Short and sweet today, have a great Xmas everyone, and if you are interested in doing any classes down by the river at Currumbin over the next week, please let me know.
I will be between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, resting, eating and trying to keep a little bit fit in-between.
Hope you are having a wonderful day!
I didn’t really understand until this year, just how stressful this time of the year can be for people.
I am fortunate that Christmas for me is a joyous time, yet for many the thought of spending time with family they may not really like can be a forced and stressful situation.
The thought of racing from one family function to another is tiring before it even begins.
The act of running around; shopping, cleaning, fitting in as much as possible is exhausting rather than exhilarating.
If this is all ringing out true for you, then please know that it is ok to just slow down for a moment, it is ok to sit still and breathe.
It is ok to take it easy at the gym, rather than push your fatigued body.
You are the master of your own destiny and if you need to slow down, then give yourself permission to do just that.
Everything in moderation, we have all heard that saying countless times.
I think this time of year as you are devouring your third plate of Christmas dinner goodness, eating just “one” more chocolate, and drinking your hundredth alcoholic drink you are starting to wish you actually adhered to it.
While I do think that drinking 100 drinks probably isn’t ideal and eating too much fatty sugary food isn’t going to make you feel amazing; it is Christmas, it is a time for celebrating and partying so please don’t beat yourself up if you are consuming the “bad” things a little more frequently and less moderately than you normally would.
As I always say in my classes, be kind to yourself, listen to your body, give it the break and treats it deserves, but keep in mind if you are drinking and eating excessively you will most likely put on weight.
So my friends, eat and drink (at least not too crazily) if the weight creeps up, then so be it, deal with it by not allowing this to become a habit, jump back into action early in the new year and get your body healthy again.
Life is too short to be at war with yourself.
The human body is comprised of over 50%water.
So clearly quite an important part of it.
As you sweat you dehydrate, as you drink you dehydrate.
As you dehydrate you need to rehydrate.
When you reach the point of feeling dehydrated, your body has already been pushed too far.
If you don’t really know the effect that lack of water has on your body, look at your garden and notice what happens to your plants when they are thirsty and starved of water.
Our bodies are the same.
If you, like the majority of people, are drinking more alcohol than usual over the madness of the Christmas party season, then your water intake is crucial.
Even if you don’t realize it at the time.
Drink water, then drink more, then drink more again.
Your body will thank you for it.
Water is an old trusted friend, who often gets neglected, yet always come back to rescue us when we need it.
Anyone reading this post who knows the amount of classes I have already done this week, may find this hypocritical and as my mum reads my blogs and always worries I am overdoing it (hi mum, love you) I am not going to actually tell you how many classes I have done.
What I am going to tell you is how I am coping with doing x amount of classes.
Aside from walking like a zombie, speaking as though English is my second language and spilling things all over myself frequently I am in fact coping!
I am coping by resting in-between classes. In fact this week has felt like a crazy blur and I think on Tuesday I had convinced myself it was already Thursday.
I have been doing 5:45am classes, I will then come home and sleep for an hour or two then do my next class, rest, eat, teach again and repeat the process all over again.
As much as we all like to think we are invincible, and as much as I promote the theory of pushing and challenging yourself, there are limits.
We are human, we need rest, our muscles need the correct nourishment to thrive, and that nourishment comes in the form of eating well, drinking water to re-hydrate and resting.
It is counter productive not to do so!
As always I learnt that the hard way.
If you are exercising frequently you NEED to eat and rest frequently or I dare say you are without knowing it, undoing all the good work you set out to do.
Think about your computer, your smart phone – they perform well until they don’t! We reboot them and then wallah, they leap back into action refreshed reawakened. Our bodies are the same!
The more we work them, the more we need to treat them with the rest they deserve.
Resting your body is just as important as moving it!
We can always do more than we think we can, we can push ourselves further and keep practicing until we get it right.
Flexibility takes time, the trick is not giving up!
There is always more we can learn.
There is nothing wrong with looking up to someone, and aspiring to be better.
Giving up should never be an option, even if you fail, it is a chance to learn, to set a new goal and to try again.
Learn, try, practice, fail, then learn some more, try again, practice more and keep failing until you succeed.
It is Friday afternoon and I am sitting outside with a glass of red wine that I just poured for myself. I am about to write about a topic that I know I have written about in various forms; yet I am still just so overwhelmed and inspired by a certain person that I just feel I need to write about this topic again.
I am talking about, well two things actually; mind over matter and being inspired. Today, in my morning class I was yet again inspired for the third week in a row by a new class member.
This man is in his late 70’s and his determination inspires me beyond belief. His smiling face warms my heart and his persistence and dedication is the most amazing gift I could ever receive as a fitness instructor.
In just three weeks he has improved at such a rapid pace and it is all due to sheer willpower.
At the end of every class, he stays behind to ask questions, to find ways to improve.
Every week he improves.
Each week he walks in to my class determined to succeed and he does.
Every week he walks in to my class with a strong mind, he will not give up, he cant, he won’t!
He is one of the most amazing people I have ever had in my classes.
He tells me he makes sure his mind is always strong and he uses mind over matter to achieve what may be impossible for people his age.
Today as I was learning choreography, my brain was on the verve of giving up and I thought about him, and immediately changed my mindset and refused to give up, what kind of person or role model would I be if I did?
I believe being a good and inspiring person means you should be that person at all times even when no one is looking. If you are just doing things for show, for attention for gain, then it doesn’t count.
Be authentic, be strong, be inspiring!
Realise just how much you can achieve with a strong mind.
Today I had some beautiful chats and started to formulate some really amazing positive thoughts and plans for this month and next year….watch this space……
So this afternoon I sat outside and I made a little word cloud of some of the things I am grateful for.
What can be better than focussing on all the things in your life you are grateful for and make you happy.
While my little word cloud may have split up some of my words, what can be more rewarding than seeing the biggest word on the page jump out saying strength!
Huge love and gratitude to you all for reading my posts and for your support, it means a lot to me and I am grateful.
Have a beautiful week.
Lou
I hate to admit it but I used to be one of “those” people who left the class before meditation.
I left as my brain went into immediate meltdown mode the minute that word was uttered.
My fatigued body was pleading with me to take those 5-10 minutes to relax, my brain was yelling at it to shut up.
Meditation; who has the time for that? I could be doing cardio, or something useful at home!
The naive old me thought meditation was some hippy chanting thing.
I remember the first yoga class I did, where the instructor told me to clear my mind of everything –
Everything my brain shrieked, is she nuts?
My brain was a jumbled mess, is everyone clearing their minds except for me? What is wrong with me? Why can’t I clear my mind?
Fast forward to what feels like a million years later to the girl who types this and teaches meditation and relaxation at the end of a workout, to the girl who feels so sad when people leave before the end, the people who will miss out on everything I missed out on for so many years.
Meditation for many can be a confrontational process, being still with your own thoughts can be daunting.
I am mindful not to ask people to clear their minds of everything, rather I invite people just to lie calmly and relax, to breath deeply and calmly, to focus on something that makes them happy, and to give themselves permission to do just that.
Our society is racing, each year goes faster than the last.
Stopping, relaxing, meditating in which ever form you wish to do it, is one of the most important gifts you can give yourself.
If you are unsure where to start; start by identifying what makes you happy, then close your eyes for a moment and draw upon that image, emotion or event.
Take 5 minutes on your journey to or from work to close your eyes, listen to music or just listen to the sound of your breath.
Sit in a park, the beach a place that resonates with you, and just be content in the moment.
There is no right or wrong, find what works for you and then indulge in it every chance you get.
Five minutes a day and before long you will notice and feel the benefits.
In this busy month of December give yourself the best gift of all.
