Better than Before

October 26, 2011 5 Comments

Hi lovelies! Thank you all for your well wishes about my Grandma. I found out today that she will be released from the hospital tomorrow which is truly an answer to prayers. I continue to pray for her health and recovery and am so appreciative of all of your thoughts and prayers as well.

Tonight something amazing happened… I left work early enough to make it to dance class! Although I’ve pronounced my love for Dance Works before, I haven’t actually been to a class in quite some time. Between my crazy work schedule and them moving the class up 30 minutes earlier, I’ve found myself missing week after week. Amongst these changes, I found out tonight that they also changed the instructor. Well, anyone who takes group classes knows that the instructor makes the class and . I knew tonight was going to be a good class, when I heard the music the instructor picked…

I absolutely love musicals and while I enjoyed the other teachers modern style, it was so fun to dance to this song. I grew up performing and in dance classes, so this is definitely much more my style. Besides the fact that I was having a blast doing some sassy dance moves, I found that it was the first time all day where I wasn’t thinking about anything stressful. I think so much of our lives are spent stressed, that we almost forget what it’s like when our shoulders begin to drop and our thoughts start to clear. That is exactly what happened for me tonight and it felt amazing. I’m hoping that my schedule continues to allow me to go to this class, plus I want to learn the rest of the Roxie dance!

Questions:

-What activities have work/school taken a toll on?

-What’s your favorite type of dance?

Filed Under: Fitness, Health Tagged With: , , ,

The Grapevine

August 24, 2011 15 Comments

Hi Lovelies!

Happy Wednesday! I hope that you all are having a great day so far and are celebrating that we are halfway through the week! If you in the SF area, then you also have something else to celebrate… SUN! After a summer of staying inside with my space heater on, I’m so happy that sun has decided to make an appearance in the city! Fingers crossed that it stays here for a while!

Last night I was able to leave work on time and made it to my favorite class, Dance Works! Most of us were regulars tonight so the teacher definitely upped the difficulty level which I really enjoyed. The class was lovely as always, but tonight, there was one move I couldn’t master: the grapevine. Remember that simple, cross behind, cross in front move that you learned in elementary school?

(Edited to Add: If the above video won’t load for you, you can see it here.)

Have you ever thought of the grapevine as a hip hop move? Ya, me either. So here’s the thing, I usually consider myself a pretty good dancer, but for some reason when the teacher modified this very simple move with some complicated arms, sashays and spins, I could not seem to master the combination. Knowing that I was having trouble made me feel embarrassed as everyone in the room watched me attempt the routine across the floor. Finally, with some color in my cheeks, I remembered something that my yoga teacher said on Monday night:

“We call this a practice for a reason- there is no judgment here. Some days will be better than others and that is OK”

Hearing that really got me thinking about how often we hold ourselves to such high standards that we don’t give ourselves wiggle room- and let’s face it, some days you will wiggle in tree pose! Sometimes that workout will be harder than it was the day before and rather than question why that is the case, it’s better to just accept it. Tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity to try again. And the best part? Once I stopped worrying about what everyone else thought of my continued screw ups, I began was able to complete the routine successfully! All of the stress I was putting into my own performance was making me trip up myself. Was it perfect? Hardly! But I’ll tomorrow is another day to try again!

Questions:

-Do you get frustrated when a workout is harder than usual or you don’t meet performance goals?

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: , ,

Finding the Time

August 3, 2011 5 Comments

Hi lovelies! I hope that you all are having a great week so far! My favorite part about Wednesdays is that you are officially closer to the weekend which is always a good thing.

Today I want to share something that I’ve been having trouble with lately- finding the time to exercise. Since joining Yoga Works, I have found myself committed to exercising and really enjoying taking classes, so much so that I was sometimes willing to say no to activities with friends just so I didn’t miss my Dance Works class.

But lately, I’ve been feeling like I just cannot make it to the gym or find the time to exercise. With a full-time job that has been especially busy lately and trying to create time for friends and family, there just haven’t been enough hours in the day.

(Source)

I’ll admit that I’ve been struggling with this because I know that exercise is good for my body and soul and I enjoy it! I think that because I strive to live a balanced life, I find it especially frustrating when things feel off kilter! (Hm, maybe the fact that I’m a Libra adds to that!) But instead of beating myself up about my current lack of exercise, I’m really working on focusing on all the things that I’m currently doing a good job at balancing. Yes, exercise may have slipped through the cracks lately but by acknowledging that, I’m already making progress in bringing it back. I think that sometimes we forget, myself most of all, that it is ok not to be perfect all the time. Instead, it’s the figuring it all out that makes it living and the balance that makes it enjoyable!

Questions:

-What have you had trouble finding the time for lately?

-How do you stay balanced?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Dance Works Determination

July 21, 2011 8 Comments

I’ve always considered myself a very determined individual. I have had big dreams for my life and have done everything I could to set out to achieve them, like:

Interning for Parliament in London…

No, I did not wear that outfit to work, this was just a picture on a day I was off to show my parents!

Or graduating with high grades after missing almost 3 months of my 2nd semester senior year of college due to medical issues…

But sometimes, I set my mind to much simpler tasks, like fixing the broken remote or finding the file everyone says doesn’t exist. I love a challenge and the rush of happiness in achieving even small things. So the other night when I got out of work late, I decided that I was still going to find a way to make it to my favorite Dance Works class.

On the walk to my car, I tweeted “It is 7:05… can I go home, change, drive, park to make a 7:30 @yogaworks class?? Here goes nothing!” I then was like the Tasmanian devil, literally in my own little whirlwind to make it to the class. In the process, I accidentally put on a way too loose tank top, but I took advantage of the revival of the ’90s knotting the shirt trend and made it work. I then miraculously found a parking spot and ran into class with mere seconds to spare and found that they were only on the opening stretches. As I was instructed to focus on my breathing, all I could hear was how fast my heart was beating but all I could focus on was how excited I was that I made it!

So was it worth it? Yes! It was an amazing class with fantastic music selections and I was glistening after a great workout. All in all, although it stressed me out trying to make it on such a short time frame, I felt a certain pride that I was able to not only achieve my goal but was doubly rewarded by having a great class. Will I do it again? Probably but next time, an 5 extra minutes would be nice.

Questions:

-Have you achieved any goals lately? Big or small?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,
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