Coffee Talk Tuesday #83

Grab your cup! It’s time for a Coffee Talk Tuesday! I love sharing these weekly ‘chats’ with you. Ready for today?

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that we’re hustling through spring over here! I’m thisclose to sharing my Summer Fitness Schedule, I’m planning special events (PiYo in the Park), I signed up for barre and buti classes to attend while I’m studying to certify in both, training in PWR, and still teaching 9 classes a week plus working with 7-9 graders. Every day is a jigsaw puzzle, but I must LOVE the hustle because…

They say to give all the work to a busy person, so if we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that husband & I have decided to foster a dog! She’s 4, super cute, super sweet, and currently in recovery. We’re providing a nice space to her during her recovery period, and if all goes well, we hope to adopt her. We’ve been visiting shelters for awhile looking for the right pup to bring home, and were often discouraged at the lack of puppers who could be in the same room as a cat. Phoebe is our first furbaby and her happiness is important! When we found Cora (Coraline!), we were told she got an A+ on the cat test, and was a pretty chill pup. We’re all still adjusting, and have a long way to go with training, but her recovery comes first. She received her first treatment for heartworms, and will have two more in the next month. We’ve become so much more knowledgeable about the process, and I’m happy to chat if you’re looking to foster a dog who is heartworm positive. It’s really the best thing you can do, it would be awful to have to live in a shelter while recovering from treatment. We’re so excited about this next chapter!

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you about a topic that has been on my mind. I’ve chatted individually with a few clients about this, and I’m thinking about it a LOT as I’m studying for two new certifications: being a beginner. I have SO many people tell me that they are afraid to ‘look stupid’ in a group fitness class. I totally get it! I’ve been going (three sessions in) to a new-to-me studio where everyone else seems to know each other and they know the style of the instructor. While the class style is not new to me, the teacher is, and it’s a different instructor every time. Even as skilled and strong as I am, I am still a half beat behind everyone. And you know what? WHO CARES. I’m still getting the same workout, I’m still working hard and having fun.

Looking around in my classes, there are very few moments that we are all in sync. Everyone takes a slightly different variation on the moves. Group fitness classes are not like synchronized swimming! Everyone has a different reason for being there, different abilities, and a different mood/attitude each day. The point is to show up and be the BEST you can for that particular day.

I’m such a beginner right now — I’ve started a new-to-me training program called PWR (it’s in the BBG family), and the training methods are different for me. Kelsey (the creator) also loves the cable machines, and those are not something I typically use. But I’m doing it! Even if it takes me 5 minutes to adjust the cables for each move I try, ha! I’m also new to those Buti classes, and new to learning about methods for teaching in Buti and Barre. Can I share a secret? You will mess up. You might be a beat behind, you might not be able to do every single move in every single class. But…you will also discover new moves and abilities you didn’t know you had, because the instructor and the other students will help open your eyes to new ideas and movements. You will gain confidence when you show up and do the work. You will gain the feeling of accomplishment when you’ve completed the workout. There’s so much to gain from being a beginner.

It’s really such an incredible time, being a beginner. You have so much potential and room for growth, every single opportunity is a new experience. Truthfully, once you become so ‘advanced’ at something (which is an eye roll and another topic to explore), it’s easy to get bored or distracted, which is why it’s also important to mix it up. That’s one of the reasons I get so many different certifications! I want to be able to offer new ideas, new moves, new levels of instruction to my clients. I’m always learning and I want my clients to always learn–and I’ll share with you what I learn. How cool is that?!

If we were having coffee together today, I’d share this…

It might look like a ‘before’ and ‘after’ photo, but it is not! It’s a ‘before’ and ‘before’ photo. The left side was maybe a week into the BBG program in January 2017, and the right is week 2 of the PWR program. You always have something to gain from being a beginner. I’m really enjoying the process!

This ties into the lesson I’m doing with my 7-9 graders right now. We’re learning about training the brain, that it’s possible to learn a new task. I have them do an exercise where they write with their dominant hand, and then they switch to their non-dominant hand and try to write the same thing. This always gets giggles and wide eyes and “whatttts?!” because it’s not something they just do every day. We then dive into a discussion about trying new things, and I ask them to think of a time when they had to do something new and it caused frustration or hesitation. Then, we talk about something they are really good at doing, and I ask them to think back to when they weren’t so good at it…how did that feel? How did they get better at it? The point is that, again, we are all beginners at some time and it’s an important step in our development. It helps us move to the next step and helps us train our brains and bodies!

So, your turn! When was the last time you were new at something, and how did it feel? And/or, what is something that you’re AWESOME at now, but maybe weren’t so great at first, and how did you get better?