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

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.

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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

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

This week, I've been sharing the above quote with my yoga and barre classes.

This quote comes from Steven Pressfield in The War of Art, a book that inspired me to start my business, Barre & Soul®.  I'm sharing it with you all this week in the hopes that it inspires you too.

When I decided to start Barre & Soul®, I did feel fear.  I am grateful someone asked me this question:

Which is worse: the fear of doing it, or the fear of not doing it?

Immediately, I knew.  It was on.

This has served me well each time I get ready to take a new risk.  When I laid eyes on the space for the new studio in Harvard Square (which is currently under construction,) I was overwhelmed by the fear of NOT creating a studio there, which is how I knew it had to be done.

andrea construction selfie

Even though construction is stressful (is 'predictably unpredictable' an oxymoron? Because it describes life pretty perfectly at the moment...) and I have no way of knowing yet whether this studio will be a success, or whether it'll just turn out to be the most expensive mistake of my life, I couldn't NOT find out.

After all, what's the worst that could happen?  (Answer: zombie apocalypse, obviously. And totally unrelated to the success or failure of my business.)

Ask yourself which is greater: the fear of doing it or the fear of not doing it.

Here's to feeling the fear, and doing it anyway.

Love, Andrea

They Called Her 'Ugly.' We Can All Learn Something From Her Response.

When this 'before' and 'after' photo of Stephanie Lange showed up in my Instagram feed, I remember thinking, "How cool is that -- a REAL-looking 'before' photo!"

I loved it immediately, and was not the least bit surprised.  It seemed consistent with this makeup artist's friendly, open, and down-to-earth persona.

I had begun following her after stumbling across her YouTube channel, which is full of great makeup tutorials.  I loved the content of her videos, but what made them really great was her personality; she seemed to have a vulnerable, unguarded way of being.

Unfortunately, sometimes people just act like total A-Holes.

As it turns out, this photo was met with quite a few abusive comments on Instagram.  It seems that having the veil pulled back on the carefully constructed images of beauty we are so used to seeing was threatening for many viewers, who bombarded her with nasty comments in reference to her 'before' image.

Shortly afterward, she posted the following message on her YouTube Channel, along with a video response:

I wanted to address this notion that people are 'ugly' without their makeup. As i said in the video, i get a lot of comments on photos that i post on my Instagram (@stephanielangemakeup) such as:

'This is Why Men Have Trust Issues' 'This is Why You Should Always Take a Girl To The Beach on a First Date' 'OMFG!!!' 'EEEWWWW!!!' 'She's So Ugly Without Makeup!!'

.... and that i basically paint a new face on and 'trick' people into thinking i'm pretty - when i'm not.

This frustrates me, as I don't want anyone to feel ashamed or embarrassed of their bare, makeup-free face. It's comments like these that make girls AND boys who wear makeup, feel ugly when they're not wearing it.

-Stephanie Lange

Here's what I love about her video:

• She stands her ground not just on her own behalf, but on behalf of people everywhere who'd rather not be shamed for SIMPLY SHOWING THEIR FACE. Standing up for yourself and others takes Boldness.
• She stays positive, never stooping to their level or being nasty in return.  Taking the high road takes Integrity.
• She ACTUALLY TRIES TO EDUCATE PEOPLE about why their comments were harmful. Teaching someone instead of telling them to f*ck off takes Compassion.

Boldness, Integrity, Compassion...  In my opinion, this may just be the formula for sustainable feminism -- a strong, assertive, kind approach that is inclusive rather than alienating, even when others' behavior is SO damn frustrating.  It is important to remember that even when people ACT horrible, it doesn't mean they ARE horrible.  Let's not give up on changing the world!  Just my two cents.

You can watch the full "rant" post below, and I HIGHLY recommend watching it because SHE IS AMAZING.

No, I will not edit my 'before' photo like I know a lot of other people do, because I don't care about making an illusion of what I do or don't look like without makeup -- that's just my face.

-Stephanie Lange

Question!  Are you comfortable being photographed without makeup?

I must admit, I'm not!  Since I don't like to be scared of anything, here's a photo of me having a fantastic breakout.  Hey, that's just my face.