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 :)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
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.
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