So I realized I’m coming up on one year since I joined RPS and I never really noticed the changes in my body. I felt them, but I didn’t notice them because it’s not like they were ever really pointed out to me, but I continued my practice. I continued my movement and I decided to look for a picture from a year ago. Even though the changes are small, it’s amazing to actually be able to see them and continue with my movement. This has been the first program that I’ve actually been able to stick with, and I am so excited to see what the new year brings. Happy New Year everyone 🤗🤗🤗

Hi everyone! This is a very long post from my Notes app lol 😅 but wanted to share my wins / goals achieved after the 30 Day Challenge program I completed yesterday 😊

Mental health support ✅💟 completion on the winter solstice was not intentional, but feels divine to be prepared and strong given how much I struggle during the winter months. Activity levels helped me keep my appetite and sleep better, critical for my mood stability.

Keep warm ✅ I read yesterday that warming up the whole body (exercise, drinking tea or eating soup) is more effective than just keeping parts warm (like hands or feet). How fitting!

Physique goals ✅ I have gained muscle and lost body fat. Set a “smart” (achievable) goal to hit by end of Dec. I hit that goal as of a few days ago, so seeing how close I can get to hitting my “stretch” goal by end of year!

Creative inspiration ✅ as a fellow movement professional, I chose this program to study intensity / push limits in my own body with a creator (Ruth) that I deeply trust and resonate with. A week in, I watched a documentary about one of my fav musicians, Jeff Buckley. He found so much pleasure in listening to music, it was everything to him. From the time he was a child he would practice singing vocal styles of his favorites like Nina Simone and Leonard Cohen. Eventually he created his own work, with skills he learned from trying to match the greats he looked up to; his style became all his own, arguably one of the best vocalists of all time. I was reminded of how important it is to consume art for the sake of pleasure and joy it brings. Play IS learning. So I prioritized that with this program, integrating it into my being, mentored by it. I’m so grateful to have found the art that is Ruth’s teaching!

Unexpected win 🦋 This challenge traveled with me to Carmel, CA and Las Vegas, NV as I visited family for the holidays. I completed one of the hardest videos on perhaps the most emotionally difficult day I had all year. It feels iconic to look back on the routine, stamina & strength I had built to hold myself & stay present instead of freeze & dissociate. That might be my proudest moment of this journey.

What’s next? More creativity as I exit this cocoon, and movement of course! Looking forward to Ruth’s strength program happening in January.

Thanks again bad b’s for your support, and thank you Ruth for all that you are and create! 🩷🦋 Sharing on this micro-social platform and interacting means a lot. Wishing you all lots of warmth and blessings thru winter and beyond. ❤️❤️❤️

Hi everyone please forgive the very self-aggrandizing photo 🙈🙈 but I need to share, RPS has given me THAT ASS ! 27 days into the 30 day challenge and perkier than ever. I was leaving on my dog walk, saw myself and said WHO IS SHE?! 🍑👀 she is here!

Got my 15 day badge today!! 🙌🏻

So proud of myself! This is the most consistent I have been in over a year! After being pregnant and now being 6m pp I am getting my groove back ☺️❤️

Tapping in from the laundromat 😂😂 a big win for me. Daily challenging movement is overflowing into the rest of my life with capacity and problem solving to do hard things. Laundry is one of those things for me !!

Since my career switch (corporate marketing job before + teaching Pilates part time, now teaching Pilates exclusively!) 3 months ago, my husband also got a new job back in office full time. We have had a complete role reversal, I now do most domestic household errands/chores/cooking etc after 2 years of him doing it since he was WFH with a flexible schedule. It’s been a task finding my household groove/routine but I’m getting there.

Tbh I love most domestic duties, except laundry. But I dialed in, packed my doggo into the car, took him with me and on a lil adventure during the wash cycle, now finishing up drying while I read. This new routine made me way happier than I expected.

Hope you all have a great day and find joy during responsibilities! ❤️ I am loving seeing everyone’s tap-ins, go off bad bs !!

Woke up this morning with a head ache and the start of my period 🫠 and decided to push play because I wanted that 7 day badge!

6 months pp and exclusively breast feeding..I AM a bad b 😁

I completed the hard+soft challenge yesterday and I’m feeling so strong and proud of myself 🥳 not only did I complete the challenge, but I also made it my own taking additional rest and swapping classes when I needed/wanted to without guilt and this means just as much to me if not more than the fact that I completed it 🥹

I decided to treat my self to a bala beam for Black Friday because I’ve been wanting one for so long but have been holding off because realistically I couldn’t use weights that heavy - but for the first time I feel strong enough that I could actually use one which is blowing my mind 😭

As an additional anecdote - I was trying to decide which weight beam to buy and I mentioned it to my partner Ben. He’s super into weightlifting and has a whole home gym set up. We’ve worked out together before in the past, but with my hypermobility and other health issues RPS is just a better fit for me than the more rigid lifting programs he follows so we sort of do our own things now and it works for us. But he has a 15lb curl bar and brought it in fo me to try so I could see if the 15 or 25 lb bala beam would be better for me. He sort of tongue in cheek said “see how many curls you can do with this one, I’ll contribute $3 to your bala beam for every curl you get past ten” … yall I hit 20 which is insane (I used to not even be able to do one without elbow pain) and I got $30 off my bala beam plus the joy of realizing how much I’ve Improved from seeing the shock on his face 🤣🤣I believe his exact words were “holy sh*t you’ve gotten strong that’s amazing” and I almost cried on the spot I was so proud of myself 😅 I’ve decided to get the 25lb bar to grow into, because I have a bunch of lighter weights already and I really believe I can get there 🦋💜

Apologies in advance this is long 😬

I’m in all the feels over here with officially finishing hard + soft lastnight, like why does it feel like a show I was really into just ended or something? 🥲 lol

I have to say though I am PROUD, it felt so good to stick with this, I got a little unmotivated taking a weekend off with birthday shenanigans but I managed to get back on track.

Also back and fourth with follow up vet visits with my dog is sadly nearing the end and that has had me in a season of slowing down being rooted at home with him and lots of heavy emotions. This has truly been so therapeutic for me while working through that it feels like one thing I can hold onto to do for myself through a time like this.

I even took a 3 week digital detox from my social media while completing this to help stay locked in and less distracted.

It feels like such a foundation for me moving forward like why couldn’t I stick to the weekly schedules all along before this? Because clearly I CAN and I am looking forward to keeping that up as much as my schedule aligns.

There really is enough time to squeeze in for yourself, and let me say the days I wanted to do it the least it felt the best to get it done.

Anywho I got my 15 day while going through this and on my way to 30 the way that brought me so much joy 🥹

And lastly it officially hit winter temps in Florida and finally LIVING in my RPS sweats have been such a comfort to go home to 🩵🫶🏼

Thank you for bringing this back Ruth I can’t tell you how many times I thought about wanting to side quest this on my own this past year but never did.

I did it! I finished the challenge! And I got my 30 day badge! And even though RPS isn’t about weight loss, I’m below 200 pounds for the first time in almost a decade, BUT I also feel better in my body than I ever have, even at my lowest weight.

Side note (pun slightly intended), I just did the abs, abs, & more abs yesterday and my abs are *screaming* today from just turning in my chair 🤣

Pic of Avery for fun 🥰

I definitely lost my streak of 63 days, but I want to count that as a win.. I allowed myself to really take healing as a full time position. It was much harder than I thought as a busy bee, but it was needed🥺 so so grateful to have a community that is big on slowing down and taking time for ourselves.. the little gentle reminders ruth gives and I see in comments played in my head this past week🧡

I started PT and have quite the extensive movement routine - so I'm gonna start keeping track on here and hope to do some sensualtes (i can never spell this correctly😅) as feels needed to create some fluidity

I am coming for you Black Mamba.. it might take a few retrys but.. I'm coming for you😈