As women, we are so conditioned to being our own worst critic that the moments of self-acceptance have become a rare thing. We tear ourselves down, and then sometimes each other, without even thinking about why we do that, or why we should NOT do it.
Here’s an example of the things that go through MY head during any given day when I look in the mirror:

My hair is so big – and it’s dry and frizzy (which BTW is my own fault)
My face is not symmetrical, and one of my eyes is different to the other.
My bonded teeth have discolored over time, and they look grey to me in certain light.
My forehead is too high, and my chin too prominent.
My neck is long and giraffey.
OMG I am so pale! Look at those dark circles under my eyes and those stupid crow’s feet I’m getting.
I’m way too skinny, and my little spindly arms and legs make me look gangly and awkward.
My legs are too long and it makes it hard to find pants that look right, plus when I wear heels, I look like a pair of legs with a head on top!
My arms are hairy – and it’s light hair, but I’m pale, so I see it.
I don’t know where my boobs think they’re going, but they need to get back up here cause I already have enough around my mid-section!
Speaking of mid-section, I have this weird belly roll thing, which is annoying because I am too skinny everywhere else!!
My back is not straight and I have a scar from top to bottom because of scoliosis surgery. I don’t wear backless things, tight shirts or let people photograph me from certain angles.
My feet are gimpy – I have weird shaped toes, and the two that I broke never healed properly.
 
I know there’s more, but you get the idea.

​Then I see this picture – of me – and I LOVE it. 

​All those things that I hate: the pale skin, big hair, long legs and neck, skinny arms, etc. They don’t matter. Because in this picture, I think I am beautiful. (granted, there's makeup, and lighting, and maybe some photoshop touches-obviously in the one on the right, but that is me, that's legitimately how I look....)

So if I can just remember that this body – with all those flaws – can look like that in a photograph, maybe I should accept that others might not see me the way I see myself. Maybe they see me closer to how I look in this picture. And maybe the things I see in them that I envy, are the things they would list when asked what they hate about themselves.
The point is, that we always want what we don’t have, but we’re all beautiful in our own way, and we need to start believing that. Because when we feel beautiful, we can see beauty in others more easily. When we constantly put ourselves down, it feels normal to look for flaws in others so we don’t feel alone in our self-consciousness. 

So when I look in the mirror now, I should be thinking:
My hair is lovely and thick. It holds curl well and I don’t need to wash it often.
I have pale skin, and don’t tan, but as I age, my skin will wrinkle less and keep me looking youthful. And they invented makeup to cover dark circles!
I have a unique face, and people remember me.
I have a ballet dancers long neck, it’s graceful. And I can wear chokers.
I am thin, yes, but I am healthy. And my long legs are sexy.
And who’s gonna look at my back when they’re dazzled by my awesome personality?! lol
 
Maybe we all need to make an “I don’t like” list, and then reverse it. :-)
Self-affirmation instead of self-loathing.

Here's a link I saw posted on FB today after I wrote this....kind of in the same vein....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW8BDgLpZkI

Thank-you to Nicole Kerr and Dion Farrell at Femme Fatale Production for making me look so beautiful in not just this, but all of the pictures! The mirror tells me what I've already made up my mind to think - but this photograph tells me that I might be wrong, and some weird female hormone I have is distorting my vision!
​
#roomtomovedanceandfitness #femmefataleproduction #loveyourself #boudoir #photoshoot 

Yup. It's happening. It's not just Facebook anymore. I had to get a Youtube account, I recently joined Pinterest and now Instagram! Luckily the Twitter site says what Facebook says thanks to Kat, cause she understands how to work the internet.
I'm sure there's like 100 sites that I could join....but one at a time please.
i'm going to try and post things, but I can see how people end up with their noses burried in their phones while life passes by, cause OMG, it's not just posting, but checking what other people have posted! I mean, I don't want to miss anything! Except maybe that interesting thing that happened right in front of me.....I'll see it later on Facebook, right? :-) #lookwhatimissed
Follow me on things.....the links are on the homepage.  :-)

The Goal planning workshop is coming soon. (jan.2014)
I had never heard of this before, but apparently a couple of the instructors have done it and it is very rewarding. (And easy to stick to!)
So I had to think about my own fitness goals....
I would really like to be able to do the splits. Still.
And I would like to eat a little better, so perhaps I would put something on the calendar about what nights I am going to cook instead of eat out. And then part of my planning would be having the recipe and ingredients on hand to do so.
Perhaps others want to increase upper body strength, or lose those last 10 lbs. (or lose their first 10 lbs.! it is the time for New Years resolutions!)
Maybe there's a pole move you want to master?
What do you need to put on your calendar for the month of February, so that you can come closer to you goals in March?
That's what the workshop will be about. We're going to make pretty calendars for ourselves, outlining what we are going to do in the month of February towards our goals.
Then we're going to be accountable to each other. New Years resolutions fail because we make them to ourselves, and we're somehow ok with letting ourselves down.
Maybe we'll even post our goals somewhere for those of us who participate to see. Then we can see everyone's progress, and there's incentive to get our name on there with the achievers! And we can encourage each other to stick to the plan.
Details about this workshop will be posted on the workshop page.
We all have goals. Let's make it fun to realize them!

It's been a while since I've had a chance to write something, but I wanted to write about this month because I am all excited about this!
At the end of August, we're having a Sensual Floor workshop.....you asked for it, you got it!
Check the calendar, and make sure to let us know if you're coming, since we'll all need crawl space. haha!

We will also be having a Belly Dance introduction workshop with Sabeya!  Some of you who come to Room to Move are familiar with Confidance (also in Port Coquitlam). Well, sadly, after 10 years, Confidance has closed, and our beloved teacher is moving onto other things she wants to in her life. The good news, is that teaching is still one of the things she's going to do, and she's coming to Room to Move! Many have asked for us to bring Belly Dance in, and now I am finally able to meet that request. :-) (yes, that's right.....I read your surveys.)

Then, we also will be having the opportunity to try out aerial hoop (Lyra) with Sylvia Louis! 

So there's been so much going on with the Mayday Parade, and now another parade in June that we're going to participate in, that I have not had a chance to write about the workshops coming soon to Room to Move!
I DO have these listed under the workshops link on the site, but I'm going to tell you about it anyway. :-) For about a month now, we've been honored to have Sylvia Louis and Juliana Makon using our studio space to practice for their duo routine in the Pole Masters competition on June 21st in L.A..

Starting on May 27th, Sylvia is hosting a series of workshops for us.
This is an amazing opportunity to learn from (and watch in action) this amazing woman.
Seriously, check out her website at www.acrosilver.com
There are 3 workshops, May 27th, June.3rd and June 10th. Pricing and descriptions are on the workshop page. :-)

We also have a few hoop dance workshops with Michelle from 'She Hoops' coming in early June, so be sure to check the schedule for that too!

Then lastly, in late June, Rodney James, aka Mister Burlesque is coming to Vancouver and we're going to bring him in for an evening of dress up and decaDANCE! Stay tuned for details on that one, as I am still working out the details with him.

There's something for everyone! Hope to see you soon! :-)

I have finally embraced my role.
I know I laughed at people when they asked me if I was actually going to teach classes.... I really never thought I would. The girls said there was no reason why I couldn't teach a level 1 class, I mean, I've done level 1 more times than I can count....  I just couldn't see myself at the front of the room trying to call out moves, when I can hardly catch my breath and keep up most of the time!
But I got a phone call from a personal trainer on Thursday who had a client interested in trying out pole dance. They wanted to come to an intro class on Friday night.  I didn't want to pull any of the instructors from their Friday plans, since this was the night before, so I said that I would do it.
I had previously looked around at some other dance and fitness studios, and realized that pretty much anyone who owns one, can, and does teach classes offered by their studio. I felt a little silly that I could not.

But there's that "I can't" attitude again.
An attitude I squashed with my surprising ability to perform under pressure!

It was totally fine. And they called me graceful!! ME! But the really strange part is, that I think I actually was graceful.....Like all the things that I normally struggle with, were not a struggle last night. And I know I am not a natural teacher, but somehow teaching pole dance didn't fluster or frustrate me.
Plus I really like it, and so I am excited when other people like it. :-)

I'm not saying I am going to teach aerobics tomorrow, but maybe I can someday. For now, I'm happy to say that  I did it. I jumped another hurdle in my fitness career. That's right.....I said fitness career.
The fact is, I own a fitness studio.

Those of you who know me, will know why that is a big deal.
Those of you who don't.....should be proud of me anyway. :-)
Let me just give you a little background, so you can understand why this is such a big thing for me....  
I have steel rods in my back. I had scoliosis, and at age 14, they put rods from top to bottom, and fused my spine together. (I have only 2 vertebrae on the bottom, and I think 10 at the top-in my neck)
I know what you're thinking, cause I get it a lot:    "should you be pole dancing?!"   Yes! And know this.....if I CAN do it, YOU CAN do it.
I mean, there's going to be things that I will never be able to do, and I am OK with that. It was the same with belly dance. This does not stop me from doing it, performing in shows or having a great time. 
Up til tonight, I had watched people do this head stand into the pole thing and thought that would never happen for me because I don't bend like that. But tonight in Pole Yoga class with Kat.....I had this feeling that I could kick my legs up and reach the pole.....so I did. And I DID! 
I know you all REALLY want to see a picture of this, so I'm sure if you go to our facebook page, there will be one posted soon. (Which you should go to and like anyway if you don't already.) :-)
Next: I'm gonna work on the abs to actually pull myself up and sit from the upside down and backwards on my head position!! 
Never say "I can't". Cause maybe, just maybe, you can....and you just never tried.

OK, so I've never done a BLOG before. I don't even know what BLOG really means.....someone will probably tell me, and so thanks in advance. :-)
Anyway, we're about a month in with the new studio, and it's going really well! I'm gonna have my butt kicked into shape by summer at the rate I'm going with the classes. It's kind of funny, because it's hard for me to draw that line between studio owner and student....since I kind of did this so I could continue to BE a student! But I put lots of background hours into planning and changing and getting things going. Don't be fooled by my attendance in classes that I'm slackin' off!
It's awesome meeting all the great ladies who come in for classes. I love that I know everyone by their first name. I know eventually I will have to take a night off, and I'm building up to that, but for the moment, my very understanding husband is OK with me being here all the time.
I just wanted to start this off with something. I'll try and write whenever I come up wiith something interesting to say......oh! Like I can tell you about the parade we're going in!   whoo-hoo....stay tuned.