Technique Tuesday - Make Space

Do you have a designated area and set-up to move your body? Even if space is scarce you still want to create a visual reminder to make time for yourself. Creating routines are not only done by fitness watch alerts or calendar reminders to find movement, they are also achieved by making a home gym set up. Just think how easy it would be to skip that sculpt class if you had to find your mat, equipment, laptop and move furniture. Now reimagine that scenario if everything was ready in a comfortable spot created by you. Whether you have a spare room, basement area or even the corner of your bedroom you can make it work! I use a rolling craft cart to wrangle all of my equipment in one place:

Once you have created your zone, now you can focus on making the experience as enjoyable and high quality as possible. In order to see myself better filming, and also to interact with live clients better, I broadcast my phone to a television. This can be done wirelessly if you have a smart tv or apple to apple device. However, it could also be accomplished through HDMI cords from a laptop to television or with an adapter for phone to television. Creating a more immersed experience can lead to a better overall class and future effectiveness:

These ideas are not accessible to every person, of course, but hopefully it can inspire you to ‘create a space’ today. You deserve it and it will pay you back greatly… YES YOU CAN - Bee

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER:

This month’s theme is JOYFULNESS. Finding small moments of joy and peace no matter how different this season looks to you. The celebration of a new year is on the horizon, finish this year with positive remembrance and closure.

In The Kitchen: No Bake Oat Bites

Maybe you do not like eating before working out, but you know you need some fuel. Or, maybe you are always running late out the door in the morning and need a quick nibble. Perhaps I am projecting that onto you, because I am GUILTY on both accounts.

That is why I love making these easy, customizable and no bake oat bites. They store in the fridge for easy grab and go! The best part is you can almost always make them from what you have on hand, creating your own taste preference. Lets do this:

• 1/2 Cup Nut Butter

• 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup

• 2 Tbl Melted Coconut Oil

• 1 Cup Quick Oats

• 1 tsp. salt & real vanilla

• 1/2 Cup raisins

  (optional cacao nibs, cinnamon, flax seed)

Mix the wet ingredients together first, then fold in oats and your options to taste. It’s best to add the coconut oil in stages before and after the oats, depending on your nut butter choice you may need more or less oil to bind. Instead of rolling them in balls, I like to make a small flattened disc shape. They store better in the fridge this way and hold more shape and taste. Another great option is to use a nut butter that has chia and flax seeds already in it (hello trader joes). ENJOY! - Bee

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER:

This months theme is THANKFULNESS. May it find you during the quiet stretch of class or during a challenging hold of 8, be thankful for those moments and the body that moves for you.

Technique Tuesday - Back Extension

A strong back not only looks good, but serves to protect your whole body. Practicing back extension strengthens your posterior chain - erector spinae, glutes, hamstrings and traps. This will help protect your joints as you move and pivot in real time - especially during your workouts.

Move with your breath as you exhale and lower with control. Keep a neutral spine and insure your feet and head touch last. Think of contracting your back muscles instead of using brute force/momentum.

Stay strong - YES YOU CAN - Bee 

Technique Tuesday: Plank

Let’s talk plank this ‘technique tuesday’. We start many classes with it and it’s our transitional move in Cardio30. Something so integral that strengthens your posterior chain and carves the front of your body deserves some breakdown.

Shoulders should be stacked over the wrists, armpits rotated in toward each other and head to heel a nice flat line. Push yourself away from the earth, relax your neck and fight for higher heels instead of flexed feet.

If you need a break, try going to down dog and then come back to plank instead of dropping the knees and losing all the work and your form. The time spent coming out of it will get less and less as you get stronger and hold longer.

Technique Tuesday: Practicing Meditation

Around the same time the stay at home order started, I began taking a free online happiness course offered from YALE University. The course was broken down into lectures and readings with at home workshops designed to rewire your habits. I decided to create a facebook group for other people taking the course so we could discuss our progress together in real time. The group took off and currently has people from all over the globe! For many of us, a sense of community and emotional growth was just what the doctor ordered. If you are interested in joining sign up here:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being

Week five homework focused on meditating for ten minutes a day, in an effort to intentionally turn off distracting thoughts. If you are like me, you may have dabbled in meditating as part of your yoga practice. To insure I was really taking the task seriously, though, I wanted to find a purposeful meditative state. I began searching on Spotify to find guided meditation playlists, a way to learn how to lead my mind and create a new habit. Meditation is a personal practice and you may use it for entirely different reasons than me, from anxiety to energy or better sleep.

To get started I welcome you to check out my Spotify playlist of curated guided meditations:

I hope you find these tools as interesting as I did. If you enjoy them and progress forward, you might like the meditation flow playlist I created for your use during at home workouts or quiet meditations:

I would LOVE to hear how your meditation journey fares, so please get in touch and share. STAY SAFE AND STRONG! - Bee

#yesyoucan

In The Kitchen: Making Oat Milk

Necessity is the mother of invention, isn’t that what they say? I surely didn’t invent oat milk, but I definitely consider it a necessity. As this quarantine continues on and grocery shopping becomes an ever increasing feat of strength, I decided to make my own oat milk. I use this daily in my protein smoothies and overnight oats, so my supply kept dwindling. This recipe is super simple with just two ingredients and takes 45 seconds!

Oat Milk Recipe:

• 1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats (avoid steel cut as they will become slimy)

• 4 Cups Water (I used my absopure drinking water for a cleaner taste)

  Blend on HIGH for up to a minute.

Once blended you need to strain the pulp out, a crucial step for silky texture. If you have a cheesecloth it would work great. I have a thin bread making cloth that I tried, but it proved too thick and liquid would not go through enough. I opted for a flour sifting strainer, passing the milk through it several times (cleaning the strainer each step). Finally, I let it sit for a couple minutes to settle and slowly poured it into a glass container, making sure to leave the settled material behind.

You could add madagascar vanilla, cinnamon or honey if you want to sweeten it. I taste tested it next to my store bought and was very pleased! After today’s success maybe I am ready to try making my favorite cooking and coffee companion; Cashew Milk. Wait and see…

Bee

Technique Tuesday: Side Kneeling

A deep dive into perfecting your technique in Side Kneeling seat work. Let’s explore finding our best form as we go from side kneeling position into tabletop. We will also discuss how to level up by adding in a weight or ball. Hope everyone is staying safe and strong! Reach out if you have any feedback and check out the last blog post to learn about the YALE happiness course and discussion group I am leading over on facebook!

#YESYOUCAN - Bee

VIRTUAL CHECK-IN

Hello friends, how are you? No, really, how are you holding up? Entering week two of quarantine and I will admit I love having my hubby home with me, and all the attention my dogs are getting. However, I cannot pretend to not feel stressed about keeping myself inside while still trying to have food stocked for us and my body moving. As an independent contractor with nowhere to go I have taken a huge pay cut. I am streaming some classes with my studios and really amping up my Virtual Sculpt Membership on this website, but it is scary to wonder how long this can and will go on.

With that being said, I am trying to create a new normal and find an at home routine. From coffee to filming workouts and walking the pups to making dinner it’s starting to fall into place. Another opportunity during this quarantine is to take a free online course from YALE University about living a happier life. WOW, if that wasn’t just perfect timing to see this offering yesterday. I immediately signed up and invited others to do so, which led to me creating a facebook group to discuss the course as we all do it (virtually) together.

I now invite you to also sign up and follow along with us as we make the most of our situation inside. Sign up at the link below and search the YALE happiness course discussion group on Facebook. Just remember you are stronger than you think, we will get through this. #YESYOUCAN

In The Kitchen: Protein Seed Bites

I am obsessed with a version of these that a local coffee shop sometimes carries. After I take spin class on Fridays, I walk next store just hoping above everything else that they will be sitting by the register waiting for me. More often than not they are unavailable and my heart sinks. I finally decided to try and make my own version and therefore recreate that ‘first bite happy dance’ whenever I wish!

The title of this post is not listed as a recipe because I rarely use them. Working in more of a personal taste and ratio logic produces better results, in my opinion. Do not be afraid to play around with your ingredients and make mistakes, that is how we all learn and get better.

Ingredients (in order of processing/mixing):

• Mejdool Dates (pitted)

• Unsweetened coconut flakes

• Flax Seeds

• Cacao Nibs

• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

• Nut butter (I used Almond)

• Sesame Seeds for rolling

Some rules to follow would include using a food processor with dry ingredients first (dates, coconut, flax and cacao) and adding liquids last. Mix the cocoa powder into the nut butter to taste before adding to the dry ingredients, until desired paste consistency is achieved. The addition of a french or finishing salt will bring out all the flavors. Finally, chill mixture before rolling them out and onto the seeds. They will look and honestly taste like truffles!

As always, let me know what you think…

Bee

Technique Tuesday: Round Back Abwork

Discussing Round Back Abdominal work this Technique Tuesday! This position is usually taught on a mat, followed by resting your head into flat back work. However, you may find this form taught under the barre from time to time. Today we will focus on the mat work form, which is crucial since you are not able to use the wall or barre for stability. Abdominal work can very easily slip into your lower back and hip flexors if you lose your core engagement.

As the name implies, round back is a soft c-curve in your back with your navel deep to engage the core and protect the lower back. The best way to envision this is to round your sits bones up as you make contact with your sacrum (tailbone) onto the mat. It should feel as if the meaty part of your seat is taking away as the boney triangle shape of the sacrum supports you. In this position, your arms and legs are weights for the core as you move through the choreography. It is imperative to never work too low that you cannot keep your feet pasted down. Think of your feet down as an anchor for your spine, honor that importance by working up higher when you feel it weakening.

As you gain strength you could level up by releasing a leg, as in the picture, or both arms. Remember that the legs are an extension of your lower core, and therefore should not move when the upper body is twisting in oblique work. Checking in on your alignment is so important in ab work, consider that time on the mat your time to practice and perfect. With practice you are rewarded with not only a flat belly, but a strong spine and resistance to falls.

See you on the mat… #yesyoucan

Bee

Technique Tuesday: Fourth Position

Discussing fourth position this Technique Tuesday, which is much less intense than the ballet inspired move. The most important thing to note in any position is your posture and form. Fourth position calls for a staggered stance and turned out legs, because of this we are targeting the outer thighs (abductors) and the side seat (gluteus medius). Safely stacking the shoulders over the hips and knees over the ankles, to find your best posture.

One of the most common mistakes is to inadvertently fall into more of a curtsey or lunge. Look down and confirm your feet are staggered front to back about 12 inches apart and on their own hip width plane with knees turned out. If done correctly you should have weight evenly distributed in both feet and feel centered enough to let go of the barre. Curtsey lunge is much more dramatic and calls for the back leg to cross the midline and force the front thigh to take more weight. Classic lunge would have no turnout and be targeting more quad and hamstring work.

Eventually you will gain muscle memory and sink into all these positions effortlessly. But that only happens if you work on your form every chance you practice. Thinking about your posture and what muscles you are targeting, long before you worry about sinking deeper or working harder.

Go get it, #yesyoucan - Bee

Technique Tuesday: Ski Position

Finding proper alignment in ski position today. Maintaining the neck to knee cap line is crucial to keep the back and shoulders from taking the brunt of the work. Option to level up is shown at the end. Challenge yourself to keep your head low when you come in and out of ski…a BIG BURNER. #yesyoucan

Bee

In The Kitchen: Overnight Oats

Another Sunday, another time saving prep for success tip. Did you know oats that are soaked overnight in liquid instead of being cooked with heat are easier to digest and contain more RS (resistant starch)? This starch can make you feel fuller longer and also prevent insulin spikes in your body. Oats also contain more protein and healthy fat than most other grains.

All of this is great news, but the fact that you can make them the night before is a great time saver! They are also open to customization, make those oats yours by playing with ingredients and next day toppings. The recipe is quite simple; using equal parts of old fashioned oats to your choice of non-dairy milk. Playing with the ratios if you want them runnier or stickier, more liquid or oats respectively. My favorite addition is to use part of the liquid from cold brew coffee, big game changer in the morning!

• 1 part old fashioned oats

• 1 part oat milk

optional: cacao nibs, nut butter, madagascar vanilla, flax seeds, cinnamon, banana, dates, cold brew coffee, maple syrup… GET CREATIVE!

Glass containers designed for jelly or yogurt can be found with snap on lids on amazon. These have proven to be easy to clean, economical, reusable and photo worthy in your fridge. Overnight oats are designed to be eaten cold the next day, as heating them reduces the nutrient levels and digestive benefits.

Hopefully this has inspired you to try them for yourself, and if so please send me your thoughts or tag me on instagram.

This week is all you friends! #YESYOUCAN

Bee

Technique Tuesday: Flatback Chair

This position is exactly as it sounds, like sitting in an invisible chair. The challenge is using your thigh and seat muscles to maintain that hover without putting undue pressure on your shoulders or back. The most common misalignments stem from not being in 90-degree bends or stacking shoulders over hips and knees over ankles. Once you find this the arms should naturally become straight, pulling off like a plank so the quadricep muscles (thighs) can take over instead of the shoulders or elbows.

Chair position will burn more calories because it is a full body exercise, that is where your breathing and focus should come in. If you need a break or want to modify just work up higher without losing the stacked form and straight arms. Many times, clients will bend their arms to relieve the thigh burn but this can put undue stress on the shoulders and wrists. I find it better to work up higher with 3/4 bent legs and then come back down to knee height when you feel ready. Over time you will need less breaks and eventually stay in the position for the whole set.

Sitara is showing the perfect stacked form of shoulders over hips and knees over ankles with straight arms.

Never forget that barre is set up to fatigue your muscle group and then move on to another, so the shake is good! Are you catching on yet? Do you know what is coming next? That’s right; go get it because #YESYOUCAN

Bee

Technique Tuesday: Wide(r) 2nd

The wider version of Second position, or Goddess to the yogis, requires patience and practice. It is a position you should be warmed up for, coming later in your class or kept shallower if done during warm up. Just as time is important, form and posture are key to safely finding this wide plié.

You are working to keep your back flat as you bend the knees, shoulders over hips. Because of this, you will fight to keep the knees tracking inside your big toe. Your body will want to collapse forward like a squat, and in turn the knees will follow. This is where patience and practice come in. You should not expect to sink to knee height and raise your heels from the start.

My biggest advice in any position is to work higher without adding the ‘bells and whistles’ until you have mastered the basics and acquired muscle memory of good form. In wide position that would mean staying on flat feet and not lowering past the depth where the back is flat and knees are wide over the ankle. Over time you will find flexibility and strength enabling you to step wider and sink lower, perhaps adding releve’ (coming to the toes). When you lift the heels find more weight in the ball of the foot instead of the toenails feeling pressure, keeping your pinky toe down as well.

Celebrate the challenge by practicing and giving yourself something to look forward to (or photo ops), a goal is key to consistency.

Go get it, because #YESYOUCAN

BEE

Prep for success:

Maybe you have seen the deliverable smoothies, all prepared for you just to pop out of the freezer and get blended. Time saving, no fuss and no mess seems ideal right? Then you discover it amounts to a minimum of $240/month for this service and you could use that money for so many more time saving, or better yet, enjoyable self care things.

Unfortunately, after a couple weeks of the messy prep work and grocery shopping the time between smoothies gets greater and greater. That’s where I (hopefully) come in to inspire you. The above account is a non-fiction tale of my actual last 6 months, until I decided to PREP MYSELF FOR SUCCESS. In this case; make it easier to consistently create and enjoy more homemade smoothies.

Ball Jar Freezer Cups

Enter the Ball Mason Jar freezer cups. I use the 8oz and 10oz sizes, filled with my greens and fruit of choice. In the summer you could visit local farmer’s markets to stock up on fresh produce, but I love the convenience of frozen organic goods. Of course you still need to add your liquid of choice (oat or cashew milk for me), fresh banana or avocado, cacao nibs, flax seeds or maybe collagen protein.

A large bag of frozen spinach, two small bags of berries and a small bag of kale produced 12 servings for my freezer. If you add in the cost of your milk choice and extras, they are still coming in under $3.00 a smoothie! The cost is not the only incentive, but also the convenience of it being in your freezer ready to go. I know it may not seem like it would be such a big game changer, but it has been for me. One Sunday of prep work gives me two weeks of ‘at the ready’ smoothies, insuring I don’t skip meals or snack on awful empty filler food.

Give it a try and let me know if it helped you, too…

Bee

Setting your intentions

I don’t know about you, but my Sundays always include prepping for the week ahead. It’s the only day of the week I do not teach, so I try to fit in family time and self care. Sometimes this is as simple as preparing my smoothie packs for the freezer, walking the dogs with hubby and the inevitable load of laundry that is 99% leggings. Now, hopefully, I am sore from all of the workouts I completed during the week and finish Sunday with a nice deep soak in magnesium and essential oil.

Speaking of workouts brings me to the title of this post. Do you plan your workouts for the week like you do your meals? Scheduling the sessions for the week will greatly increase your chances of staying on track. As the week goes on and things pop up, as they always do, you will be more inclined to schedule other things AROUND your workouts and not the other way around.

After I started this practice of signing up my workouts for the week on Sundays, my meal planning and personal time actually became more consistent and of quality. Setting the intention to be organized and honor all aspects of my well being truly spilled over into other facets of my life, and I am forever grateful. Give it a try and let me know how you find this idea works in your life… #yesyoucan - Bee