Hot Yoga Tales, the Finale

Kelly and Torsten

My yoga buddy Torsten and I finished the Rogerstv show, Hot Yoga Tales.

The days leading up to the final taping of the 45 minute Hot Yoga shows were difficult for me.

I had agreed to this volunteer commitment months earlier and always assumed that there would be between 8 and 10 participants and the instructor.  Instead, Rogerstv after a site visit, decided to have one teacher and 2 participants. No.Blending.In. Yikes.

Every insecurity and thought related to self acceptance was being challenged. It felt like every strength I had developed in my thought life about body image and identity and spirituality was being tested. It was much like the test my muscles endured learning yoga poses. It was "planking" of the mind and I wasn't sure I could follow through.

Several things helped.

I sent out an email to a few friends to admit my insecurity, "I actually feel a lot of pressure to do the yoga well, but mostly, it's 45 minutes in figure revealing work out clothes, on camera, that is bothering me."  I knew I had to fight my tendency to hide out and cry. I asked some women to pray for me.

My sweet neighbour listened and suggested some retail therapy. She firmly said, "you need a new top." The day we planned did not pan out because my little Caleb was home sick and throwing up. With a quick jaunt to the grocery store, I netted several work out items to try on.

Months earlier I had stumbled across the Curvy Yoga Matifesto and I revisited it. Two lines were helpful for me.

loving your own body opens the door for others to love theirs...

time we spent criticizing our bodies is now spent chasing our dreams...

A childhood friend, echoed the sentiment of the first line when she said to me, "do it (this show) for women everywhere..."  Somehow that helped me.

There was this woman at the gym who randomly said, "aren't you taking a year to live athletically?" I was gently reminded in my Spirit that change takes time and I was about 4 months in with this dream to live a healthy life. I am rich in time.

A blog post by Gary Morland as part of his Everything Fits series helped me to remember and recognize that self-obsession and worry is not helpful as did this fabulous song by Jason Mraz, entitled, "Living in the Moment."

Doing the Dr. Oz 3-day-detox-cleanse helped to reduce bloating and I felt as though my eyes and skin glowed, even though I would be nowhere near skinny. I liked it. I was challenged to stay the course of living my life without processed sugar and coffee and felt proud of the accomplishment of drinking 4 blended shakes a day made of healthy food.

The Weightless  blog has practical advice. It went beyond positive statements to just simply do this or do that. I found there were lots of suggestions to consider, for the middle place. That place where the positive statements feel fake and have no effect. There were actions I could take, for example,

"Taking self-portraits is a vulnerable act. Many of us barely like looking in the mirror. So capturing ourselves with a camera — a sort of permanent image — feels uncomfortable, silly and even scary."  Thank-you Weightless blog for helping to normalize some of my feelings.

Vivienne McMaster wrote beautifully on self-portraiture,  and while I am not in control of the Rogerstv cameras or post-production, it helped put my mind in a better frame.

part of the production and camera crew

Make-up. The days of the filming I had my make-up professionally applied at Victoria Bourque's Beauty Boutique. It was time well spent with Victoria, a lovely human being, who is a gifted "enhancer" of beauty.

snapped by friend Laura at her front door

This opportunity to be part of the show was awesome. I think my favourite part was the people, the conversations; with Jennifer, Dan and Julia at the Rogerstv studio, with  Cindy, the owner of Bradford Hot Yoga and some of the instructors, and with Torsten, the other ordinary person who had never done yoga before.

I had committed to learning some yoga and my body has benefited from the lengthening and strengthening. I have filled my journal with reflections on yoga and how slowing down, breathing and stretching fits in my life.

I like the practise in yoga of setting an intention. The final day of taping I set an intention for gratitude (always helpful) and FUN! Snapping pics made it fun for me and seemed to lighten the mood of all the nervous participants.

At the outset of this journey I had a really cool moment that I blogged about:

...the only person who needs to accept all of me, is ME.

So when this beautiful, self-obsessing, broken and healed woman was doing yoga in front of a team of camera and production people, all the while knowing that it will be aired, she was often smirking to herself and thinking, "this curvy suburban woman is having a grand adventure...living the dream." In those moments the fear dissipated, perfect love was driving it out.

Love has the run of this house, this soul. A journey that I once thought impossible is unfolding.


thanks for reading and keep moving,
Kelly

Sunshine and Rain Part 2

The day our bikes were stolen was difficult from the get go, the proverbial “I got out of the wrong side of the bed” scenario. It should have been raining, to match my mood.

Really, we argued about dumb, unmemorable stuff and spent vacation time vacuuming and scrubbing the van at a fabulous car wash in Florida. Even the airy freshness of our newly cleaned van as we headed to Starbucks for a Skinny Vanilla Latte was fraught with bickering between me and my love.

The next morning after working out, I sat in my stinky, sweaty workout clothes and obsessed over Craig’s list and other Bicycle pawn shop websites, looking for our bikes.

I was sitting indoors feeling sadness, bitterness, disappointment and some forgiveness.

Finally, around noon, I decided to take a redemption ride to the beach.

I would use my mom's comfortable Schwinn Voyageur bike, for  my ride.

mom's bike

On the ride, I found myself looking in every garage that was open and scanning the back of pick-up trucks as they passed me by, looking for our stolen bikes.

My mind was so wrapped up in yesterday’s news.

It does not feel good to be stolen from. I remembered that the enemy of my soul comes to steal, kill and destroy.

I felt these words deep in my spirit as I was cycling along…

…do not let your joy, your peace of mind, your love for others, your belief that God is generous, anything that is of eternal value, be stolen from you… 

I stopped riding. Then I heard…

… if you look for what is lost or stolen too long, you will miss the LIFE that is happening right in front of you.

Enough time and emotional energy had been given to stolen bikes.

I wanted to notice what was right in front of me.

I wanted to notice what I did have.

I wanted to notice LIFE.

On that ride, I had an awakening. I would have missed the sound of the birds, the sight of the beautiful houses along the bay and the sound of the wind in the palms (one of my favourite things) and the lightly scented salt air as I neared the beach.

When I finally arrived at the beach, I tripled locked my mom's bike, enjoyed a delicious fish taco with mango chipotle - yum!- and had a nap in the sunshine.

post nap - love the blue water too!

It’s amazing that when we awaken to life, we can truly REST. 

Thanks for reading and keep moving,

Kelly

PS. I wrap up the Hot Yoga Tales (new title) with Rogerstv Newmarket and Bradford Hot Yoga this week. 

Change

photo credit

Because I want to see fitness be an integral part of my life, I am reading interesting books, watching sport related movies, going to the gym with specific goals and listening to people who have fitness embedded in their lives.

This week I had the privilege of interviewing personal trainer Jasmine from my gym. She had this to say,

...my life is fitness, I love what I do...

Jasmine is constantly striving to take her personal fitness to new levels. She is a young college graduate and a certified member of Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology. She has earned her Pilates certification and this training underpins much of what she does with clients in personal training or group fitness classes. 

Over the past month, she has participated in a 30 day Hot Yoga Challenge. In addition to training once a week together, we have run into each other at the yoga studio, where I continue to challenge myself as part of my commitment to the Rogerstv show, the Yoga Monologues (working title.)

Learning from someone who is a lifelong learner has always been a joy of mine. Whether it was learning how to clean the house from my Mom, guitar in Grade 6 from a Rock and Roller dude, Counselling Courses from a professor helping clients in private practice, Home Schooling advice from a mentor, or resistance training from Jasmine; I have loved learning from someone who is still learning; still in process.

Learning from someone, steeped in their field of knowledge and still growing, is wonderful. All these people, while authorities in their field, seem to have a posture that leans towards humility, without even trying. It's easy for me to learn from that kind of expert.

While Jasmine and I appear very different and we are (she: early 20's, me: mid 40's, she: tall, slim, brunette, me: average height, curvy, blonde, she: very fit, me: getting fitter)... we share some commonalities...

• Need for Genuine love
• Dreams for the Future
• Motivation to care for self and stay strong

Today is a Rest Day. A day to contemplate change, needs and goals, and write about them; a day to bake Zucchini Loaf for my family, and a day to allow my sore legs from Bootcamp (3 exercises with 30 reps of squats X 3 rounds) to recuperate.

I know this: Learning to truly care for myself and learning to be fit is a journey worth taking.

What are your fitness goals? Is there anything you are trying to change in your life? 

Until next time,

kelly

Acceptance

Photo Credit

Last night I went to RogersTV studio, Newmarket for the first taping of the "Yoga Monologues, the stories of 3 ordinary people who have never practised yoga before." (working title) Enter me, stage left.

In November 2012, I responded by email to an article looking for people who wanted to get healthy trying hot yoga. I knew as soon as I read it, that if I did not respond immediately, I would lose my nerve. I had been experimenting with different fitness classes before I started my Blog and I knew this had potential to be a great experience for my life.

Cindy from Ananda Hot Yoga Bradford interviewed me. It may sound weird, but I purposely went with wet hair (I had just finished a sweaty  work-out) and wore no make-up, in an attempt to be my raw self.

I wanted to be as honest about my self and my body and my personality, for this is becoming my healthy way to live. Also, I somehow convinced myself it might help Cindy determine if I was a good fit for her show. (Wet Hair??)

Wednesday morning, though I was eager and excited about the 5 pm taping, I was NERVOUS. The internal pressure I was feeling was a bit much.  Tears.

My husband appeared slightly frustrated (read, I have about 1 minute before I have to leave for work and I have to fix this?) and wholeheartedly supportive (read, a deep look in my eyes, a quick kiss on my forehead and some positive words.)

I recognize this contrast in my personality...

...love of this life of adventure AND fear of it, at the same time..

Later in the afternoon, some thoughts came to mind, "do not worry about this body... and ...fear not, I will hold your hand..." so that helped and so did a physical work-out with my amazing trainer Jasmine at the Leisure Centre, and praying with a friend.

Wednesday night, after answering the first question in the Studio, with the lovely and encouraging Producer, Jennifer, under the uber bright lights, I had this really cool moment:

... the only person who needs to accept all of me, is ME. 

Let the adventure continue, the fear dissipate and the love grow.

thanks for reading,

kelly