Hello beauties,
Today was an exciting day for me. The first day of our very first Six Week Shape Up at LunaFit.
I am so passionate about what I do and have been ridiculously excited to meet these new beautiful souls and be part of their journey towards holistic health, as well as share my own journey with them.
Following our first workout, a simple but strength building yoga-lates class, we enjoyed a well deserved green tea and sugar free treat in the LunaBar and got to know each other a little better.
After sharing with them my story and some health and fitness tips and tricks, it got me thinking about my journey and how far I have come, all the changes I have made physically and mentally and how much better I feel both inwardly and outwardly. I thought it might be nice to share my story with you too.
So first, I have always been an active soul. Living in the countryside I liked to dance everywhere, design obstacle courses, climb trees and pretty much play on any bit of scaffolding or rafters I could find (shhhh… don’t tell my Mum). Being active for me was just fun, it wasn’t about losing weight, or looking a certain way or burning off a donut, it was just about play. Moving my body because it felt good.
But somewhere along the way that changed. And I can’t really pinpoint exactly when but as I became a teenager, and then in my 20’s, exercise became a necessity, a chore, an obligation. Something I HAD to do to be thin enough, to look good enough, to be loved enough, to be good enough and to be happy. Somehow I had forgotten that I was already good enough and my happiness was never attached to my clothing label. I lost the real joy in being active and instead, going to the gym just became another commitment that I had to fit into my life.
And then, one day my family and I lost someone special to us and my priorities began to shift. How I saw the world shifted and my heart shifted, I lost all my sparkle. However, there can be beauty in pain, if you let there be, and, if you let it, it can help you find your compassion, your strength and may be even your calling. My pain led me to a Pole fitness gym (after a few dead ends and wrong turs first, apparently, like me, my pain has a fairy shoddy sense of direction) and it was here that my journey to balance, health and wellbeing began and where I began to find my own version of enlightenment.
I know what you are thinking, “you found your enlightenment learning to pole dance?!” That was pretty much a sharmans reaction when I told him too (it was actually pretty comical, he really couldn’t get his head around it”). But I did. Enlightenment doesn’t have to be found in a temple, meditating or travelling to far off places. Sometimes it can be found dancing in a converted warehouse with poles made out of scaffolding, a sprinkling of fairy lights and with a beautiful and supportive community.
And suddenly my 8 year old self was back and with her, she brought all my missing sparkle. And I was seriously sprinkling that stuff everywhere! Suddenly, I was moving, swirling, jumping, climbing, spinning and playing again, just for the thrill joy of it. And my gosh, it felt so good.
And I stopped worrying about my clothing size, or rushing to the gym at lunch time, or whether I should go for a run in the morning because I had eaten a pizza the night before. None of that mattered anymore because I was happy, having fun and I was part of a supportive and strong community. And do you know what, my body never looked or felt better. But what was more important was that I felt good. And when you feel good, you look good, because everything always starts on the inside.
I loved it so much that the studio became my second home and it wasn’t long before I started competing, teaching pole, training in yoga, pilates and other disciplines, learning more about how to better nourish my body, mind and soul with nutrition and meditation and eventually leading me to building my own dream health and wellness studio; My beautiful LunaFit… but that’s a story for another day 😉
For now, let me leave you with these final thoughts. Take the time to find out what makes your soul happy and then do it. Be compassionate with your body and love it for whatever shape it is, it does so much for us, the very least we can do is love it. Nourish yourself with good food and kind words. Listen to your soul, If you don’t like the fitness you are doing then change it, try something different. There are so many different ways to be active and it’s supposed to be fun! And if you really can’t figure it out, try asking your 8 year old self, and, may be, if you sit really quietly and listen really carefully, they might just give you the answer.
That’s all from me today but please remember, you are already beautiful, strong and inspiring souls and true beauty and health always begins within. So don’t forget to keep your inner light glowing bright.
The light in me, see and honours the light in you.
Lots of love,
Siobhan
xxx
