Well, it's been exactly one month since the last time I posted, in the final days leading up to the opening of Barre & Soul Harvard Square. Those next days were a blur of dirty hands, takeout food, and little sleep, as we hustled to get the studio open. It would NOT have been possible without the generosity and hard work of some amazing people I'm lucky to have in my life, including my friends, kids, partner, the Barre & Soul staff, their parents (I'm not kidding) and more. THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this happen!

Fortunately, everything went perfectly and I also looked really good the whole time.

JUST KIDDING! At 1AM the night before we opened, I was leaning over a mop in the middle of the yoga studio LITERALLY SOBBING LIKE A CHILD.

We did manage to open, and the studio looks stunning. I especially love how it looks at night.

There's still a lot of decorating I want to do, like in the lobby (below), but the details are coming together.

Classes are in full swing, and I'm working on the finishing touches.

(How crazy is that magnetic conveyor belt that lowers your cart down to the parking lot at IKEA?)

Update: this piano still needs to happen. Anyone have a lead on a used one in or near Cambridge?

I've managed to sneak away for a few days here and there over the past month to visit my hometown of Ogunquit, Maine. I love it here. So so much.

I also got to stop into the beautiful Portsmouth studio, which is lovely and I don't visit enough. Its 1 year anniversary is TODAY!

Speaking of birthdays, Elise turned 9! She's been doing gymnastics camp, had a friend visit from out-of-town for a week, sprained her ankle, made lots of messes, (cleaned up a small percentage of them), has been keeping me busy, and is generally a very sweet and adorable child... We went shopping and found a few great back-to-school items I hope to share soon. Now she and Roman are both on vacation and Jason and I are without kids for the next week or so... I'm hoping we might make a little getaway, at least for a few days!

(A photo of my good side, obviously.)

Something I've really been wanting to share... I took a fantastic weekend yoga immersion with Goldie Graham the weekend after the Harvard Square studio opened. The topic was sequencing and hands-on assists, and if you're a yoga teacher, I would highly recommend it. Goldie has a very genuine, plain-spoken way about her and a true passion for yoga that really comes through and that I found inspiring.

On the one hand, signing up for a weekend of anything was probably a crazy idea at such a busy time, but then again it was probably the only thing that could have gotten me to slow down. On both Saturday and Sunday of that weekend, we practiced for about 90 minutes, which gave me the opportunity to hear what the wise little voice inside of me had to say.

First and foremost, I realized that I have worked hard, accomplished much, and need to chill the f*ck out and appreciate it!

I was also reminded of how important it is for a yoga teacher to maintain her own practice -- Goldie mentioned that she practices 5-6 days a week! -- and how little I've been doing that for myself.

I know, but had maybe forgotten, that I can do ANYTHING, but I can't do EVERYTHING.

Ironically, the workshop that I took to keep my teaching inspired, ended up inspiring me to cut back on teaching for a while.

I am choosing to take some time to do the things I am MOST excited about right now, the things that nourish me creatively and make me feel self-expressed. Right now, that's writing my blog and creating the most beautiful yoga and barre communities ever through Barre & Soul -- planning amazing programming and events, continuing to build and foster the dream team and to beautify our spaces.

I'm grateful that weekend gave me the pause to notice what I need and to get more of it! I'm happy to be back to the blog and grateful to you for reading!

Till next time!

Andrea

Note: The strategies I used during this little "bootcamp" do not accurately reflect my current habits. I'm learning all the time. I recommended reading more recent posts from the Body Love category to stay up to date!

Oh the DRAMA of this post title! Sorry, but I wanted to get your attention...

It has been about 6 weeks since I entered into this holiday recovery cycle, which I named Operation Beach Boot Camp, and by the time you're reading this, I'll be on the beach! I wanted to report back about my results, while sharing a few musings along the way.

The plan I set out to tackle (in addition to my teaching schedule) was:

Exercise:

Cardio 5 x week
Mind Body Class 2 x week
Pull-up training daily
Aerials once a week

Nutrition:

Commit to eating 3 meals a day plus a couple snacks
Drink lots of water
Have salad/dark green veggies every day
Limit grains to 1-2 servings per day
Eat lean protein every day
Eat so many vegetables I can hardly stand it

My intentions for this plan were to shed extra holiday weight, to re-establish good habits, to feel my best, and to increase my overall physical fitness and performance.

But as soon as I would mention my plan to others, I started getting strange looks. "Really??" friends would ask. "Why would you want to lose weight??"

I hadn't expected this reaction and it caused me to pause and reflect. Were my goals somehow unhealthy? Was I setting a bad example for my students/readers by sharing? Does my desire to make my fit body even fitter indicate some kind of dysfunction? I took time to consider this.

Being in this business, I am surrounded by people of elite fitness levels. This being the case, I would say I hold myself to a higher standard of physical fitness than I would if I worked, say, in an office somewhere.

The thing is, do we ask a marathon-runner WHY?? she would ever want to train her body for a 26.2 mile run? There is no real need for this skill, unless we find ourselves in some kind of zombie apocalypse where the only option is to flee on foot. But ask the runner, or any other athlete and they will tell you: There is satisfaction in taking on a physical challenge and completing it.

I never meant to achieve anything unhealthy, simply to maximize my own fitness level. There were plenty of times I deviated from the plan because it felt wiser to do so, including putting my feet up when I was out of energy or fighting off a cold.

Do I have healthy body image? Like most women in our culture, I would say probably not. I'm sure I spend way more energy than is necessary or practical thinking about how I look. Who knows how I could better serve this planet if I could just stop giving a shit about my hair, or how I will look in a bikini on vacation. But like most other mortals, I want to look good.

My intention for sharing my journey with you all was twofold:

1) I wanted to hold myself accountable for staying the course by putting my goals out there and

2) I wanted to offer support and encouragement to my readers and students as a fellow human, a real person who has to work at making healthy choices every day.

To those who looked at me sideways and made me question my motives: THANK YOU! I consider it a contribution and as a feminist, a teacher, a fitness professional, and a mother, I'm all for a little self-reflection to keep me in check.

When I chose to title this blog Fit Feminist, I deliberately put a name to the role in which I find myself daily. I hold myself responsible for encouraging and celebrating fitness and healthy living, while remaining conscious not to contribute to a cultural/media environment that has people (especially women) feeling awful about themselves based on how they look.

My hope is that the things I share on my blog help to inspire others and lift them up, not bring them down.

Coming in Part 2 of this post, I'll look at what worked well over the last 6 weeks and what helpful insights I gained that might benefit you on your own wellness journey.

Thanks for letting me get all that off my chest! More to come soon...

Living the Dream. Weeping into a Mop Bucket like Cinderella. Same Thing, Right?

Boot Camp Reflection 1: The Long, Hard Look in the Mirror