It seems like a tradition now. Spending some time on New Year's Eve reflecting on the past year. I just finished reading my entries from 2010 and 2011. I sincerely hope that there isn't a year, coming up, where I don't have even greater amazing things to reflect on. The last two years have been a whirlwind, especially as I document my fitness journey. Highlights from the past two years, just to put things in perspective as I reflect on 2012:
2010: "And then, the biggest transformation of all. This year alone, even
though I began almost three years ago, has been the most amazing year of
all, in terms of personal, emotional, spiritual and physical growth for
me. I've blogged about my journey before, but I can't help but replay
2010 over and over in my head because that is the year it actually
STUCK. This past year feels like it was fast forwarded, because of how
my life has done such a complete 180 since last January. Last January, I
had lost 30 pounds but was not consistent with food and exercise and
was just living my life as a wife, mom and teacher.
Now, in December, I am an additional 30 pounds lighter, discovered a
passion and desire for exercise and physical activity, began running,
have run (okay, and walked) a half marathon, have made some new
wonderful friends, trained to teach BodyPump and was just hired to be a
group fitness instructor. HUH? Did I miss something? This is the stuff
that happens over years and years. Not in just 12 short months."
2011: "It brings tears to my eyes to read my words, my sense of passion and
determination. I feel no less at this moment. This year, 2011, truly WAS
all those things above. This year WAS better than the last. It was the
year that I truly put myself out there, as an instructor, a teacher, a
mentor. I made so many mistakes, made so many bloopers, cried a ton of
tears, stuck my foot in my mouth countless times, laughed at myself,
kicked myself, tore some hair out, scratched my eyeballs out and then
put them back, had others kick the crap out of me......and I am still
standing. I am a better person for it, a better instructor. The
incredible growth I have experienced in 12 short months ASTOUNDS me.
Truly. I still have a long way to go to be the kind of instructor I want
to be. But really? I look at my video from Feb 2011. I have come a long
way. I am more confident and can handle the little roadbumps that are
constantly in my way, just a little easier than I could a year ago."
Fast forward to 2012: I wrote in my Christmas letter last year that this was the year I hoped to add a program or two. Yes, it was a dream but I didn't really think I would have the time for it. Well, be careful what you put in writing, what you put out to the universe. This year surpassed the last two, not that they don't have merit, it's all part of my journey to a better me. It just keeps getting better and better. This IS the year I trained for not one, but two more Les Mills programs.
Probably the most instrumental training I have ever been through was AIM2. I went through this Advanced Instructor Module in March, flying to Seattle for the weekend. I met amazing people who have become friends and supporters. Working with world class trainers to help better my skills as an instructor, work that continues on daily. It was a turning point in my teaching, and even though at that point, I had no intention to actually add on any more programs, I believe it gave me the confidence to do so.
In April, I trained for CXWORX and passed on site. A 30 minute core program that is functional training at it's best. I didn't even have a place to teach the program, but I was encouraged to train and went through it with some amazing women. It was harder, in a different way, than BodyPump. It's amazing how much "easier" it is to go through something like this with friends and supporters. It also was amazing to me how I felt "seasoned" as an instructor next to others that were there for their first ever LM training.
As 24 Hour Fitness began turning their Super Sport locations into Premier clubs, adding more formats, it became clear that I would have the chance to teach CX there. I was fortunate to be asked to launch at these clubs, and am proud to have done so at each launch over the summer, beginning in San Jose on stage with Steve Renata, who is one of the originators of BodyPump. Then when I heard RPM was going to be coming, I thought I would add that program even though I am not a huge fan of indoor cycling. However, when I found out that BodyFlow, my secret love, was coming to San Mateo and Millbrae, that sealed the deal and in July I went through and passed that training. I believe I was meant to teach this program and have enjoyed every single moment of this new format.
I finished the summer launching in San Mateo and Mountain View in November. Probably the most exciting thing this year in terms of teaching is that I was able to expand my teaching from last December's 4 BodyPump classes to adding CX and BodyFlow, for 7 classes a week. Since August, I have had a dream schedule, one that is not without its challenges as I learn to manage the extra classes and balance them with work and family responsibilities. The biggest challenge, and I know I am not alone in this, is learning multiple formats. Not only before re-launch times, which in the fall, had to come right at the beginning of the school year, but balancing older release reviews with learning new ones. Participants don't and simply cannot understand what we instructors go through to prepare for that one hour class.
That being said, I don't regret any of the craziness I have imposed upon myself. Truly. I am blessed, fortunate and so incredibly lucky to be doing what I am doing. I have a great full time job, one that gives me less joy on a daily basis, though, as education faces so many challenges and cut backs. This one, the one I choose to do, teaching fitness, gives me a different kind of joy. The joy of seeing the faces of my participants at the start of a class, anticipating the workout. The joy of seeing their faces, mid-class, as they are struggling, sweating, and yes, smiling, especially if I am being goofy or making a joke. The joy of their faces as they reach the end of a track, just BARELY, and this is not only in BodyPump, but CX and BodyFlow as well. The joy of seeing their faces as they smile, thank me, and leave class, feeling accomplished, tired and exhilarated. The feeling that I, as an instructor (and still a new one at that) have as people come up to thank me for a great class, or for challenging them. It really is a feeling like no other. It reminds me that I am here for a purpose, that I am meant to do this, in whatever capacity I can.
I finish this year, 2012, not actively teaching, as I needed to take some time off to heal some injuries. Another thing I have learned as I continue on this journey as a group fitness instructor, is that while I don't do this for ME, I do this for my participants, I have to remember to take care of ME. That is something that I haven't done very well this year, as since I don't make New Year's Resolutions, I will state that as my goal.
My goal for 2013 will be to take better care of ME. Physically and emotionally. Because right now, I am not there for my classes. I am trying to get into physical therapy to take care of pain. It has been almost 2 weeks since I have taught (other than a BodyFlow class I taught yesterday because I had no sub, which ended up being very therapeutic for me as well, which is why I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!) and it has been a very difficult 2 weeks. I am "off" for another 2 weeks and I hope to be able to get back to teaching through PT. I know in my "head" that I have to spend more time stretching, taking care of myself, which includes resting, in order to be there for my participants.
I find that I have become a bit complacent, working hard preparing for my classes, going to my job, taking care of my family, and need to find time to dedicate to caring for myself so that I can continue to do what I love - teaching Les Mills classes. I think that 2013 will be the year I add one more program......I know what it will be, but I can't divulge. However, I will not add another until I learn how to better manage the ones I have - and not at the expense of taking care of ME.
Probably for the first year since Dad died, I have been able to think of him today and not cry. I know that his health and his death are huge parts of what prompted me to make my major life change, and for that I thank him. It's been 5 years since he died and today would have been his 79th birthday. It is also the 2 year anniversary since I became a 24 Hour Fitness employee. Coincidence? Maybe. It's all connected.
Today I was able to go to a BodyFlow class as a participant and focus on me. I spent some time with Alex, my friend and a big part of my journey. The rest of the day was spent with my family, at the movies with them and my nieces and tonight, I have a big pot of chili going and we are spending it at home with Amanda and her family and I cannot be more thankful for my husband, my children, my family and friends.
I cannot wait to see what I write one year from tonight. This year will be the year Alexander graduates from high school and goes off to college. Cassie is growing more each day and developing quite the personality.
I remember these words I wrote on one of the earlier blogs. I am happy to say those words still ring true tonight. Happy New Year!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am a lucky woman, but also one that has rediscovered that I am not
afraid of hard work, not afraid of putting myself out there. The only
thing getting in the way was me, and I am not afraid anymore. Yes, I
have frequent freak out moments. But I find it works for me. I need to
voice the fear, feel reassurance, then face it head on and plow right
through it. It takes hard work, consistency, drive, dedication,
determination, blood, sweat, tears, laughter, teasing, embarrassment,
pain, pain and more pain, but a whole lot of FUN FUN FUN. I don't think,
looking back at the year, that I would trade any bit of what I went
through. I don't think I would change or alter any of my experiences".
Here Comes 2013!!!!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
The Eve Before My Life Forever Changed.....
After 11 years together with Franklin, with just the two of us, my life, in just a matter of hours, was about to change. FOREVER.....
18 years ago tonight, I was about to go to dinner with Franklin and his cousin Jose, a last meal of sorts, before I entered the hospital at 11:00 pm to be induced into labor. My child, my first, sex unknown, was a week late and showed no sign of wanting to enter the world. Sorry kid, we are going to force you to come out of that warm, comfy belly you've lived in for over 10 months!!!
We had dinner at Max's, and at 11:00, armed with pillows, a boom box, baggage, a bottle of champagne, and a myriad of other things that made it look seriously like we were moving in for good, we entered Sequoia Hospital, the same hospital where I myself was born 26 years before. I was settled in a private room, IV inserted, and was off to dream land....
I was woken up rudely about 7:00 am with sharp contractions. No one warned me that Pitocin, to induce labor, would bring on the pains sharp and hard. The rest of the day is a blur, but I do remember that over the course of the next 8 hours, I would be poked, prodded, etc. and only would progress to 2 centimeters dilated. The doctor informed me, after inserting a probe on the baby's head to monitor its heart rate, that because every time I had a contraction, the baby's heart rate went down, I would be heading for a c-section. At 4:00 pm, I didn't care anymore. I just wanted this kid out.
So both my doctor and her husband suited up, as well as Franklin and my mom (who showed up at the hospital in high heels and a nice dress to see her grandkid enter the world!) and at 4:22 pm, 6 lbs, 15 oz and 19 inches long, my first born son, Alexander Lorenzo Perez Herrera was born. The first moment I saw him, as they placed him near my head, was a drug induced stupor and what came out of my mouth was "His nostrils are HUGE!" I instantly fell in love with him, though. My little man.
I stayed in the hospital 4 days. It was hard learning how to breast feed him, trying to recover from major surgery, and all sorts of other issues, but we were ecstatic.
And tomorrow, on December 9, 2012, my baby celebrates his 18th birthday. What is in the plans? I go to teach BodyPump and BodyFlow, dad is off running the field for a soccer tournament and the birthday boy has homework and needs to film some footage for a video assignment that's due this week. Cassie and I spent a few hours today compiling a special surprise project to unveil tomorrow for him. In the evening, dinner at his favorite restaurant with our local family, 22 of us, and hopefully over Christmas, another celebration with our out of town family.
I simply can't believe it. 18 years. He is officially an adult. He is more independent than ever, driving himself everywhere, and I have been getting lots of practice letting him go. But he will never be far from my heart.
I am immensely proud of the man my son has become. I can't wait to see what's in store for this next chapter of his life.
18 years ago tonight, I was about to go to dinner with Franklin and his cousin Jose, a last meal of sorts, before I entered the hospital at 11:00 pm to be induced into labor. My child, my first, sex unknown, was a week late and showed no sign of wanting to enter the world. Sorry kid, we are going to force you to come out of that warm, comfy belly you've lived in for over 10 months!!!
We had dinner at Max's, and at 11:00, armed with pillows, a boom box, baggage, a bottle of champagne, and a myriad of other things that made it look seriously like we were moving in for good, we entered Sequoia Hospital, the same hospital where I myself was born 26 years before. I was settled in a private room, IV inserted, and was off to dream land....
I was woken up rudely about 7:00 am with sharp contractions. No one warned me that Pitocin, to induce labor, would bring on the pains sharp and hard. The rest of the day is a blur, but I do remember that over the course of the next 8 hours, I would be poked, prodded, etc. and only would progress to 2 centimeters dilated. The doctor informed me, after inserting a probe on the baby's head to monitor its heart rate, that because every time I had a contraction, the baby's heart rate went down, I would be heading for a c-section. At 4:00 pm, I didn't care anymore. I just wanted this kid out.
So both my doctor and her husband suited up, as well as Franklin and my mom (who showed up at the hospital in high heels and a nice dress to see her grandkid enter the world!) and at 4:22 pm, 6 lbs, 15 oz and 19 inches long, my first born son, Alexander Lorenzo Perez Herrera was born. The first moment I saw him, as they placed him near my head, was a drug induced stupor and what came out of my mouth was "His nostrils are HUGE!" I instantly fell in love with him, though. My little man.
I stayed in the hospital 4 days. It was hard learning how to breast feed him, trying to recover from major surgery, and all sorts of other issues, but we were ecstatic.
And tomorrow, on December 9, 2012, my baby celebrates his 18th birthday. What is in the plans? I go to teach BodyPump and BodyFlow, dad is off running the field for a soccer tournament and the birthday boy has homework and needs to film some footage for a video assignment that's due this week. Cassie and I spent a few hours today compiling a special surprise project to unveil tomorrow for him. In the evening, dinner at his favorite restaurant with our local family, 22 of us, and hopefully over Christmas, another celebration with our out of town family.
I simply can't believe it. 18 years. He is officially an adult. He is more independent than ever, driving himself everywhere, and I have been getting lots of practice letting him go. But he will never be far from my heart.
I am immensely proud of the man my son has become. I can't wait to see what's in store for this next chapter of his life.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
2 years and Going STRONG!!!!!!!
Two years ago today, on December 5, 2010, I completed day 3 of my Initial BodyPump training with a full pass! From just being a willing participant for two years, to actually being allowed to teach this amazing format! I accomplished something I never imagined, something I had only begun thinking could be a reality just 6 weeks prior to this. Little did I know, the real work, the real challenge, was just beginning........
It feels like its been a lot longer than 2 years. I truly believe this is what I was supposed to do with this second half of my life, to discover a love of fitness and to inspire people by showing them that it's never too late to change your life for the better. I began my journey at age 40. I became an instructor at age 42. It's been a long journey, one filled with sweat, determination, passion, tears, pain and laughter. It takes a village, and that is certainly the case with me. I did not do this alone, not even close.
From the ongoing support and encouragement of my husband, from day one until today, putting up with the doubt, the fears, the waffling back and forth, the gym time, the drama and tears of not feeling like I was good enough, and yes, all the small successes along the way. Undoubtedly, without you, I would not be where I am today. Thank you baby and I love you :)
The patience of my children to listen to the music over and over while practicing anywhere I could, until they were practicing with me, singing the songs (ok, this is only Cassie, who has an ear for music, pitch and tempo, and accepts that I will likely only play Les Mills music in the car EVER). I do enjoy and gets a kick out of hearing her sing LM songs! You two are the best kids I could ask for.
The willingness of my friends and new participants to endure class after class of the same release, multiple video tapings, iPod issues, choreography bloopers, and generally just ME, finding my way, day by day, bit by bit, class by class, as I discovered my own style, my own groove - too many to mention but you all know who you are! Thank you for being with me from the beginning, and if you joined more recently, thank you for coming and staying! A big THANKS for joining the gym in many cases just for BodyPump!
The support and constant pushing from Alex, my first instructor, now my dear friend, who mentored me during this entire journey and has never given up on me, putting up with my questions, my drama, and all the while never letting me beat myself up too much (not even a little bit!). Thank you for encouraging me to continually search for balance, to become a better instructor for my participants, taking advantage of the instructor trainings offered. Thank you for seeing something in me that I still at times have a hard time seeing myself. I never would be the instructor I am today without your knowledge, guidance, patience and support.
I have the love and support of so many people around me: family, friends, instructors, people in my classes.......I was thinking today about the concept of acceptance. This has always been so hard for me when it comes to how I look, how fit I "think" I am or not.
I am almost 45 years old. Less than 5 years ago, I made a decision to get healthy. Am I as thin, skinny, fit as I think I want to be? No. Am I as strong as I want to be? No. Am I eating as clean as I should be? No. Am I perfect? NO. And I think I am getting closer to the moment when I am okay with at. Acceptance.
See, it's not like I am giving up striving for perfection. I will never give up trying to improve myself. I think I am too competitive for that. But I think I am getting closer to the realization that I am not 21. Nor would I every want to be again. I am proud of my age, proud of the role model I try to be for my friends and participants who are middle aged. I think it's amazing that women, and men, my age and older can be fit and healthy. Doing it reasonably.
I know that ANYTHING I have to complain about when it comes to my fitness level is a direct result of what I do or don't do. I am not going to use age, lack of time, stress or pre-menopause as an excuse for not losing weight, for not having enough endurance. Every move I make, every move I can't make is a direct result of my training or lack thereof. It's a result of how I choose to fuel my body, and how I choose to move my body . There is no one to blame, to point my finger at, other than myself. And I am okay with that. Being responsible, that is. If I am not happy about something, then I need to take specific steps to change it.
How many times have I started over, how many times have I cut out a certain food, or made a goal? Countless times. It is a waste of time? Absolutely not. It is a journey, a process. It may be 5 steps forward, 2 steps back, but it's moving in a direction that I can live with. I'm feeling chunky again, and I know it's a result of eating too many carbs again. I know that breads rice and pasta don't like me. So yet again, I recommit to changing my food intake and my training because I know if I am not happy with how I feel or look, I need to make changes, even if it's difficult. I know what to eat. I just need to do it. I don't question if it's going to work because I've tried and it does. It's realizing and remembering that it's not what I eat this month that is going to help me achieve my fitness goals: it's what I eat and do the rest of the year that matters.
This is why it's unwise to make New Years Resolutions that start on Jan 1. If you are going to make a change, and you are truly ready, then in the words of Nike: JUST DO IT.
I went back to read my old blogs from late 2010, and then early in 2011 when I was a brand news instructor. It boggle my mind how things developed so rapidly, how I grew into this new lifestyle. I am laughing so hard at some of my early posts!
However, it's not the destination, it's the journey. We'd all be alot happier if we spent more time enjoying the process.
I'm thankful to still be enjoying my journey. The road is long, and I hope I never reach the end.
It feels like its been a lot longer than 2 years. I truly believe this is what I was supposed to do with this second half of my life, to discover a love of fitness and to inspire people by showing them that it's never too late to change your life for the better. I began my journey at age 40. I became an instructor at age 42. It's been a long journey, one filled with sweat, determination, passion, tears, pain and laughter. It takes a village, and that is certainly the case with me. I did not do this alone, not even close.
From the ongoing support and encouragement of my husband, from day one until today, putting up with the doubt, the fears, the waffling back and forth, the gym time, the drama and tears of not feeling like I was good enough, and yes, all the small successes along the way. Undoubtedly, without you, I would not be where I am today. Thank you baby and I love you :)
The patience of my children to listen to the music over and over while practicing anywhere I could, until they were practicing with me, singing the songs (ok, this is only Cassie, who has an ear for music, pitch and tempo, and accepts that I will likely only play Les Mills music in the car EVER). I do enjoy and gets a kick out of hearing her sing LM songs! You two are the best kids I could ask for.
The willingness of my friends and new participants to endure class after class of the same release, multiple video tapings, iPod issues, choreography bloopers, and generally just ME, finding my way, day by day, bit by bit, class by class, as I discovered my own style, my own groove - too many to mention but you all know who you are! Thank you for being with me from the beginning, and if you joined more recently, thank you for coming and staying! A big THANKS for joining the gym in many cases just for BodyPump!
The support and constant pushing from Alex, my first instructor, now my dear friend, who mentored me during this entire journey and has never given up on me, putting up with my questions, my drama, and all the while never letting me beat myself up too much (not even a little bit!). Thank you for encouraging me to continually search for balance, to become a better instructor for my participants, taking advantage of the instructor trainings offered. Thank you for seeing something in me that I still at times have a hard time seeing myself. I never would be the instructor I am today without your knowledge, guidance, patience and support.
I have the love and support of so many people around me: family, friends, instructors, people in my classes.......I was thinking today about the concept of acceptance. This has always been so hard for me when it comes to how I look, how fit I "think" I am or not.
I am almost 45 years old. Less than 5 years ago, I made a decision to get healthy. Am I as thin, skinny, fit as I think I want to be? No. Am I as strong as I want to be? No. Am I eating as clean as I should be? No. Am I perfect? NO. And I think I am getting closer to the moment when I am okay with at. Acceptance.
See, it's not like I am giving up striving for perfection. I will never give up trying to improve myself. I think I am too competitive for that. But I think I am getting closer to the realization that I am not 21. Nor would I every want to be again. I am proud of my age, proud of the role model I try to be for my friends and participants who are middle aged. I think it's amazing that women, and men, my age and older can be fit and healthy. Doing it reasonably.
I know that ANYTHING I have to complain about when it comes to my fitness level is a direct result of what I do or don't do. I am not going to use age, lack of time, stress or pre-menopause as an excuse for not losing weight, for not having enough endurance. Every move I make, every move I can't make is a direct result of my training or lack thereof. It's a result of how I choose to fuel my body, and how I choose to move my body . There is no one to blame, to point my finger at, other than myself. And I am okay with that. Being responsible, that is. If I am not happy about something, then I need to take specific steps to change it.
How many times have I started over, how many times have I cut out a certain food, or made a goal? Countless times. It is a waste of time? Absolutely not. It is a journey, a process. It may be 5 steps forward, 2 steps back, but it's moving in a direction that I can live with. I'm feeling chunky again, and I know it's a result of eating too many carbs again. I know that breads rice and pasta don't like me. So yet again, I recommit to changing my food intake and my training because I know if I am not happy with how I feel or look, I need to make changes, even if it's difficult. I know what to eat. I just need to do it. I don't question if it's going to work because I've tried and it does. It's realizing and remembering that it's not what I eat this month that is going to help me achieve my fitness goals: it's what I eat and do the rest of the year that matters.
This is why it's unwise to make New Years Resolutions that start on Jan 1. If you are going to make a change, and you are truly ready, then in the words of Nike: JUST DO IT.
I went back to read my old blogs from late 2010, and then early in 2011 when I was a brand news instructor. It boggle my mind how things developed so rapidly, how I grew into this new lifestyle. I am laughing so hard at some of my early posts!
However, it's not the destination, it's the journey. We'd all be alot happier if we spent more time enjoying the process.
I'm thankful to still be enjoying my journey. The road is long, and I hope I never reach the end.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Better and Better, Day by Day
At BodyFlow, that is. At learning choreography. At feeling the essence. I feel like I am finally starting to get it.....day by day.
It's been a crazy few weeks, with school pressures - knee deep in fall assessments and I got two new students this week. I am finally up to 29. One more spot. Today's student, however, came straight from Mexico and speaks not ONE iota of English. Poor baby cried when mom tried to leave him. I have not spoken so much Spanish in one day....ever, I think! I cannot imagine how it must feel to be dumped off into a completely foreign environment. At least he made friends quickly, with other student who speak Spanish, and by lunch he was comfortable enough to go with the yard duty ladies to eat. He adjusted amazingly quickly but I am going to have to pull out the Spanish in order for him to understand anything. Poor kid - stuck with me as his teacher, butchering his language....
Cassie had a great birthday party this past weekend, joint with Jasmine. 18 giggling, screaming girls......I'll take my 29 students anyday! But they had loads of fun and my baby was happy. That's all that matters.
I had the biggest compliment given to me after BodyFlow this past Sunday. I finished teaching, we did our relaxation/meditation, and as we were rolling up the yoga mats, a member called out a thank you to me and said in front of the class that I had the perfect voice! Two other members chimed in, and agreed that my voice is very calming and soothing. That's something I am always conscious of. I spend so much of my fitness teaching time in BodyPump, which is a very different feel - much stronger, more intense and motivating. I worry sometimes that I am not able to bring it down as I teach Flow. It is getting easier, and while the end of the class is very low key and soothing, the rest of the class actually is not. There are plenty of opportunities for me to bring out a bit more intensity, such as in the core abs and back tracks, and even the standing strength. But I am very aware of not having a "creepy yoga voice" and trying instead to be myself, just dialed down. It's something that people don't often think about, and not only do instructors (good ones) have to know their choreography internally and perfectly, they then have to layer in that coaching, that connecting and correcting of what they see in the room to help members be safe and get the most out of their workout, but they also have to motivate and drive when needed, and also, at least in Flow, allow the participants to seek internally what they need and can get out of the class. It's a delicate balance that I am just beginning to understand. It comes second nature with BodyPump. CXWorx is similar, even though I only teach one class a week, it's a bit more intense and I can dig deep and motivate. Then to completely shift gears to BodyFlow, all within a few minutes? It's interesting to begin a Tai Chi warmup while still dripping with sweat from an intense core workout! It takes me a bit of time to "come down" from that high and shift into Flow mode.
So to hear people tell me my voice is good for this program.....that means the world. It means that I am heading in the right direction. I was thinking tonight on the way home from the gym about my AIM2 experience, and remembering the instructors that were there for BodyFlow. I wish I had paid more attention to the feedback Josef gave Anne and the others, but I had NO intention of teaching Flow ever, so I didn't give it a second thought. I do know, though, that I am SO far away from that! In fact, I probably won't be ready for an AIM1 workshop for Flow for much longer than the 6 month minimum they say you should be teaching a program before doing an advanced workshop. I still need to work on physically being able to do the poses better before I do AIM. I still struggle daily with tight hip flexors, and right now my upper back is a mess, but I felt a glimmer of hope tonight.
I mixed up both releases, even though I now only teach whole releases because they are easier to keep in my brain. I only have 2 full flow releases under my belt, and even though I just received an older release and just ordered more through LM, I simply cannot learn an entire release right now. So I found a warm up that just resonated with me. I learned it super quick last night and LOVED teaching it today! I actually FELT graceful! I may not have looked it, but I sure felt it! It has opened up the possibility that maybe I can learn more tracks fairly easily, at least before the next round of new releases come out. I'll tackle a couple more for this weekend and see how it goes.
I'm loving BodyFlow. If I could teach it 3-4 times a week I'd be in heaven :)
It's been a crazy few weeks, with school pressures - knee deep in fall assessments and I got two new students this week. I am finally up to 29. One more spot. Today's student, however, came straight from Mexico and speaks not ONE iota of English. Poor baby cried when mom tried to leave him. I have not spoken so much Spanish in one day....ever, I think! I cannot imagine how it must feel to be dumped off into a completely foreign environment. At least he made friends quickly, with other student who speak Spanish, and by lunch he was comfortable enough to go with the yard duty ladies to eat. He adjusted amazingly quickly but I am going to have to pull out the Spanish in order for him to understand anything. Poor kid - stuck with me as his teacher, butchering his language....
Cassie had a great birthday party this past weekend, joint with Jasmine. 18 giggling, screaming girls......I'll take my 29 students anyday! But they had loads of fun and my baby was happy. That's all that matters.
I had the biggest compliment given to me after BodyFlow this past Sunday. I finished teaching, we did our relaxation/meditation, and as we were rolling up the yoga mats, a member called out a thank you to me and said in front of the class that I had the perfect voice! Two other members chimed in, and agreed that my voice is very calming and soothing. That's something I am always conscious of. I spend so much of my fitness teaching time in BodyPump, which is a very different feel - much stronger, more intense and motivating. I worry sometimes that I am not able to bring it down as I teach Flow. It is getting easier, and while the end of the class is very low key and soothing, the rest of the class actually is not. There are plenty of opportunities for me to bring out a bit more intensity, such as in the core abs and back tracks, and even the standing strength. But I am very aware of not having a "creepy yoga voice" and trying instead to be myself, just dialed down. It's something that people don't often think about, and not only do instructors (good ones) have to know their choreography internally and perfectly, they then have to layer in that coaching, that connecting and correcting of what they see in the room to help members be safe and get the most out of their workout, but they also have to motivate and drive when needed, and also, at least in Flow, allow the participants to seek internally what they need and can get out of the class. It's a delicate balance that I am just beginning to understand. It comes second nature with BodyPump. CXWorx is similar, even though I only teach one class a week, it's a bit more intense and I can dig deep and motivate. Then to completely shift gears to BodyFlow, all within a few minutes? It's interesting to begin a Tai Chi warmup while still dripping with sweat from an intense core workout! It takes me a bit of time to "come down" from that high and shift into Flow mode.
So to hear people tell me my voice is good for this program.....that means the world. It means that I am heading in the right direction. I was thinking tonight on the way home from the gym about my AIM2 experience, and remembering the instructors that were there for BodyFlow. I wish I had paid more attention to the feedback Josef gave Anne and the others, but I had NO intention of teaching Flow ever, so I didn't give it a second thought. I do know, though, that I am SO far away from that! In fact, I probably won't be ready for an AIM1 workshop for Flow for much longer than the 6 month minimum they say you should be teaching a program before doing an advanced workshop. I still need to work on physically being able to do the poses better before I do AIM. I still struggle daily with tight hip flexors, and right now my upper back is a mess, but I felt a glimmer of hope tonight.
I mixed up both releases, even though I now only teach whole releases because they are easier to keep in my brain. I only have 2 full flow releases under my belt, and even though I just received an older release and just ordered more through LM, I simply cannot learn an entire release right now. So I found a warm up that just resonated with me. I learned it super quick last night and LOVED teaching it today! I actually FELT graceful! I may not have looked it, but I sure felt it! It has opened up the possibility that maybe I can learn more tracks fairly easily, at least before the next round of new releases come out. I'll tackle a couple more for this weekend and see how it goes.
I'm loving BodyFlow. If I could teach it 3-4 times a week I'd be in heaven :)
Monday, October 15, 2012
Feeling the Weekend!
Oh boy. I don't often play the age card.....as a 40 year old woman who completely changed her life and body, it doesn't usually fly with me when people tell me they are too old to get fit, or lose weight.....blah, blah, blah.
However.....that being said....I am feeling 44-1/2 today. Seriously. It seems like the harder I push myself physically, yes, I can do it, but boy, do I pay for it the next day! I think the hardest part of the weekend was the run....
Saturday Cassie and I participated in the 2nd Annual Oktoberun in Redwood City. All the money goes to the RWC school district, and directly to our schools. We did it last year, and I sense a tradition in the making. It was a great day, as last year, there were 700+ registrants and this year? 1800!!! I absolutely LOVE the atmosphere on a race day. Every race I've run gives me goosebumps in the minutes before the start. Hoover had a good size team, I think the biggest represented by one of the schools. We had teachers, our principal, parents and students. To run alongside a first grade and third grade student I know, with their moms, was incredible. Especially now that we are beginning a serious health and wellness movement at my school. In our poor, heavily Latino community, awareness is key and we received a grant that gave scholarships to families to participate Saturday. We are offering Zumba classes (I know, I know, but it gets them in the door and moving) and we are all getting pedometers and starting walking clubs at school. I am excited to do my part, and most of the teachers that ran the race were upper grade but these students know me and the expressions on their little faces as we ran together and high-fived each other.....then to see them and their moms at school today....just a new relationship in the making. Good freaking stuff.
Cassie was amazing. She moaned and groaned for 3 blocks or so, about being tired, her legs hurt. Then an amazing thing happened - she looked at people running, walking and jogging past us....then looked behind us and saw that there were not a lot of people there. She looked at me and said "Mom, can we run, please?" Uh, hello? OF COURSE! Then throughout the rest of the race, we would stop and walk here and there, and she kept pushing me and herself - "Come on, mom, let's run!" or "We'll walk when we get to the corner." Again, the thrill of hearing our names as we ran across the finish line.....I love sharing this with her. She asked me later on, as we watched the first of the half marathoners cross the finish line, "How many laps is a half marathon?" I told her that 13 miles was 52 laps. She looked at me and said she would never run a half marathon! I looked at her and told her that when she got older, if she ever wanted to run a half, that I would happily train for and run one with her. The look on her face.....I think she actually considered it. In her 7 year old mind.
A highlight of the run was running past a couple and the guy said "I told you it was HER!" and found a longtime member from PAC that I haven't seen in over 6 months. His partner said "He told me that you are his favorite BodyPump instructor!" He moved to San Jose and hasn't made it up to my Saturday class, but his fiancee is the new Vice Principal at one of our schools and that's why they were running in the race! We chatted, he said how much he misses my classes but when I told him that he could join the 24HF Super Sports in his area and get both BP and Combat, his two favorite classes, he was super excited. It was nice to see him and make the connection with his fiancee.
We went home to rest a bit before I had to leave to teach BodyPump at PAC. Class was good, although my legs were absolute TOAST by the end, after all the squats, lunges and jump squats! Then Cassie and I ran off to a birthday party. At the party, I walked by two female clowns (actual clowns there for entertainment!) and one of them stopped me and said - "Don't you teach BodyPump at PAC?" Turns out she comes to my class, but I didn't recognize her because of the wig and makeup! Her clown partner told me her mom comes to my classes. I was struck by the power of what I do in that one hour each week.....making an impression on people without ever realizing it. The reminder was awesome.
Sunday, I woke up with sore ankles, and my hamstrings? OMG. Running on pavement.....haven't done that in ages and I felt it. Taught BodyPump again and it was a great class. Felt better afterward. Headed to San Mateo to teach BodyFlow, and while I felt pretty good at the end, I was definitely tired. But was my day over? Nope. Had committed to stay and do GRIT, which is the new LM program - 30 minutes, High Intensity Interval Training. I've done it twice before, with Alex as the instructor and it seriously kicked my butt. I've done the cardio format and the strength (barbell) format. This time we were doing strength with Johnny, a new instructor, video taping the class. Tough stuff, but I went light on my weights because I was tired but it didn't matter. There is sprinting in the warm up, burpees, pushups, squats...a lot of bodyweight work that you just can't get around.
So today I woke up.....and the tops of my feet are sore, my ankles, hamstrings, shoulders, obliques......all good, really, but I feel my age. My hip has been bugging me, along with tight quads. Went to the chiropractor for an adjustment but what I really need is a massage - thankfully I have one scheduled for this Friday!
Although I am sore, and old, I can't help but really enjoy weekends like this. Where I push myself physically, mentally, and survive. I remember years ago when I suffered from my thyroid disease, and how physically weak I always was. Today I rotated my arm inward and happened to be feeling the back of that arm with my other hand and was shocked to feel how hard my tricep muscle was. I wasn't voluntarily flexing, and it was THERE. 4 years ago, I couldn't do a push up if my life depended on it. I couldn't do 5 lunges. Now I am jump squatting. I am proof that it can be done. It takes time, commitment, dedication, but most of all, the desire to change, and the willingness to accept no excuses, from others or from yourself. It's not easy. Far from it. But impossible?
The word says "I'm Possible". No excuses.
However.....that being said....I am feeling 44-1/2 today. Seriously. It seems like the harder I push myself physically, yes, I can do it, but boy, do I pay for it the next day! I think the hardest part of the weekend was the run....
Saturday Cassie and I participated in the 2nd Annual Oktoberun in Redwood City. All the money goes to the RWC school district, and directly to our schools. We did it last year, and I sense a tradition in the making. It was a great day, as last year, there were 700+ registrants and this year? 1800!!! I absolutely LOVE the atmosphere on a race day. Every race I've run gives me goosebumps in the minutes before the start. Hoover had a good size team, I think the biggest represented by one of the schools. We had teachers, our principal, parents and students. To run alongside a first grade and third grade student I know, with their moms, was incredible. Especially now that we are beginning a serious health and wellness movement at my school. In our poor, heavily Latino community, awareness is key and we received a grant that gave scholarships to families to participate Saturday. We are offering Zumba classes (I know, I know, but it gets them in the door and moving) and we are all getting pedometers and starting walking clubs at school. I am excited to do my part, and most of the teachers that ran the race were upper grade but these students know me and the expressions on their little faces as we ran together and high-fived each other.....then to see them and their moms at school today....just a new relationship in the making. Good freaking stuff.
Cassie was amazing. She moaned and groaned for 3 blocks or so, about being tired, her legs hurt. Then an amazing thing happened - she looked at people running, walking and jogging past us....then looked behind us and saw that there were not a lot of people there. She looked at me and said "Mom, can we run, please?" Uh, hello? OF COURSE! Then throughout the rest of the race, we would stop and walk here and there, and she kept pushing me and herself - "Come on, mom, let's run!" or "We'll walk when we get to the corner." Again, the thrill of hearing our names as we ran across the finish line.....I love sharing this with her. She asked me later on, as we watched the first of the half marathoners cross the finish line, "How many laps is a half marathon?" I told her that 13 miles was 52 laps. She looked at me and said she would never run a half marathon! I looked at her and told her that when she got older, if she ever wanted to run a half, that I would happily train for and run one with her. The look on her face.....I think she actually considered it. In her 7 year old mind.
A highlight of the run was running past a couple and the guy said "I told you it was HER!" and found a longtime member from PAC that I haven't seen in over 6 months. His partner said "He told me that you are his favorite BodyPump instructor!" He moved to San Jose and hasn't made it up to my Saturday class, but his fiancee is the new Vice Principal at one of our schools and that's why they were running in the race! We chatted, he said how much he misses my classes but when I told him that he could join the 24HF Super Sports in his area and get both BP and Combat, his two favorite classes, he was super excited. It was nice to see him and make the connection with his fiancee.
We went home to rest a bit before I had to leave to teach BodyPump at PAC. Class was good, although my legs were absolute TOAST by the end, after all the squats, lunges and jump squats! Then Cassie and I ran off to a birthday party. At the party, I walked by two female clowns (actual clowns there for entertainment!) and one of them stopped me and said - "Don't you teach BodyPump at PAC?" Turns out she comes to my class, but I didn't recognize her because of the wig and makeup! Her clown partner told me her mom comes to my classes. I was struck by the power of what I do in that one hour each week.....making an impression on people without ever realizing it. The reminder was awesome.
Sunday, I woke up with sore ankles, and my hamstrings? OMG. Running on pavement.....haven't done that in ages and I felt it. Taught BodyPump again and it was a great class. Felt better afterward. Headed to San Mateo to teach BodyFlow, and while I felt pretty good at the end, I was definitely tired. But was my day over? Nope. Had committed to stay and do GRIT, which is the new LM program - 30 minutes, High Intensity Interval Training. I've done it twice before, with Alex as the instructor and it seriously kicked my butt. I've done the cardio format and the strength (barbell) format. This time we were doing strength with Johnny, a new instructor, video taping the class. Tough stuff, but I went light on my weights because I was tired but it didn't matter. There is sprinting in the warm up, burpees, pushups, squats...a lot of bodyweight work that you just can't get around.
So today I woke up.....and the tops of my feet are sore, my ankles, hamstrings, shoulders, obliques......all good, really, but I feel my age. My hip has been bugging me, along with tight quads. Went to the chiropractor for an adjustment but what I really need is a massage - thankfully I have one scheduled for this Friday!
Although I am sore, and old, I can't help but really enjoy weekends like this. Where I push myself physically, mentally, and survive. I remember years ago when I suffered from my thyroid disease, and how physically weak I always was. Today I rotated my arm inward and happened to be feeling the back of that arm with my other hand and was shocked to feel how hard my tricep muscle was. I wasn't voluntarily flexing, and it was THERE. 4 years ago, I couldn't do a push up if my life depended on it. I couldn't do 5 lunges. Now I am jump squatting. I am proof that it can be done. It takes time, commitment, dedication, but most of all, the desire to change, and the willingness to accept no excuses, from others or from yourself. It's not easy. Far from it. But impossible?
The word says "I'm Possible". No excuses.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Reduced to tears.....AGAIN :-/
I had every intention of sitting down tonight to blog about more fitness things; my newfound love for cxworx, the new Les Mills GRIT classes I've experienced the last two weekends that pushed me beyond my physical and emotional limits.....but then my son, not 20 minutes ago, goes to the mail box and brings inside his senior portrait proofs. All things fitness related went out the window.
I just finished having a fairly hysterical emotional breakdown at the sight of my son, my firstborn, in his cap and gown, in his tuxedo, looking unrealistically mature, adult and so FREAKING handsome, and it just immediately sent tears down my face. He will be 18 in two months. Where did time go? Where did my baby go? When did he grow up? When did he start making his own physical therapy appointments and driving himself to them? When did he begin to take initiative and start filling out college applications, sending emails to prospective college soccer coaches, making appointments at Notre Dame to meet with the coaches and come away with the local university being in his top 5? When did he......where did he......why did he.......
He's a man. He may still need me, when he negotiates "hey mom, if you buy me this pair of shoes, I'll pay for my senior jersey?" or some other monetary thing he needs from me. I drive his jeep on the weekends if he and his dad are taking the van to a soccer tournament and he actually tells me not to forget to put gas in his tank, when he has yet to shell out any of his own money for gas. He's making his own lunches now (thank goodness) and doing the dishes daily so I don't have to. He still smart mouths me and since I gave him his birthday present early (a laptop for this year and for college) he better learn to hold his tongue a bit more or I've got myself a new toy :)
He's still a kid in so many ways, but way too quickly, he's demonstrating he is responsible, independent and mature. I suppose he will figure out how to feed himself when he goes away to college, and I know he can do his laundry, but when I look at the framed picture on the wall of him at preschool graduation, in his blue cap and gown, age 5, and hold up his senior portrait, in his orange cap and gown, age 17-1/2.....well, let the hysterics ensue.
I sure hope I get this out of my system in the next 8 months. For his sake and mine. I already drive my family a bit insane with my fitness craziness before a launch. Cassie was almost in tears because for a brief moment, my attention was focused solely on her brother and not on her. She adjusted and brought me a box of tissues and told me my makeup was smeared. At least I didn't have anything in my teeth.
I'm such an emotional wreck these last couple of weeks. This was the topper. Let's hope things calm down. SOON. I don't know how much more I can handle.
I just finished having a fairly hysterical emotional breakdown at the sight of my son, my firstborn, in his cap and gown, in his tuxedo, looking unrealistically mature, adult and so FREAKING handsome, and it just immediately sent tears down my face. He will be 18 in two months. Where did time go? Where did my baby go? When did he grow up? When did he start making his own physical therapy appointments and driving himself to them? When did he begin to take initiative and start filling out college applications, sending emails to prospective college soccer coaches, making appointments at Notre Dame to meet with the coaches and come away with the local university being in his top 5? When did he......where did he......why did he.......
He's a man. He may still need me, when he negotiates "hey mom, if you buy me this pair of shoes, I'll pay for my senior jersey?" or some other monetary thing he needs from me. I drive his jeep on the weekends if he and his dad are taking the van to a soccer tournament and he actually tells me not to forget to put gas in his tank, when he has yet to shell out any of his own money for gas. He's making his own lunches now (thank goodness) and doing the dishes daily so I don't have to. He still smart mouths me and since I gave him his birthday present early (a laptop for this year and for college) he better learn to hold his tongue a bit more or I've got myself a new toy :)
He's still a kid in so many ways, but way too quickly, he's demonstrating he is responsible, independent and mature. I suppose he will figure out how to feed himself when he goes away to college, and I know he can do his laundry, but when I look at the framed picture on the wall of him at preschool graduation, in his blue cap and gown, age 5, and hold up his senior portrait, in his orange cap and gown, age 17-1/2.....well, let the hysterics ensue.
I sure hope I get this out of my system in the next 8 months. For his sake and mine. I already drive my family a bit insane with my fitness craziness before a launch. Cassie was almost in tears because for a brief moment, my attention was focused solely on her brother and not on her. She adjusted and brought me a box of tissues and told me my makeup was smeared. At least I didn't have anything in my teeth.
I'm such an emotional wreck these last couple of weeks. This was the topper. Let's hope things calm down. SOON. I don't know how much more I can handle.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
A Pivotal Moment.....
It has been quite the busy start to the school year. I underestimated how difficult it would be to learn three programs at this time of year. I think it must be challenging at any time, but when I am so focused on new students, testing and my own children and their school activities, well, it's proven to be more challenging than I expected.
I can barely keep my eyes open but I had to write about what happened today. I have been struggling with learning my programs, but more so, BodyFlow. BodyPump I was able to learn fairly quickly, because I am so familiar with the format. I tackled flow first, as it was brand new except for my training release. This new release, 58, is so different than my training release, with all new poses, and even though I have been told how simple the chorey was, I was seriously struggling with getting anything to stick in my head. CxWorx - I didn't even look at it until a little more than a week ago.
I have been very stressed the last few weeks, and even though I would spend practically every spare moment with my notes and music, and practicing, and watching, it really wasn't sticking in my brain. Yesterday was the 24 Hour Fitness re-launch and I was launching BP and CX. Today I would need to have flow learned.
Yesterday went well; I taught pump at SMSS and CX afterwards. I had a BLAST teaching both, and although I was nervous about CX, it went off without a hitch and was a really fun release to teach. Super hard!! I ended up teaching another full BP class when the BodyCombat instructor cancelled, just so the 20 members who showed up would at least get a workout and they were all very agreeable to a BP class. Once the day was over, I knew I had to finish learning flow. Time had run out.
Up until last night, around 11 pm, I was practicing. Watching. Doing. I was sore, and didn't want to wear myself out more physically, but I need to DO in order to learn. I can't simply watch the dvd or just read the notes; doesn't work for me. So after 11, I finally got the chorey, but wasn't feeling good about the whole thing as I wasn't confident on my coaching and cueing. But I had to get some sleep.
This morning, I taught BP in San Carlos, and then ran to San Mateo. I spent time in the car reviewing the notes again, and then had to just let it be. I was extremely nervous walking into the gym, knowing I had a very high chance of flubbing up in more than one track. And then something amazing happened.
From the time I pressed play, and stepped into position on my yoga mat, it just flowed. Literally. From the tai chi warm up, through the sun salutations, to standing strength, balance, hip openers.....then the dreaded track 6, the core track. The one that physically was so hard for me, the one that kept me up late last night. Was it perfect? No, but my timing was on, and the entire room groaned throughout the track. The core back track, I love and that went well. By the time I hit track 8, spinal twists, I literally had goosebumps. By track 9, hamstrings, and the track that brings the class back down, brings the members to focus internally......I was actually in tears. Not enough so that members could hear it in my voice, but it was so emotionally moving...it's hard to describe. As I sat and guided the class through relaxation and meditation, I was swept by such a feeling of completeness, such a feeling of "this is what I am supposed to be doing".....and after class, several people thanked me and told me it was a great release.
I went to the locker room to freshen up and began sending a message to my amazing trainer, Rachel. I had an urge to let her know how incredibly moving my first 58 class was. She had posted recently how track 9 brought her to tears, and I remember thinking, "well yes, it's a great song, but tears?" I didn't get it. Until now. The wave of emotion that ran over me, like a wave, was indescribable.
It's like everything fell into place today. All my worries, all my stresses over this first post-training release, GONE. When people would tell me prior to today, "oh, you'll be great" or "you'll be fine", what they don't understand is that I didn't believe that, not deep down. My fear of totally screwing this up have been weighing on me. What I didn't realize is that while I thought none of it was sticking, it actually WAS. That was the most shocking thing of all. I wasn't able to give this release the time and dedication I did for my training release and that weighed heavily on my belief that I could deliver a good class. No one was watching and waiting for me to fail. Just ME.
It's not often I have these kinds of revelations. But damn, when they happen, it's like a ton of bricks. The thought that maybe this is the program for me. BodyPump - always and always will be my first passion, the one that truly set me on this path to better health. I've posted about moments like these in BP, usually, though, when I am sharing my story or journey with the class. A single track or release has never brought me to tears while teaching. But today? It was simply life changing, the way I felt delivering this class to my members. They will never know how today affected me, and in truth, it wasn't anything they did or didn't do, I don't even know if it was about them. It was about me. How I felt teaching this to them.
Simply powerful. Pivotal. A moment in time where I was in the zone. A different kind of zone than my BodyPump zones that I've experienced. A truly emotional zone.
BodyFlow.
I can barely keep my eyes open but I had to write about what happened today. I have been struggling with learning my programs, but more so, BodyFlow. BodyPump I was able to learn fairly quickly, because I am so familiar with the format. I tackled flow first, as it was brand new except for my training release. This new release, 58, is so different than my training release, with all new poses, and even though I have been told how simple the chorey was, I was seriously struggling with getting anything to stick in my head. CxWorx - I didn't even look at it until a little more than a week ago.
I have been very stressed the last few weeks, and even though I would spend practically every spare moment with my notes and music, and practicing, and watching, it really wasn't sticking in my brain. Yesterday was the 24 Hour Fitness re-launch and I was launching BP and CX. Today I would need to have flow learned.
Yesterday went well; I taught pump at SMSS and CX afterwards. I had a BLAST teaching both, and although I was nervous about CX, it went off without a hitch and was a really fun release to teach. Super hard!! I ended up teaching another full BP class when the BodyCombat instructor cancelled, just so the 20 members who showed up would at least get a workout and they were all very agreeable to a BP class. Once the day was over, I knew I had to finish learning flow. Time had run out.
Up until last night, around 11 pm, I was practicing. Watching. Doing. I was sore, and didn't want to wear myself out more physically, but I need to DO in order to learn. I can't simply watch the dvd or just read the notes; doesn't work for me. So after 11, I finally got the chorey, but wasn't feeling good about the whole thing as I wasn't confident on my coaching and cueing. But I had to get some sleep.
This morning, I taught BP in San Carlos, and then ran to San Mateo. I spent time in the car reviewing the notes again, and then had to just let it be. I was extremely nervous walking into the gym, knowing I had a very high chance of flubbing up in more than one track. And then something amazing happened.
From the time I pressed play, and stepped into position on my yoga mat, it just flowed. Literally. From the tai chi warm up, through the sun salutations, to standing strength, balance, hip openers.....then the dreaded track 6, the core track. The one that physically was so hard for me, the one that kept me up late last night. Was it perfect? No, but my timing was on, and the entire room groaned throughout the track. The core back track, I love and that went well. By the time I hit track 8, spinal twists, I literally had goosebumps. By track 9, hamstrings, and the track that brings the class back down, brings the members to focus internally......I was actually in tears. Not enough so that members could hear it in my voice, but it was so emotionally moving...it's hard to describe. As I sat and guided the class through relaxation and meditation, I was swept by such a feeling of completeness, such a feeling of "this is what I am supposed to be doing".....and after class, several people thanked me and told me it was a great release.
I went to the locker room to freshen up and began sending a message to my amazing trainer, Rachel. I had an urge to let her know how incredibly moving my first 58 class was. She had posted recently how track 9 brought her to tears, and I remember thinking, "well yes, it's a great song, but tears?" I didn't get it. Until now. The wave of emotion that ran over me, like a wave, was indescribable.
It's like everything fell into place today. All my worries, all my stresses over this first post-training release, GONE. When people would tell me prior to today, "oh, you'll be great" or "you'll be fine", what they don't understand is that I didn't believe that, not deep down. My fear of totally screwing this up have been weighing on me. What I didn't realize is that while I thought none of it was sticking, it actually WAS. That was the most shocking thing of all. I wasn't able to give this release the time and dedication I did for my training release and that weighed heavily on my belief that I could deliver a good class. No one was watching and waiting for me to fail. Just ME.
It's not often I have these kinds of revelations. But damn, when they happen, it's like a ton of bricks. The thought that maybe this is the program for me. BodyPump - always and always will be my first passion, the one that truly set me on this path to better health. I've posted about moments like these in BP, usually, though, when I am sharing my story or journey with the class. A single track or release has never brought me to tears while teaching. But today? It was simply life changing, the way I felt delivering this class to my members. They will never know how today affected me, and in truth, it wasn't anything they did or didn't do, I don't even know if it was about them. It was about me. How I felt teaching this to them.
Simply powerful. Pivotal. A moment in time where I was in the zone. A different kind of zone than my BodyPump zones that I've experienced. A truly emotional zone.
BodyFlow.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Summer Reflections
I went back to work today. Officially. Sat in a staff training the entire day, and while it wasn't horrible, it wasn't fun sitting all day. One more Looooong meeting tomorrow, then I get Friday to work in my classroom. One day to set it up and be ready for Monday. Paid, at least. I can put in as much time as I want on the weekend.....but I don't. I have 3, maybe 4 classes to teach at the gym (if I sub for Deb) and I don't want to be in the classroom in between. Thankfully Janet is coming Friday and one of my former parent volunteers, whose daughter is playing soccer with Cassie, offered to come help too so I will have 2 amazing people helping me unpack. I just may finish on Friday :)
Yesterday was a nice ending to the summer. We spent the early part of the day taking Cassie, Alexander, Amanda and her family out to Año Nuevo to see the elephant seals. It was a 2 mile hike to the beach each way, total of 4 miles. I didn't remember it being so far when we took Alex as a cub scout, but I was game. The girls were troopers and it was a beautiful crisp day. After the seals, we stopped at a beach up highway 1 and played for a bit. We had to rush back to Redwood City because Alex had to work at school; as BOSA Secretary he is already putting in a lot of hours working student registrations, planning for assemblies they are running, etc. I needed to go home and ice and get ready to teach my first Triple Tuesday at San Mateo Super Sport!
I was seriously nervous about my new schedule of classes. I have never taught 3 classes back to back and even though two of them were 30 minutes, I was still teaching 2 hours straight. I was looking forward to it; to teach all three of my formats in one fell swoop? HEAVEN!!
I arrived early to see if I could use my wireless mic in their stereo.....nope. It needs to have the same setup with a splitter that I have in San Carlos, so I will have to see about how I can get that accomplished. I am so accustomed to using my own mic that I really don't like using the club's mic anymore. I was very worried about how many people would actually come to a 4:30 BodyPump class, followed by a 5:00 CXWORX class. I figured 5:30 was a decent hour to come for BodyFlow. I am used to my participants being more of the working set and 6:30 being a challenge to arrive to on time, but I was pleasantly surprised to have 20 for BP! Lots of male members, relatively speaking, and I was able to have them all grab their resistance tubes for CX to save set up time. I explained they would have to put away all BP equipment quickly so we could stay on schedule and not cut any of the 5 tracks I was teaching. Two of my regulars from San Carlos came, as they live in Half Moon Bay and come all the way to SC just for my class. This is closer and they got to try CX.
BP went well, they seemed to enjoy the class and then a few more came in for CX while we were putting away the equipment. About 25 for CX. This was a tough class, as only 2 had come to our launch on Saturday (more later on that). At the end of CX, though, there were smiles through the sweat. Lots of comments from people about how hard it was but how they loved it! Some people left and more came in for flow, and I had close to 30 for that class! There was no time to even go to change or go to the bathroom, because I needed to keep things moving and on schedule. Many people didn't know to bring a yoga mat so I took a few minutes in the beginning introducing the format, explaining about the mat, etc.
Now I had fun teaching BP and CX. But BodyFlow? I am in HEAVEN. I truly love this format. Several men stayed for this class, and a couple had stayed from the beginning of pump. To teach this after two other classes; I knew it would be challenging physically, but it wasn't as hard as I thought. I think doing the 4 mile hike first was what made my legs feel like jello! At the end of class, before relaxation, half the class got up and left and when the Zumba people came in as I was packing up, both instructors thanked me for flow (they were in the back) and told me not to take offense at how many people left early - they had to get their Zumba shoes on! Which was fine, they left at the best possible time.
The best part of flow? During track 4, the balance track, people started giggling. Now I strive to teach in the essence of all my programs - this is the most calm, most serene, most focused of tracks because we are balancing on one leg through the entire track. Most people struggled with this and as they started to topple over, they started giggling, and as one giggled, more fell over and joined in. This, of course, made me smile, and it lightened the mood and actually bonded us as a class - to have them feel like yes, it is a serious track, but everyone moves at their own skill level and pace, and it was OK for them to not be able to balance. It's hard to explain, but it just made it more fun. It was natural and I explained later that we are all learning together, we are all going to get stronger together and it will be wonderful to see them progress as time goes on. Many came up to me after and told me they loved the class. So do I.
I was pretty beat when I arrived home; it was a lot of physical activity in a day for me but I was excited and hopeful for my new classes in San Mateo. I look forward to meeting new people, teaching my new formats, and still being able to see my regulars in San Carlos.
Last Saturday, we launched all these programs in a big event in the basketball court. I got to team teach BodyPump with Kimi and Tina, and we chose our favorite tracks. It was amazingly fun to teach with these two women! We had about 70, and a TON of my regulars from San Carlos! It was so great to have them. I also had several friends who don't belong to the gym come, from school, and soccer. Then I taught BodyFlow with Kimi and Jocelyn, and it went great. Kimi then taught Combat with Tina and she had brought out my FAVORITE from BC43 - The Black Pearl. I did the track right before that, and then went up to the front of the room as a participant model for the moves. It was so much fun but with my heel and my knee, it was definitely felt at the end of the day :-/
Kimi and Jocelyn and I taught CXWORX after that, and then had a break. Karin and I taught another CX, and then I was D.O.N.E. Home to shower and off to a soccer game. It was a great fitness day.
As I finished my three classes last night, I realized something: I began my summer vacation with the Sunnyvale launch, an amazing day of fitness. Teaching BodyPump with Steven Renata. I finished my summer with another amazing few days. The launch at my new club, and the first round of classes, introducing these formats to new members. How lucky am I?
I also realized something else. For the very first time, probably EVER, I don't regret how fast the summer went by. Yes, I was not ready to go back to work today. I am STILL not ready to start the school year. No, I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do. But I have no regrets. Seriously.
I spent the summer focused on some very important things to me. Spent time with my kids, my husband. Trained for and passed a new program, my new passion, BodyFlow. Participated in two amazing club launches, and pushed myself physically and mentally. Asked for and was given an almost perfect Group X schedule - 4 BP, 2 BF and a CX. I cleaned some, organized some, had a yard sale for my mom. Donated a ton, and let other things go. I enter this school year rested, both in body and mind, and am determined not to let myself get caught up in things that I can't control. We will see how that goes. I know full well it is going to be challenging, handling school responsibilities, learning and teaching 3 formats (just received the next round in the mail so by the end of September, I will need to know them all) and teaching 7 classes a week.
My son is officially a senior. I have 9 months to prepare mentally for this. I cried this morning. I am so flipping proud of him. Cassie begins 2nd grade on Monday. Sigh. Time goes too fast.
Take a deep breath. The ride has begun.
Yesterday was a nice ending to the summer. We spent the early part of the day taking Cassie, Alexander, Amanda and her family out to Año Nuevo to see the elephant seals. It was a 2 mile hike to the beach each way, total of 4 miles. I didn't remember it being so far when we took Alex as a cub scout, but I was game. The girls were troopers and it was a beautiful crisp day. After the seals, we stopped at a beach up highway 1 and played for a bit. We had to rush back to Redwood City because Alex had to work at school; as BOSA Secretary he is already putting in a lot of hours working student registrations, planning for assemblies they are running, etc. I needed to go home and ice and get ready to teach my first Triple Tuesday at San Mateo Super Sport!
I was seriously nervous about my new schedule of classes. I have never taught 3 classes back to back and even though two of them were 30 minutes, I was still teaching 2 hours straight. I was looking forward to it; to teach all three of my formats in one fell swoop? HEAVEN!!
I arrived early to see if I could use my wireless mic in their stereo.....nope. It needs to have the same setup with a splitter that I have in San Carlos, so I will have to see about how I can get that accomplished. I am so accustomed to using my own mic that I really don't like using the club's mic anymore. I was very worried about how many people would actually come to a 4:30 BodyPump class, followed by a 5:00 CXWORX class. I figured 5:30 was a decent hour to come for BodyFlow. I am used to my participants being more of the working set and 6:30 being a challenge to arrive to on time, but I was pleasantly surprised to have 20 for BP! Lots of male members, relatively speaking, and I was able to have them all grab their resistance tubes for CX to save set up time. I explained they would have to put away all BP equipment quickly so we could stay on schedule and not cut any of the 5 tracks I was teaching. Two of my regulars from San Carlos came, as they live in Half Moon Bay and come all the way to SC just for my class. This is closer and they got to try CX.
BP went well, they seemed to enjoy the class and then a few more came in for CX while we were putting away the equipment. About 25 for CX. This was a tough class, as only 2 had come to our launch on Saturday (more later on that). At the end of CX, though, there were smiles through the sweat. Lots of comments from people about how hard it was but how they loved it! Some people left and more came in for flow, and I had close to 30 for that class! There was no time to even go to change or go to the bathroom, because I needed to keep things moving and on schedule. Many people didn't know to bring a yoga mat so I took a few minutes in the beginning introducing the format, explaining about the mat, etc.
Now I had fun teaching BP and CX. But BodyFlow? I am in HEAVEN. I truly love this format. Several men stayed for this class, and a couple had stayed from the beginning of pump. To teach this after two other classes; I knew it would be challenging physically, but it wasn't as hard as I thought. I think doing the 4 mile hike first was what made my legs feel like jello! At the end of class, before relaxation, half the class got up and left and when the Zumba people came in as I was packing up, both instructors thanked me for flow (they were in the back) and told me not to take offense at how many people left early - they had to get their Zumba shoes on! Which was fine, they left at the best possible time.
The best part of flow? During track 4, the balance track, people started giggling. Now I strive to teach in the essence of all my programs - this is the most calm, most serene, most focused of tracks because we are balancing on one leg through the entire track. Most people struggled with this and as they started to topple over, they started giggling, and as one giggled, more fell over and joined in. This, of course, made me smile, and it lightened the mood and actually bonded us as a class - to have them feel like yes, it is a serious track, but everyone moves at their own skill level and pace, and it was OK for them to not be able to balance. It's hard to explain, but it just made it more fun. It was natural and I explained later that we are all learning together, we are all going to get stronger together and it will be wonderful to see them progress as time goes on. Many came up to me after and told me they loved the class. So do I.
I was pretty beat when I arrived home; it was a lot of physical activity in a day for me but I was excited and hopeful for my new classes in San Mateo. I look forward to meeting new people, teaching my new formats, and still being able to see my regulars in San Carlos.
Last Saturday, we launched all these programs in a big event in the basketball court. I got to team teach BodyPump with Kimi and Tina, and we chose our favorite tracks. It was amazingly fun to teach with these two women! We had about 70, and a TON of my regulars from San Carlos! It was so great to have them. I also had several friends who don't belong to the gym come, from school, and soccer. Then I taught BodyFlow with Kimi and Jocelyn, and it went great. Kimi then taught Combat with Tina and she had brought out my FAVORITE from BC43 - The Black Pearl. I did the track right before that, and then went up to the front of the room as a participant model for the moves. It was so much fun but with my heel and my knee, it was definitely felt at the end of the day :-/
Kimi and Jocelyn and I taught CXWORX after that, and then had a break. Karin and I taught another CX, and then I was D.O.N.E. Home to shower and off to a soccer game. It was a great fitness day.
As I finished my three classes last night, I realized something: I began my summer vacation with the Sunnyvale launch, an amazing day of fitness. Teaching BodyPump with Steven Renata. I finished my summer with another amazing few days. The launch at my new club, and the first round of classes, introducing these formats to new members. How lucky am I?
I also realized something else. For the very first time, probably EVER, I don't regret how fast the summer went by. Yes, I was not ready to go back to work today. I am STILL not ready to start the school year. No, I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do. But I have no regrets. Seriously.
I spent the summer focused on some very important things to me. Spent time with my kids, my husband. Trained for and passed a new program, my new passion, BodyFlow. Participated in two amazing club launches, and pushed myself physically and mentally. Asked for and was given an almost perfect Group X schedule - 4 BP, 2 BF and a CX. I cleaned some, organized some, had a yard sale for my mom. Donated a ton, and let other things go. I enter this school year rested, both in body and mind, and am determined not to let myself get caught up in things that I can't control. We will see how that goes. I know full well it is going to be challenging, handling school responsibilities, learning and teaching 3 formats (just received the next round in the mail so by the end of September, I will need to know them all) and teaching 7 classes a week.
My son is officially a senior. I have 9 months to prepare mentally for this. I cried this morning. I am so flipping proud of him. Cassie begins 2nd grade on Monday. Sigh. Time goes too fast.
Take a deep breath. The ride has begun.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Bittersweet.......
Summer is almost over, I go back to work for a day on Thursday, and then for real next Wednesday. This summer, for the first time ever, I was able to turn in my keys and not think about school the entire time. Seriously. I have been so busy with BodyFlow training, practicing, family, cleaning, sleeping in, watching the Olympics....just anything but worrying about school and it has been....heaven. Everyone I see this week keeps asking me when I go back to school and I just plug my ears. I am not thinking about it until after this weekend, this big weekend, when I get to work the 24 Hour Fitness' San Mateo Super Sport Premier Launch! I am teaching 4 classes.....Team teaching BodyPump at 7:45 am, then BodyFlow, and 2 CXWORX classes. I am beyond excited to begin this part of my journey...the one that has me actively teaching 3 formats.
Tomorrow, however, is going to be so bittersweet. It is my last Tuesday class in San Carlos. Every class is special in its own way to me; I've written about it before. This class, though, is my largest, with regularly now 50+ people each class. Twice I've filled the room to capacity at 60. The energy is amazing and I dread announcing tomorrow that it is my last class with them. I was unable to give them any notice because we needed corporate to approval the new schedule, so after launch, I am in San Mateo on Tuesdays. I will be teaching all three formats: a 30 minute BodyPump, 30 minute CX, and then an hour of BodyFlow. My ideal line up. 2 hours. Beginning earlier, at 4:30, so there is concern on my part about how many people will make it that early. The room is half the size of San Carlos, maybe 30 can fit. I cannot wait.....but I know I will be so sad to leave my Tuesday group. I will still be there on Thursdays, so it's not like I am leaving for good, but each class has its own energy, its own group of members. It will be different. I will miss them.
I wanted to change up my playlist for them as a farewell; now, at midnight, it came to me. I am going to leave them as I came to them - with my training release, 76. Reviewing it now, I barely have to go over the choreography. It is permanently ingrained in my head, I taught it so many times, filmed it so many times. It brings back so many memories for me; the journey as I began it, to become a BP instructor, is wrapped up in this release. To leave my beloved crew with this, just really feels RIGHT. And so it is.
My Sunday schedule is changing as well. I will be remaining in San Carlos, but in order to keep my class, it had to move 2 hours earlier, to 9:00 am. I also have to announce this. This is so I can have a second BodyFlow class, but in San Mateo, at 11:00am. I hope that my participants will be pleased that I am staying, even though the class will be early. I am also sad about this; my Sunday class was the one that was relaxed, not sandwiched between classes, a time when I was always able to work with people who had technique questions, or just to chat freely without rushing out of the room. The upside? I get to teach BodyFlow, twice a week, and that just makes it all better. Two different clubs, but I have an hour to get there and I couldn't be more excited.
Although I wish I were teaching one more CX, I am happy with my new classes, and the next leg of my journey. Launch should be a blast; teaching BP, BF and CX with Kimi, Jocelyn and Karin, again in the basketball court, up on stage. I hope to get more people to sign up and fill the room.
My line up is now: 2 full BodyPumps, 1 30 minute BP, CX, and 2 BodyFlows each week.
YIPEE!!!!!
Tomorrow, however, is going to be so bittersweet. It is my last Tuesday class in San Carlos. Every class is special in its own way to me; I've written about it before. This class, though, is my largest, with regularly now 50+ people each class. Twice I've filled the room to capacity at 60. The energy is amazing and I dread announcing tomorrow that it is my last class with them. I was unable to give them any notice because we needed corporate to approval the new schedule, so after launch, I am in San Mateo on Tuesdays. I will be teaching all three formats: a 30 minute BodyPump, 30 minute CX, and then an hour of BodyFlow. My ideal line up. 2 hours. Beginning earlier, at 4:30, so there is concern on my part about how many people will make it that early. The room is half the size of San Carlos, maybe 30 can fit. I cannot wait.....but I know I will be so sad to leave my Tuesday group. I will still be there on Thursdays, so it's not like I am leaving for good, but each class has its own energy, its own group of members. It will be different. I will miss them.
I wanted to change up my playlist for them as a farewell; now, at midnight, it came to me. I am going to leave them as I came to them - with my training release, 76. Reviewing it now, I barely have to go over the choreography. It is permanently ingrained in my head, I taught it so many times, filmed it so many times. It brings back so many memories for me; the journey as I began it, to become a BP instructor, is wrapped up in this release. To leave my beloved crew with this, just really feels RIGHT. And so it is.
My Sunday schedule is changing as well. I will be remaining in San Carlos, but in order to keep my class, it had to move 2 hours earlier, to 9:00 am. I also have to announce this. This is so I can have a second BodyFlow class, but in San Mateo, at 11:00am. I hope that my participants will be pleased that I am staying, even though the class will be early. I am also sad about this; my Sunday class was the one that was relaxed, not sandwiched between classes, a time when I was always able to work with people who had technique questions, or just to chat freely without rushing out of the room. The upside? I get to teach BodyFlow, twice a week, and that just makes it all better. Two different clubs, but I have an hour to get there and I couldn't be more excited.
Although I wish I were teaching one more CX, I am happy with my new classes, and the next leg of my journey. Launch should be a blast; teaching BP, BF and CX with Kimi, Jocelyn and Karin, again in the basketball court, up on stage. I hope to get more people to sign up and fill the room.
My line up is now: 2 full BodyPumps, 1 30 minute BP, CX, and 2 BodyFlows each week.
YIPEE!!!!!
Monday, July 16, 2012
I Am A BodyFlow Instructor!!!
Well, I passed initial training! I still need to submit a video of me teaching an entire class.....but you know what? Dreams DO come true, and I know that I will work hard and submit a video worthy of passing. I have no doubt. I am not being cocky, or conceited, but confident because this weekend was SO amazing, I had SO much growth, personally and physically, that I know in my heart, this program was meant to be in my life right now. So yes, I will pass this video assessment. I have 2 months, September 15 is the due date. EEK.
This past weekend, just as I had expected, was amazing. ALL Les Mills trainings, and I have been to a few, are quality trainings. The initial trainings are now 2 days, and we receive our dvd's and choreography notes 14 days in advance in order to learn our tracks and be prepared. Day 1, Rachel, our AMAZING trainer told us, would be the hardest, and if we could get through it, Day 2 was going to simply be FUN. She was right.
Day 1.......I had thought that I would present one track two times on Saturday, and then the second track two times on Sunday, like other trainings. Nope. It was one track, once on Saturday and twice on Sunday, and it was TRACK 7. The one I had been dreading, the one I didn't like as much, the hardest track in the release!!! WTH?? I had been counting on track 3, which was hard with my lack of shoulder and hip flexibility, but track 7? with the hovers, the fireflies, the crocodile pose? AAAARRRGGGGHHH!!! Karin had to talk me down and convince me that I WANTED the hardest track at training, because I was going to get specific, one on one feedback on the hardest track in the release, so that when it came time to taping, I would nail it. Everyone else would not have had the same attention to that track that I had. So I tried to be positive, but deep down, I knew that I struggled with the firefly, which is this: when you are in a hover, on your toes and straight arms, you bring your knee to the same side elbow, as you come down halfway in a crocodile. Super hard for me with my upper body strength, which is stronger but still.
Day 1 was a lot of technique work, after the Master Class with Rachel. Megan from the Les Mills West Coast office (I had met her at the Sunnyvale launch) came down to do the class with us. Rachel is a wonderful instructor and it was fun to go through the class with her live instead of the DVD. We had a group of 11 people instead of the 9 I saw on our original list. I knew Karin and Yvonne, and had met Patty once, and knew of Jocelyn. It was nice to meet other instructors, both from 24 Hour Fitness and other gyms. Once woman, Nikki, was like me in my BodyPump training, a participant from Bladium, and had never taught anything before but loves LM and chose this as her first foray into Group X. She is super sweet, knows several instructors that I do, and was super nervous, but WOW. She was AMAZING at her track, and it brought back so many memories of me just 19 months ago in training. Being a participant going into training is like no one else - we have a passion, a love of the programs and it shows, even with our lack of teaching experience. Nikki will be a phenomenal BodyFlow instructor!
We did our first presentations at the end of Day 1. I was super nervous, of course. I went up and began my track, I KNEW my choreography and timing, but for some reason, I got off track within the first 2 sets and it threw me off. I lost my focus, lost my place, got off on timing, but got back on track. I finished O.K. but as soon as I sat down and Rachel asked, as she asked each one of us, one thing we thought we did fabulous, and one thing we could work on, I BLANKED on the fabulous. I literally could not get any words out, and when I did, I said I HAD the chorey, and I just could not come up with what I did right. I came up with a laundry list of what I did wrong and Rachel stopped me and said "Stop - I am taking over this conversation!" and she told me that I did a great job, that my coaching was spot on, but she could tell I was totally in my head, I made one mistake and then in my head it was over. She told me this is NOT CXWORX, it's BodyFlow - it was ok for me to show one option on my toes and then go down to my knees to do the rest. That it was ok to show members then options because most people will not be able to do the high option and do it with perfect technique. She told me to do the first rep on my toes and then show the option on my knees, and it was OK. Well, the whole time she was talking, what was I doing? Crying. Yep. Me, the blubbering idiot. I felt so stupid, like such a failure, and she made me feel so relieved that it was ok to take the lower option, especially in this program. If we only coach the lower option and only show the higher one, people will feel like they need to do the higher option because we are doing it or feel bad that they can't do it. It is important to SHOW them, for a good amount of time, the level one option so they understand how to perform the move correctly.
Karin, in the parking lot before we drove home, told me she knew exactly what happened with me. This is so dumb. I ALWAYS teach with my hair back - usually in two braids, because it is such a curly mess that I have to put it back. Well, most of the day, I had my hair down, or would put it back in a pony tail. I had the hair tie on my mat, but didn't have time to put my hair back before I went to teach my track. Karin saw me sweep my hair away from my face near the beginning, heard me sigh, and that was it. That little blip of my hair getting in the way got me off the music by one beat and then it happened - lost my timing, lost my confidence, felt like I failed. It is such a minor thing, but it was different enough for me - pulling my hair back. As we sat in the car, it just all poured out of me and I couldn't hold the tears back - I was terrified of this track because I knew how hard it was for me, and I was dreading the fact that I had to teach it 3 times and this was the track I would be assessed formally on, when I was not confident in my ability to do so, because the moves were harder and I had my heart set on the other track. I had all these feelings of self doubt, being unfit, too fat, not good enough, blah blah blah. I mean, good GRIEF, when was this going to get better? Why haven't I gotten this message by now? Why am I constantly crying at trainings? Is this part of the process, am I still going through the journey of self discovery? Apparently I am. And that's ok. I was just overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy around other people, although for the first time, I felt on an even level with the other people in the training. I was so mad myself for screwing up, since I HAD it. I had the difficult timing, and blew it.
I felt better after that, knowing why I blew it. I reviewed it one more time at home, but didn't want to focus too much on it since I was already overthinking it. I put on some soft music to go to sleep, but ended up not being able to turn my brain off. Karin and Yvonne were picking me up at 7:15am on Sunday and I ended up going to sleep at almost 1:00am and woke up several times during the night. Nevertheless, I woke on time and was ready to go when they arrived. I felt much better that the night before, so I was confident I would be able to nail it for the second presentation.
Day two began with perky Rachel saying how wonderful it was going to be because Day one was so much harder and we were just going to have fun! We started off with presos straight away. This time, we shadowed our alternate track so I was able to have fun with that. My own track - how did I do? NAILED it. I knew it and it felt good. I was able to get in my compulsory cues, follow up cues and a bit of fun. Rachel videotaped the morning presos, but we did the class as a whole and she didn't stop to give feedback after each one. She gathered us after and we did the individual feedback as a group, then she showed us all our videos. She told me that she had nothing to correct me on except my arms were coming back too far on the upper back extensions (like we do it in CX so I had to remember to modify the move), my coaching and cueing were on, my technique was great now that I showed the options, and the only thing was she wanted me to let go and have fun. I was so relieved!
The rest of the day consisted of connecting, fitness magic, the challenge, bonding...it was truly a great day. It's always hard to sit and we were all getting stiff and sore, but we moved around plenty, and by the final presentations, we were all exhausted but fired up and ready to be done. Again we did the class as a whole and didn't stop the music between tracks, we each went up to the front to present in order. It was obvious how much growth each instructor made in just two days. Always gives me goosebumps to see this.
Preso #3 - I think I was truly able to embrace the track, this difficult track that had me peeing in my pants for two weeks before this training. I nailed it again, corrected my upper body move and I really did have fun with it.
We started to clean up and waited for Rach to get our final feedback forms to us, packed our bags and started chatting. I was one of the last ones to get my feedback - Yvonne and Karin both got their passes! When I went up to Rach, she looked up at me and said "You know you passed, right?" and what did I do? Started crying. Geez. I had a feeling I would pass, after I redeemed myself in the morning, but the feeling of accomplishment, the knowledge that I have achieved the first step in becoming a BodyFlow instructor.....there are no words to describe it. She told me I was going to be a wonderful BF instructor, and I believe her. I had such doubts, because I am a BodyPump instructor, and have been told I am too high strung for Flow, but I have discovered that I can alter my persona, my coaching, to fit the program I am teaching. This program is going to be wonderful for me personally and physically and I can't wait to share my new passion with others.
This weekend was amazing. Today, I feel like I've been hit with a truck. A big one. My obliques are screaming at me with every twist and turn. I had a throbbing twitch in one hamstring that lasted over an hour. I am sore on the tops of my feet, the bottoms of my big toes, I have two new bruises on my knees, my upper back/shoulder blades are tighter than anything......this feels like it was harder than CX training.
But it was SO worth it.
This past weekend, just as I had expected, was amazing. ALL Les Mills trainings, and I have been to a few, are quality trainings. The initial trainings are now 2 days, and we receive our dvd's and choreography notes 14 days in advance in order to learn our tracks and be prepared. Day 1, Rachel, our AMAZING trainer told us, would be the hardest, and if we could get through it, Day 2 was going to simply be FUN. She was right.
Day 1.......I had thought that I would present one track two times on Saturday, and then the second track two times on Sunday, like other trainings. Nope. It was one track, once on Saturday and twice on Sunday, and it was TRACK 7. The one I had been dreading, the one I didn't like as much, the hardest track in the release!!! WTH?? I had been counting on track 3, which was hard with my lack of shoulder and hip flexibility, but track 7? with the hovers, the fireflies, the crocodile pose? AAAARRRGGGGHHH!!! Karin had to talk me down and convince me that I WANTED the hardest track at training, because I was going to get specific, one on one feedback on the hardest track in the release, so that when it came time to taping, I would nail it. Everyone else would not have had the same attention to that track that I had. So I tried to be positive, but deep down, I knew that I struggled with the firefly, which is this: when you are in a hover, on your toes and straight arms, you bring your knee to the same side elbow, as you come down halfway in a crocodile. Super hard for me with my upper body strength, which is stronger but still.
Day 1 was a lot of technique work, after the Master Class with Rachel. Megan from the Les Mills West Coast office (I had met her at the Sunnyvale launch) came down to do the class with us. Rachel is a wonderful instructor and it was fun to go through the class with her live instead of the DVD. We had a group of 11 people instead of the 9 I saw on our original list. I knew Karin and Yvonne, and had met Patty once, and knew of Jocelyn. It was nice to meet other instructors, both from 24 Hour Fitness and other gyms. Once woman, Nikki, was like me in my BodyPump training, a participant from Bladium, and had never taught anything before but loves LM and chose this as her first foray into Group X. She is super sweet, knows several instructors that I do, and was super nervous, but WOW. She was AMAZING at her track, and it brought back so many memories of me just 19 months ago in training. Being a participant going into training is like no one else - we have a passion, a love of the programs and it shows, even with our lack of teaching experience. Nikki will be a phenomenal BodyFlow instructor!
We did our first presentations at the end of Day 1. I was super nervous, of course. I went up and began my track, I KNEW my choreography and timing, but for some reason, I got off track within the first 2 sets and it threw me off. I lost my focus, lost my place, got off on timing, but got back on track. I finished O.K. but as soon as I sat down and Rachel asked, as she asked each one of us, one thing we thought we did fabulous, and one thing we could work on, I BLANKED on the fabulous. I literally could not get any words out, and when I did, I said I HAD the chorey, and I just could not come up with what I did right. I came up with a laundry list of what I did wrong and Rachel stopped me and said "Stop - I am taking over this conversation!" and she told me that I did a great job, that my coaching was spot on, but she could tell I was totally in my head, I made one mistake and then in my head it was over. She told me this is NOT CXWORX, it's BodyFlow - it was ok for me to show one option on my toes and then go down to my knees to do the rest. That it was ok to show members then options because most people will not be able to do the high option and do it with perfect technique. She told me to do the first rep on my toes and then show the option on my knees, and it was OK. Well, the whole time she was talking, what was I doing? Crying. Yep. Me, the blubbering idiot. I felt so stupid, like such a failure, and she made me feel so relieved that it was ok to take the lower option, especially in this program. If we only coach the lower option and only show the higher one, people will feel like they need to do the higher option because we are doing it or feel bad that they can't do it. It is important to SHOW them, for a good amount of time, the level one option so they understand how to perform the move correctly.
Karin, in the parking lot before we drove home, told me she knew exactly what happened with me. This is so dumb. I ALWAYS teach with my hair back - usually in two braids, because it is such a curly mess that I have to put it back. Well, most of the day, I had my hair down, or would put it back in a pony tail. I had the hair tie on my mat, but didn't have time to put my hair back before I went to teach my track. Karin saw me sweep my hair away from my face near the beginning, heard me sigh, and that was it. That little blip of my hair getting in the way got me off the music by one beat and then it happened - lost my timing, lost my confidence, felt like I failed. It is such a minor thing, but it was different enough for me - pulling my hair back. As we sat in the car, it just all poured out of me and I couldn't hold the tears back - I was terrified of this track because I knew how hard it was for me, and I was dreading the fact that I had to teach it 3 times and this was the track I would be assessed formally on, when I was not confident in my ability to do so, because the moves were harder and I had my heart set on the other track. I had all these feelings of self doubt, being unfit, too fat, not good enough, blah blah blah. I mean, good GRIEF, when was this going to get better? Why haven't I gotten this message by now? Why am I constantly crying at trainings? Is this part of the process, am I still going through the journey of self discovery? Apparently I am. And that's ok. I was just overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy around other people, although for the first time, I felt on an even level with the other people in the training. I was so mad myself for screwing up, since I HAD it. I had the difficult timing, and blew it.
I felt better after that, knowing why I blew it. I reviewed it one more time at home, but didn't want to focus too much on it since I was already overthinking it. I put on some soft music to go to sleep, but ended up not being able to turn my brain off. Karin and Yvonne were picking me up at 7:15am on Sunday and I ended up going to sleep at almost 1:00am and woke up several times during the night. Nevertheless, I woke on time and was ready to go when they arrived. I felt much better that the night before, so I was confident I would be able to nail it for the second presentation.
Day two began with perky Rachel saying how wonderful it was going to be because Day one was so much harder and we were just going to have fun! We started off with presos straight away. This time, we shadowed our alternate track so I was able to have fun with that. My own track - how did I do? NAILED it. I knew it and it felt good. I was able to get in my compulsory cues, follow up cues and a bit of fun. Rachel videotaped the morning presos, but we did the class as a whole and she didn't stop to give feedback after each one. She gathered us after and we did the individual feedback as a group, then she showed us all our videos. She told me that she had nothing to correct me on except my arms were coming back too far on the upper back extensions (like we do it in CX so I had to remember to modify the move), my coaching and cueing were on, my technique was great now that I showed the options, and the only thing was she wanted me to let go and have fun. I was so relieved!
The rest of the day consisted of connecting, fitness magic, the challenge, bonding...it was truly a great day. It's always hard to sit and we were all getting stiff and sore, but we moved around plenty, and by the final presentations, we were all exhausted but fired up and ready to be done. Again we did the class as a whole and didn't stop the music between tracks, we each went up to the front to present in order. It was obvious how much growth each instructor made in just two days. Always gives me goosebumps to see this.
Preso #3 - I think I was truly able to embrace the track, this difficult track that had me peeing in my pants for two weeks before this training. I nailed it again, corrected my upper body move and I really did have fun with it.
We started to clean up and waited for Rach to get our final feedback forms to us, packed our bags and started chatting. I was one of the last ones to get my feedback - Yvonne and Karin both got their passes! When I went up to Rach, she looked up at me and said "You know you passed, right?" and what did I do? Started crying. Geez. I had a feeling I would pass, after I redeemed myself in the morning, but the feeling of accomplishment, the knowledge that I have achieved the first step in becoming a BodyFlow instructor.....there are no words to describe it. She told me I was going to be a wonderful BF instructor, and I believe her. I had such doubts, because I am a BodyPump instructor, and have been told I am too high strung for Flow, but I have discovered that I can alter my persona, my coaching, to fit the program I am teaching. This program is going to be wonderful for me personally and physically and I can't wait to share my new passion with others.
This weekend was amazing. Today, I feel like I've been hit with a truck. A big one. My obliques are screaming at me with every twist and turn. I had a throbbing twitch in one hamstring that lasted over an hour. I am sore on the tops of my feet, the bottoms of my big toes, I have two new bruises on my knees, my upper back/shoulder blades are tighter than anything......this feels like it was harder than CX training.
But it was SO worth it.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Program #3...About to Commence!!!
You'd think with it being summer vacation, I would be caught up on my blogging. Well, the last two weeks have been crazy with learning my 3rd program, BodyFlow. I am SO happy I chose this to be #3, as it has already helped loosen me up and made me stronger. That, plus BodyPump 82. What a RELEASE!!!
I never wrote about my experience with launching the Premier club in Sunnyvale next to Steve Renata! It was definitely an A-Mazing day and experience. I don't know why I was so nervous...other than the fact that he was one of the original founders of BodyPump....very down to earth and he spent time before the launch going over stage position with me and Orna so that we knew how to move between the tracks we had divided. The room, the basketball court, was filled with almost 100 people!! It was truly energetic and even though I spent the warmup (that Steve taught) going over my back track chorey in my head, once I just gave up and trusted that I knew what I was doing, I was able to smile and have a blast! I had a chance to talk to Steve before he taught his second RPM class and found him to be just as down to earth and funny as his wife, Susan. He also told me to email him and he would give me some feedback once he had time to decompress. I had someone ask me if I was actually going to do it.... Duh.....of course! I am all about improving my teaching, getting feedback, no matter how hard it is to hear. I may moan and groan but I DO listen and apply feedback as best I can.
The rest of the day was spent working the crowd and the red carpet, meeting members, talking up the classes. I got to wear a 24 Hour Fitness nametag! Made me feel so official! hahaha. I then taught CXWorx with Wendy, and did the technique portion beforehand. Wendy is awesome, we did our initial training together and we had a blast. The room had over 100 people!! Including a few regular pumpers from San Carlos, as well as two co-workers from Hoover. We increased capacity in the room because the Zumba people were told if they came to our class, they would get to keep their spot for Zumba! It worked, and we worked them HARD! Some came up to us later and told us they never felt so out of shape, but they had fun and wanted to keep trying the class. That's all that matters - that people are moving, trying new things to shake up their workout, and working hard.
All in all, Sunnyvale's launch was a HUGE success. The acoustics are not great in the basketball court but I made sure to tell people to come back and try the classes in the smaller Group X room. I'll sub there if the need arises but there are great instructors in the South Bay so they are in great hands.
BodyFlow - I am so amazingly excited for this weekend. More than I thought I would be. This program is not an easy one. This release, however, has fairly simple choreography, and while I have spent most of my time learning my two presentation tracks - 3, a standing strength track, and 7, a core back track, I have done the entire release many times and have a few other tracks almost memorized. There will be 9 people in our training, so that is exciting because it is a small group, which means lots of opportunities for feedback that might be more difficult with a larger group. I have never been to a Les Mills training, though, even larger ones, where I felt ignored or like I didn't get enough feedback or personal attention. The trainers are top notch, and our trainer for the weekend, Rachel, is amazing according to some close friends of mine. I am very excited to meet her in person and learn from her.
I definitely have to work on my fitness - I am still dealing with hip flexor and shoulder flexibility issues, but I have improved over the last two weeks of training, and my deep tissue massage yesterday really helped loosen me up, after neglecting my monthly massages for over two months. I will not do that again! The more I train and practice, the better. The good thing about BodyFlow is that unlike BodyPump, there is no limit to the amount of times per week that is recommended to do the class. There is a lot of strength involved, but since it is a Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates program, there is plenty of stretching and muscle lengthening going on. The fact that I am focusing on my breathing more has helped to slow me down and this will be a good complement to what I already teach.
August 18 - the San Mateo and Millbrae Super Sport Premier Launches....my goal is to pass this training, learn the rest of the release, and be ready to launch BodyPump, CXWorx and BodyFlow on that day!! I'll have to do a video for this program, but hopefully I will have a class or two to teach and be able to do that like I did with BodyPump.
For now, tomorrow will be essentially a "rest" day, only going over chorey and my cueing to allow my body to be fresh and ready for an AMAZING weekend!!!
Program #3 .......HERE I COME!!!!!
I never wrote about my experience with launching the Premier club in Sunnyvale next to Steve Renata! It was definitely an A-Mazing day and experience. I don't know why I was so nervous...other than the fact that he was one of the original founders of BodyPump....very down to earth and he spent time before the launch going over stage position with me and Orna so that we knew how to move between the tracks we had divided. The room, the basketball court, was filled with almost 100 people!! It was truly energetic and even though I spent the warmup (that Steve taught) going over my back track chorey in my head, once I just gave up and trusted that I knew what I was doing, I was able to smile and have a blast! I had a chance to talk to Steve before he taught his second RPM class and found him to be just as down to earth and funny as his wife, Susan. He also told me to email him and he would give me some feedback once he had time to decompress. I had someone ask me if I was actually going to do it.... Duh.....of course! I am all about improving my teaching, getting feedback, no matter how hard it is to hear. I may moan and groan but I DO listen and apply feedback as best I can.
The rest of the day was spent working the crowd and the red carpet, meeting members, talking up the classes. I got to wear a 24 Hour Fitness nametag! Made me feel so official! hahaha. I then taught CXWorx with Wendy, and did the technique portion beforehand. Wendy is awesome, we did our initial training together and we had a blast. The room had over 100 people!! Including a few regular pumpers from San Carlos, as well as two co-workers from Hoover. We increased capacity in the room because the Zumba people were told if they came to our class, they would get to keep their spot for Zumba! It worked, and we worked them HARD! Some came up to us later and told us they never felt so out of shape, but they had fun and wanted to keep trying the class. That's all that matters - that people are moving, trying new things to shake up their workout, and working hard.
All in all, Sunnyvale's launch was a HUGE success. The acoustics are not great in the basketball court but I made sure to tell people to come back and try the classes in the smaller Group X room. I'll sub there if the need arises but there are great instructors in the South Bay so they are in great hands.
BodyFlow - I am so amazingly excited for this weekend. More than I thought I would be. This program is not an easy one. This release, however, has fairly simple choreography, and while I have spent most of my time learning my two presentation tracks - 3, a standing strength track, and 7, a core back track, I have done the entire release many times and have a few other tracks almost memorized. There will be 9 people in our training, so that is exciting because it is a small group, which means lots of opportunities for feedback that might be more difficult with a larger group. I have never been to a Les Mills training, though, even larger ones, where I felt ignored or like I didn't get enough feedback or personal attention. The trainers are top notch, and our trainer for the weekend, Rachel, is amazing according to some close friends of mine. I am very excited to meet her in person and learn from her.
I definitely have to work on my fitness - I am still dealing with hip flexor and shoulder flexibility issues, but I have improved over the last two weeks of training, and my deep tissue massage yesterday really helped loosen me up, after neglecting my monthly massages for over two months. I will not do that again! The more I train and practice, the better. The good thing about BodyFlow is that unlike BodyPump, there is no limit to the amount of times per week that is recommended to do the class. There is a lot of strength involved, but since it is a Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates program, there is plenty of stretching and muscle lengthening going on. The fact that I am focusing on my breathing more has helped to slow me down and this will be a good complement to what I already teach.
August 18 - the San Mateo and Millbrae Super Sport Premier Launches....my goal is to pass this training, learn the rest of the release, and be ready to launch BodyPump, CXWorx and BodyFlow on that day!! I'll have to do a video for this program, but hopefully I will have a class or two to teach and be able to do that like I did with BodyPump.
For now, tomorrow will be essentially a "rest" day, only going over chorey and my cueing to allow my body to be fresh and ready for an AMAZING weekend!!!
Program #3 .......HERE I COME!!!!!
Friday, June 29, 2012
This is IT!!!!!
I'm as ready as I'll ever be. It's 11:00 pm and I'm done. Can't run through it again, this last time tonight I finally felt like I had it. Especially since I never got to practice today with the others as planned.....
I went early to sunnyvale super sport to help with some set up. Well, a bit of set up turned into the four of us, Karin, Yvonne, Orna and I, along with Angie, moving all the steps, risers bars and weights from the group x room all the way to the other side of the gym in to the basketball court. That was 54 sets of everything. Then, the truck delivering the other 50 sets was two hours late, so we set out setting everything up. We had the steps set up in rows in order to fit over 100, then heard that Ingrid wanted it set up stadium style, so the shifting began. When the rental truck arrived, driven by Ingrid and some 24HF corporate people, the pallets were unloaded and we started unpacking boxes upon boxes of more risers, steps, bars and weights. We had 104 set up but there were some pieces missing so we only have just under 100 and the latest sign up count is 107! Unreal.
It's amazing the amount of work that goes into something like this. At LM quarterly events, there are crews that handle this. We helped Angie work with the party rental people who were building the stage, the LM banners were left and we had to get someone to hang those. The balloon guys showed up as Angie was leaving to go to San Jose because she is launching that one as well and and was setting up all those benches with hardly any help. I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn't been there today. We got the balloon arches installed, the DJ table set up (he's arriving at 7:00 am and I hope that's enough time to get everything ready for a 7:45 live event!)
I plan to show up at 7:00 am to help Angie get the DJ going and any last minute things done. There is literally a red carpet leading to the basketball court, with ropes. It looks awesome and should be a ton of fun. It's like a quarterly but not for instructors. I can't imagine what it will feel like being up there on stage with that court full of people, teaching an awesome release. There is always that first class uncertainty, when you release for the first time and have to work out any kinks. I wish the first time wasn't with Steve! Makes me all the more nervous. I'm going to plan on hanging out most of the day because after the first BP all the equipment has to be placed in the corner and sides of the gym, then after the Zumba party (370 people!!!!)that takes place after my CXWORX class, we only have 30 minutes to set up 60+ benches/weights for the 2:00 BP class! Going to be craaaaazy!
Off to bed to try to get some quality sleep before I'm up before the sun ;-)
The Big Day Just Got BIGGER.....
I need to get through the next two days. I completed summer school today, closed up my classroom and turned in my keys. I can now focus on fitness, family and friends. So excited!!
I was already feeling a bit freaked out about this weekend. I spend some time yesterday at the gym practicing with Deb and kept screwing up my chorey. I am overthinking this whole launch and I need to just slow down and breathe......easier said than done. Kerry today at work told me she went last night and signed up for both Pump and CX and that there are already 91 signed up for Pump!! 91???!!! My biggest class has been 50! It's going to be in the basketball court so there will be space, but oh boy. This is gonna be something!
I am planning to spend time tomorrow practicing with Orna and some other instructors who are teaching in the afternoon. Angie emailed us a confirmation of the schedule and I called her to get some more info and she told me what a major event the whole day is going to be. Here is how it lays out:
There will be a red carpet and ropes leading to the Group X room. BodyPump, BodyCombat and CXWORX are all being held in the basketball court. There are balloons, balloon arches, a stage and large banner behind the stage. There will be a DJ handling our music. WHOA!!!!!! My stomach started clenching when I heard this. Steven R and Orna and I will share 2 mics, but when Angie heard I have a wireless mic and receiver, she got excited and asked that I bring that and we will see if the DJ can hook it up to his system so all three of us can have mics. I teach from 7:45am-9:00, then I will help Angie with checking in members and guests because the Zumba party after my CX class has 200 members already signed up! Then I will go teach the 11:00 technique and team teach CX with Wendy at 11:15. I'll be done by 11:45 and be ready to refuel and get ready for my own re-launch in San Carlos on Sunday.
This is, without a doubt, going to be the biggest event I have ever been a part of. I simply am having a hard time imagining what it will be like to be on a stage teaching 100 members while standing next to a BodyPump icon. I am super excited, beyond nervous, really sore from practicing, and just praying all will go well and I don't make a fool out of myself. I am exhausted from school and from cramming my brain full of choreography for both releases. Tonight I did another run through after class of the 3 tracks I am teaching for both classes, reviewed the entire releases and should really now be going over my scripts and track intros but my brain is fried. I think I just need to give in and go to bed.
Tomorrow I can sleep in for the first time in a long time. Then up and off to Sunnyvale SS to help unload a truck full of additional bars, weights and benches and to get the room set up for Saturday. Practice for a couple of hours, then hopefully some relaxation in the evening and a good night's sleep to be at the gym by 7:15 am. It's going to be an A-Mazing weekend!!
I was already feeling a bit freaked out about this weekend. I spend some time yesterday at the gym practicing with Deb and kept screwing up my chorey. I am overthinking this whole launch and I need to just slow down and breathe......easier said than done. Kerry today at work told me she went last night and signed up for both Pump and CX and that there are already 91 signed up for Pump!! 91???!!! My biggest class has been 50! It's going to be in the basketball court so there will be space, but oh boy. This is gonna be something!
I am planning to spend time tomorrow practicing with Orna and some other instructors who are teaching in the afternoon. Angie emailed us a confirmation of the schedule and I called her to get some more info and she told me what a major event the whole day is going to be. Here is how it lays out:
There will be a red carpet and ropes leading to the Group X room. BodyPump, BodyCombat and CXWORX are all being held in the basketball court. There are balloons, balloon arches, a stage and large banner behind the stage. There will be a DJ handling our music. WHOA!!!!!! My stomach started clenching when I heard this. Steven R and Orna and I will share 2 mics, but when Angie heard I have a wireless mic and receiver, she got excited and asked that I bring that and we will see if the DJ can hook it up to his system so all three of us can have mics. I teach from 7:45am-9:00, then I will help Angie with checking in members and guests because the Zumba party after my CX class has 200 members already signed up! Then I will go teach the 11:00 technique and team teach CX with Wendy at 11:15. I'll be done by 11:45 and be ready to refuel and get ready for my own re-launch in San Carlos on Sunday.
This is, without a doubt, going to be the biggest event I have ever been a part of. I simply am having a hard time imagining what it will be like to be on a stage teaching 100 members while standing next to a BodyPump icon. I am super excited, beyond nervous, really sore from practicing, and just praying all will go well and I don't make a fool out of myself. I am exhausted from school and from cramming my brain full of choreography for both releases. Tonight I did another run through after class of the 3 tracks I am teaching for both classes, reviewed the entire releases and should really now be going over my scripts and track intros but my brain is fried. I think I just need to give in and go to bed.
Tomorrow I can sleep in for the first time in a long time. Then up and off to Sunnyvale SS to help unload a truck full of additional bars, weights and benches and to get the room set up for Saturday. Practice for a couple of hours, then hopefully some relaxation in the evening and a good night's sleep to be at the gym by 7:15 am. It's going to be an A-Mazing weekend!!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Forgive the Format...
For some reason now when I post a blog entry, even though in my draft I have paragraphs, it publishes all in one long paragraph. Sorry to those reading this as it is hard to read and I have yet to figure out why the settings have changed :-(
Exciting Times!
It's been quite the ride these last few weeks! School ended, I packed up most of my classroom and the jumped right into teaching a summer bridge program. I've been lucky enough to have been able to include Cassie as a student and she has done a great job learning the content and writing more in English, as she is usually immersed in Spanish most of the day. She has been writing crazy amounts in her writing journal and I am so proud of her. As fun as it has been, summer school will end in three days and it couldn't come soon enough. I am knee deep in learning new Les Mills releases for this weekend and the upcoming launch.
Yesterday was a great day because my friend Ingrid, from Seattle, was in town staying with a friend and she came to my class in San Carlos! I stayed with her when I did AIM2 training in March and she has been enormously supportive during my journey. She is a trainer herself but just wanted to enjoy being a participant and it was so fun to have her in the front row of my class. I have a huge amount of respect for her and she has become a dear friend in the year since I met her in Dallas.
After I auditioned a few weeks ago for CXWORX, I was asked to be a part of the new Premier launch of the Sunnyvale Super Sport location. This Premier launch means that 24 Hour Fitness is adding several LM formats and it's like a dream.... BodyCombat, CXWORX, BodyFlow and RPM to come to 24HF! Many Super Sport clubs are transitioning and adding these formats. I initially thought I'd do RPM as my next format because I would have a place to teach it and it would be great to add the cardio. After talking to Angie, my GM about it, the gyms closest to me, San Mateo and Millbrae, will not be getting RPM but BodyFlow, which is even more exciting because I do love that program but never thought about teaching it because I'm not very flexible. There are several classes being offered at the gyms but no instructors yet so I've signed up for initial training in July!Like any other format, I will train to increase my flexibility and as I have a passion for this program, I am confident I can learn to teach it. I just need to get through this weekend's launch so I can focus on flow.
The weekend launches in Sunnyvale and San Jose have been unsettled because several LM people are coming to teach some of the classes and the schedule keeps changing. I was originally slated to team teach the first BP class with two other Instructors. Susan and Steven Renata and Ingrid Owen are all coming to be a part of the launch. I had heard that Steven R would be teaching RPM and may be a part of BodyPump as well so I have just been waiting for the dust to settle to see what my role would be. Today I received a call from Angie and stepped out of a planning meeting to take it. She told me to take a deep breath and not freak out. Huh? How does she know that about me? She then told me I would be team teaching BodyPump with Steven. I sputtered......"you mean shadow with him?" She said no, I'd be actually dividing tracks with him and teaching together. I literally started shaking and had to sit on the corridor outside the classroom. They call him Mr. BodyPump. He is currently the CEO of Les Mills West Coast, moved here from New Zealand to run the West Coast office, married to Susan, who is an International Program Director for BodyPump. Whoa. Can you say intimidated?
I am honored to be able to share the stage with someone like Steven but I am still currently in freak out mode. I spent the day with Susan at Groundworks training a week ago and adore her. She is very down to earth and easy to talk to. I'd feel so much better if I were team teaching with her because at least I have met her. Kimi gets to team with her San Jose. I don't know Steven but I will in a few days! Angie told me it is a great opportunity to teach with him and I agree.....and can't believe that I get to do this. She told me she needed strong instructors for these launches and again, I am humbled that I get this opportunity. She decided to add another instructor so I wouldn't feel so much pressure. Now we are teaming with Orna, and between the three of us have already divided up the tracks. I am doing back, biceps and abs. At 11:00 I am teaching CXWORX technique and then I will team teach it with Wendy and am super excited about it - we trained and certified together.
Now I will spend the rest of the week finishing summer school, the final packing of my classroom, polishing up BodyPump and CXWORX and then I anxiously will await the arrival of BodyFlow next week and take my fitness to another level :)
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A CXWORX First!!!
I taught my first CXWORX class on Tuesday. I had subbed out my BodyPump class because I had taught 3 days in a row and needed to give my arm a rest from lifting weights. I was contacted by my friend Lisa, who is the Group Fitness Manager at the Decathlon Club in Santa Clara to sub a CX class and normally I wouldn't have been able to, but since I wasn't teaching and CX is easy on my arm, I jumped at the chance!
I spent the week prior practicing, but the chorey is pretty firmly ensconced in my brain after training with this release. I was pretty nervous about teaching it in full to a live class, even though I had done my track presentations and I've done the entire release many times with my son as my audience. Going to a new location, with new people, is always nerve wracking but I was pleasantly surprised by Lisa, who stayed to greet me and make sure I had the stereo figured out.
The class was moderately full, about 20 people. The group x room has a stage, which is completely new and thrilling for me, to be able to see the participants better. I was so nervous that at the start of class I basically just told them my name, greeted the new people, talked about the tube/weights and then dropped to the floor to begin. Not much of a class intro so I need to work on that. Once I hit track 2, however, I found my groove and I felt much better! It was SO much fun but before I knew it, it was over. I'm not used to a 30 minute class - just when I was having a blast, it ended. Several people came up to me to thank me. I can't wait to teach it again!
BodyPump classes are going great. We have all new equipment in the San Carlos gym, which is amazing and thrilling at the same time. We've stopped giving out passes and while classes are still packed, we all have enough weights :) life there is good!
I'm excited to team teach CX tracks 3-4 with Kimi this Monday, and then I'm staying for BodyCombat. She's doing my ALL TIME FAVORITE release - 43. It will bring back great memories of Gold's and my journey that began as a participant....
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Commitment.......
Commitment. To yourself. To your health. And yes, to others.
I normally don't publish my blog directly to Facebook; my link is on my page and anyone can read if they care to. However, I felt like tonight, it would be a good way to get this message out.
It's no secret I love to teach BodyPump. What this program has done for me over the last several years is almost beyond words for me. I made a commitment when I made the choice to become an instructor; a commitment not only to myself, but mostly to those that I would be fortunate to lead through an amazing workout. A workout that with COMMITMENT, can change your body, your life, your functional strength, your self confidence, your outlook in so many areas of your life. It can change the way you decide to fuel your body. It can change how you are able to play with your children, or how well you can do your job. It spills over in other areas of your life and can make you want to treat your body in the way it deserves by exercising regularly. But it takes work.
I committed to becoming the kind of instructor that I was fortunate enough to have while I was a participant. An instructor that not only had high expectations for themselves, but one that also demanded the best that each individual person could bring to their workout. An instructor who modeled excellent technique, corrected and encouraged their members, brought enthusiasm and motivated people at each and every class.
This is my commitment to my participants. I teach 4 classes a week at 2 gyms. What I hope for, what I aspire to instill in each and every participant is that commitment I spoke of above. This is 60 minutes out of your day. Yes, I understand things get in the way, life happens. I didn't say it was easy, this commitment to yourself. It helps to plan ahead if possible, pack your clothes and put your gym bag in the car so you don't have to go home after work. I am fortunate enough to work in a profession that doesn't require me to work until 5:00 or commute far. I show up for class early and I stay after in case anyone has questions. BodyPump has taken off at 24 Hour Fitness and passes are required in many of our classes now to ensure that everyone has a spot to stand on and equipment to work out with. Getting to the gym early will guarantee you a great workout.
My request is this: think enough of yourself, LOVE yourself enough to take care of YOU. Make a commitment to better health - whether it's getting to the gym 3 days a week, or eating healthier. But once you make a commitment, stick to it as best you can. Come to BodyPump or any other class that fuels your soul and makes you feel good.
Commit to the ENTIRE class. Come on time. Stay for the cool down. Don't walk in 20 minutes late and leave 10 minutes early. It is unsafe to jump into a workout without being properly warmed up. You are not only cheating yourself out of the full benefit of the entire class, you are preventing others from the same right. If you can't make it on time for whatever reason, you can still get in a workout on the gym floor and come to class another day. It is not only a commitment to yourself, but it is also a commitment to the other members in whatever class you are interrupting as you rush in late. This is not a class that can or should be done with hand weights, nor is it designed to be effective and safe without the proper equipment. Coming on time ensures you will get the barbell and weights you need to get strong fast, safely and effectively.
It is only 60 minutes out of your day. Aren't you worth it? I know you are.
COMMIT.
I normally don't publish my blog directly to Facebook; my link is on my page and anyone can read if they care to. However, I felt like tonight, it would be a good way to get this message out.
It's no secret I love to teach BodyPump. What this program has done for me over the last several years is almost beyond words for me. I made a commitment when I made the choice to become an instructor; a commitment not only to myself, but mostly to those that I would be fortunate to lead through an amazing workout. A workout that with COMMITMENT, can change your body, your life, your functional strength, your self confidence, your outlook in so many areas of your life. It can change the way you decide to fuel your body. It can change how you are able to play with your children, or how well you can do your job. It spills over in other areas of your life and can make you want to treat your body in the way it deserves by exercising regularly. But it takes work.
I committed to becoming the kind of instructor that I was fortunate enough to have while I was a participant. An instructor that not only had high expectations for themselves, but one that also demanded the best that each individual person could bring to their workout. An instructor who modeled excellent technique, corrected and encouraged their members, brought enthusiasm and motivated people at each and every class.
This is my commitment to my participants. I teach 4 classes a week at 2 gyms. What I hope for, what I aspire to instill in each and every participant is that commitment I spoke of above. This is 60 minutes out of your day. Yes, I understand things get in the way, life happens. I didn't say it was easy, this commitment to yourself. It helps to plan ahead if possible, pack your clothes and put your gym bag in the car so you don't have to go home after work. I am fortunate enough to work in a profession that doesn't require me to work until 5:00 or commute far. I show up for class early and I stay after in case anyone has questions. BodyPump has taken off at 24 Hour Fitness and passes are required in many of our classes now to ensure that everyone has a spot to stand on and equipment to work out with. Getting to the gym early will guarantee you a great workout.
My request is this: think enough of yourself, LOVE yourself enough to take care of YOU. Make a commitment to better health - whether it's getting to the gym 3 days a week, or eating healthier. But once you make a commitment, stick to it as best you can. Come to BodyPump or any other class that fuels your soul and makes you feel good.
Commit to the ENTIRE class. Come on time. Stay for the cool down. Don't walk in 20 minutes late and leave 10 minutes early. It is unsafe to jump into a workout without being properly warmed up. You are not only cheating yourself out of the full benefit of the entire class, you are preventing others from the same right. If you can't make it on time for whatever reason, you can still get in a workout on the gym floor and come to class another day. It is not only a commitment to yourself, but it is also a commitment to the other members in whatever class you are interrupting as you rush in late. This is not a class that can or should be done with hand weights, nor is it designed to be effective and safe without the proper equipment. Coming on time ensures you will get the barbell and weights you need to get strong fast, safely and effectively.
It is only 60 minutes out of your day. Aren't you worth it? I know you are.
COMMIT.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Noooooo!
I am not happy with this blog's new format. I somehow just now managed to delete my long post from yesterday, detailing my amazing CXWORX weekend.
Now I have to cry myself to sleep :-/
Monday, April 30, 2012
Back....and Happy
I know I taught last week, but it felt tonight like I was really back.
I'm still recovering from my arm, but I was able to increase my weights just a bit. I'm fine with coming back gradually as long as I can teach my beloved classes. I was warmly welcomed, and was happy to have 3 new members. Sadly, we ran out of weights even though we are passing out numbers and had a packed class, but that didn't deter the new people from sticking it out once other members shared weights with them. I did 81 again because even though I should be switching it up now, I've hardly taught it and honestly I had no brainpower to create a mix. That is my goal for Thursday, to give my amazing members something new to kick their butts!
Surprisingly, even though I was super sore yesterday from CXWORX training, I was not today. Other than some deep oblique soreness, I felt pretty great. I had a massage after school, and it wasn't until she started digging in my glutes and said "have you been squatting this weekend?" that I realized how sore my butt was! Such good stuff, that program.
I'm out of the classroom tomorrow in San Jose for a kindergarten in service. Never enjoy sitting on said glutes all day
but it is what it is. The end of the year is coming, and while I'm excited, it is going to be a ton of work. I'm looking forward to the summer bridge program which will go until the end of June, but give me much needed money to get through the summer without regular pay. Plus it is considered enrichment, so while it's work, it's more relaxed and enjoyable than the school year. The countdown begins :)
Friday, April 27, 2012
No Longer a Single Format Instructor
I'm so tired that it took me 6 attempts to get logged in, kept putting in the wrong email or password. Time for bed but need to just write a few words.
Tomorrow I embark on the next leg of my job journey....to a stronger core :) I have my initial training module this weekend for CXWORX. I have practiced over and over, listened to the music 143,000 times and I am as ready as I'll ever be. Still feeling a bit anxious but part of that is not knowing what track I'll present this weekend. I know them all but I want to be able to focus on the one that will make or break me! I'm hoping for 1,3 or 4...my faves.
I know I'm not at the optimum fitness level. But seriously, after two weeks of almost daily practice on a format that is so core intensive......I feel stronger already. It's THAT good. Alexander is hooked, after only doing it with me twice. I am strong, and even though I may not be super fit, I am excited about another les mills training. They are always top notch and I get to know two more trainers, meet more tribe members, challenge myself, push myself and grow even more on my journey. Who wouldn't love that?
More after this weekend.....all packed, snacks ready, all that is needed is to drop Cassie off in the morning, hit Starbucks and be on my way to San Jose!
Changing lives, one core at a time......
Thursday, April 19, 2012
I'm BAAAAAACK.......Almost
It's been more than two full weeks since I've taught a BodyPump class. I swear it feels like a month! So imagine the thrill I got tonight when I "guest" taught the warm up in my class taught by Deb! I had taken a Boot Camp class right befor mine and to see the looks of my members outside the GX room as I ran, pushed, burpeed, side stepped, hovered, etc. was classic! I had told Deb I would stay and do the warm up with a light bar just to see how it felt again before I jump back in this weekend. Instead she asked if I wanted to teach it and so I strapped on the mic and it was such a thrill to be in front of my participants again! I was greeted with smiles and I had a blast! No pain with the bar, but I was wiped out from an hour of a beating with Andre. Plus I had spent time in the afternoon at school practicing CXWORX......so I'm pretty well toasted.
Yes, I've decided to add a second format. Les Mills CXWORX, a 30 minute core strengthening class. The difference between preparing for this one and preparing for my initial BodyPump training? Light years apart! With BodyPump I basically didn't have to prepare, other than take BP before and rest for a couple of days prior to the training. I didn't have my release to practice and I received my tracks there. It was a 3 day training. With CXWORX, its a 2 day training, I've had my release for a week, have to know all 6 tracks 100% and be prepared to present one of them, which I won't be given until the first day. I also have to layer in the coaching, which is every different from BP. So I've been working HARD. Every single day. None of this resting a day in between. It's very intense, and in only a week I feel stronger in my core, my glutes and back. But it is the most challenging thing I've undertaken so far. In a good way. I've planned out on my calendar which tracks I'll learn each day, when I'll use music and notes and then music only. I've made Amanda do it with me and today after my grade level meeting, had all three kinder teachers on the floor of my classroom doing most of the tracks! That's when I realized how challenging it is to teach this program. I'm fine if I don't have to open my mouth and speak!
I'm also doing more cardio work than I have done since the half marathon. Spin classes, elliptical, running, and boot camp. While I love teaching BP with a passion, being injured has shown me how important it is to balance my own workouts and find time for my own fitness. Yes, I've known this all along. But when you are faced with the knowledge that you can't work out a certain way, you adapt. You don't stop, although I did rest and I still am taking care of myself - seeing my chiropractor, twice weekly massages and stretching/icing/heating daily. I am truly enjoying taking time for myself, which I have neglected to do with any regularity. I aim to keep it up once I add my classes back in.
My plan is to teach at PAC this Saturday and 24HF on Sunday. I'm excited to get back to it, and work these muscles before they go to mush. Even though it's time to mix up my playlists, I only got to teach BP81 twice before I went out so my poor members will have it this next week so I can continue to concentrate on my CXWORX preparation before training. I have 3 classes to teach and will probably sub next Thursday out to Deb to give myself time to recover and prepare for CX.
I am really loving this program. I've downloaded the manual to review and the research that has gone into this program with relation to the core muscles and how they all work is fascinating. While I realize I am not at the peak of my fitness, and it's a struggle to get through the class, it is going to make me a better instructor and I'm going to get more fit as I continue to train for it. I have most of the choreography down but am struggling with what happens when I open my mouth! That's my focus for the next week. I'll have the chorey nailed by this weekend, am getting together to practice on Sunday and Thursday with two other instructors who are going through the training to work on the coaching and cueing. By coming into the training weekend with the release already memorized and learned, I imagine we will focus a great deal on form and technique, so it is promising to be a very challenging weekend, more challenging than anything I've done yet on this journey of mine.
I'm ready. I will ROCK it. At the end, I'll collapse in a sweaty heap ;-)
Yes, I've decided to add a second format. Les Mills CXWORX, a 30 minute core strengthening class. The difference between preparing for this one and preparing for my initial BodyPump training? Light years apart! With BodyPump I basically didn't have to prepare, other than take BP before and rest for a couple of days prior to the training. I didn't have my release to practice and I received my tracks there. It was a 3 day training. With CXWORX, its a 2 day training, I've had my release for a week, have to know all 6 tracks 100% and be prepared to present one of them, which I won't be given until the first day. I also have to layer in the coaching, which is every different from BP. So I've been working HARD. Every single day. None of this resting a day in between. It's very intense, and in only a week I feel stronger in my core, my glutes and back. But it is the most challenging thing I've undertaken so far. In a good way. I've planned out on my calendar which tracks I'll learn each day, when I'll use music and notes and then music only. I've made Amanda do it with me and today after my grade level meeting, had all three kinder teachers on the floor of my classroom doing most of the tracks! That's when I realized how challenging it is to teach this program. I'm fine if I don't have to open my mouth and speak!
I'm also doing more cardio work than I have done since the half marathon. Spin classes, elliptical, running, and boot camp. While I love teaching BP with a passion, being injured has shown me how important it is to balance my own workouts and find time for my own fitness. Yes, I've known this all along. But when you are faced with the knowledge that you can't work out a certain way, you adapt. You don't stop, although I did rest and I still am taking care of myself - seeing my chiropractor, twice weekly massages and stretching/icing/heating daily. I am truly enjoying taking time for myself, which I have neglected to do with any regularity. I aim to keep it up once I add my classes back in.
My plan is to teach at PAC this Saturday and 24HF on Sunday. I'm excited to get back to it, and work these muscles before they go to mush. Even though it's time to mix up my playlists, I only got to teach BP81 twice before I went out so my poor members will have it this next week so I can continue to concentrate on my CXWORX preparation before training. I have 3 classes to teach and will probably sub next Thursday out to Deb to give myself time to recover and prepare for CX.
I am really loving this program. I've downloaded the manual to review and the research that has gone into this program with relation to the core muscles and how they all work is fascinating. While I realize I am not at the peak of my fitness, and it's a struggle to get through the class, it is going to make me a better instructor and I'm going to get more fit as I continue to train for it. I have most of the choreography down but am struggling with what happens when I open my mouth! That's my focus for the next week. I'll have the chorey nailed by this weekend, am getting together to practice on Sunday and Thursday with two other instructors who are going through the training to work on the coaching and cueing. By coming into the training weekend with the release already memorized and learned, I imagine we will focus a great deal on form and technique, so it is promising to be a very challenging weekend, more challenging than anything I've done yet on this journey of mine.
I'm ready. I will ROCK it. At the end, I'll collapse in a sweaty heap ;-)
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Elated yet Sad
I wonder how it's possible to feel really happy yet have an underlying feeling of sadness. It's an odd feeling, really. I have to say, I don't like it much.
I had a couple of emails/texts from instructors/friends today congratulating me on my AIM2 outcome. It was nice because each one brought a smile to my face, even though I did not expect the outcome. Hearing one of my new friends who lives in Seattle made Elite also made me so happy!
Part of the sadness comes from not being able to teach BodyPump right now. It really hit me tonight. I know it's temporary, and I also know its necessary because if I don't heal properly I will cause further damage and not be able to teach even longer. My last class was last Tuesday, a full week. I've been to the doctor, the chiropractor and have had two massages, with another scheduled tomorrow. I'm icing, heating, taking Advil, stretching and doing everything I'm supposed to. The pain is almost completely gone. I had a great adjustment with my chiropractor yesterday and wish I had gone last week. I've been having more tingling and numbness in my hands for about 2 weeks but it's been worse the last few days. I was afraid the carpal tunnel was getting worse and the doctor told me i should consider surgery which does NOT make me happy. After my adjustment he told me that my wrists and elbows were a mess, he released tension in my neck, and I have to say I have had NO tingling in my hands since yesterday. Yippee! He said I don't have true carpal tunnel, and it was a subluxation mod my bones so that does make me happy. I go back one more time on Friday. He suggested I take one more week off, so I've arranged for subs until a week from Saturday, when I hope to be able to get back to it. I have all classes covered except this Sunday so I may have to teach, and if I do, I'll have to use no weights. I don't want it to come to that. I hope someone picks up the class.
He also cleared me to exercise, just no weight bearing activities but he said I could run, do the elliptical. In fact he said the rotation of my shoulder is a good thing, as the shoulder is just fine and the pain I had was unrelated to the elbow. That pain is totally gone already.
So with that info, I happily planned to go to the gym tonight. I knew it would be weird to go when my class was being taught by Alex so I attempted to get in and out before class so I wouldn't run into my participants. Getting stopped by the police and getting a ticket kind of blew those plans, plus I had a heck of a time finding parking. This put me in the gym at the same time, and while I had hoped to avoid everyone to respect the fact that my class was going on without me, I still ran into a ton of people. But this is why I love my members. So many of them told me they missed me, gave me hugs, told me to get better so I can get back sooner. I know I left my classes in good hands, but it still left me with a strange ache knowing that I was in the cardio room and my class was going on without me.
I ran on the treadmill and actually enjoyed it. Only made it 1 mile, not that I couldn't have gone further, but the pants I was wearing, while a bit big on me and is okay for teaching BP, were HORRIBLE on the treadmill! They literally kept falling off of me, and I kept having to hike them up because I swear if anyone was behind me they would have gotten a show. I suppose it's a good thing but I was frustrated because I really felt like running and I couldn't continue. After a quick bathroom break and chats with a couple of participants, I went back to the cardio room and hopped on an elliptical. Knowing my class was starting, I jacked up the resistance to a 10 and plowed through for a straight 30 minutes. It felt great and I would have kept going but Cassie had been in the daycare long enough so I stopped. Had a conversation with Justin and Jason, looked longingly in the the Group X room as Alex taught my favorite back track and then couldn't torture myself any longer and left. But not before I signed up for 3 spin classes. I also ran into one of my regulars who came out to get water and she told me how nice my complexion looked! I told her it was from the cardio I had just done! Nothing like sweat to make you look dewey :)
I know it's crazy and dramatic to feel sad about not teaching. But BodyPump is my passion and I truly love teaching. So it's sad that I can't right now. I'll instead focus on my own fitness for once, and try to get in as much cardio as I can since I can't strength train. Cassie, Franklin and I went on a one hour walk Sunday and did a bunch of stairs at Canada college which was fun and really wiped her out.
There's another reason I feel so sad, which puts a damper on the happiness I'm also feeling. I won't go into detail, but a close friend said some things to me that really cut me like a knife in the heart. I can't understand why, what was said was meant to hurt and cause pain and it is something that I can't shake. People don't understand the power of words, especially the written word, when it's there for you to read and re-read over and over again, it hurts so
much. I am just confused because....well just because. I'm not looking for an apology, just some understanding. I don't think this person even realizes that was was said was so hurtful. I'm teary just thinking about it so it's time to just stop because I'm good at wallowing.
Sigh. Boy I can bring myself down quickly....
I had a couple of emails/texts from instructors/friends today congratulating me on my AIM2 outcome. It was nice because each one brought a smile to my face, even though I did not expect the outcome. Hearing one of my new friends who lives in Seattle made Elite also made me so happy!
Part of the sadness comes from not being able to teach BodyPump right now. It really hit me tonight. I know it's temporary, and I also know its necessary because if I don't heal properly I will cause further damage and not be able to teach even longer. My last class was last Tuesday, a full week. I've been to the doctor, the chiropractor and have had two massages, with another scheduled tomorrow. I'm icing, heating, taking Advil, stretching and doing everything I'm supposed to. The pain is almost completely gone. I had a great adjustment with my chiropractor yesterday and wish I had gone last week. I've been having more tingling and numbness in my hands for about 2 weeks but it's been worse the last few days. I was afraid the carpal tunnel was getting worse and the doctor told me i should consider surgery which does NOT make me happy. After my adjustment he told me that my wrists and elbows were a mess, he released tension in my neck, and I have to say I have had NO tingling in my hands since yesterday. Yippee! He said I don't have true carpal tunnel, and it was a subluxation mod my bones so that does make me happy. I go back one more time on Friday. He suggested I take one more week off, so I've arranged for subs until a week from Saturday, when I hope to be able to get back to it. I have all classes covered except this Sunday so I may have to teach, and if I do, I'll have to use no weights. I don't want it to come to that. I hope someone picks up the class.
He also cleared me to exercise, just no weight bearing activities but he said I could run, do the elliptical. In fact he said the rotation of my shoulder is a good thing, as the shoulder is just fine and the pain I had was unrelated to the elbow. That pain is totally gone already.
So with that info, I happily planned to go to the gym tonight. I knew it would be weird to go when my class was being taught by Alex so I attempted to get in and out before class so I wouldn't run into my participants. Getting stopped by the police and getting a ticket kind of blew those plans, plus I had a heck of a time finding parking. This put me in the gym at the same time, and while I had hoped to avoid everyone to respect the fact that my class was going on without me, I still ran into a ton of people. But this is why I love my members. So many of them told me they missed me, gave me hugs, told me to get better so I can get back sooner. I know I left my classes in good hands, but it still left me with a strange ache knowing that I was in the cardio room and my class was going on without me.
I ran on the treadmill and actually enjoyed it. Only made it 1 mile, not that I couldn't have gone further, but the pants I was wearing, while a bit big on me and is okay for teaching BP, were HORRIBLE on the treadmill! They literally kept falling off of me, and I kept having to hike them up because I swear if anyone was behind me they would have gotten a show. I suppose it's a good thing but I was frustrated because I really felt like running and I couldn't continue. After a quick bathroom break and chats with a couple of participants, I went back to the cardio room and hopped on an elliptical. Knowing my class was starting, I jacked up the resistance to a 10 and plowed through for a straight 30 minutes. It felt great and I would have kept going but Cassie had been in the daycare long enough so I stopped. Had a conversation with Justin and Jason, looked longingly in the the Group X room as Alex taught my favorite back track and then couldn't torture myself any longer and left. But not before I signed up for 3 spin classes. I also ran into one of my regulars who came out to get water and she told me how nice my complexion looked! I told her it was from the cardio I had just done! Nothing like sweat to make you look dewey :)
I know it's crazy and dramatic to feel sad about not teaching. But BodyPump is my passion and I truly love teaching. So it's sad that I can't right now. I'll instead focus on my own fitness for once, and try to get in as much cardio as I can since I can't strength train. Cassie, Franklin and I went on a one hour walk Sunday and did a bunch of stairs at Canada college which was fun and really wiped her out.
There's another reason I feel so sad, which puts a damper on the happiness I'm also feeling. I won't go into detail, but a close friend said some things to me that really cut me like a knife in the heart. I can't understand why, what was said was meant to hurt and cause pain and it is something that I can't shake. People don't understand the power of words, especially the written word, when it's there for you to read and re-read over and over again, it hurts so
much. I am just confused because....well just because. I'm not looking for an apology, just some understanding. I don't think this person even realizes that was was said was so hurtful. I'm teary just thinking about it so it's time to just stop because I'm good at wallowing.
Sigh. Boy I can bring myself down quickly....
Monday, April 9, 2012
AIM 2 results
I just received my assessment results from my AIM2 training in Seattle and I'm a bit in shock, considering my last post and how I blew it on day 2. Josef gave me great feedback and an outcome of Advanced Instructor! He told me to implement the feedback and submit a DVD if I want to elevate my status to Elite. I fully expected to come out with Instructor with a plan, happily.
Well that just made my night :) especially after some really crappy days...Yipee!!!
Well that just made my night :) especially after some really crappy days...Yipee!!!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
AIM2 Reflections
As I sit here, late on the first day of Spring Break 2012, I am recovering physically and mentally from two huge training weekends for me. I should have blogged last week after AIM2 was over, but my goodness - the brainpower that would have taken? It would have come out a jumbled mess. Coming back to school for a final week before break, with students bouncing off the walls ready to be on vacation! I had no time or energy to attempt to put my thoughts on "paper". I am still in awe of how amazing that weekend was. It's still processing, still brewing in my head. Yesterday was another big day in my Les Mills journey......I don't even know where to start. I'll do one weekend at a time.
AIM2: I write all the time about how amazing Les Mills instructors are, how amazing the programs are. I was going to another state, knowing NO one except the instructor I was staying with (and she had her own training to go to but arranged for me to be picked up by Tracy, a Combat instructor going to the training). It amazes me that I got into Tracy's car and there was not a moment of silence the whole way to Starbucks before we hit the gym. Walking into Gold's, she introduced me to several instructors as they arrived, and not ONCE during that weekend did I ever feel out of place or uncomfortable because I didn't know anyone. My reservations and fears going there were completely unfounded. Sure, there were moments where because of whatever drill/exercise/emotional place we were going to during the training made me feel reserved, but that's all part of the journey and process of AIM2. The feeling of One Tribe was never more felt by me before until that weekend. AIM1 was great, and I made many friends, but the depth to which this second level of advanced training took us all to was more emotionally felt, more emotionally connecting to complete strangers that really were not strangers. It is hard to put into words, or to explain to a non-LM person. It's like being part of an exclusive club (with 70,000 + members!). It's strangely unifying, wonderfully unifying. I bonded with so many people and now have friends from Washington, Idaho and Arizona. It's a great feeling.
The weekend was physically demanding, emotionally demanding, fun, exhausting, emotional, and a host of other adjectives. Our trainers were Amanda Scales and Josef Matthews. We had 5 programs represented there -(8) for BodyPump, (8) for BodyCombat, (2) for BodyStep, (5) for BodyAttack and (3) for BodyFlow. If we weren't presenting, we were the participants for the other program presenters. We presented our tracks 4 times. 26 instructors, and because some were presenting at the same time in different groups, we had 20 presentations overall. Multiply that times 4? We all did 80 tracks that weekend. It's the equivalent to 8 classes (10 tracks per average LM class). Sore? I am still recovering from that!!
I was given the squat track for my 2 Saturday presentations. I went in to this knowing that I was there for honest, hard feedback. Josef was the trainer that evaluated me all weekend. He looked so intense in pictures I've seen, and instructors that know him told me he is actually very nice. I couldn't agree more. I was very happy to have him be the one to work with me, knowing he would take me to where I need to go to with my teaching. My first presentation went well - I nailed the choreography and my coaching was spot on - he said I coached one thing at a time, let it land, and moved on. In reality? It's because I was SO freaking nervous that I forgot to say more! It worked in my favor, ultimately. I only had one technique adjustment - my elbows rotated as I came down to squat so he had me adjust that (and every class I've taught since then? No more rotation!) I needed to take my coaching to another level now by adding in more layers and follow up, giving more information.
After 2 solid hours of presentation, sweating, grunting, working hard (and feeling more than a little clumsy at BodyStep!) we had several hours of coaching, lectures, drills and exercises. Then came presentation #2, where we have to take what we have learned throughout the day and apply it. I came out of the second presentation with perfect technique but still some advanced coaching that needs to happen. It's all good, and I was thrilled to get shoulders for the next day's presentations. It's a HARD track, and I knew that I would be challenged in terms of feedback, but the other group of BP instructors, who had the back track on day 1 (I was envious because I LOVE back tracks), they got lunges - NO thanks!!
Ingrid and I went out to dinner and I enjoyed a very yummy mojito. We both had had very physical days and enjoyed some downtime and the chance to get to know each other better. It was a great evening and ended with some chorey review, advanced scripting and a nice cup of green tea.
Day 2 was even more phenomenal than Day 1. Lots of emotions, lots of team bonding, and a disaster of a presentation #1. I had a rough night the night before, struggling with the scripting for a complicated, fast moving track. Me, the overthinker. Finally had to slip the notes under my pillow and call it a night. Ingrid was a love the next morning, making me a bowl of oatmeal before she left at 6:30am. During shoulders, I knew I had the chorey down. For the deltoid work, I carry my own 5lb plates with me to my gym because I have ones that I can grip. Not wanting to look like a wimp to Josef, I used the 2.5 KG plates (6 lbs) that are hard to grip (the thumb goes in the center hole and is difficult to grasp). I KNEW this, because during one of my BP tapings last year, the plates slipped out of my hands because they got sweaty. However, I knew I had to suck it up. BIG MISTAKE. I move into the mac raises and what happens? I get a THUMB cramp in my left hand, which caused the plate to drop down, affecting my form and technique, which caused my chorey to have a blip because it threw me off. Josef happened to come over to me at that EXACT moment......and my heart sunk. I knew I was done. I was SO upset with myself. I kept going, of course, even though one of the instructors in my group came to hand me the smaller 2lb plates instead. I waved them off and painfully kept going. For my feedback, my coaching was still spot on, coached to one outcome but needed to work on the voices and nail the chorey. Technique wise, my chest was too forward during deltoid raises. AARRRGGGGHH. I had it. I tried, and I was very disappointed. I know s*** happens, but I was so looking forward to a better outcome. The good thing was that I knew what I needed to work on for the next one. Of course Josef said I had to nail my choreography. UGH. I already had. I explained about the cramp, but it is what it is. I asked Josef if I could go with the smaller plates so I wouldn't have to worry about the grip and he said yes. That was a huge moment of relief for me!
The rest of the day was amazing, fun, and so incredibly relevant. There are no words, but it was the BEST day. Presentation #2.....we were all feeling sore, emotionally and physically exhausted, but knew we had to give it our best and just have fun with it. Josef and Amanda really stressed having fun with the last presentation, but I was still kinda caught up in my head and my mistakes from earlier. I tried to put it aside and focus on teaching with contrast. While we were waiting for Amanda to finish up feedback with someone, Ola had already done her BP intro and I was waiting for Josef, he told me to go down and hover with my group! So we did, and next thing I know, Ola is on my BACK while I held the hover! Josef got a good laugh from that (but I did all my pushups on my toes during my track!!)
So presentation number 2. I used small plates and really nailed the chorey. I tried my hardest to use the voices and give contrast. I though it went well. Feedback? Sigh. He didn't hear enough of the voices because he was going back and forth between me and Ola. Then he said my shoulders were rolling forward a bit while standing during rotator raises. My shoulders forward is a constant issue that I am working on correcting. He said this isn't negative, they gave us a LOT to work with this weekend, and I am ticking all the boxes, which is good, but not good because now it needs to be more natural. My coaching again, is great and the one outcome, I got it. I know I am more natural in my classes, and I thought I had moved past the box ticking thing.
In retrospect, and I have been processing this for days, is that I am right where I need to be. I am not a seasoned instructor with years and years of experience. I am a GREAT instructor and I have made HUGE leaps and bounds after teaching only 15 months. I have done 3 major trainings in that time and I have grown exponentially. I am happy. I know I have a lot to work on, but I have a goal, a plan now and I can work towards that and get even better. Things are starting to click and shift and that is why I came. I am sure I will come out with Instructor with a Plan status and that is JUST FINE. I had not come to this hoping for more, and even though after my feedback, the tears welled up and I left to go to the locker room and shake it off because I have learned so much and I have so much more to learn and it is so exciting to still be on this journey. I've been made to feel a part of a wonderful tribe, near and far, and feel a part of something global, something bigger, really for the first time. It is a wonderful, exciting feeling and I am shivering at the thought of what is to come.
It was made even better by the HUGE bear hug that Josef gave me before we left, with the compliment of great job. It was so nice to have Amanda give me a huge hug and tell me she looked forward to seeing me the next week in Burlingame. The connection already on Facebook to all who were there, and the photos.....I feel a sense of family that I didn't feel in Texas, even though that was an AMAZING experience. In Texas, I only knew a few, and it was still a great experience, I still felt like a bit of an outsider because I felt inexperienced in comparison to everyone else. This AIM2 experience really helped me to see I am part of the greater good, the ONE TRIBE.
I would recommend to ANY instructor to go through the advanced trainings Les Mills offers. We can get very complacent, very comfortable in our teaching. Even though I only have a year under my belt, there are instructors who have many years of experience and don't ever advance because they don't take advantage of the education that is out there. Both AIM1 and AIM2 are invaluable. I have not a single regret. I don't even regret waiting longer before I did these trainings. I had a bug up my butt.....one that insisted I go further, go harder, get better, for me but more importantly for all the participants in all my classes. This weekend really cemented in the fact that although this feeds me, I don't do it for me.
I do it for others. To be Brave. To make a change in the WORLD. One class at a time. What a huge privilege. I am very lucky. Kia Kaha.
AIM2: I write all the time about how amazing Les Mills instructors are, how amazing the programs are. I was going to another state, knowing NO one except the instructor I was staying with (and she had her own training to go to but arranged for me to be picked up by Tracy, a Combat instructor going to the training). It amazes me that I got into Tracy's car and there was not a moment of silence the whole way to Starbucks before we hit the gym. Walking into Gold's, she introduced me to several instructors as they arrived, and not ONCE during that weekend did I ever feel out of place or uncomfortable because I didn't know anyone. My reservations and fears going there were completely unfounded. Sure, there were moments where because of whatever drill/exercise/emotional place we were going to during the training made me feel reserved, but that's all part of the journey and process of AIM2. The feeling of One Tribe was never more felt by me before until that weekend. AIM1 was great, and I made many friends, but the depth to which this second level of advanced training took us all to was more emotionally felt, more emotionally connecting to complete strangers that really were not strangers. It is hard to put into words, or to explain to a non-LM person. It's like being part of an exclusive club (with 70,000 + members!). It's strangely unifying, wonderfully unifying. I bonded with so many people and now have friends from Washington, Idaho and Arizona. It's a great feeling.
The weekend was physically demanding, emotionally demanding, fun, exhausting, emotional, and a host of other adjectives. Our trainers were Amanda Scales and Josef Matthews. We had 5 programs represented there -(8) for BodyPump, (8) for BodyCombat, (2) for BodyStep, (5) for BodyAttack and (3) for BodyFlow. If we weren't presenting, we were the participants for the other program presenters. We presented our tracks 4 times. 26 instructors, and because some were presenting at the same time in different groups, we had 20 presentations overall. Multiply that times 4? We all did 80 tracks that weekend. It's the equivalent to 8 classes (10 tracks per average LM class). Sore? I am still recovering from that!!
I was given the squat track for my 2 Saturday presentations. I went in to this knowing that I was there for honest, hard feedback. Josef was the trainer that evaluated me all weekend. He looked so intense in pictures I've seen, and instructors that know him told me he is actually very nice. I couldn't agree more. I was very happy to have him be the one to work with me, knowing he would take me to where I need to go to with my teaching. My first presentation went well - I nailed the choreography and my coaching was spot on - he said I coached one thing at a time, let it land, and moved on. In reality? It's because I was SO freaking nervous that I forgot to say more! It worked in my favor, ultimately. I only had one technique adjustment - my elbows rotated as I came down to squat so he had me adjust that (and every class I've taught since then? No more rotation!) I needed to take my coaching to another level now by adding in more layers and follow up, giving more information.
After 2 solid hours of presentation, sweating, grunting, working hard (and feeling more than a little clumsy at BodyStep!) we had several hours of coaching, lectures, drills and exercises. Then came presentation #2, where we have to take what we have learned throughout the day and apply it. I came out of the second presentation with perfect technique but still some advanced coaching that needs to happen. It's all good, and I was thrilled to get shoulders for the next day's presentations. It's a HARD track, and I knew that I would be challenged in terms of feedback, but the other group of BP instructors, who had the back track on day 1 (I was envious because I LOVE back tracks), they got lunges - NO thanks!!
Ingrid and I went out to dinner and I enjoyed a very yummy mojito. We both had had very physical days and enjoyed some downtime and the chance to get to know each other better. It was a great evening and ended with some chorey review, advanced scripting and a nice cup of green tea.
Day 2 was even more phenomenal than Day 1. Lots of emotions, lots of team bonding, and a disaster of a presentation #1. I had a rough night the night before, struggling with the scripting for a complicated, fast moving track. Me, the overthinker. Finally had to slip the notes under my pillow and call it a night. Ingrid was a love the next morning, making me a bowl of oatmeal before she left at 6:30am. During shoulders, I knew I had the chorey down. For the deltoid work, I carry my own 5lb plates with me to my gym because I have ones that I can grip. Not wanting to look like a wimp to Josef, I used the 2.5 KG plates (6 lbs) that are hard to grip (the thumb goes in the center hole and is difficult to grasp). I KNEW this, because during one of my BP tapings last year, the plates slipped out of my hands because they got sweaty. However, I knew I had to suck it up. BIG MISTAKE. I move into the mac raises and what happens? I get a THUMB cramp in my left hand, which caused the plate to drop down, affecting my form and technique, which caused my chorey to have a blip because it threw me off. Josef happened to come over to me at that EXACT moment......and my heart sunk. I knew I was done. I was SO upset with myself. I kept going, of course, even though one of the instructors in my group came to hand me the smaller 2lb plates instead. I waved them off and painfully kept going. For my feedback, my coaching was still spot on, coached to one outcome but needed to work on the voices and nail the chorey. Technique wise, my chest was too forward during deltoid raises. AARRRGGGGHH. I had it. I tried, and I was very disappointed. I know s*** happens, but I was so looking forward to a better outcome. The good thing was that I knew what I needed to work on for the next one. Of course Josef said I had to nail my choreography. UGH. I already had. I explained about the cramp, but it is what it is. I asked Josef if I could go with the smaller plates so I wouldn't have to worry about the grip and he said yes. That was a huge moment of relief for me!
The rest of the day was amazing, fun, and so incredibly relevant. There are no words, but it was the BEST day. Presentation #2.....we were all feeling sore, emotionally and physically exhausted, but knew we had to give it our best and just have fun with it. Josef and Amanda really stressed having fun with the last presentation, but I was still kinda caught up in my head and my mistakes from earlier. I tried to put it aside and focus on teaching with contrast. While we were waiting for Amanda to finish up feedback with someone, Ola had already done her BP intro and I was waiting for Josef, he told me to go down and hover with my group! So we did, and next thing I know, Ola is on my BACK while I held the hover! Josef got a good laugh from that (but I did all my pushups on my toes during my track!!)
So presentation number 2. I used small plates and really nailed the chorey. I tried my hardest to use the voices and give contrast. I though it went well. Feedback? Sigh. He didn't hear enough of the voices because he was going back and forth between me and Ola. Then he said my shoulders were rolling forward a bit while standing during rotator raises. My shoulders forward is a constant issue that I am working on correcting. He said this isn't negative, they gave us a LOT to work with this weekend, and I am ticking all the boxes, which is good, but not good because now it needs to be more natural. My coaching again, is great and the one outcome, I got it. I know I am more natural in my classes, and I thought I had moved past the box ticking thing.
In retrospect, and I have been processing this for days, is that I am right where I need to be. I am not a seasoned instructor with years and years of experience. I am a GREAT instructor and I have made HUGE leaps and bounds after teaching only 15 months. I have done 3 major trainings in that time and I have grown exponentially. I am happy. I know I have a lot to work on, but I have a goal, a plan now and I can work towards that and get even better. Things are starting to click and shift and that is why I came. I am sure I will come out with Instructor with a Plan status and that is JUST FINE. I had not come to this hoping for more, and even though after my feedback, the tears welled up and I left to go to the locker room and shake it off because I have learned so much and I have so much more to learn and it is so exciting to still be on this journey. I've been made to feel a part of a wonderful tribe, near and far, and feel a part of something global, something bigger, really for the first time. It is a wonderful, exciting feeling and I am shivering at the thought of what is to come.
It was made even better by the HUGE bear hug that Josef gave me before we left, with the compliment of great job. It was so nice to have Amanda give me a huge hug and tell me she looked forward to seeing me the next week in Burlingame. The connection already on Facebook to all who were there, and the photos.....I feel a sense of family that I didn't feel in Texas, even though that was an AMAZING experience. In Texas, I only knew a few, and it was still a great experience, I still felt like a bit of an outsider because I felt inexperienced in comparison to everyone else. This AIM2 experience really helped me to see I am part of the greater good, the ONE TRIBE.
I would recommend to ANY instructor to go through the advanced trainings Les Mills offers. We can get very complacent, very comfortable in our teaching. Even though I only have a year under my belt, there are instructors who have many years of experience and don't ever advance because they don't take advantage of the education that is out there. Both AIM1 and AIM2 are invaluable. I have not a single regret. I don't even regret waiting longer before I did these trainings. I had a bug up my butt.....one that insisted I go further, go harder, get better, for me but more importantly for all the participants in all my classes. This weekend really cemented in the fact that although this feeds me, I don't do it for me.
I do it for others. To be Brave. To make a change in the WORLD. One class at a time. What a huge privilege. I am very lucky. Kia Kaha.
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