We all know the pressure as the summer approaches to be “teeny-tiny” and “beach-body ready.” To feel comfortable enough to wear you favorite bikini, summer mini dress, or short-shorts and look amazing for the summer.
I get it – and I support anyone’s quest to achieve the best version of themselves on any level. I ask, though – How many of us ever feel like we have truly “arrived?” That we REALLY feel good in our bathing suit or are fully ready to hit the summer streets confident and truly beautiful in our skin? Sadly, so many of us don’t get there. And it has nothing to do with our bodies.
My journey to become stronger
. I have been open about my own journey this past year to find my own path and embrace changes that were true to me. I pushed back more than ever to protect my needs in the business (and personal life incidentally), and it felt amazing. From a fitness perspective, protecting my physical needs was another lesson learned. I dove so deeply into our client training and events that I developed some new and uncharacteristic injuries. I realized very quickly that I needed to put my body and myself first to be the best trainer and (injury-free) instructor I could be. This was not natural for me since I had always had a stoic “show-must-go-on” mentality. But in truth, there wouldn’t be a show without a strong body!
I mention all of these things because the strengths I recently honed as a person, business owner, and athlete have inspired me look at the question of strength in our clients. How could we help people build themselves from the inside out? How could we help them take our workout to another level, find balance, and gain the inner and outer strength to take on the summer — all the while feeling GREAT in a bathing suit because they just felt great about themselves??
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Kathleen O’Neill photography
The challenge!
Challenges provide the best opportunities to focus on inner and outer strength. Challengers get to know each other, and they are encouraged to support each other’s progress the whole way through. Technical tips are shared so that everyone can perform better in class. And lots of partnerships with skincare, clothing, meditation, and bodywork companies help our challengers seek beauty, balance, and healthy choices along the way.
I want everyone in our challenges to see amazing results. And believe me, they do!! But more importantly, it’s about the realization that they can hold a plank or sustain a seat series much longer than they imagined. Or the friendships they develop with fellow challengers that last for many years. Or the skincare products that make them feel radiant, partly because they won them from taking the highest number of classes in the group that week!
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Kathleen O’Neill photography
So what do I mean by strong? I mean finding your groove, reaching new heights with your body, feeling capable and beautiful, and protecting your health and personal balance. And it’s my hope that a challenge like ours can help all of us go into the summer with the strength to reject the notion of the “perfect” summer body — to stand up for ourselves in more way than one, and shine from knowing that we are all capable of amazing things.
Want to sign up for the #StrongforSummer challenge? Go to www.bodyconceptions.com, go to our Mindbody scheduler, and select the “Events” tab!
https://bodyconceptions.com/wp-content/uploads/Jumping-in-the-park-Lolë.jpg960768bodyconceptionshttp://bodyconceptions.com/wp-content/uploads/bodyconception-logo.pngbodyconceptions2016-05-29 22:40:152016-05-29 22:41:04What does it mean to be strong?
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