.  REAL hikers.  No backpacks cause there were no REI’s 😂). They made it safely to a refugee camp named Phanat Nikhom, about an hour Northeast of Bangkok.  On November 22, 1981, I was born in that refugee camp and my dad, the creative genius he was, decided to name me after the camp, Phanat Nikhom Sengmany.  The nurse recommended he drop the “Nikhom” part because that would just make my name way too long.  Thankfully, my dad agreed. 😅

Only a few months after I was born, we were on our way to the States!  WooHoo!  #landofopportunity.  When we got here, my official name became “Phanath Sengmany”. Yes, an “H” was added to the end of my first name for whatever reason. (There is a reason why I mention this and if you’re not bored yet and keep reading, you’ll find out why. 😬) We had short stints in Dallas & Albuquerque before settling down in Sacramento.  We lived in a small 1 bedroom apartment and our apartment manager was an older Caucasian lady by the name of Paula.  I believe she was in her mid 60’s. She had no kids of her own and she was the primary care taker for her elderly mother, who also lived with her in the same apartment complex as us.  My parents spoke zero English and knew very little about American society so Paula took it upon herself to make us her responsibility, being that she had no kids of her own.  She took on the responsibility and the title of our “Godmother”.

Paula treated me like I was her own and as if her time with us on this Earth was very limited.  She pushed me hard; physically, mentally and spiritually.  I participated in various sports, martial arts, volunteer work, and after school studies.  I remember typing approximately 80 wpm on an old school typewriter at the age of 6 and even typing the ENTIRE bible at one point.  She’d have me attend church; Christian, Catholic, Mormon.  She’d even/also have Jehovah Witnesses over and at least once a week we’d visit a Buddhist temple to meditate.  Being young and naïve, I took in all the positive teachings from various religions not knowing there were any differences between them.  But, one of the most favorite activities she had me do was hiking.  We hiked many places and she LOVED hiking in the rain.  She had me watch The Sound of Music religiously, so anytime it would rain she’d pull out the lawn chairs and have us sit in the rain listening to the Thunder and Lightning converse, just like how Maria explained it to the kids in The Sound of Music.  Paula crammed as much knowledge, values, and experiences as she could into me.  So much so that not only did I start to become overwhelmed, but so did my parents.  However, looking back on it, she was definitely a miracle.  God sent for sure. #blessed

When I was about 7-8 years old, Paula walked into our apartment while I was sitting on the living room floor watching cartoons and turned the TV off.  She then looked me in my eyes and suggested I drop the “Pha” in my first name and go by “nath”, the last four letters of my first name.  She had witnessed how challenging it was for other kids and teachers to pronounce my name, “Phanath” (Pa-knot), and wanted to alleviate any extra or unnecessary bullying.  So I went by both, Phanath and Nath.  When people asked for my name, I’d reply with my first name and if they asked if I had a middle and/or nickname, I told them it was Nath.

I am the oldest of 6 here in the states (I have an older half-brother and half-sister in Laos from my dad’s previous marriage).

Paul Sengmany (my dad almost named him Sacramento because that’s where he was born)
Malea Sengmany (means Mary in Hawaii)
Mary-Kathy Sengmany
David Sengmany

Believe it or not, they were all named by my Godmother Paula after biblical names with the exception of my youngest sibling, Nancy Sengmany.  She was born after Paula passed away and my mom and dad almost named her Paula, but our local Buddha and others suggested Nancy.

Paula passed away when I was in the sixth grade.  I remember that day vividly.  As I stated earlier, she pushed me really hard and to the brink of resentment.  When my mom picked me up from school on a sunny spring afternoon and informed me that Paula had passed away, I felt relieved.  I was blind and ignorant.  Young, dumb and ungrateful.  I was finally going to be able to be like the other kids, play like the other kids.  Yes, I was relieved.  However, in her honor, I decided to go by Nath almost exclusively.  Until people started calling me “Nathan”. Remember, I’m just a Lao refugee kid who knew no better so I slightly took offense to that.  Because to me, Nath was short for Phanath.  But for some odd reason, I thought I was clever and changed it from Nath to Nate thinking that people would stop mistaking me for Nathan. (go ahead, take a few minutes to laugh….. good!?)

Anyhow, fast forward a few years to high school where I no longer had Paula’s guidance and wisdom, I started to make some bad decisions.  My parents loved me and supported me and taught me many lessons, but they just weren’t experienced or equipped to deal with a teenager growing up in American society.  Who could they turn to?  Not many.  Let’s just say I made decisions that forced me to get arrested at the age of 17.  Just a few months shy of turning 18.  I was sent to juvenile hall for a couple of nights and when I was released, my mom picked me up. When we got home, my dad was nowhere to be found.  He had left a hand written letter in Lao stating he was going to commit suicide.  He felt like he failed as a father, like he had left everything he knew and risked coming to America only to have his oldest son here, get arrested.  It was in that moment that I prayed.  I prayed to God and my Godmother to return my father home safely and unharmed.  And I vowed I would change my ways.  My prayers were answered and ALL the things Paula taught me, flooded my entire being.  It was in that moment I made a conscious decision to be better, to do better.  So I worked my ass off, physically, mentally and spiritually just like Paula showed me.

Fast forward to January 24th, 2015.  I posted on InstaGram that I would be hiking Homestead-Blue Ridge Trail @ Lake Berryessa for the first time and taking my cousin @phavandy on her VERY FIRST HIKE EVER.  Everything we read online stated it would be an easy, I repeat, EASY, 1 mile stroll.

So, Sara Burgess hit me up and asked if she could join since she had never done the trail either and had been wanting to do it.  Note, we had never met in person prior to this hike but had been following each other on InstaGram for almost two years, so there were a lot of firsts going into this hike.  Sara asked if she could carpool with us since she had been having car issues which I didn't mind at all.  But of course, on the way to meet up with Sara, I got a flat tire!  To save time, we leave my car parked at Starbucks and ended up hopping in Sara's car instead.  That was only the beginning of our adventures for the day. Ha! What was next?! We got lost and had to stop to get directions at a local campsite only to be warned by the lady working the front desk that just a week ago, someone had to be airlifted out.  Oooook... an easy 1 mile hike huh?! 🤔 We finally find the trailhead and make our way up.  The first half mile, no problem.  And then the incline started. 😰 Oh my.  To this day, I don't know how my cousin Phavandy made it up that ridge line with no shade on her very first hike, evahh.  We stopped and took plenty of breaks but it was at the 3.25 mile marker that I stopped and stood on top of a rock overlooking the gorgeous Lake Berryessa.  I gotta admit, I was exhausted at this point and when I turned around, Sara had her phone out ready to take a picture of me and asked me to strike a pose.  I couldn't come up with anything clever or cool and the only thing that came to mind was, "I'm so glad we made it to the top and I feel so tired yet accomplished, I'm just gonna clinch my fists, flex, look up and let out a scream." So that's what I did and Sara snapped a few pics. Shortly after, we refueled up with some snacks and water then made our way down.  All in all, it was one wondrous day of adventuring for us.  From the flat tire, to the hot sun, to an easy 1 mile hike being a 5 mile hard hike. 😳

The next day is when I posted on social media the pic Sara had snapped of me flexing and screaming from exhilaration of making it to the top.  The pic got a like or two, but Sara messaged me later and said, "Hey! You should do that pose every hike you go on and call it the 'Nate Pose'!" I thought it was a cool idea and since I was going to be hiking at least once a week for the entire year of 2015, I thought “Why not?” That's how the Nate Pose was birthed. I continued to hike and climb mountains and I would flex the "Nate Pose" on almost every adventure I went on.  And then, little by little, other people starting flexing the pose while they were out adventuring and tagging me and using the hashtag.  It totally caught me off guard as it was not my intention at all.  I was definitely humbled and appreciative and remained so as more and more people started flexing it all over the world.

To see people achieving goals, conquering mountains, and pushing their own limits in itself is inspiring.  Knowing they desire to flex the Nate Pose as their exclamation point truly leaves me speechless.  I definitely wanted to write about it and elaborate on how it all came about.  As I reflected, I thought to myself, "Why would someone want to flex a pose named after someone who isn't a celebrity, who isn't rich or famous!?" It really made me think of what the name "Nate" meant to me and I must say, I got slightly emotional.  Thinking about how that name was given to me and who gave it to me and what that meant to me.  I go by Nate in honor of my Godmother Paula who instilled in me positivity and showed me how to truly be open minded.  She laid the foundation to my selfless heart and my desire to give back.  When I see others flexing it, it reminds me of who I am and how far I've come.  It reminds me of when I decided to change my negative ways and pursue a life of constant self-improvement.  Step by step.

So THANK YOU.  To all of you who have flexed it and who support it.  It's bigger than me.  It's about all of us supporting and encouraging each other to do great things, to be happy, to pay it forward and to never stop exploring.  Paula and Sara surely smile a little bigger when they see it.  So with that being said, continue to Dominate your Days and Celebrate your Wins. =)