A Confession!

Many of you know that last Fall I embarked upon a new adventure. I started teaching English Secondary V at Place Cartier.You may know this because I had to drop a few of my private classes from my weekly schedule, in order to meet the demands of this new position.

While I had a wonderful time at the centre and I loved working with all of the dedicated staff, I made the difficult decision not to accept another contract.  I had to admit that I found teaching both fitness and English too demanding at this particular point in my life. I had no idea how much work would be involved, nor how much of my personal time would be lost, to correcting and planning.

As I speak to you often about stress and how it can manifest negatively in our lives, you need to know that I I have first hand experience dealing with this subject. While trying to be the perfect English teacher and the best fitness instructor, I started having panic attacks when I had never experienced these before. I felt like I had no time to simply rest and worst of all, I started to feel sad much of the time. I knew that stress was building up inside of me and no matter how hard I tried to hide it, I could not keep up!

I knew that my balance was off and I needed to make some tough decisions.  I could not keep both jobs and do each as perfectly as I wanted.  I also was not willing to do one of the jobs half-****d.

I decided that though I loved working at Place Cartier, the time was not right for me to continue. I love teaching fitness and I am not ready to give this up just yet!

A few of you have asked me this week about my English teaching job, so I wanted to inform you a bit better.  The Directors at Cartier were sad that I was not returning. I was well received and told that I would be missed but that I could return anytime I wish.  I finished my contract with great success and simply chose not to accept another one.

I am very proud of myself for having ventured out of my comfort zone. I am also very proud that I recongized the signs of stress and dealt with it accordingly before I became very sick or burnt out!

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Beth

Keep A Steady Pace!

 

The gym was packed last week. Everyone arriving with good intentions and hopes that this will be the year that they make the change toward a more active lifestyle.

I am happy to say that I usually gain about two or three new students at this time of the year but sadly most of the new people who came last week, I will never see again.

Coming to the gym on a consistent basis is the key to success and yet so many people end up giving up after the first week.  So I often ask myself why this is and how I can help.

The most important thing that I have to remember is as a general rule, people do not like formal exercise classes because they cause some discomfort. You will feel your muscles the next day or a few days after exercise.  For some people, when they feel this way they tell themselves that they have caused damage to their bodies and they can never risk doing that again. As a result they tell themselves that the gym is not for them!

All I can say is it takes a week or two to get used to the discomfort that comes with muscle enhancement. You have to stick with the program.

Another thing that I must remember is how hard it is to be the new kid on the block.  When you walk into a room full of students who all seem to know each other and who know all of the moves that they teacher is demonstrating, it can be intimidating. If a student spends the entire class going the wrong way or being behind a few steps, this can cause them to feel that they are not good enough.  After all, if the class is filled with people from their age group or older, and they cannot keep up, well this must mean that fitness is not for them! If the teacher has not made a personal connection with this student and if no one else has made them feel welcome, they will probably never return.

I really hope that all of the new students I met last week return today and all week.

My wish is to spread the joy of exercise to all ages and levels of fitness students. 

What we have to remember however is that sticking with our commitments and attending the classes is key. Being steady and consistent wins the race. If you were a bit sore last week, speak to the teacher before giving up completely. We will give you hints and suggestions to make week two even better! 

Soon you will be laughing and enjoying the classes along with the rest of us and you will begin to reap the rewards of exercising regularly!

Have a wonderful day everyone.
Beth

Ageism Drives Me Crazy!!

 

 I am very happy to say that I currently have all different ages of people in my classes.  This gives me a wonderful perspective on the ageing process. I am able to warn young people of the problems they may face, if they do not start addressing important issues now concerning weight, flexibility and posture. I am also able to compare the fitness level of my students quite easily, as I have the luxury of training clients who are 19 up to 85+ years of age.

For example, I have some clients in their 40's who are not as fit as my 65 year old students. This can be a wake up call for some individuals.  Unfortunately, I also deal with a lot of ageism. People make judgements based on someones age, rather than on ability.

What shocks me the most, are those clients who refuse to attend some of my classes, because they are filled with people with white hair. They "do not want to be seen with old people." That is a direct quote.  In many cases, these particular students would rather pay more to be with a younger clientele, than with their peers.

I guess it is human nature not to want to get older. Perhaps because I grew up with older parents, I have always been comfortable with people who are much older than I am. I know the importance of judging people by what they say and do and not by their age. Maybe those clients who are not wanting to be seen around white haired people are running from something. Perhaps they are afraid to age. I on the other hand, see how regular exercise literally stops time. I have been training some of my students for the last 15 years, and their fitness level has barely changed at all, not to mention their appearance.  They seem frozen in time. Not many people can say this. My students look as young as they did when I first met them.

I am so motivated by my students. Whether they are young or old, I look at each person individually and see how they handle the challenges presented to them. Some people are battling serious illness. Some are dealing with crippling loss. Some are dealing with mobility issues. No matter what the struggle, we come together as a group to keep as fit as we can.

The above picture is of one of my students, while she was on vacation. She was 70 years old at the time and if I am not mistaken, she had already had a hip replaced. None of the younger people in the group were brave enough to try this stunt. 

I hope to feel that physically fit when I am that age.  Don't you?

Have a fabulous day.

 Beth

Je me souviens

Do you meditate?

Most people smile and admit that though they are interested in meditation, they have never tried. Some people claim that they could never sit still for any length of time.

I take a weekly course on meditation. I have been participating since the fall and I have to say that it has become the highlight of my week. We discuss our day briefly and then we are lead through a guided meditation that is incredibly effective in relieving stress. It is a wonderful way to wind down after a hard day because it changes our focus by putting an end to the "stories" that play out in our heads, about what we should have said or done during the day. Simply breathing and getting in tune with our physical selves, puts our mind at ease.

Yesterday I was killing time waiting for my course to start, by browsing some books on meditation at Chapter's.  I picked up a book by Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. I flipped through the pages and landed on a paragraph that described one of his visits to Montreal.  How amazing was that?  As he told the story he mentioned that he had noticed the motto printed on all of our license plates; 'je me souviens.'

He mentioned to the cab driver that this constant reminder to "remember" is the perfect way to work meditation practice into daily life.  Thich Nhat Hahn suggests that every time our eyes focus on this slogan, we should remember to "breathe and smile."

The whole idea is to walk through our lives being more mindful of every step. Be grateful for everything that is going well. Many of us have very serious challenges in our lives but no matter how deep our troubles appear to be, there is always some glimmer of hope to build upon. For example, being able to breathe with ease and being able to smile. We take these things for granted.

Be grateful today.

See you soon,
Beth

Extend A Hand!

We had a wonderful first day back at the gym.  The classes were packed, despite the freezing cold temperatures!  Bravo to everyone who braved the cold and stuck to their commitment to get fit.

We have a few newcomers to the gym this year. Yesterday, in one of my classes I watched a lady walk into my Stability Ball class with determination. I was busy helping another student so I was hoping that one of my regular students would introduce themselves.  I watched as she looked around, clearly lost as to what to do. She scanned the room while walking, looking for the equipment. She did a circle in the middle and then started to walk out.  I quickly finished what I was doing and started motioning to my students to speak to her as I have a bit of an injury presently and cannot walk especially fast. To my surprise, everyone was so absorbed in their discussions, that no one reached out to this poor woman, who was about to give up before she even began.

I did catch up to he,r as I managed to yell out "hello!" Remember that it is very hard to be new to the gym.

We are all very excited to be back with our friends and we have so many wonderful tales to tell about our time off.  I just ask that we look out for the newcomers and give them a smile and say "hello."  This is all it takes to make someone feel welcome and once that is done, then I can work my magic and make them stay!

My classes are very full and I do my best to get to everyone but when you see I am busy helping a student who is new to the gym, please take it upon yourself, as the experienced senior student, to welcome them and bring them to me for an introduction! You must remember what your first day felt like!  Smiles are free and so welcome!

Great first day!

See you soon,
Beth

Resolution Revamp!

Happy New Year to all of my dedicated students!

On our first day back to exercise, I know that many of you will be walking into class with new resolutions. Most will be about weight loss but some will be about taking better care of yourself and eating better etc.

I want you to know that though many people think resolutions are a waste of time and silly, I actually look at them quite differently.  I see those promises that you make to yourselves as seeds of hope. If you have hope that we can change something regarding your fitness level, than I know that I can help you along your way.

Often what happens is people come to the gym because someone else thinks that they need to lose weight. A partner, a doctor or a a friend has dragged you there.  In this case, it is harder to engage you on a deep level. It is all about vanity and though how we look is important to an extent, once this type of client sees how hard it is to lose the weight, they are the first ones never to return.

If however, you come up to me with a resolution that you have made for yourself, than I have a better chance of reaching you on a deeper level. You have already hit some sort of rock bottom. Perhaps disease is starting to affect your health. Maybe you have suffered a physical injury and know that you have to lose weight in order to keep doing the activities that you love.  In these cases, I have your full attention and that makes connecting with you and keeping you in class, and on target much easier.

So make those resolutions for yourself. Keep them realistic. Keep them attainable.

Perhaps you will strive to go to the gym everyday for at least a month and do whatever the trainer tells you to do.
Maybe you will commit to eating better and eliminating the junk food for one month.
Or maybe you will promise yourself that you will set time aside each day for meditation to relieve stress. Just 5 minutes a day will change you life!

Try to give yourself adequate time to achieve your goals. A week will not do it. Decide what you want to change and then promise yourself that you will give it sufficient time to see results. If you can commit to trying for a month, by that time your new habit will have become set. Aim for at least three weeks if you can. I tell my new group fitness students to give me at least three classes before they decide not to return. In that time, I do my best to reach them emotionally and physically. Those that commit to this and more, stay forever and achieve their goals within the month.

Have a wonderful day today and remember to be kind to yourself when making those resolutions. You did not get into your current state in a day, so don't expect the situation to change overnight.

Let's do this!
Beth