If you’re anything like me, you’ve been feeling (and maybe absorbing) the energy of the COVID situation here in Perth. Fear, anxiety, uncertainty, impositions, restrictions and ever changing rules are collectively denting our life “balance”.
I get it, when we feel overwhelmed it’s natural to retreat and to remove pressures on our energy, time and resources. Knowing this, we can choose to take action, to avoid losing the wellbeing and balance we created, by getting FOCUSED.
Join myself and our team in a simple, interactive, fun challenge to realign and refocus on what we can control. You can pick and choose the elements that will best guide you towards a healthier place with the pressure of taking on too much for your circumstances all with the support and encouragement of others! Together, we can take our attention off the situation around us and focus on our own wellbeing.
“Worry is like a rocking chair, it’ll give you something to do but never gets you anywhere” ~ Emma Bombeck
So it might look complicated but I promise, it’s not…
There are 15 mini challenges for you to pick and choose what you’d like to take on! You may be in a place where you really want to do them all and collect as many points as possible, total possible is 530 fyi.
You may just want to pick a couple of the challenges you know would really help you and leave the rest for another time. You may pick up points just for some healthy decisions you already make!
Below I’ll break down each challenge…
1
It’s all gotta start with the reason this community exists! I tell all new members, the secret to getting results is simple. Plan ahead, book your classes and don’t let anything stop you from walking through the doors and showing up. From there, you just do your best and the magic will happen. This month, see if you can book and attend all of your classes! You’ll earn 20 points for attending 8 sessions , 50 points for attending 12 or more. If you manage to take them all without missing any, you’ll pick up a bonus 50 points!
2
One of the first things we stop doing when we feel stretched too thin is just getting outside! Vitamin D is the only deficiency nearly all adults share. Spending as little as 30 minutes out in the sunshine is very beneficial for our physical health. The great thing about this challenge is you can combine it with some of the others to pick up these extra points and improve your Vit D levels at the same time. It may only be 15 points, one per session, but if mental health is an area of concern for you, this is a great one to tackle!
3
For some people, 5km might seem like a super long way, others might do this every morning walking the 4 legged children. If you are looking to shed some extra kilos or just increase your exercise in general. You can’t really beat long slow walking out in the fresh air! If that’s you, choose a time/day that works in your schedule to go for a walk, you can do the same route each time or drive to an area you’ve not been before and set out on an adventure. Again, this can be combined with a few other challenges so plan ahead and look for opportunities. You earn 3 points for each journey up to 15 points total for completing 5.
4
This is really a forced experiment to get you to realise how chronically tired your system probably is! I’d highly encourage you to give this a go if you don’t already sleep at least 7-8 hours most nights. Although some people function pretty well on 6 hours and others regularly require 10, the vast majority of people in our society are relying on stimulants like caffeine and refined sugars to function rather than adequate sleep. Out of all of the challenges, this and number 6 are probably the best return on investment for the benefits gained. Achieve this challenge for a 15 point reward.
5
If you weren’t aware, I’m a big nerd when it comes to the science of flexibility, mobility and stretching techniques! I became a certified practitioner and teacher in the Stretch Therapy method by Kit Laughlin a few years back and still find it the most effective way to educate and help clients achieve real results themselves in this area. If you wish you had more flexibility and understood how to effectively work towards that goal, join me for this special workshop. You can read about it in more detail here. Attendees with earn 30 points for taking part!
6
Much like the walking challenge, some of you are already doing this one and will just earn 30 points for staying consistent. If you don’t carry a water bottle with you throughout the day or do not really know how much you drink in a day, this is for you! People are shocked at just how many different elements of their health dehydration effects. Weight loss, muscle cramping, aches and pain, sleep, mental clarity, and on and on. This challenge really is for everyone. It doesn’t take too much forethought or effort and yet the benefits are massive. I would aim for 3 litres a day as a rough gauge, add more if you work outside or a physical job. Simply find a water bottle you can keep with you throughout the day and refill it as many times as needed depending on its size. 1 point for each successful day and a bonus 30 points for hitting every day in April!
7
I didn’t want to add too much pressure on the food side of things but it is true, we are what we eat and nutrition is a massive part of our overall physical health. For some big points, challenge yourself to make your largest meal of the day consist of whole foods only. Nothing processed! Think, meat, vegetables, grains, rice etc. Simple. Between this meal and the water you will be consuming, see above, you’ll be well on your way to a better diet. From there, it’s only a few healthy decisions (usually saying no to snacking) to a great diet. Big points for this one, 20 days in the month earns you 20 points, all 30 days is another 50 points for a grand total of 70!
8
To spice up the month and add some variety, we will be sprinkling in some jump-board classes here and there. Combined with some great music we hope to get your sweating, smiling and in a great mood. Jump in up to 3 of these classes for an extra 30 points.
9
Here’s one of those challenges that some of you will pick up points for free and others may not be ready to tackle, and that’s ok. If you do want to take on this challenge, 30 days of saying no to alcohol will be worth a huge 50 points. I will say, if you rely on a glass of wine or a beer most nights then this would be a great challenge for you. Alcohol has numerous negative side effects including weight gain and as a powerful depressor. It’s not forever and just 30 days can be a great reset for your internal balance.
10
Get more involved in the studio by trying out some different class times, types, days and teachers. I couldn’t tell you how many times I hear someone say something along the lines of “Oh wow, X is really great huh?!” To encourage everyone to give this challenge a go, i’m giving all members a free bonus class to take a Mat/Tower class. Simply take the extra class anywhere during your month and at the end I will put it through as the April free bonus. Even if you can’t take up this challenge due to heavy restrictions on your schedule, you are still welcomed to take a free Mat/Tower class! They really are a fantastic compliment to the Reformer library of exercises. Achieving this challenge is worth 25 points simply take class from 3 different instructors and at least 1 Mat/tower class.
11
This one is huge, if I could encourage you to prioritise and focus on one challenge to keep you focused and succeed in all the others, this is it. Together as a community we will be using our facebook members group to share all of our little wins each day. It could be as simple as a comment “went for my walk this morning with my dog…” on the 30 minutes of sunshine challenge thread. It could be a photo of your dinner on the whole foods challenge thread. It could be an encouraging reply to someone else’s post. Interacting daily with each other will motivate, inspire and keep you focused on the challenges you choose to take on. It will keep you accountable and encourage you to keep going! Studies have highlighted to importance of social engagement over and over again. If you manage to check in daily you’ll earn 50 points for this one!
12
Being virtually social is great but finding ways to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into your everyday relationships is a fantastic habit to cultivate. Think about the other challenges you are choosing to take on this month and combine it with friends/family. It could be the 30 minutes of sunshine one day having lunch with a girlfriend or it could be the 5km walk one day with your kids. Take a selfie and post it in our facebook group for your daily interaction too! See how it all comes together? 10 points for this challenge.
13
You may find yourself in isolation at some point, or, you might just want to increase your amount of exercise this month. Kristen and some of the team plan to record a few mini workout videos targeting different things that we will make available for free to our members. There will be a thread where you can post your workout space or tell the group how you went. Its always fun to see the kids or pets stealing your yoga mat space! We will make sure to add in some challenges in there so you can see how you compare to everyone else, a little healthy competition amongst friends is good for you. Plus 5 points for every video you do up to 25 points. Of course you can do these as much as you’d like though!
14
Does the idea of getting into the ocean early in the morning sound horrible to you? Good. this challenge is for you! Building mental toughness and resilience is one of the best ways you can push yourself. Plus, i challenge you to spend 60 seconds in the ocean at 7am in the morning and NOT have a terrific day afterwards. It’s physically not possible. I’ll probably organise a few meet ups so we can do this together! Terrified of the ocean or turning up in a swimsuit? You can wimp out and have a 3 minute cold only shower but the terrific day guarantee only applies at the beach!
Another 10 points for being apart of this one, AND another 10 for completing challenge 12 at the same time, look at you go!
15
If you know me at all, you know this is a huge belief I have. Joe Pilates knew it first to be fair. Being barefoot is so so good for your overall physical wellbeing, its the way we interact with the world around us and its how our body aligns everything! Spending time with your toes out will do great things for your body with every step. Again, go to the park and walk around for your daily Vitamin D infusion and feel the grass under your feet to kill two birds with one stone. Those with balance issues will greatly benefit by this practice. Plus 2 points for each session up to 10 points.
16
If you are paying close attention you’ll notice I said 15 challenges and yet, this is number 16. Bonus points to those who caught that (*Sorry, bonus points don’t apply to your total haha) This is the only requirement to take part in the challenge, there will be a thread in the members facebook group for you to “sign up” if you will. Essentially you just let the group know what challenges you hope to achieve and which ones will be hard for you. It’s a simple act but you can feel the apprehension already in your body right?! That’s because we know that when we publicly commit it’s more real. Good! that’s the idea! You also know that our community is non judgemental, supportive and encouraging at its core. That means no one is going to be anything other than your cheerleader!
POINTS!
Look, some of us need to know how to win and what we will win for winning. I get it, that’s me too. The fact is, just like Pilates, winning isn’t the goal, being better than you were yesterday is the goal. There are a maximum of 530 points possible. There will be prizes awarded rather than earned. Obviously I won’t be able to recognise everyones achievements and progress myself. Im hopeful you will be each others cheerleaders through our facebook group. With that said, I will look to highlight some great efforts and progress through what I see with freebies, prizes and maybe even some free Pilates! You need to think like the young kids though, if its not posted on social media, did it really happen?! By this I obviously mean, share when you complete a challenge or are doing something each day towards one of them.
You’ll need to keep tally of your own points along the way, I’ll have a separate thread where you can let us all know how many you’re on at any point in the month!
So, you’re in?! Of course you are… Here’s how to prepare
1 – Grab a pen and paper
2 – No seriously, go back and do step one before step three
3 – Write down which challenge numbers you want to achieve..
4 – Book your classes for April even if you think you may need to adjust them later on.
5 – Make sure you are in the Facebook members group
6 – Write your #16 commitment post under the thread with the same picture.
7. Do what you can in advance for each challenge you are tackling, for example, get an appropriate water bottle. Tell your partner you are not drinking in April. Plan 7 days where you can go to bed earlier and wake later. and so on…
I don’t want this challenge to feel overwhelming, I would rather you join in with number 1, 6 & 16 than not at all! By the time the Winter 50 challenge is about ready to start hopefully this challenge has put us all in a place of empowerment and focused on controlling what we can rather than obsessing over what we can’t. I have a strong feeling that as you are completing the Winter 50 challenge this year the majority of the COVID saga will be behind us and you’ll be in an even better place than you are right now! Who’s with me?
- Michael