Differently
Simple, yet powerful ideas for building a life, differently. Hosted by Carla Reeves, creator of The Differently Coaching Experience, this podcast offers thought-provoking conversations and practical insights for anyone looking to get out of survival mode and build a life that is truly your own. From the highs and lows of love and relationships, to the challenges and opportunities of work and career, Differently will challenge you to to rethink what’s possible.
Differently
Revitalizing Your Routine Through Mindful Movement with Beth Sandlin
Ever wondered why some days, no matter how much coffee you guzzle, your motivation has packed it’s bags and left - nowhere to be found. I don’t know about you, but I used to fight through this to keep going, doing and working - because how else is everything going to get done.
Friend, there is a different way to approaching these days and it has nothing to do with forcing and controlling - and everything to do with tuning in and working with your body to maximize your energy and time so that you can show up for all the things that matter to you.
Beth Sandlin joins us again today. She is committed to inspiring people to take Aligned Action toward their wellness goals, Specializing in dynamic at-home Pilates workouts, her approach blends mindfulness and energy level to nurture your nervous system.
She models from true experience what it means to move your way through life’s obstacles in a healthy, mindful way.
In this episode, you will learn...
- Learn how to better understand and work with and through these energy dips
- How to listen to the body’s subtle cues and how they are a golden ticket to a more aligned energetic days.
- How changing up your routine can bring new life to the daily grind
- To imagine a world where workouts are no longer a chore but a conversation with they body and MORE!
This heart-to-heart is not just about fitness; it's an invitation to a dance with life's rhythms, where pausing can be as powerful as pushing forward.
Learn more about Beth:
Website: https://www.trifectapilates.com
Try her Free Program: https://www.trifectapilates.com/move
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/trifectapilates
Connect on IG: https://www.instagram.com/trifectapilates
Learn more about Carla: https:/www.carlareeves.com/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevescarla/
Explore Coaching with Carla: https://bookme.name/carlareeves/lite/explore-coaching
Learn more about Carla:
Website: https:/www.carlareeves.com/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevescarla/
Connect on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@differentlythepodcast
Go to https://www.carlareeves.com/getunstuck.com to download Carla's on demand journaling workshop + exercise to help you stop spinning and start moving forward.
Explore Coaching with Carla: https://bookme.name/carlareeves/lite/explore-coaching
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Thank you for listening!
Hi Beth, Welcome back to Differently.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much. I'm so excited to be here again.
Speaker 1:I'm excited you're back too. I loved our first conversation and today we're talking about tuning in and the secret language of low motivation. So when you sent that idea for a topic, I instantly loved it. But I would love for you to give our listeners kind of a peek behind this, the scenes of where that came from for you.
Speaker 2:So it was actually sitting where I am right now I'm having this conversation that I realized what I termed low motivation, of not wanting to go down into my basement and work out that day wasn't actually the truth, and it was. I had on my plan I was going to do a very challenging spin class followed by a short and vigorous Pilates workout, and I just said to myself I don't feel motivated, I don't feel like doing this. And when I took a moment to be in the pause rather than just keep going and going, what I realized is I just simply needed to do something differently. My mind was interpreting the signals for my body as I just lack motivation and kind of those myths with fitness of just keep going, keep pushing and you'll be fine. You know, keep doing what worked well for you in the past, or follow someone else's workout calendar.
Speaker 2:And once I reframed it of oh, I'm simply in a different energetic state today than I had anticipated. I was able to listen to the signals in my body and adjust my workouts, and this can be applied to working out. It can be applied to meeting deadlines. So often when we think about, we just don't have the same motivation or drive that we used to. It's because we're trying to make pivots or adjustments so that really we really can listen to our energy and what our body is telling us.
Speaker 1:That makes so much sense. And I know from the people I work with in my own life like we are, have so much energy and want to do so much in this lifetime. Right, and our world is moving so fast and we tend to be spread so thin and have so many things on our plate. And you're right like our thoughts can bully us around and make us believe certain things, but often it's not in alignment with what we really want. And so what I hear you saying is, in the work I do with clients, I'm often helping them really get clear about what their commitments are, so that they can let their commitments drive their actions more of the time instead of their thoughts and feelings. But what I love about what you're saying is this is like another layer of sort of our GPS system that we can navigate our life with is our body right and listening to our bodies so that we can, I guess, optimize our energy to do the things that we're committed and here to do 100%, 100%.
Speaker 2:And what's really interesting is we have been, basically since we were a child, conditioned to not tune into that. We even had to ask permission to go to the bathroom and sometimes our teachers would say, no, you can't go right now. So it's basically ignore the signals your body is sending you because we want you to focus on something else. And we have this with our structured times when we eat. If we work full time, you know, for some people it's a little bit more flexible, for others, because of the nature of the job, it's has to be a little bit more structured, and so sometimes tuning into that can be challenging. Yet once we understand the value of that, that's when we get to what is going to be really optimal for us, as you mentioned. So a really simple check-in is when do we have more energy, when do we have a little bit less? For most of us, we are either in the early bird camp or a night owl.
Speaker 2:I am a night owl, so for years the message has been you know, workout first thing in the morning, because that's when your sympathetic nervous system is like hi, you have more energy. And I tried that and for a long time I felt really guilty that I just could not stay dedicated to waking up earlier than I absolutely had to to work out. And what I realized is, you know, my natural energy is a little bit later in the day because I identify more as a night owl, and so I'm not going to try to force myself to work out first thing in the morning. Do I do that? Sometimes? Yes, but I'm starting to shift towards really working in alignment with what works for me. Now, for instance, my husband he is an early bird through and through and he likes that morning workout, and if he works out when I usually do, it is he feels like he's struggling. He'll term it like low motivation sometimes, because his energy is just in a different spot.
Speaker 2:And so not only does our energy fluctuate throughout the day, but, as you were saying that constant go and grind, our energy canuate throughout the day. But, as you were saying that constant go and grind, our energy can be depleted the longer that we just keep going and going. And so, if we take a moment to pause, what's actually going to be helpful for us? Is it taking more time to rest? Is it, yes, doing a workout, but maybe it's not going to be as vigorous, a little bit shorter and lower intensity, because we know consistent workouts can definitely give us energy. Or is it going to be something a little bit more vigorous?
Speaker 2:And I tend to save those more vigorous workouts during days when I naturally have more energy. So for me it's Monday, because I typically have the weekend to rest. It's also times of the year where, like right now, we just are in spring and I know that I tend to have more energy in springtime. The days are getting longer where I live, so, just naturally, my workouts tend to ramp up a little bit, and making adjustments with our routines based upon the season and also the season of life we're in is a really great way in which we can start adding more adaptability into them.
Speaker 1:So I know that when working with people, a lot of times they're you know it's like we think everyone else knows better, right, and so we try to do what everybody else is doing or doing what's trending, or whether that be a workout or how we do it, and I think people get so frustrated by that and defeated by that because they think it has to look a certain way. And what you're talking about is learning to listen and trust our own energy to define our workouts, which also like learning to listen to our own energy and rhythms to create our day or our working patterns. Right, like you can apply it all over. But for somebody who might be listening, who doesn't have a clue what that means because I know for me, like I was so disconnected from my body for so many years I was never taught to even listen to my body or listen that it even had messages or information for navigating my life. So how would you guide someone to just who's at the very beginning of learning to even just tune in there?
Speaker 2:Sometimes I think it's helpful to tune in to other people because many times it's easier for us to see how other people are responding and reacting to their circumstances. And what I realized over the years is that for people who I know well, I know the moment they walk in the door, if they're having a good day or a bad day, like there's an energetic shift that we are picking up on and we may ask them like are you doing okay? Do you need a little bit of help? Start turning that inward of when is our energy shifting? And sometimes it's from someone asking us the question are we okay?
Speaker 2:And if we're in that grind of have to keep going, going, we may not feel like we want to take the time to acknowledge that and really understand. But when we take the time to pause and notice, are we carrying tension in our shoulders or in our jaw? So, for instance, for me I carry a lot of tension in my jaw and my younger daughter saw this once that as I was getting a little bit angry with their circumstance, like my jaw was starting to tense, and she recognized it before I did, but her acknowledging that for me. Now I tune in more to my jaw tension. I've worked with clients where they carry more tension in their shoulders and they didn't even realize that because it's they're a normal. It's kind of their set point.
Speaker 2:So sometimes what we can do to have, if we have a hard time understanding how our body, the tension in it, is just simply tapping. It can be a gentle tap on the jaw, on the shoulders, all the way through the arms to the fingers. You can do gentle full body taps and it helps us understand the areas of the body that maybe have either bigger muscles, yes, different muscular tone, but the tension is going to change. What we can also feel is like where are we feeling sensations? So if we're feeling sensations as we are getting angry sometimes that is like heat in the body we start to feel it radiate or we feel constriction, if we're sad, start noticing how that is manifesting in the body.
Speaker 2:And what's challenging sometimes is we think we have to change something. We don't always need to change something. Sometimes we need to just let that slowly complete. And having the awareness can give us a better understanding of how we're responding and I will acknowledge this can take time. Some people can go into it and they're more in tune with it and for others of us it's going to take longer to unfold and I just encourage people to allow that journey to unfold naturally and just doing that pause and check in like what's going on, if I think I'm frustrated, if I think I'm angry in that situation or at that person, if I think I have low motivation is there an underlying feeling behind it and not just a thought behind it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think when we feel that as high achievers, when we feel that low motivation, we want to make it wrong. We want it like. I know for myself, it's like I don't want to not feel motivated. Right, I want to feel motivated, I want to feel energized, I want to feel energetic, I want to feel productive, and so there can be like a resistance to even feeling that. And what you're saying is like we don't have to judge it, we can just notice it. We can. I know the the quicker I can acknowledge if I'm tired or like I need a nap or I just need to step away from being productive and go for a walk, the sooner I can acknowledge it and respond to it, the more quickly my motivation or productivity returns productivity returns?
Speaker 2:Yes, and I think another element that may be helpful is starting to identify how we are. Are we high achiever? For me, if you, if people follow human design, I'm a manifesting generator and what I've realized is that I have very high like I'm doing everything, I like spinning the plate and like juggling, and it just is all coming together. And then there comes a point where I realize I cannot sustain that for long term. I need to wind that down a little bit, and this is specifically related to work and my volunteering activities, and these states influence then how I work out as well. But sometimes, when I'm working in these high energy states, I can't do as long of workouts. My workouts aren't going to be as challenging. They need to counterbalance the energy and effort I'm putting for other places and for a long time.
Speaker 2:You know I resonated with being a perfectionist. It has to be perfect and it has to be so consistent, and what I realized is there's a difference between consistency and every regard of life. And constant, you know, consistency is we're going to continue doing different activities, but in slightly different ways, and we can even take this to what we're eating. We are not eating the same foods. Most of us are anyways, day in and day out has ebbs and flows that influenced by what we're in the mood for, what we feel like, what we want to try that's new, maybe seasonally as well, if we're wanting to implement some new recipes.
Speaker 2:And once I kind of tuned in to for my human design that helped in work, it helped with workouts, and so there's other elements that we can focus on that can be really helpful.
Speaker 2:And what I realized is human design was reinforcing, like all these more official, like work place tests I had taken throughout the years since I worked at the university. We did a lot of different evaluations of like how do you resonate when you're stressed? How do you respond with getting items done? I am very task oriented sometimes, and so if I'm in the middle of a task and grinding and someone comes in, what I had to realize, especially as a supervisor, was I needed to slow down and take time and acknowledge what someone individually was going through, because I can sometimes put that off to the side and just think keep on going with the task, keep on going. And what I realized is when I tune in instead to not only my rhythms but the environment that I'm in and the people I'm around. It was so much more positive, even though that was not my natural inclination positive, even though that was not my natural inclination.
Speaker 1:So I used to have a pattern of just go, go, go crash, you know, and what I had to learn was to learn to take better care of myself along the way so that I could prevent that crash. And that's kind of what I hear you talking about, and I think that you do such a beautiful job of in the workout realm of giving people these kind of wide ranges of workouts, so it doesn't have to look like the same thing every time that you. I feel like you merge this, what you're talking about, with the workouts that have designed schedules according to that. So I'd love for you to share a little bit about the way that you do that and your philosophy behind it.
Speaker 2:It's similar if people are familiar with intuitive eating.
Speaker 2:What I've realized is how I'm teaching with movement is very similar, then, to the eating doesn't mean we're just going to necessarily eat like anything we want. We have an understanding of the nutrients that are going to be really beneficial for us and there's no shame when we deviate from the quote, unquote perfect way of eating. So when we eat chips, when we have a dessert that we enjoy, that we're doing so intentionally and what I realized with focusing on that pleasure is with eating, and then I'll get to the workout piece. With eating is I actually started eating less desserts, and one of the reasons why is because I was enjoying them more and it it seems counterintuitive, but when I was really in the moment and the experience of this is amazing, wonderful, many times only a few bites and it satisfies me rather than just kind of eating in between or like thinking I'm going to have this whole cake. It was a. It's such a different shift in perspective and it's very similar to workouts that when we understand for a well-rounded workout program and it's not just very challenging strengthening workouts or cardiovascular there's different elements that sometimes the slower workouts, which I term at trifecta Pilates as restorative, are really essential and beneficial and neglected and overlooked in a workout program sometimes. So for those people who maybe lean more into wanting that physical conditioning perspective, that's a way that we can start exploring and experimenting. Then we can layer on. Once we're comfortable with okay workouts, we want them to work on mobility and stretching all the way up to something a little bit more vigorous. Then we layer on that nervous system S element, tuning in to what our body is saying it needs.
Speaker 2:Because here's the truth about both eating, sleep, workouts any healthy habit, if we want to call it that. It's only going to be beneficial if we continue doing this and it's day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. And this can either be incredibly demotivating or it can be motivating and it's demotivating when we think back to where we began. It has to be the same thing over and over again because we will get bored. We won't feel like we want to do that, but when we take the pressure off, we have years to experiment with this and we know that for that well-rounded workout program we want some elements of strength and some elements of cardio and others of stretch that we can adjust our dial of intensity based upon what works for us today and what we do today is going to help us be more motivated. So see that we are giving ourselves a narrative.
Speaker 2:I lack the motivation to work out today. If we shift that to what is my body actually telling me? Okay, maybe it's. I need a rest day. Remember with workouts that rest days are just as valid and valuable as workouts. They're an essential part of a well-rounded workout program, or it could be. I just need to shift that intensity as a shared prior.
Speaker 2:And what I've noticed is, for a lot of people who I work with, when they shift the intensity, then they feel better afterwards. They're more motivated to step back on the Pilates mat or do another workout the next day, and they start being more consistent because not only are they focusing on, you know, different workouts a strength workout compared to a stretching workout but they're tuning into what they need and I'm going to add one more layer is that sometimes it's not that full length Pilates class or full length run. Whatever activity you do, it could very well be something very short, and what happens sometimes is, with those short workouts, a lot of people realize they get started and then they want to go a little bit further, because sometimes it works with the body that when we start moving we start to feel better, and when we feel better sometimes that turns into motivation to do something a little bit more if we have the time.
Speaker 1:So true, we talked about this last time. I love short workouts but I just had a client a couple weeks ago do exactly what you just said. Like she said, you know she had we been through kind of the declaring her commitments and she had a commitment around her body and exercise and feeling good and she that particular day she didn't feel really motivated to go for her run, but she honored her commitment and decided to go on a little shorter run but when she got to that turnoff she felt pretty good and decided to go all the way you know and she like journaled about that a couple times that she was able to do that and I think that's just what you're talking about. Is it's? It's, I mean, I feel like it's this gentle way with ourselves, right, we can be so like almost want to force ourselves into things and I think, tuning into our bodies and listening and honoring that and trusting our body to know what it needs, I mean just asking the question, like you said, like what does my body need today or in this moment?
Speaker 2:Exactly, and I love that example from your client because so many people experience that. And I love that example from your client because so many people experience that and sometimes that is our motivation. To just get workout has to be hard and maybe they haven't experienced that yet where they actually feel better after a workout. Because the workouts that sometimes we've traditionally been shown are really beneficial for us from a physical perspective aren't honoring where our energetic state is, where our nervous system is, so it's adding that extra, I would say, awareness that can be so very valuable. And if anyone's concerned about this, I'll share a personal example for myself that I gave myself. I didn't even define it at the beginning, I just knew that I needed to take a break from workouts. I had been working full-time starting the business of trifecta Pilates, and it was during the pandemic as well, and I kept going and going and at the time that's what I needed to do and I felt fine.
Speaker 2:It was after I quit my full-time job to step fully into the business of trifecta Pilates, covid, the pandemic is somewhat over, things are back to more of a normal rhythm of life and my body, you would think, would be like okay, I can keep going with workouts.
Speaker 2:But it was the opposite where all of a sudden I needed to do something way different. And I'm talking I did like 20 minute walks, gentle bike rides, with my Pilates classes. It was all restorative or very slow, connect style classes, it was nothing really vigorous, and I did that for over a month and I was completely confident in doing that for an extended period of time because I knew that it had different elements of physical conditioning and that I would eventually be ready to go back in and lean back into the more challenging workouts. But I took the pressure off you know you only have one week to do this, you can only do this for two weeks and just allowed myself time to really honor that. And I learned so much about how my body moves. I, when I came back to Pilates and my more vigorous workouts, I was able to push further, because rest is just as valuable as a consistently working out.
Speaker 1:So what are? I think what you said right now rest is equally valuable. What are the mindset barriers around that that you see? Because I know I bumped up against my own and my clients do all the time. What do you see? Bump up against people, just that it's like those receiving states relaxing, rejuvenating, reenergizing, restorative receiving states relaxing, rejuvenating, re-energizing, restorative.
Speaker 2:One of the elements, I believe, is that there are so many options which can either be overwhelming or it can be motivating into. That gives us more options to find what works for us. Because, as an example, I am not a fan of TRX. My husband has it down in the basement. I've tried it elsewhere. I'm just like I don't really I don't like it. It's not motivating to me.
Speaker 2:But when we maybe see one type of workout emphasized, it can feel like, oh, we have to do that. But then we see something else. Oh, but that is really good for us. For instance, right now it's like strength training is really good for our bodies. We're told this, especially if you're over the age of 40, like, focus on strong workouts to work on strength, don't worry about cardio. But then we're told the message oh, actually, cardiovascular health is really important, and now the new rising star is mobility.
Speaker 2:So I think one of the challenges is it seems like there's all these different elements to physical fitness. So it's we have one and it's like how we want to layer on, but when do we need to just scale back a little bit? When does it make sense to take that rest, and so this is actually one of the benefits that I really like about Pilates is because we can focus more on strength. If that'sates is because we can focus more on strength, if that's your goal, we can focus more on complementing your strength training workouts. If you like traditional gym workouts, we can have more of a blended approach, and this can ebb and flow. So, as an example, sometimes I'll have weeks where I focus more on like I prioritize one. That's a suggestion. What are you going to prioritize? Maybe you want to prioritize strength on that day and your side note is going to be stretching afterwards. Or you're going to prioritize cardio and your side note is going to be a Pilates class. That's really a little bit more soothing and winding from that cardio.
Speaker 2:So it's this combination that there's so many options, and for some people it can feel overwhelming, but what I do is just try one. You enjoy it. Amazing. Add that to your favorite. Come back to it again. You try one and you don't enjoy it. That's also amazing, because now you know what you're not going to focus on next week or next time you work out and maybe another parallel could be back to a food example is there are so many options that we can have for food. We can eat at home, we can go out to eat, we can have it delivered, we can have Italian, we can have Mexican and the long list goes on. But for most people when it comes to food, they don't get overwhelmed by the options. They kind of focus in on what they enjoy and I'm always going to encourage people to keep exploring like try that new restaurant, try that new workout, see how it goes.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say, like, trust those things you're drawn to or that you've always wanted to do, whether it be, you know, belly dancing, or you know, like, trust those things that you're drawn to and want to try, because I think our following, our joy, can lead to some really great places.
Speaker 2:I agree and I'll share that. Just this year I started a tap class again for the very first time since I was 10 years old and my family was like why are you doing tap? Well, one the time worked out because the other day for ballet was busy. So I was like I'm going to try tap class again. Brand new in the class, definitely not at the level of everyone else, wasn't great that first time because a little rusty around the edges there. But continuing going back, I got better and now I've been at it for a few months and that's an unconventional way of workouts and that's another element that I think is really helpful to identify.
Speaker 2:It doesn't always have to be a very structured workout and especially as we're getting into summer months or if you're listening to this later and you enjoy winter activities, I realized when we were going on hikes as a family I would often hear other people say I just need to get back to my workout routine. They're literally on a hike. That is so amazing for the body because it's longer in duration, it's, you know, working balance in a different way. They probably have a backpack on, so that's a little extra weight that is working out. It doesn't always need to be on the Pilates mat or in the gym.
Speaker 2:There's all these other opportunities, and this is a question I got from someone who's part of the membership is how do I detach from my watch? So she has a fitness watch that tracks her activities and what happens is, if we only focus on that as a measure of success, then we can start detaching from taking a break. Or you know what I'm going to rather than count my number of steps, I'm going to do a cycling class instead or do Pilates as a different option. Right now, a class that I'm teaching a a Pilates class. The organization I'm working for is in the middle of a walking challenge and what they've done, which I really appreciate, is okay.
Speaker 2:When you attend your Pilates class, that counts for X amount of steps, and sometimes people will ignore everything else and not think well, you know, actually Pilates would be a really great compliment to the focus of walking, and then this way, they're showcasing how workouts can be that. That place, uh filler for a different type of workout that maybe we're used to doing. So I love that. Just variety with. Let's add a little bit more variety into our workouts and detach from always having to like beat our best.
Speaker 1:I love that. I, the mind, can so get in the way. When you were talking about that, I was reminded of, like I in my mind, I have this idea that I'm going to show up and write a certain way, like inside of my business, like I want to write every day and it needs to look exactly like this, like that's what my mind tells me. And I was talking to someone one day and kind of talking about this and she's like, yeah, but you're writing like why does it have to look like that? Like we she started pointing to all the places I am writing, right, and and it was just I'm locked into this idea. It has to look a certain way. And so I was missing what I was actually doing. And I think that's what you were talking about.
Speaker 1:And also this idea of variety, I think removing resistance, like adding ease. You know we just recently moved and we have all this space to walk now, so I'm doing so much more walking because it's easy, it's here, it's really easy to walk out the door and just go for a 10, 15 minute walk. I put weights in my office. I have weights downstairs, so sometimes if I start feet, my body starts telling me. I've been sitting too long. I can feel it in my legs, I can feel it in my back. I'll just turn on a song and grab my weights and use my weights for a few minutes, and so I love what you're saying about rethinking how this has to look and we get to design it. We can be creative and it can change. It needs to change, I believe, with the different seasons of our life.
Speaker 2:It really does and what's also maybe leaning into a little bit more research perspective and we'll get it to the motivating part is if someone just focuses on their hour workout and the rest of his day they're sedentary. That's not actually really positive for our body. Exactly what you're doing infusing movement and little spurts throughout the day when your body is needing something else besides just sitting or standing at our desk or doing something very repetitive is very valuable to infuse into our days. Now I work out of the home right now and this is something I've been thinking about recently that my university job whenever I had a meeting, I before COVID right it was I had to walk to that meeting, or whether it was in my office or someone else's office, I walked and then I walked back from that meeting. That naturally that environment, I was able to incorporate more movement into the day.
Speaker 2:And I've been thinking for myself now and if you work from home or do something very repetitive, how can we then infuse that a little bit more frequently into our day? And if you work from home or do something very repetitive, how can we then infuse that a little bit more frequently into our day? And it could be walking, could be like you're doing, putting on music and weights or doing some gentle desk stretches. To add a little bit more variety into our day is so amazing and valuable. This is one of the reasons why, just this month, I released a new five minute mix program within the trifecta Pilates membership and app, because people were asking me questions. Well, it's okay If I just do like some extra stretches here or there, and 100%, if you are comfortable moving on your own, do that. What I also wanted to offer people is something maybe a little bit more structured just five minutes and there's three different tracks a strength track, a stretch track and a mobility track so that they can choose what's going to be best. So for you, it sounds like strength is really helpful, but for someone else, maybe they just want to unwind a little bit, so they want to stretch it out.
Speaker 2:And what I have noticed is people have been getting so creative with these particular classes, either keeping it at the five minutes or they're creating their own classes, in essence, where they're stacking these little five minute sessions on top of one another. And someone messaged me today she goes. Five minute sessions on top of one another. And someone messaged me today she goes. I love it Cause it's kind of like I can build my own class really based upon what I need, and it's been so amazing seeing people thrive with these little mini five minute sessions. So I encourage everyone who's listening think about how it could be a five minute walk or a five minute picking up weights like Carla, or maybe just a five minute breathing session. Whatever it could be a five minute walk or a five minute picking up weights like Carla, or maybe just a five minute breathing session. Whatever it may be, that five minutes goes a long way.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 1:I want you to talk about the stacking in a second, but I just wanted to share.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think it was yesterday or the day before I was at my desk and like I felt my energy sort of take a dive and I wanted to just go take a nap. But I that's not what I really wanted to do, but I was going to, I was actually going to take a nap, but our dog needed to go out for a walk before that and I took him out for like five or 10 minutes and just got in the sunshine and actually came back and I'm like I don't need a nap, I just needed to move my body and maybe get in the sunshine, and so I'd love to have you. Well, I want to hear how you stack workouts in your app, but also how we can use this whole idea of low motivation and, you know, customizing our own routines and rhythms to really help us do what we want to do in this lifetime and get the things done that we want to get done and live fully. I'd love to hear that.
Speaker 2:So for that shift from motivation and I experienced that so often as well you know, when we have a natural dip in our day, we can either go take a rest Sometimes that can be very valuable, yet other times it just means we need to do something differently. And so sunshine, if that's available, getting outside is amazing. If not, we can stay inside. And what I love is like doing some standing movements, even just lifting and lowering the arms. We have some five minute warmups within the membership and app as well. Moving the body starts to get the body to know it is actually not rest time. It will shift us into more of a sympathetic response. So our sympathetic response is very energizing.
Speaker 2:Traditionally, if we were to look at like responses to stress or trauma, this is known as fight or flight. Yet sympathetic response is also what gives us overall energy for exercise, for excitement. When we get nervous, the sympathetic response is activated. So if we're in a parasympathetic response, that's the opposite. That's the rest and digest, and they can be either really beneficial that's how we actually get to sleep. We need the parasympathetic nervous system to turn on to a degree. We want to feel safe there. And if we're in more of a low parasympathetic response, then our movement, if we shift to giving us energy, will naturally shift our nervous system without having to drink coffee. Take an energy drink. I don't do any of those and someone asked me once how can you not drink coffee first thing in the morning? Well, I just give myself time and space to like naturally wake up and not hit the ground running right away and I move my body. I focus on moving the body to give us energy. So that's what can be so valuable.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, oh, tell us about the stacking inside of your app. So tell everyone a little bit about your app. And then stacking of workouts, because that sounds really interesting.
Speaker 2:So what I've realized is that sometimes, when we look at all the options available within the app, it's like, oh, I don't know where to begin. I always say just press play, and the number one recommendation is I want people to focus on how much time they have and their energy. So those two elements are where we're going to start. So if we have 20 minutes, amazing, maybe start with a 20-minute workout. Or you can stack these five-minute workouts, which I'll talk about in just a moment. So when we think about that, it makes it narrows down the options available, which is really helpful because then we can take more action to just press play, and I found that that is very valuable, like let's focus on the time and then the energy that we have. Another element, once we have a consistent workout routine, is we may want to consider well, do we want this to be more of a strengthening day? Do we want this more of a restorative day? Do we want to focus on mobility, range of motion, which is kind of a blend between those two options that I already listed? And so this five minute stacking really came from insight from people who have been part of the membership for years now that they have been taking different exercises and creating their own classes. Some people feel very confident to do that and they've been combining like 15 minute classes and 15 minute classes. Some people feel very confident to do that and they've been combining like 15 minute classes and 15 minute classes. So that's 30 minutes. But I also know a lot of people don't have maybe even that full 30 minutes and I wanted to give them options for either a way that they can combine workouts or another question is do you have a specific workout to really help with balance? And in the past it was always like oh, it's incorporated into this 30 minute workout or an hour workout. Do you have a specific class just for pushups? And so throughout the years, from the questions people have asked me, it really was the inspiration for this five minute mix program. So I put the program out there, gave a little guidance, have a few recommendation playlists within the app. But what I also recommend for people if you have a particular focus like lower body strength, well, combine all the lower body exercises, create your own playlist within the app and then you can easily play one workout after another.
Speaker 2:If your focus maybe is on really getting upper body open, we want to work not only on stretching and mobility. So why don't you combine the upper body mobility and stretching classes, and that will turn into five minute segments a little bit longer? There is even someone who focused just on neck and jaw, and that's something that was really fun to incorporate very focused exercises to strengthen both the neck, the shoulders and the jaw area, because so many of us have forward head posture. I'm raising my hand here, too, because so many of us have forward head posture. I'm raising my hand here too, because I do as well.
Speaker 2:So not only is it a matter of stretching, but it's getting the back neck extensors stronger, and so she combined the neck and jaw strength class, mobility and stretch as a 15 minute routine, like after work, because what happens is sometimes you start to slump. It could also be a really good midday reset to move with just stretches or mobility work. Little five minute mini session, and so there's so many ways in which people can customize this, and what's really nice within the app is we do have live sessions. So, say, someone has a very specific focus. You know I want to work more on posture. If I know that well, I can recommend them to the classes that are already labeled posture, or suggest the specific classes within five minute mix. That could be really valuable, not only to help strengthen posture but to stretch and mobilize as well.
Speaker 1:Strengthen- posture, but to stretch and mobilize as well. This is so great. And tell people how much is the membership. I think there's a year, annual or monthly.
Speaker 2:So there's a monthly and I always encourage people, if you're on the fence, try the monthly. Try it for a month. If you love it amazing. Then maybe you want to upgrade to the annual. And actually the annual is a cost savings where you get over two months for free. So the monthly rate is $30 a month and then the annual is 285. And when you join the email list a few times a year, we offer some special discounts as well.
Speaker 1:Awesome. I love this idea of you said, like paying attention to your how much time do you have, how much energy do you have, and then kind of these focus areas, and I just was thinking that's a really great way to just approach your day in general. You know what? How much time do I have to work on projects? Where is my energy level? Because I do that a lot Like where does my energy, what does my energy want to work on today? Because if I can follow that energy sometimes you can't, you have deadlines and things that need to get completed, but when you can, it's so productive, it's so much more productive. So I love that you've infused this into your app.
Speaker 2:It's not only productive, but you just feel better about where you are throughout the day and at the end. And I agree, I used to have like a list a mile long of everything I wanted to get done and I realized I wasn't really checking anything off my list when it came to working. And once I started noticing actually how much time do I have to dedicate and it takes a little bit of time to sometimes recognize that well, how much time does it take me to prepare for a new workshop? How much time does it take to do this specific task? That more information we get, then we can set more realistic standards and guidelines for ourselves, which can also then, of course, transcend into workouts. So that we can set more realistic standards and guidelines for ourselves, which can also then, of course, transcend into workouts. So that we can be realistic of when I was starting to get back into working out.
Speaker 2:It was after I had a major surgery and at the same time I was starting a new full-time job. It was I'm going to work out three times a week for an hour. But what happened is, because I was working full time, meetings would pop up. I was a mom as well, of very young children that at least once a week I couldn't do that full hour workout, and that's when I transitioned to okay, it would actually be better for me to shorten my workouts and do them more consistently throughout the week. And it took the pressure off because if I missed one workout wasn't missing a full hour. I was like, oh, that was only 20 minutes and maybe on another day when I have a little bit more time, well, I can maybe add to that workout.
Speaker 2:So I started having a more adaptable approach, which then inspired the classes that I teach approach which then inspired the classes that I teach the programs that I run, and has now trickled into how people within the membership are moving with Pilates and how they're implementing this into their life as well. Someone just mentioned or emailed me saying that I am the first movement teacher who she's ever worked with who't prioritized perfection. Nor it has to be a full-length class. I thought that's too bad. I mean, it's too bad that that's people's experience, because that's why so many times we feel we're not motivated, because it's not realistic for what works for our life. And then I got to thinking you know, one of the reasons why in traditional fitness this is the case is well, maybe it doesn't make sense to drive to a Pilates studio for a 10 minute class, and it's one of the reasons why, workouts work.
Speaker 2:10 minutes you're there and that drive time that we're driving to the studio and then driving back, well, that is a workout in and of itself and that's really why, for my personal practice, I rely on home workouts and why I love sharing them, because they are, I really believe, the foundation of our movement. The foundation of our movement doesn't have to be in the gym or in the Pilates studio, and there's people who are part of the membership, who they still go to the gym or Pilates studio maybe two times a week. They that's their preference, they have access to it and they use the membership to supplement on the other days. Because what we know is two times a week is amazing, but more frequently it's better. But more frequently I don't mean an hour, it's that shorter duration is just as valuable.
Speaker 1:That is so great, and I think this conversation invites us all to kind of relook at what productive, what a productive day is. You know? Because in the, in the old model of my life, productivity was all about checking boxes and being busy, but not really. It wasn't meaningful, it wasn't purposeful, it wasn't intentional, I didn't feel great, I was stressed out in my body, and so I think it is an invitation to just really look at. Like you said, it's not about just checking the boxes and being productive, but how are you feeling as you navigate this whole entire day and being productive? But how are you feeling as you navigate this whole entire day? And how could what you're talking about, infused in all these pockets, really elevate things on all levels? So where can people find out about everything that you're doing and sign up for your app?
Speaker 2:The number one place is on the website trifectapilatescom. Of course, I hang out a little bit on Instagram and post on YouTube, but for more information about everything that trifecta Pilates offers, including the membership and app, the website is your go to resource.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, beth. This was so much fun. I love what you're doing. Keep doing what you're doing, and I can't wait to have you back again.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much, Carla.
Speaker 1:Have a great day everybody.