And though she be but little...

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love working out and eating healthy.

Sorry, I was distracted by the cheese, gravy and carbs.

I am NOT a sporty spice.  I was lucky enough to be born with my grandmother's metabolism, along with my Dad's love for salt.  The fact that one balances the other out is great, but aside from the movement I was forced to make look natural on cruise ships for 8 years, it takes a lot of prompting to get me to a gym.  I currently pay forty-something dollars a month to go to a semi-air conditioned Goodlife location that more than often makes me feel like I'm a member of the Red Hat Society.  It seems to be the new "hang-out" for ladies over a certain age who, instead of, oh, I don't know, actually doing the class that they paid for, decide to turn it into a ladies social hour.  I don't know if I should be doing lunges or giving my recipe for chicken pot pie.

 

Recently however, I have come across an amazing and London exclusive (hopefully not for long) place to address my various concerns with my health and strength.  Many of you know when I was 14 I had surgery for a severe case of scoliosis.  Those of you who don't...well, just keep reading, and for shame for not knowing my surgical history.
While I still have a very obvious (to me only I think) protruding right shoulder blade resulting in my back constantly asking a question, and a slight thug swagger from having one leg shorter than the other, my correction was astounding, as I grew 3 inches in 12 hours.  Not something everyone experiences in their life!  While gaining several inches in height, I lost almost all of my flexibility, and have been desperately trying to get it back since then.  An additional bonus to this is the looming threat of early onset arthritis, which I am determined to combat no matter what.  Discomfort daily is just par for the course for me.  And what is the best fight against this?  No, not poutine.  It's exercise.

While stalking checking out someone's Facebook page I came across a Yoga place called FlxYoga.  I saw this pop up on Groupon and a few other things, and I was intrigued, but was "happy" with my current twice a week workout routine.  For whatever reason I couldn't stop checking out the promo video of it.  (Check it out, the ladies & gents are pretty amazing.)  I saw the two Londoners who developed it would be going on Dragon's Den to promote their new regime, and that made me think..."I need to get to this before I can't get in."  

FlxYoga (or FlyYoga as my friend Sean calls it) was developed by Angela Rivard, a successful business owner, mother, philanthropist and entrepreneur who developed it in her make-shift basement home gym. Being active her entire life, her fitness regime always consisted primarily of weight training.  She no longer wanted a muscular physique and was motivated to develop a workout that would result in a leaner more feminine appearance.  

"Hang off ropes and get a workout?  Leaner and develop muscle tone?  WHY NOT?!"  So, after a nervous email to ensure it wouldn't kill me, I was in love after my first class.  With only 12 spots per class, the individual attention was just what I needed to ensure I didn't impale myself with anything, and to push me.  After going to cardio, strength and various Yoga studios, this was the first time I felt my hamstrings stretch...like, seriously stretch.  I was sore, but not in pain the next day, and couldn't wait to go back.

Ah, my back.  The reason we started this journey today.  My biggest obstacle since my surgery, and mainly in life, is not to expect my body to do what the gal beside me is doing.  I don't know if I will ever be able to touch my toes without bending my knees slightly, and I honestly don't know if it's possible for my body to even come close to do "boat", a pose Ang developed as a means of torture, in which you sit on your sitz bones and raise your feet in the air to essentially resemble - a boat.  I resemble more of a, well a person just sitting on a mat.  But, it is my goal to do boat 100% by December without having my feet on the ground.  My scoliosis granted me level of confidence that I didn't have before.  I am small, but mighty.  I may be short, but I know how to walk in heels, confidently.  And while my triangle pose may look more like a parallelogram, I am stretching and flexing my way to a healthier me, which makes me go to more of these classes than I ever thought I would. In short, (ha ha ha...whew) when you find something you love, put blinders on and stick to it.  Set the bar (or your resistance bands) high and push yourself until the end. 

And always, always ask for extra gravy.

www.flxyoga.com