Grateful!

Have you ever had one of those days where you're in the middle of doing something and you think, I'm glad to be doing this? Then that thought leads you to think of something else that you're grateful for? Your friends, your family, the sunshine, a great cup of tea, an entertaining book or fantastic show - whatever - you get on this train of thought about all the things you're grateful for and then you find yourself feeling so happy that you're grateful for the fact that you have soooooooo much to be grateful for (because you know, sometimes life can really be crap) and then you find yourself grinning like an idiot in the middle of the street with twenty-seven strangers staring at you like you're stark-raving-mad? Or is that just me?

I mean to tell you I was on my way back from the shoe-repair shop this afternoon when the above experience happened. I was happy the cobbler (are they still called that?) was going to be able to fix my old shoe, the sun was out, birds were chirping away happily, the first few flowers of spring made their appearance and I was just really happy and grateful and I wanted to come here and share that because among the things I was grateful for were the following: 

1) I had some really terrific friends who put me onto LEKfit, the workout I'm in love with
2) I started this blog and one of my besties sparked the idea for the 30-Day Core Challenge and I think it might be working because I tried on an old pair of trousers that I need for an event next week and they fit beautifully - AND - I then risked trying a dress I have been afraid to put on in literally over a decade (I am not even joking, and ladies let this be a lesson, never shop on trend, always shop for classic pieces and you'll have them forever) and while I am not quite sure I'm up for wearing the dress quite yet, it didn't make me want to dive into a tub of Ben & Jerry's (the vegan one) so I was grateful
3) I still have 8.5 days until the event so who knows what the core challenge might do
4) this week's class has core as it's focus (I'm dying just so we're clear)
5) I dug out an old pair of shoes that I could take to the repair shop (which started this gratitude rant) to wear to said event so I didn't have to go shoe-shopping. I don't love it. It's maybe only a step above swimsuit shopping which for me is the ninth circle of hell so... grateful!

And finally I'm really grateful that I have a small space in the world where I can come to share happy thoughts.

If anyone out there is doing the 30-Day Challenge, how you holding up? For me, it doesn't matter if I start on my left side or my right side, that first round of core twisters makes me want to vomit for real! It is no joke and I have so far not been able to complete the entire workout all the way through without stopping at least once. It's five minutes people! But it's so hard. It's the kind of hard that makes you cry "Uncle" but it hurts so good you want to keep going and do it again and again. So I guess it's kind of the ideal little workout for this particular challenge.

Hope wherever this finds you, you're enjoying your day.

Lots of love,
Shan

30-Day Core Challenge!

Will somebody please explain to me what the heck is going on with the weather? The sky is spewing ice pellets and it's freezing freezing cold out there. It's a very dreary Sunday morning, Spring has clearly fucked off to the Bahamas, yet He Who Shall Not Be Named and I did manage to drag our butts out of bed, schlepp all the way across town to our newest favorite diner - Mythology to stuff our faces full of Chef Doug McNish's vegan breakfast delights.

I had a triple-decker something-or-other this morning with a wheel-barrel-sized helping of homefries so you know that something's got to be done to prevent me from splitting my pants. I love Mythology, I love Doug's cooking, I have no plans of giving it up and despite what the weather is doing at the moment, I am choosing to believe that it will actually be spring one day and following spring will swimsuit season. Eventually. So... I need a freakin' intervention. Or...

How 'bout I propose a 30-day challenge to myself (and anyone else who loves a fried breakfast as much as I do) inspired by my girl Natalia. Natalia is brand spanking new to LEKfit and was browsing through all of the options on Lauren's OnDemand website when she came across a mini core workout. It's only five minutes long, but it packs a punch - right to the gut. Right where I need it.

Natalia became so enthused after doing it, proclaiming it was exactly what her middle cried out for, and that she was going to do it everyday for the rest of her life or until she saw that muffin-top vanish. I was like hell yeah, you go girl! And then I went for breakfast and ate way too much. 

Now I'm like, she might be onto something, dammit.

So this is what I propose...

Starting today - (several hours from now once I awaken from my carb-induced coma) I am going to do my regular LEKfit workout along with that mini-core add on.
And I am going to attempt to do it everyday for the next 30 days. 

So what is today?... April 15th (Chef Emery birthday) until May 14th (the day after Mother's day). The reason this is so timely is because I'm going into another extremely busy period at work, so there are just going to be days where getting a full workout in might feel impossible, but everybody, no matter how busy they are, can find five minutes in their day to work their core right? So I have no excuse. I'm gonna do that workout (and whatever else I can manage to fit in) every day for 30 days and I'm betting I'll see a huge difference in my marshmallow middle.

I'll letcha know how it goes and if you elect to do it with me, that would be awesome because misery loves company I mean, workout buddies are the best motivation!

Happy Day 1 of the 30-Day Core Challenge beauties!
Love, 
Shan

Balance - a Loving LEK post

I've been overtaken by this strange phenomenon the past couple of months. What's been happening is that every Wednesday, I wake up and sprint to my email inbox (okay fine! I crack open one eye, roll over in bed and grab my phone, practically the same thing) to see if my new LEK workout has dropped yet. And it has, it always does. It appears every Wednesday in the wee hours while I'm sleeping. It's like the fat dude in the red suit with his reindeer on my roof on Christmas Eve! Somehow he gets the prezzies down the chimney and under the tree. Honestly I don't know how either thing happens - both are sheer sorcery. And every Wednesday (and every Christmas morning) I get such a kick out of it. But that's not the strange phenomenon to which I am referring. The event that's been taking place is that I get super excited for the new workout, but then I don't want to do it! 

Now hang on, hang on, before you get all Judge Judy on my ass, hear me out. I don't want to do it because I've gotten so into the previous week's class, have fallen head over heels in love with the content, that I don't want to stop doing it. And it would be just crazy pants to do two workouts in one day. Believe me, I've thought about it. But I gotta ask... Does that ever happen to any of you? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? No? Just me?

You too? Whew, cool. So wasn't it especially bad this week? I mean to tell you that Lauren's sculpt class for 4/4/18 was so good... did you not just absolutely love these rowing moves?

Look at her face, isn't she just lit up? So great.

It was so thoroughly enjoyable that I didn't want to move on to the new content. So what happened this past Wednesday was what's been happening every Wednesday for a few weeks now - I elected not to do the new class and do the old one ONE MORE TIME. And guess what, guess what, guess what? You can do that with LEK because she keeps her classes up. How rad is that. I know, the kids don't say rad anymore, but I'm bringing back, noble reader. Who's with me?! Down with the government, stick it to the man, power to the people? No? You still in bed this morning too? It's a rainy one here so I guess I'll give you a pass.

In any case, Thursday came around as Thursdays are wont to do, and I gave the new class a go. With some reluctance, I confess, because I didn't want to give up my bands, but lemme tell you something. Miss sassy, classy, little bit bad-assey teacher blew me away with the new week. 

So I thought I'd take this episode to write about the sculpt class that dropped on 4/11 and why I found it so terrific.

Those of you that are new here either to me, or to LEK, lemme catch up up rill quick. I'm being generous when I say I'm over 30 lol. I don't move like I used to and my tank runs out of gas fairly quickly. So I need a workout that is going to energize me in the doing of it, I cannot afford to be depleted when my energy is in such short supply. LEK is that class. Again if you're new - it's not Leck fit, or lekka fit, it's pronounced Elle Eee Kay fit LEKfit. Got it? Good. Head on over to youtube and check out some videos or better yet, just go straight to her On Demand site and sign up for your free week. It's the best thing you're gonna do for yourself this month. Promise.

So when you get to where I am - maybe not entirely over the hill but I can practically see it from here - you lose some things. I mean some things I guess you never lose, and other things you lose to the wrong person, but one thing that you can lose as you age - but thankfully have some control over - is your balance. 

A few years ago, my mom fainted in a soccer stadium while watching my nieces play soccer. She fell straight back onto a concrete floor and ended up with a five inch fracture in her skull. She was very lucky to recover from an injury like that, and one of the things that she had to work really hard on regaining was her balance. I was lucky at the time to be able to fly home to be with her as she transitioned from hospital to home and together we'd stand at the edge of the kitchen counter and she'd practice balancing on one foot then the other. So many elderly people fall and break a hip or ankle or worse, because they weren't able to maintain their balance.

As a former yogi, I would never fail to impress upon my students (and myself) the importance of practicing balance because it's easier to keep than it is to recover. Plus - as it is on the mat, so it is in life. If you're balanced in your practice, you have a better change of being balanced in the world when it seems like things around you are spinning out of control. Or when gossipy, insecure, back-stabby trouble-makers do what they do best - stir up trouble - if you have balance in your workout, you don't get caught up in all that foolish drama. It's an energy-suck, and again, I do not have the energy to spare. So, back to the class.

Much of the leg work this week is done standing (my fave) and the focus is on balance.

Lauren really asks us to harness our balance with these moves, while continuing to remind us not to grip or rely too heavily upon that standing leg. Once we move to the floor on all fours to finish out the leg series, she has created this un-rushed, pointed rhythmic  pace that allows us to really breathe focus into the movement and connect deeply with our bodies in a very meditative way. I found I was able to close my eyes, and by listening to her voice, I could keep up with the flow of the movement and feel every muscle work. I felt like it was not only good for my body, it was good medicine for my spirit as well.

I've taken to referring to her classes as "next level" because she takes everything into account as she works to balance our whole body from week to week. She is so detail oriented, never rushed, never sloppy, never forgetful, to the point that the woman manages to remember week to week whether she started our cool down on the left side of the body or the right and she changes that shit up every single week! 

I think there is something really wrong with starting your movement from the same side every time. That side becomes dominant and you then create imbalance. It's like Lady Lauren (I was feeling like she needed a title) has thought of everything. The devil is in the details, right?

So I'll leave you with that. I'd love to hear what you thought of this week's class, or what your favorite class is and why. I'm not sure I've had a chance to try them all since she started her online workouts a few months before I finally cottoned on to them. Or, if this is your first time transitioning into the work, I'd love to hear how your experience with it was. So please, drop a comment below to lemme know what's going on for you.

Oh and one more thing...

You know how in the cool down, she starts us on our backs and we stretch out our legs and spine, then do an arms-over-head full body stretch before rolling over onto our bellies to stretch out our core? What I wanna know is how the hell does that girl get onto her belly so fast? Lol I feel like I'm just doing the full stretch and she's miraculously rolled over already. It makes me laugh every week.

Enjoy your movement and thanks for tuning in.

Love,

Shan