We loved chatting to MerryBody member Stacey, originally from the UK but now living on the Gold Coast (near us!) in Australia. She was a runner before she started our Online Yoga and Pilates classes.
“I ran quite a few half marathons for a few years, and I loved it. I started getting all these compliments like “oh you look so good.” But I guess I couldn’t see those results. I just had no idea, at the time I just thought I need to get smaller”.
We can relate to that feeling of always needing to lose weight and not seeing the ‘results’. This type of thinking and this common experience is created from the Diet Culture world we live in. Where “thinness = greatness/beauty”. Really the only thing we all need to change is our mindsets, how we see ourselves and what we perceive beauty as.
Like many runners, you get to a point where your body says enough is enough! There is only so much slamming of feet onto pavement we can handle (unless we do all the right conditioning and care!).
“March 2019 I started Yoga at a studio and it was really great. But with work and the timetable, it just didn’t work for me. Then I ended up starting doing these 45-minute HIIT classes, which is completely the opposite. And I think I was three months through and I just refused to go back because I actually hated it.”
Again we can relate to all of this.
We used to slog it away on a treadmill, we got absolutely obsessed with HIIT workouts (because everyone was saying that was the BEST way to workout). We thought we had to be puffing, sweating and in pain to get a good workout.
Anything else wasn’t worth it. Ahhh, we are so grateful to not think like this anymore! We’re so glad to understand that rest and recovery is equally as important as the physical movement!
“There’s a number of different things (I love about MerryBody). One is, I can do it anywhere, which is so good ’cause I travel for work at least once a month. And I honestly was like at the stage where I thought, do I need a new job? Because every time I go away, I get out of my routine, and I come back and I just feel mellow for the fact that I dropped out of my routine.”
Now, more than ever it’s important to create a healthy movement practice.
Not just to keep your physical body healthy… but what about your mental health?
Right now so many of us around the world are inside, experiencing some version of lockdown, with less human interaction, more screen time, less nature time…
Movement and meditation are amazing ways to keep centred and live with more peace during these uncertain times.
“Now I get up 30 minutes earlier and I do it (Yoga and Pilates), and everyone I work with is like, “I just can’t believe you do that.” And you know sometimes it’s a really long day and I don’t do it but and I don’t feel guilty about it.
We love that Stacey has let go of the guilt when skipping a workout. Usually, when we do skip a workout it’s because we need to rest! And this is what MerryBody is truly about, tuning into YOU. Choosing a workout that is right for you and how you are feeling in this moment.
This is why we have different class lengths ranging from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. And of course, many members stack classes for a longer practice. You can choose from ‘beginner’ to ‘challenge’ classes, there are progression and regression options plus different types of movement, like firey fast Pilates, slower strength building Pilates, flowing Yoga, blissful Yin and more!
“It’s (MerryBody) is just so good I tell everyone about it and how amazing it is and that they should do it because it’s just transformed everything. It just feels natural, not forced so now I just do it”
Thank you for sharing your MerryBody experience with us Stacey! If you’d like to try MerryBody Online Yoga and Pilates Classes you can sign up for your 7 Day Trial right HERE! We’d love for you to expereince MerryBody Yoga and Pilates.
Always merrymaking,
Emma + Carla