June 27, 2025 • 35 mins
Ashley is the creator of Kinnect Fitness-a movement method that blends science, soul, and somatic wisdom. With 15+ years of experience in fitness, she offers alignment-based classes designed to support longevity, healing, and deep connection. Her Kinnect program brings together strength, cardio, mobility, and mindfulness to help you live more fully in just 4 days a week. EveryBODY is welcome. Get more info at www.KinnectWithUs.com
In today’s episode, we dive into how she’s helped Marie and her husband recover from injury, eliminate pain, and transform their bodies in an amazing way that people are asking about!
In today’s episode you’ll learn:
- How recovering from injury was the path to Ashley and I being in the best shape of our lives
- How longevity research is surprising and how it can help direct our habits
- Why when you stop trying so hard to look physically fit and focus on feeling better, doors start to open
- How mental, physical and spiritual health can all be one practice
- The workout routine that changed Marie’s life, and why she’s recommending it to everyone
How to connect with Marie:
- On the Web | The Local Bloom
- Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
- All Things Marie on LinkTree
JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to the Bloom your Mind Podcast, where we take
all of your ideas for what youwant and we turn them into real
things.
I'm your host, certified CoachMarie McDonald.
Let's get into it.
Well, hello everybody, andwelcome to episode number 133 of
(00:33):
the Bloom your Mind podcast.
Today I have a very specialguest.
Today I have with me AshleyAdam, who is an individual that
has changed my life over thelast six months and impacted our
family in such incredible waysthrough her instruction in
(00:54):
exercise and physical training.
And I'm going to talk a littlebit about that and let Ashley
introduce herself in a minute,but first I'm going to tell you
a little story.
But welcome, ashley.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I'm glad to be here.
So y'all, I have to do thisstory on the podcast about my
experience with my hip and how Ihad this injury.
That happened maybe almost ayear ago now, maybe 10 months
ago.
That really took me down for awhile.
I couldn't walk for multipledays.
I went in and sort of utilizeda regular traditional Western
medicine approach went in, gotsome x-rays and had really
(01:32):
frustrating responses.
So I got form emails, was toldto just medicate, basically, and
that it was only going to getworse over time.
So within all of that, Istarted going to seek some more
holistic practitioners to helpme with my hip and one of the
things we identified is that my20-year practice of really
(01:53):
strenuous hot yoga and sort oflike adult jungle gym yoga where
I was doing inversions and lotsof separate hip moves, was not
something that was available tome right now and was probably
exacerbating my hip.
So I switched over and one daymet Ashley at my friend's
birthday party and Ashleydescribed to me that she has a
(02:16):
history of teaching barre andthat she's really passionate
about bringing people back frominjury through her Pilates
practice and her fusion classes.
So I started becominginterested in this and I started
taking Ashley's classes.
Originally I went to a parkwhere she offers classes once a
week in San Diego in a park atan elementary school, which was
(02:38):
like so gorgeous and wonderfuland challenging.
The class itself was physicallychallenging, an amazing group
of people there, so fun.
And then I started taking hernew program that she rolled out
about five or six months ago.
That was every four or fivemornings and she's iterated on
that and so it's gone from everyfive mornings to every four
(03:01):
mornings and my husband startedcoming into that class with me.
Since I have taken that class Ifeel like physically I have
totally changed my body.
I also introduced two monthsago a blood sugar program which
I'm going to talk about in thenext episode.
So the combination of these twohave completely just changed my
(03:21):
life.
But these morning exerciseclasses with Ashley are so
amazing and I've talked beforeabout how my husband and I wake
up.
I do my little morning routine,then we sit and meditate
together with a candle and thenwe get ready and we do these
classes with Ashley together.
So it's not only changed my ownlife and my own physical
(03:41):
experience of my body and helpedme to heal, but also created
this beautiful space that Ishare with my husband that we
both love, and he's transforminghis body too.
So I am so excited to bringAshley to you for anybody that
is interested in this and I alsohave to share I don't know how
to share this in a humble way,because I'm not trying to toot
(04:02):
my own horn, but people who haveknown me for a while keep
saying what have you done toyour body?
What are you doing?
You look great, what are youdoing?
Right, and it feels so goodwhen people ask me that, but
every single person that asks meI'm like her name is Ashley.
That's what I'm doing, and so Iwanted to bring Ashley onto the
podcast because I just amexperiencing such an incredible
change in my own life.
(04:23):
So, ashley, please introduceyourself and tell everybody what
you do.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Hey.
Well, thank you so much forhaving me and thank you for that
beautiful story.
It always brings tears to myeyes to hear the changes that
people experience through thispractice, because that's how I
got started, basically wasexperiencing change, and I guess
what I would say like in anutshell if I were to choose one
(04:49):
sentence of what I do.
I say that I teach movementwith purpose.
So I don't like to say, oh, Iteach barre or I teach strength
training or, you know, I teachexercise, because that's not at
all what I'm trying to do.
It's obviously it's the vesselthat I am using, but I'm really
(05:11):
trying to teach people toconnect to their bodies and
connect to themselves throughmovement.
And that's why I chose the nameof my business as Connect
Fitness and the spelling is allfunny and I could go into a
whole story on that.
It was really fun to come upwith that, but the spelling is
very intentional for, like,kinetic energy and all of these
(05:32):
things.
But yeah, I'm really, really,really passionate about people
not just exercising but movingin their bodies and learning
about their bodies and, fromthere, really understanding what
they need in any given moment,knowing that, even if you're an
(05:53):
avid athlete, you're going tohave days that your body is
saying no and we're taught likeno pain, no gain, right, Like
that's the old school teachingsthat still prevail today in a
lot of different messaging inthe fitness world.
And as I got deeper and deeperinto the fitness world, I really
understood how that messagingis there.
And it's all about what yourbody looks like and it's all
(06:15):
about pushing harder and it'sall about your bikini body and
and for me, the metamorphosisthat I went through in my own
body and my own self and also inmy business, and in the way
that I went through in my ownbody and my own self and also in
my business and in the way thatI teach and what I offer, I
really started to notice howimportant it is for us to look
at this from like a whole, youknow, mind, body, soul,
(06:39):
standpoint.
As cliche as that sounds, it'slike it's so, so, so true and
it's it's so important.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
That's so good.
You know it's interesting thatthose very specific things that
you say I have to say the thing,aside from the actual content
and the accessibility of yourprogram and you know the we'll
talk a little bit about thelongevity research that you've
done and how, how that weavesinto your program those things
all are what make it work for me, because it pulls in strength
(07:08):
training and weights and itpulls in Pilates and Bard, pulls
in hit classes and cardio allthese things that I'm looking
for, that I don't have to lookanywhere, but it's a one-stop
shop, right.
So that is amazing and itreally works for Max night.
But the other couple of thingsthat are so special about your
classes from my point of vieware that they're really hard if
(07:30):
you want them to be, but you canalso scale them back and make
them super easy, like that's forme that they're hard, they're
challenging, um, but I reallyfeel like on a day when I'm
really tired, it's so easy toscale back.
But secondly, how there ismeditation and mindfulness mixed
in really helps again make it aone-stop shop.
We meditate at the beginningbefore we start the class, but
(07:53):
then you offer a meditation atthe end and it really gives us
that hit of stillness in our day.
But the biggest thing for me isthe clear level of mastery and I
don't even know if I've evertalked to you about this, but
that I feel when you're teaching, because I've the other day you
taught pigeon, which I havedone.
(08:16):
It's a it's a yoga pose that Ihave done for 25 years and the
way you articulated that posemade me get it after 25 years
and I feel that all the time inyour classes the way you
articulate things is so mucheasier to understand than most
teachers.
But also you have so muchawareness around alignment that
(08:39):
I feel safe in your hands.
I feel you pause yourself allthe time and make verbal
adjustments for alignment.
That helped me make sure I'mprotecting my body, my back
right or whatever part it is.
So that level of mastery justcreates I can relax in the
classes.
I'm not afraid I'm going tohurt myself.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I love that so much Cause that's that's literally my
passion, right, like makingsure that people are safe and
making sure that people haveoptions for any given day.
For those days that you need toback off, you know how to back
off.
For the days that you want topush harder, you know how to
push harder.
Safer, right.
And I mean I I blush when you,when you say mastery, cause I I
(09:24):
don't consider myself a master,but I very much am passionate
about always learning and always, you know, trying to deepen my
understanding, to be able todeepen my teachings to other
people.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
So yeah, Well, tell us a little bit about your
journey and how you got here.
We'd love to hear your story.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
It has been such a crazy journey.
It's been such an organicjourney, which has been really
beautiful.
If you would have told me,however, many years ago now,
before I got started, I startedtraining to be a bar teacher in
2008.
And if you would have told me,even just like six months before
that, that I would be, you know, teaching bar, let alone owning
(10:06):
a studio, let alone starting myown brand and doing all this
stuff, I would just would havebeen like what are you talking
about?
I'm even now, I'm a little bitnervous.
I'm a person that gets likenervous speaking in front of
people, even though I will teach.
You know, big classes, andthat's like where I feel the
most comfortable.
I would have never envisionedthat for myself before.
So, long story short, I, um, Istarted taking bar because, uh,
(10:32):
I was living up in San Franciscoat the time and a friend of
mine was telling me she thoughtI would really love this class
and, like anyone else, whensomeone tells you like to start
something new, it took me likethree months to take my first
class and then my first class in.
I absolutely loved it, um, andso I, um, I basically just
(10:52):
started taking bar.
I was I was a huge runner atthe time and I had been in a car
accident and all of thesethings compounded over time
where I ended up in my midtwenties not able to walk more
than like two blocks because myback was so bad.
And it was right as I was goinginto training to be a bar
(11:13):
teacher that this started toreally flare up.
And I had already been takingbar classes before that and like
my sole purpose for taking barwas to change my body.
I wanted, I wanted my body tolook different and that was the
only reason I was taking classwas to push hard and try to
change my body andsimultaneously my back starts
(11:33):
really flaring up.
I can't walk and I can't evenbe at social events without
seeking a chair when I firstwalk in the door to make sure
I'm going to be able to sit downafter five minutes, and I'm
sort of freaking out about this,but I was taking my bar
training through, luckily,through a company that really
cared about alignment and theywere teaching us about alignment
(11:55):
, and so I started taking thoseteachings into my personal
practice and really being likethe only person in class that
would back off of something andI would have to ask the
instructor what else can I do?
This isn't working for me.
My back is hurting, whereasbefore I would push harder and
just be like, oh, this hurts sobad and I would just keep doing
it Right.
And so, through that, I wish Iwould have chronicled, you know,
(12:17):
in a journal or something, howlong it took.
But I, I, I think, if I lookback, it was probably about
eight months of like reallybacking off of my practice and
coming from a place of like Idon't care what my body looks
like right now, I just want tobe able to walk, cause I'm in my
mid twenties and I can't walk.
And this is like really scary.
And that was when I reallyunderstood.
(12:40):
It was like eight months intoit.
All of a sudden my roommateasked if we wanted, if she, if I
wanted, to go for a walk withher, and I didn't even think
about it.
I said, yes, we went on thissuper long walk through San
Francisco and when we went toturn around, I had this moment
where I just like stopped andjust started crying and she was
like, what's going on?
And I was like, do youunderstand that?
(13:02):
We just went on a 45 minutewalk and I didn't even think
about it.
I just said yes to go walkingwith you, whereas before I'd be
like I can't go for a walk.
And we've walked for 45 minutesand I'm in no pain and I just
had this revelation of like ohmy gosh, my back is doing better
and I don't even you know.
I was going to a chiropractorand going to physical therapy,
(13:25):
but they even got to a placebefore this that they said they
recommended that I get surgery,that there was no other option.
They had done everything thatthey could.
I'd been seeing them for like ayear and it was so severe that
they were saying you might losecontrol of your bowel movements.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Oh my gosh Ashley yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, just freaking
out.
So I even scheduled anappointment with a surgeon and
when I walked out of thatappointment, I had this moment
of like I haven't done enough, Ihaven't tried enough things to
avoid surgery.
I want surgery to be the very,very last thing that I do and I
want to be able to tell myself Itried everything else and this
(14:05):
is the only solution is I dohave to get surgery.
So, you know, flash forward tothis walk, all of that had
happened previously, you know,and all I had done, really like
I still was going to see thischiropractor, even though I
wasn't getting much relief fromthem.
But really, I think thedifference was me backing off of
my, of my practice which issuch a funny thing to say.
(14:27):
Right, I was going veryconsistently, but I wasn't
pushing myself, I was all aboutjust staying in my body and
listening.
The minute I felt pain, I wouldstop, I would adjust, do
something else, take a break,whatever.
And so for me, it was thisrevelation of like, not only
changing what I was physicallydoing, of like, not only
(14:51):
changing what I was physicallydoing, but changing my mindset
from trying to change my body,to trying to heal my body and
trying to listen to my body.
That changed everything for meand, honestly, that is when my
body changed.
Also, that is like you weresaying everyone started
commenting about my posture.
They were commenting about howmy body looked and just like, oh
my gosh, what are you doing?
What are you doing?
You know?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, and for me it was like I'm just trying to like
be able to walk.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I was trying to be able to walk again.
It's wild, the similarities inthe story, Cause I couldn't walk
and I one day just stopped.
I was trying to take a walkwith my husband and broke down
in tears because I was limpingin the first two blocks and I'm
like I'm in my mid forties andthis they're telling me this is
the rest of my life and it'sonly going to get worse and I
have an eight year old and a 12year old.
(15:39):
This is going to be my life.
It was so sad and it's just sostriking how sometimes the body
talks to us in that way, Likeyou're just going about it wrong
, If you'll listen.
Like I feel like my hip turnedinto a great teacher for me.
I'm pushing too hard in theseother ways and I need to back
(16:00):
off.
Similarly, 100% listen so good.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Yeah, and that's the journey that I went on.
And then, of course, thatopened up this whole new world
to me of connection andconnecting to my body, but also
connecting to my thoughts andconnecting to slowing down and
really seeing the value in that.
And then, as that opened up, Istarted diving more and more
(16:27):
into meditation and morespiritual stuff that I had never
done before and I can say now,because I'm so deep into this
now, that I am a deeply, deeplyspiritual person and I would
have you know, I never knew thatbefore.
And so it just opened up thiswhole new space for me that just
(16:47):
got better and better andbetter and better.
And so then of course, I wasjust obsessed with it and like,
oh my God, I need to share thiswith people.
You know, I was like in a wholeother world.
I was working for a nonprofit inSan Francisco and I decided to
open up my own studio.
And I grew up in San Diego andat the time there were so many
bar studios up in San Franciscoso it was sort of a bad business
(17:09):
decision to open up a studiothere, and I was ready for a
change too, and so I moved backto San Diego to open my bar
studio and, as the story goesfor many small businesses, covid
hit.
I was almost 10 years intobusiness when COVID hit.
I had just opened up a secondstudio and just had my baby and
(17:31):
we were about to hit our yearanniversary in that studio and
COVID hit.
And so it was downtown in umlittle Italy area, like just
outside little Italy.
Yeah, so I did what so manyfitness professionals did
overnight.
Okay, we're just.
You know, we thought it wasjust going to close for two
(17:53):
weeks.
We're going to be closed fortwo weeks.
So I'm going to figure this outand hop on zoom.
I've never I don't think I hadever been on zoom before, even
for like a call for someone elseand let alone teach online.
And I was just like I'm goingto hate this.
I have no idea what I'm doing.
It's going to be souncomfortable.
I was in my living room shovingcoffee table to the side.
(18:13):
My kids were crawling all overme, you know, and I just said to
my students we're just, we'regoing to do this together.
And we did, and it was easierthan I thought.
I liked it so much more than Ithought.
And as COVID went on and on andon and on.
I really felt called to all ofthe messages I was getting from
people of how I was just keepingthem going and offering again
(18:37):
not just exercise but a removalfrom what was going on and a
release.
And then I started adding moreand more mindfulness into it and
when I finally decided to letgo of my physical space because
I was one of those people thatwas like I'm going to, you know,
I'm going to get through this,I'm going to go back to my
studio.
(18:58):
But when I realized that it wasgoing to be a lot longer than I
thought and I would have to gointo a lot more debt than I was
already in from all the you know, I was just like I can't, I
can't keep this going Cause Idon't know how how much longer
it's going to go.
So I decided to rebrand andstart a virtual business and a
(19:19):
park.
You know I was.
I had started teaching in thepark late through the quarantine
and realized, oh my goodness,how much I love that being out
in nature.
Amazing, yeah, oh my gosh, thetwo of those things together,
class and nature it just itreally opened up my soul in a
different way.
So I created this model, wherenow I'm a virtual business and
(19:43):
outdoors in San Diego, which wassomething, again that I would
have never thought yeah, I wouldhave thought I'd be outside of
the studio.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
So who are your programs for now?
Who would you say is a greatcandidate for coming to you and
taking your online programs?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I mean honestly, I am creating this for everyone.
And my hope is that every singleperson could take my class and
get something out of it and feelcomfortable and get results.
That is, you know, when youtake a marketing business class,
they tell you, no, you gotta,you gotta think of one specific
(20:21):
person, right, and, like you,even think about the clothes
that they wear and all of thesethings.
And it's like this very niche,niche, niche thing that's always
been so hard for me, because II want this to be available to
everybody.
I want it to be, you know, forpeople who haven't exercised a
day in their life, or haven'texercised in a really long time,
or coming back from a reallysevere injury.
(20:42):
Um, I want it to be for theavid athletes, you know, and so
I want it to be for couples, Iwant it to be for men and women.
And that's really where I comefrom, at the detriment of some
of my marketing coaches that Ihave Like no, no, no, you have
to pick one person.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I was just telling you the other day that I think
you should market to couples.
But then here I am sending, Isend your information to
everybody.
I love it for myself and I'mathletic right, I'm recovering
from an injury, but I'm strongand have done really challenging
athletic stuff and I'm 5'1 andfemale and my husband is 6'2 and
(21:21):
a hundred pounds more than me,right, and loves it.
So it's hard to describe topeople.
It's, yes, bonding for both ofus, but really good physically
for both of us too.
And when I tried to describeyour class the other day to
somebody, she said, oh, that'sso cute that your husband's
doing bar stuff.
And I was like, oh, I'mdefinitely not describing it
right Because, yeah, there's barmoves in there, but it does not
(21:43):
feel like a bar class.
There's HIIT, there's strengthtraining, there's weightlifting,
there's stretching.
It's just it's for everybody.
And it's really amazing to methat within one class, you can
actually create a space whereI'm like, oh yeah, my parents in
their seventies could do thisand I sent them all the
information, but also I can dothis and someone that's more
(22:06):
athletic than me can do this.
It's just really cool how youcreate such an inclusive model
for each class where you candial it up and dial it down.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, yeah, because that's important not only for
people of different ages ordifferent backgrounds, but it's
important for every singleperson on any given day, right?
I say in my class, like everyday, your body is so different
depending on what you ate, whatyou drank, what you didn't eat,
what you didn't drink, dependingon what's going on emotionally
in your body, and we're nottaught this.
We're taught to have thisregimen, that you do the same
(22:37):
thing every day and you push ashard as you can on those days,
and that's the only way you getresults.
And it's not at all like.
Once we start connecting toourselves, that's really when
the results start compounding onthemselves, and you really I
mean, you know, as we've talkedabout, that was when I
experienced the biggest changesin my physical appearance, was
(22:57):
when I wasn't even thinkingabout my physical appearance.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
And I'm learning in the blood sugar program how
aligned all the research is withthat as well.
Right, like your sleep and yourblood sugar levels and your
body stress level, if you pushreally hard on the days when
you're stressed, it's not goingto be helpful.
You're going to spike yourcortisol levels and the workout
is going to be counter umproductive for your right,
exactly.
The thing that I'm interestedin is that, um, I know you did a
whole bunch of longevityresearch in order to come up
(23:30):
with your new kind of system ofclasses that Max and I have been
doing the last five months orso.
What is there anything that uhwas like really surprising to
you in your longevity research?
Um, or is there anything youwant to share with people?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Yeah, I mean I would say longevity is like all the
rage right now, which is awesome, right.
So there's there's a lot ofinformation out there, and I
think that was part of what Iwas trying to do was to, um, get
through all that informationand come up with something very
concrete for people to follow,because it can be so
overwhelming right, I mean, itwas so overwhelming for me even
(24:06):
in my research of just like, oh,my goodness, I mean you should
see all the notes that I haveand trying to like figure out
how to put this into a program.
But basically, like, one of thebiggest surprises for me was
finding out that like hit typecardio is so much more
beneficial for our heart healththan just like pushing super
(24:26):
hard for like a really long time.
And and research shows thatlike just four minutes of hit a
day can impact your heart health.
And for me, that was massive,because I'm like, okay, this is
great because for people who arejust feeling really overwhelmed
by cardio or really overwhelmedby a longer hit class, they can
(24:48):
build up to longer versions byjust doing four minutes a day
while simultaneously increasingtheir heart health and their
capacity and their VO2 max andall of these things right that
are so important health andtheir capacity and their VO2 max
and all of these things rightthat are so important.
So, really changing my modelfrom, like my cardio classes
have always been 45 minutes andlike it was hit-ish because, of
(25:11):
course, you can't just like pushas hard as you can for 45
minutes I would have thesemoments where we would stop.
But after researching I reallyrealized, okay, no, we really
should go on this, like 40seconds on, 20 seconds off, and
there's different varieties ofthat.
You could do 30 seconds, 30seconds, whatever you know 45,
15, but really 40, 20 is areally great model.
(25:31):
And having that 20 seconds oflike rest for a minute and then
hitting it again, like that isbest for your heart on so many
different levels.
And so for me, changing like mywhole way of teaching cardio
was was, yeah, that wassurprising of like okay, I need
to change this actually.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And it also echoes the whole through line that
we've been talking about, whichis like you don't have to, you
get to rest, you have an inhaleand an exhale, right.
So the effort in, in, and thenyou break for a minute and
that's actually better for yourbody than pushing, pushing,
pushing without breaking.
Totally yeah, pretty adverse.
That's amazing, okay, so theother thing that I love is that
I love that I can go to the parkand take your program once a
(26:14):
week, although I haven't beenthere in a while for my schedule
, for my schedule but I lovethat you teach a live class once
a week so that I can see you,right, have that connection.
And then, once a month you'vebeen doing a series of live
classes for a week, so I get tosee you every morning and we do
it at 6 AM, but also any morning.
(26:35):
I can't make it when you'redoing a live, it's just
immediately recorded and I cando it later.
And then you have this massivelibrary of resources.
So most people, I think, don'tdo your classes live.
They do them whenever they want, right, and you have hundreds
of videos, but you also have acouple.
Um, what I like?
I get overwhelmed by like 200videos make your own when I
(26:56):
don't know what I'm doing.
So I just do the ones that youput together and I just follow
that, and Max and I follow itevery month, but you vary it
month to month.
It's like the perfect thing tocreate consistency but keep it
fresh.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
So I love that.
Oh good, I'm glad.
Yeah, that was my whole pointof this new program that I
created.
It's called connect.
Well, you saw the metamorphosisof that too.
I first started out doing fivedays and then I always.
I'm really really major onfeedback, as you know, we're
like texting all the time andand I do this with a lot of my
(27:29):
students and my students haveknow that about me now, so
they're not afraid to send mefeedback, you know, over a text
or email or whatever, even phonecalls sometimes, because I love
that and that's what helps meteach better and figure out what
programs are working for people.
And a lot of people told me,you know, five days is is like a
little much for me on someweeks and and so what should I
(27:50):
do if I'm not doing five days?
Some people wanted more, right?
So I decided to create theConnect Four program and I liked
the little play on words foranybody that remembers that game
.
But um, it's, it's based off ofall of my, my longevity stuff
and just so that you can geteverything you need in four days
and 45 minutes a day and thengreat.
(28:13):
If you want to do more, I haverecommendations for what you
should add on, and if you don't,then you have completed it in
these four days and it's, youknow.
Strength, your strengthtraining, your heavy lifting, um
your cardio and like mobilitytype stuff.
Mobility can sometimes soundgeriatric, but um, it is so
vital for us, right Um at anyage, to be doing movement, that
(28:37):
um supports our joints andsupports movement in our lives.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Mobility.
One's my favorite out of all ofthem.
I love it.
I feel like it's one of theharder ones too.
I think it's so fun.
I love it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
So I also want to say that forMax and I, we love the four days
, and then on day five we take alike hour long brisk walk
around the neighborhood, and sowe just vary it that way.
It's so nice, yeah.
And I also wanted to share withyou.
I'm going to ask you to justlike a couple more questions to
(29:05):
wrap up, just if there'sanything else you want everybody
to know.
And then I'll also ask um, howcan people connect to you?
How can they find you?
And, of course, everybody willput Ashley's information in the
show notes, so you can just goto the show notes and find her
there, but she'll say it here.
But I did want to tell you,ashley, that you have also not
only does Ashley's likebackground for her videos, it's
(29:26):
like the most beautiful I wantto say glamorous, but it's like
it's just delightful to look at.
It's all white in her studio,but there's a giant disco ball
in the background and it's sofun.
We love the background.
It's so fun.
You're always wearing somebeautiful workout outfit that
like sets you apart from thebackground.
You're super easy to follow.
But you also have a signaturelaugh that you do in videos.
(29:50):
You do and Max and I love itand it just makes us like
delighted, it brings us likespark of joy.
So we're not only getting anawesome workout, like we feel
safe, but we like giggle withyou.
You know you keep you throw ina laugh, you make yourself laugh
during the class.
Oh my God, I love that.
And it's so.
It's such a nice balance oflike hey, this is important, but
(30:12):
not serious.
We're just not taking ourselvestoo seriously.
The whole setup that you haveis so wonderful, so thank you so
much for what you do.
Thank you for the impact you'vehad on our lives.
It's so big.
Finding you is so special andimportant to our family and so
I'm so grateful.
I hope so many people find you,that hear about you and how can
(30:35):
they find you speaking of yeah,Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
So I'll say that in a second, just because I wanted
to say how much I love that youbrought that up, because that is
all of my people know this,that I do not take myself or
life too seriously, or theseworkouts.
You know, I, as much as I'mhere to like really try to tell
you to honor yourself.
I also, joy is so important inour lives, right and especially
(31:00):
right now, and so I, even, youknow, during COVID days, and
sometimes even still, my, mykids will pop into the class.
I let it happen.
My dog comes in sometimes andI'm all about just real life
situations and just bringing joy.
And we, as you know, I cuedance parties all the time in
our class.
You, if you, want to break outand dance, uh, because I think
(31:24):
we need that more and more andmore and more.
So the place to find me, mywebsite, uh, so the name of the
business is connect fitness andthe website is connect with
uscom and um, as I wasmentioning earlier, connect is
spelled a special way it's KII-N-N-E-C-T and that's a whole
(31:44):
other story, but it is veryintentional from kinetic energy
and all of these things that Icame up with.
And I'm also on, you knowInstagram.
I just started a YouTubechannel.
I'm trying to get in with thetimes here.
I even started a TikTok.
I kind of need help.
Anyone's out there that canhelp me, please do.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
But yeah, all right, beautiful.
So check out Ashley's websiteand then from the website, what
do they do?
They just they can purchaseclasses there and there's a
contact if they want to reachout and ask you questions.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
There's a contact there.
There are.
There's a bunch of informationon there.
I am an open book, so if youever want to contact me with any
questions whatsoever, I really,really love chatting with
people, so and I can doone-on-ones.
If that's helpful for someoneto feel more comfortable, I can
even just hop on the phone andchat with you.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, ashley is to this physical exercise routine,
to mobility, to longevity, toall of this.
Her work, like as I am to mywork where I could just talk
about it all day long and nerdout on it all day long.
She answers every text rightaway and she like geeks out with
me on stuff in the class.
It's so fun to have you soconnected to the work right and
(32:54):
so accessible.
It's beautiful.
And then you should all knowthat Ash is going to come over
in two days from now and do aone-on-one private session with
me to help me get ready for twoweeks, two weeks on a road trip,
to understand how I can likework out on the road in a light,
easy way Cause I'm on a roadtrip just with me and my kids
and how to balance my body afterdriving all day and all that
good stuff.
So that I'm really excited forthat one-on-one with you.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah, and you inspired me to create a little
module for people traveling thissummer, so I that's what I've
been filming this week isamazing.
Yeah, so you can do it in ahotel room or wherever you are.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
That's awesome.
I learned so much from you.
Thank you so much, Ashley,everybody in contact Hopefully
I'll see you in her classes and,uh, we just so appreciate that
you took the time to share yourincredible wisdom and the gifts
that you're offering with all ofus today.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Okay, bye everybody.
If you like what you're hearingon the podcast, you got to come
and join us in the Bloom Room.
This is a year-round membershipwhere we take all of these
concepts and we apply them toreal life in a community where
(34:07):
we have each other's backs andwe bring out the best in each
other.
We're all there to make ourideas real, one idea at a time.
We'll see you in the bloom room.
Welcome to the Bloom your Mind Podcast, where we take
all of your ideas for what youwant and we turn them into real
things.
I'm your host, certified CoachMarie McDonald.
Let's get into it.
Well, hello everybody, andwelcome to episode number 133 of
(00:33):
the Bloom your Mind podcast.
Today I have a very specialguest.
Today I have with me AshleyAdam, who is an individual that
has changed my life over thelast six months and impacted our
family in such incredible waysthrough her instruction in
(00:54):
exercise and physical training.
And I'm going to talk a littlebit about that and let Ashley
introduce herself in a minute,but first I'm going to tell you
a little story.
But welcome, ashley.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I'm glad to be here.
So y'all, I have to do thisstory on the podcast about my
experience with my hip and how Ihad this injury.
That happened maybe almost ayear ago now, maybe 10 months
ago.
That really took me down for awhile.
I couldn't walk for multipledays.
I went in and sort of utilizeda regular traditional Western
medicine approach went in, gotsome x-rays and had really
(01:32):
frustrating responses.
So I got form emails, was toldto just medicate, basically, and
that it was only going to getworse over time.
So within all of that, Istarted going to seek some more
holistic practitioners to helpme with my hip and one of the
things we identified is that my20-year practice of really
(01:53):
strenuous hot yoga and sort oflike adult jungle gym yoga where
I was doing inversions and lotsof separate hip moves, was not
something that was available tome right now and was probably
exacerbating my hip.
So I switched over and one daymet Ashley at my friend's
birthday party and Ashleydescribed to me that she has a
(02:16):
history of teaching barre andthat she's really passionate
about bringing people back frominjury through her Pilates
practice and her fusion classes.
So I started becominginterested in this and I started
taking Ashley's classes.
Originally I went to a parkwhere she offers classes once a
week in San Diego in a park atan elementary school, which was
(02:38):
like so gorgeous and wonderfuland challenging.
The class itself was physicallychallenging, an amazing group
of people there, so fun.
And then I started taking hernew program that she rolled out
about five or six months ago.
That was every four or fivemornings and she's iterated on
that and so it's gone from everyfive mornings to every four
(03:01):
mornings and my husband startedcoming into that class with me.
Since I have taken that class Ifeel like physically I have
totally changed my body.
I also introduced two monthsago a blood sugar program which
I'm going to talk about in thenext episode.
So the combination of these twohave completely just changed my
(03:21):
life.
But these morning exerciseclasses with Ashley are so
amazing and I've talked beforeabout how my husband and I wake
up.
I do my little morning routine,then we sit and meditate
together with a candle and thenwe get ready and we do these
classes with Ashley together.
So it's not only changed my ownlife and my own physical
(03:41):
experience of my body and helpedme to heal, but also created
this beautiful space that Ishare with my husband that we
both love, and he's transforminghis body too.
So I am so excited to bringAshley to you for anybody that
is interested in this and I alsohave to share I don't know how
to share this in a humble way,because I'm not trying to toot
(04:02):
my own horn, but people who haveknown me for a while keep
saying what have you done toyour body?
What are you doing?
You look great, what are youdoing?
Right, and it feels so goodwhen people ask me that, but
every single person that asks meI'm like her name is Ashley.
That's what I'm doing, and so Iwanted to bring Ashley onto the
podcast because I just amexperiencing such an incredible
change in my own life.
(04:23):
So, ashley, please introduceyourself and tell everybody what
you do.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Hey.
Well, thank you so much forhaving me and thank you for that
beautiful story.
It always brings tears to myeyes to hear the changes that
people experience through thispractice, because that's how I
got started, basically wasexperiencing change, and I guess
what I would say like in anutshell if I were to choose one
(04:49):
sentence of what I do.
I say that I teach movementwith purpose.
So I don't like to say, oh, Iteach barre or I teach strength
training or, you know, I teachexercise, because that's not at
all what I'm trying to do.
It's obviously it's the vesselthat I am using, but I'm really
(05:11):
trying to teach people toconnect to their bodies and
connect to themselves throughmovement.
And that's why I chose the nameof my business as Connect
Fitness and the spelling is allfunny and I could go into a
whole story on that.
It was really fun to come upwith that, but the spelling is
very intentional for, like,kinetic energy and all of these
(05:32):
things.
But yeah, I'm really, really,really passionate about people
not just exercising but movingin their bodies and learning
about their bodies and, fromthere, really understanding what
they need in any given moment,knowing that, even if you're an
(05:53):
avid athlete, you're going tohave days that your body is
saying no and we're taught likeno pain, no gain, right, Like
that's the old school teachingsthat still prevail today in a
lot of different messaging inthe fitness world.
And as I got deeper and deeperinto the fitness world, I really
understood how that messagingis there.
And it's all about what yourbody looks like and it's all
(06:15):
about pushing harder and it'sall about your bikini body and
and for me, the metamorphosisthat I went through in my own
body and my own self and also inmy business, and in the way
that I went through in my ownbody and my own self and also in
my business and in the way thatI teach and what I offer, I
really started to notice howimportant it is for us to look
at this from like a whole, youknow, mind, body, soul,
(06:39):
standpoint.
As cliche as that sounds, it'slike it's so, so, so true and
it's it's so important.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
That's so good.
You know it's interesting thatthose very specific things that
you say I have to say the thing,aside from the actual content
and the accessibility of yourprogram and you know the we'll
talk a little bit about thelongevity research that you've
done and how, how that weavesinto your program those things
all are what make it work for me, because it pulls in strength
(07:08):
training and weights and itpulls in Pilates and Bard, pulls
in hit classes and cardio allthese things that I'm looking
for, that I don't have to lookanywhere, but it's a one-stop
shop, right.
So that is amazing and itreally works for Max night.
But the other couple of thingsthat are so special about your
classes from my point of vieware that they're really hard if
(07:30):
you want them to be, but you canalso scale them back and make
them super easy, like that's forme that they're hard, they're
challenging, um, but I reallyfeel like on a day when I'm
really tired, it's so easy toscale back.
But secondly, how there ismeditation and mindfulness mixed
in really helps again make it aone-stop shop.
We meditate at the beginningbefore we start the class, but
(07:53):
then you offer a meditation atthe end and it really gives us
that hit of stillness in our day.
But the biggest thing for me isthe clear level of mastery and I
don't even know if I've evertalked to you about this, but
that I feel when you're teaching, because I've the other day you
taught pigeon, which I havedone.
(08:16):
It's a it's a yoga pose that Ihave done for 25 years and the
way you articulated that posemade me get it after 25 years
and I feel that all the time inyour classes the way you
articulate things is so mucheasier to understand than most
teachers.
But also you have so muchawareness around alignment that
(08:39):
I feel safe in your hands.
I feel you pause yourself allthe time and make verbal
adjustments for alignment.
That helped me make sure I'mprotecting my body, my back
right or whatever part it is.
So that level of mastery justcreates I can relax in the
classes.
I'm not afraid I'm going tohurt myself.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I love that so much Cause that's that's literally my
passion, right, like makingsure that people are safe and
making sure that people haveoptions for any given day.
For those days that you need toback off, you know how to back
off.
For the days that you want topush harder, you know how to
push harder.
Safer, right.
And I mean I I blush when you,when you say mastery, cause I I
(09:24):
don't consider myself a master,but I very much am passionate
about always learning and always, you know, trying to deepen my
understanding, to be able todeepen my teachings to other
people.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
So yeah, Well, tell us a little bit about your
journey and how you got here.
We'd love to hear your story.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
It has been such a crazy journey.
It's been such an organicjourney, which has been really
beautiful.
If you would have told me,however, many years ago now,
before I got started, I startedtraining to be a bar teacher in
2008.
And if you would have told me,even just like six months before
that, that I would be, you know, teaching bar, let alone owning
(10:06):
a studio, let alone starting myown brand and doing all this
stuff, I would just would havebeen like what are you talking
about?
I'm even now, I'm a little bitnervous.
I'm a person that gets likenervous speaking in front of
people, even though I will teach.
You know, big classes, andthat's like where I feel the
most comfortable.
I would have never envisionedthat for myself before.
So, long story short, I, um, Istarted taking bar because, uh,
(10:32):
I was living up in San Franciscoat the time and a friend of
mine was telling me she thoughtI would really love this class
and, like anyone else, whensomeone tells you like to start
something new, it took me likethree months to take my first
class and then my first class in.
I absolutely loved it, um, andso I, um, I basically just
(10:52):
started taking bar.
I was I was a huge runner atthe time and I had been in a car
accident and all of thesethings compounded over time
where I ended up in my midtwenties not able to walk more
than like two blocks because myback was so bad.
And it was right as I was goinginto training to be a bar
(11:13):
teacher that this started toreally flare up.
And I had already been takingbar classes before that and like
my sole purpose for taking barwas to change my body.
I wanted, I wanted my body tolook different and that was the
only reason I was taking classwas to push hard and try to
change my body andsimultaneously my back starts
(11:33):
really flaring up.
I can't walk and I can't evenbe at social events without
seeking a chair when I firstwalk in the door to make sure
I'm going to be able to sit downafter five minutes, and I'm
sort of freaking out about this,but I was taking my bar
training through, luckily,through a company that really
cared about alignment and theywere teaching us about alignment
(11:55):
, and so I started taking thoseteachings into my personal
practice and really being likethe only person in class that
would back off of something andI would have to ask the
instructor what else can I do?
This isn't working for me.
My back is hurting, whereasbefore I would push harder and
just be like, oh, this hurts sobad and I would just keep doing
it Right.
And so, through that, I wish Iwould have chronicled, you know,
(12:17):
in a journal or something, howlong it took.
But I, I, I think, if I lookback, it was probably about
eight months of like reallybacking off of my practice and
coming from a place of like Idon't care what my body looks
like right now, I just want tobe able to walk, cause I'm in my
mid twenties and I can't walk.
And this is like really scary.
And that was when I reallyunderstood.
(12:40):
It was like eight months intoit.
All of a sudden my roommateasked if we wanted, if she, if I
wanted, to go for a walk withher, and I didn't even think
about it.
I said, yes, we went on thissuper long walk through San
Francisco and when we went toturn around, I had this moment
where I just like stopped andjust started crying and she was
like, what's going on?
And I was like, do youunderstand that?
(13:02):
We just went on a 45 minutewalk and I didn't even think
about it.
I just said yes to go walkingwith you, whereas before I'd be
like I can't go for a walk.
And we've walked for 45 minutesand I'm in no pain and I just
had this revelation of like ohmy gosh, my back is doing better
and I don't even you know.
I was going to a chiropractorand going to physical therapy,
(13:25):
but they even got to a placebefore this that they said they
recommended that I get surgery,that there was no other option.
They had done everything thatthey could.
I'd been seeing them for like ayear and it was so severe that
they were saying you might losecontrol of your bowel movements.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Oh my gosh Ashley yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, just freaking
out.
So I even scheduled anappointment with a surgeon and
when I walked out of thatappointment, I had this moment
of like I haven't done enough, Ihaven't tried enough things to
avoid surgery.
I want surgery to be the very,very last thing that I do and I
want to be able to tell myself Itried everything else and this
(14:05):
is the only solution is I dohave to get surgery.
So, you know, flash forward tothis walk, all of that had
happened previously, you know,and all I had done, really like
I still was going to see thischiropractor, even though I
wasn't getting much relief fromthem.
But really, I think thedifference was me backing off of
my, of my practice which issuch a funny thing to say.
(14:27):
Right, I was going veryconsistently, but I wasn't
pushing myself, I was all aboutjust staying in my body and
listening.
The minute I felt pain, I wouldstop, I would adjust, do
something else, take a break,whatever.
And so for me, it was thisrevelation of like, not only
changing what I was physicallydoing, of like, not only
(14:51):
changing what I was physicallydoing, but changing my mindset
from trying to change my body,to trying to heal my body and
trying to listen to my body.
That changed everything for meand, honestly, that is when my
body changed.
Also, that is like you weresaying everyone started
commenting about my posture.
They were commenting about howmy body looked and just like, oh
my gosh, what are you doing?
What are you doing?
You know?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, and for me it was like I'm just trying to like
be able to walk.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I was trying to be able to walk again.
It's wild, the similarities inthe story, Cause I couldn't walk
and I one day just stopped.
I was trying to take a walkwith my husband and broke down
in tears because I was limpingin the first two blocks and I'm
like I'm in my mid forties andthis they're telling me this is
the rest of my life and it'sonly going to get worse and I
have an eight year old and a 12year old.
(15:39):
This is going to be my life.
It was so sad and it's just sostriking how sometimes the body
talks to us in that way, Likeyou're just going about it wrong
, If you'll listen.
Like I feel like my hip turnedinto a great teacher for me.
I'm pushing too hard in theseother ways and I need to back
(16:00):
off.
Similarly, 100% listen so good.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Yeah, and that's the journey that I went on.
And then, of course, thatopened up this whole new world
to me of connection andconnecting to my body, but also
connecting to my thoughts andconnecting to slowing down and
really seeing the value in that.
And then, as that opened up, Istarted diving more and more
(16:27):
into meditation and morespiritual stuff that I had never
done before and I can say now,because I'm so deep into this
now, that I am a deeply, deeplyspiritual person and I would
have you know, I never knew thatbefore.
And so it just opened up thiswhole new space for me that just
(16:47):
got better and better andbetter and better.
And so then of course, I wasjust obsessed with it and like,
oh my God, I need to share thiswith people.
You know, I was like in a wholeother world.
I was working for a nonprofit inSan Francisco and I decided to
open up my own studio.
And I grew up in San Diego andat the time there were so many
bar studios up in San Franciscoso it was sort of a bad business
(17:09):
decision to open up a studiothere, and I was ready for a
change too, and so I moved backto San Diego to open my bar
studio and, as the story goesfor many small businesses, covid
hit.
I was almost 10 years intobusiness when COVID hit.
I had just opened up a secondstudio and just had my baby and
(17:31):
we were about to hit our yearanniversary in that studio and
COVID hit.
And so it was downtown in umlittle Italy area, like just
outside little Italy.
Yeah, so I did what so manyfitness professionals did
overnight.
Okay, we're just.
You know, we thought it wasjust going to close for two
(17:53):
weeks.
We're going to be closed fortwo weeks.
So I'm going to figure this outand hop on zoom.
I've never I don't think I hadever been on zoom before, even
for like a call for someone elseand let alone teach online.
And I was just like I'm goingto hate this.
I have no idea what I'm doing.
It's going to be souncomfortable.
I was in my living room shovingcoffee table to the side.
(18:13):
My kids were crawling all overme, you know, and I just said to
my students we're just, we'regoing to do this together.
And we did, and it was easierthan I thought.
I liked it so much more than Ithought.
And as COVID went on and on andon and on.
I really felt called to all ofthe messages I was getting from
people of how I was just keepingthem going and offering again
(18:37):
not just exercise but a removalfrom what was going on and a
release.
And then I started adding moreand more mindfulness into it and
when I finally decided to letgo of my physical space because
I was one of those people thatwas like I'm going to, you know,
I'm going to get through this,I'm going to go back to my
studio.
(18:58):
But when I realized that it wasgoing to be a lot longer than I
thought and I would have to gointo a lot more debt than I was
already in from all the you know, I was just like I can't, I
can't keep this going Cause Idon't know how how much longer
it's going to go.
So I decided to rebrand andstart a virtual business and a
(19:19):
park.
You know I was.
I had started teaching in thepark late through the quarantine
and realized, oh my goodness,how much I love that being out
in nature.
Amazing, yeah, oh my gosh, thetwo of those things together,
class and nature it just itreally opened up my soul in a
different way.
So I created this model, wherenow I'm a virtual business and
(19:43):
outdoors in San Diego, which wassomething, again that I would
have never thought yeah, I wouldhave thought I'd be outside of
the studio.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
So who are your programs for now?
Who would you say is a greatcandidate for coming to you and
taking your online programs?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I mean honestly, I am creating this for everyone.
And my hope is that every singleperson could take my class and
get something out of it and feelcomfortable and get results.
That is, you know, when youtake a marketing business class,
they tell you, no, you gotta,you gotta think of one specific
(20:21):
person, right, and, like you,even think about the clothes
that they wear and all of thesethings.
And it's like this very niche,niche, niche thing that's always
been so hard for me, because II want this to be available to
everybody.
I want it to be, you know, forpeople who haven't exercised a
day in their life, or haven'texercised in a really long time,
or coming back from a reallysevere injury.
(20:42):
Um, I want it to be for theavid athletes, you know, and so
I want it to be for couples, Iwant it to be for men and women.
And that's really where I comefrom, at the detriment of some
of my marketing coaches that Ihave Like no, no, no, you have
to pick one person.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I was just telling you the other day that I think
you should market to couples.
But then here I am sending, Isend your information to
everybody.
I love it for myself and I'mathletic right, I'm recovering
from an injury, but I'm strongand have done really challenging
athletic stuff and I'm 5'1 andfemale and my husband is 6'2 and
(21:21):
a hundred pounds more than me,right, and loves it.
So it's hard to describe topeople.
It's, yes, bonding for both ofus, but really good physically
for both of us too.
And when I tried to describeyour class the other day to
somebody, she said, oh, that'sso cute that your husband's
doing bar stuff.
And I was like, oh, I'mdefinitely not describing it
right Because, yeah, there's barmoves in there, but it does not
(21:43):
feel like a bar class.
There's HIIT, there's strengthtraining, there's weightlifting,
there's stretching.
It's just it's for everybody.
And it's really amazing to methat within one class, you can
actually create a space whereI'm like, oh yeah, my parents in
their seventies could do thisand I sent them all the
information, but also I can dothis and someone that's more
(22:06):
athletic than me can do this.
It's just really cool how youcreate such an inclusive model
for each class where you candial it up and dial it down.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, yeah, because that's important not only for
people of different ages ordifferent backgrounds, but it's
important for every singleperson on any given day, right?
I say in my class, like everyday, your body is so different
depending on what you ate, whatyou drank, what you didn't eat,
what you didn't drink, dependingon what's going on emotionally
in your body, and we're nottaught this.
We're taught to have thisregimen, that you do the same
(22:37):
thing every day and you push ashard as you can on those days,
and that's the only way you getresults.
And it's not at all like.
Once we start connecting toourselves, that's really when
the results start compounding onthemselves, and you really I
mean, you know, as we've talkedabout, that was when I
experienced the biggest changesin my physical appearance, was
(22:57):
when I wasn't even thinkingabout my physical appearance.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
And I'm learning in the blood sugar program how
aligned all the research is withthat as well.
Right, like your sleep and yourblood sugar levels and your
body stress level, if you pushreally hard on the days when
you're stressed, it's not goingto be helpful.
You're going to spike yourcortisol levels and the workout
is going to be counter umproductive for your right,
exactly.
The thing that I'm interestedin is that, um, I know you did a
whole bunch of longevityresearch in order to come up
(23:30):
with your new kind of system ofclasses that Max and I have been
doing the last five months orso.
What is there anything that uhwas like really surprising to
you in your longevity research?
Um, or is there anything youwant to share with people?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Yeah, I mean I would say longevity is like all the
rage right now, which is awesome, right.
So there's there's a lot ofinformation out there, and I
think that was part of what Iwas trying to do was to, um, get
through all that informationand come up with something very
concrete for people to follow,because it can be so
overwhelming right, I mean, itwas so overwhelming for me even
(24:06):
in my research of just like, oh,my goodness, I mean you should
see all the notes that I haveand trying to like figure out
how to put this into a program.
But basically, like, one of thebiggest surprises for me was
finding out that like hit typecardio is so much more
beneficial for our heart healththan just like pushing super
(24:26):
hard for like a really long time.
And and research shows thatlike just four minutes of hit a
day can impact your heart health.
And for me, that was massive,because I'm like, okay, this is
great because for people who arejust feeling really overwhelmed
by cardio or really overwhelmedby a longer hit class, they can
(24:48):
build up to longer versions byjust doing four minutes a day
while simultaneously increasingtheir heart health and their
capacity and their VO2 max andall of these things right that
are so important health andtheir capacity and their VO2 max
and all of these things rightthat are so important.
So, really changing my modelfrom, like my cardio classes
have always been 45 minutes andlike it was hit-ish because, of
(25:11):
course, you can't just like pushas hard as you can for 45
minutes I would have thesemoments where we would stop.
But after researching I reallyrealized, okay, no, we really
should go on this, like 40seconds on, 20 seconds off, and
there's different varieties ofthat.
You could do 30 seconds, 30seconds, whatever you know 45,
15, but really 40, 20 is areally great model.
(25:31):
And having that 20 seconds oflike rest for a minute and then
hitting it again, like that isbest for your heart on so many
different levels.
And so for me, changing like mywhole way of teaching cardio
was was, yeah, that wassurprising of like okay, I need
to change this actually.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And it also echoes the whole through line that
we've been talking about, whichis like you don't have to, you
get to rest, you have an inhaleand an exhale, right.
So the effort in, in, and thenyou break for a minute and
that's actually better for yourbody than pushing, pushing,
pushing without breaking.
Totally yeah, pretty adverse.
That's amazing, okay, so theother thing that I love is that
I love that I can go to the parkand take your program once a
(26:14):
week, although I haven't beenthere in a while for my schedule
, for my schedule but I lovethat you teach a live class once
a week so that I can see you,right, have that connection.
And then, once a month you'vebeen doing a series of live
classes for a week, so I get tosee you every morning and we do
it at 6 AM, but also any morning.
(26:35):
I can't make it when you'redoing a live, it's just
immediately recorded and I cando it later.
And then you have this massivelibrary of resources.
So most people, I think, don'tdo your classes live.
They do them whenever they want, right, and you have hundreds
of videos, but you also have acouple.
Um, what I like?
I get overwhelmed by like 200videos make your own when I
(26:56):
don't know what I'm doing.
So I just do the ones that youput together and I just follow
that, and Max and I follow itevery month, but you vary it
month to month.
It's like the perfect thing tocreate consistency but keep it
fresh.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
So I love that.
Oh good, I'm glad.
Yeah, that was my whole pointof this new program that I
created.
It's called connect.
Well, you saw the metamorphosisof that too.
I first started out doing fivedays and then I always.
I'm really really major onfeedback, as you know, we're
like texting all the time andand I do this with a lot of my
(27:29):
students and my students haveknow that about me now, so
they're not afraid to send mefeedback, you know, over a text
or email or whatever, even phonecalls sometimes, because I love
that and that's what helps meteach better and figure out what
programs are working for people.
And a lot of people told me,you know, five days is is like a
little much for me on someweeks and and so what should I
(27:50):
do if I'm not doing five days?
Some people wanted more, right?
So I decided to create theConnect Four program and I liked
the little play on words foranybody that remembers that game
.
But um, it's, it's based off ofall of my, my longevity stuff
and just so that you can geteverything you need in four days
and 45 minutes a day and thengreat.
(28:13):
If you want to do more, I haverecommendations for what you
should add on, and if you don't,then you have completed it in
these four days and it's, youknow.
Strength, your strengthtraining, your heavy lifting, um
your cardio and like mobilitytype stuff.
Mobility can sometimes soundgeriatric, but um, it is so
vital for us, right Um at anyage, to be doing movement, that
(28:37):
um supports our joints andsupports movement in our lives.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Mobility.
One's my favorite out of all ofthem.
I love it.
I feel like it's one of theharder ones too.
I think it's so fun.
I love it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
So I also want to say that forMax and I, we love the four days
, and then on day five we take alike hour long brisk walk
around the neighborhood, and sowe just vary it that way.
It's so nice, yeah.
And I also wanted to share withyou.
I'm going to ask you to justlike a couple more questions to
(29:05):
wrap up, just if there'sanything else you want everybody
to know.
And then I'll also ask um, howcan people connect to you?
How can they find you?
And, of course, everybody willput Ashley's information in the
show notes, so you can just goto the show notes and find her
there, but she'll say it here.
But I did want to tell you,ashley, that you have also not
only does Ashley's likebackground for her videos, it's
(29:26):
like the most beautiful I wantto say glamorous, but it's like
it's just delightful to look at.
It's all white in her studio,but there's a giant disco ball
in the background and it's sofun.
We love the background.
It's so fun.
You're always wearing somebeautiful workout outfit that
like sets you apart from thebackground.
You're super easy to follow.
But you also have a signaturelaugh that you do in videos.
(29:50):
You do and Max and I love itand it just makes us like
delighted, it brings us likespark of joy.
So we're not only getting anawesome workout, like we feel
safe, but we like giggle withyou.
You know you keep you throw ina laugh, you make yourself laugh
during the class.
Oh my God, I love that.
And it's so.
It's such a nice balance oflike hey, this is important, but
(30:12):
not serious.
We're just not taking ourselvestoo seriously.
The whole setup that you haveis so wonderful, so thank you so
much for what you do.
Thank you for the impact you'vehad on our lives.
It's so big.
Finding you is so special andimportant to our family and so
I'm so grateful.
I hope so many people find you,that hear about you and how can
(30:35):
they find you speaking of yeah,Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
So I'll say that in a second, just because I wanted
to say how much I love that youbrought that up, because that is
all of my people know this,that I do not take myself or
life too seriously, or theseworkouts.
You know, I, as much as I'mhere to like really try to tell
you to honor yourself.
I also, joy is so important inour lives, right and especially
(31:00):
right now, and so I, even, youknow, during COVID days, and
sometimes even still, my, mykids will pop into the class.
I let it happen.
My dog comes in sometimes andI'm all about just real life
situations and just bringing joy.
And we, as you know, I cuedance parties all the time in
our class.
You, if you, want to break outand dance, uh, because I think
(31:24):
we need that more and more andmore and more.
So the place to find me, mywebsite, uh, so the name of the
business is connect fitness andthe website is connect with
uscom and um, as I wasmentioning earlier, connect is
spelled a special way it's KII-N-N-E-C-T and that's a whole
(31:44):
other story, but it is veryintentional from kinetic energy
and all of these things that Icame up with.
And I'm also on, you knowInstagram.
I just started a YouTubechannel.
I'm trying to get in with thetimes here.
I even started a TikTok.
I kind of need help.
Anyone's out there that canhelp me, please do.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
But yeah, all right, beautiful.
So check out Ashley's websiteand then from the website, what
do they do?
They just they can purchaseclasses there and there's a
contact if they want to reachout and ask you questions.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
There's a contact there.
There are.
There's a bunch of informationon there.
I am an open book, so if youever want to contact me with any
questions whatsoever, I really,really love chatting with
people, so and I can doone-on-ones.
If that's helpful for someoneto feel more comfortable, I can
even just hop on the phone andchat with you.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, ashley is to this physical exercise routine,
to mobility, to longevity, toall of this.
Her work, like as I am to mywork where I could just talk
about it all day long and nerdout on it all day long.
She answers every text rightaway and she like geeks out with
me on stuff in the class.
It's so fun to have you soconnected to the work right and
(32:54):
so accessible.
It's beautiful.
And then you should all knowthat Ash is going to come over
in two days from now and do aone-on-one private session with
me to help me get ready for twoweeks, two weeks on a road trip,
to understand how I can likework out on the road in a light,
easy way Cause I'm on a roadtrip just with me and my kids
and how to balance my body afterdriving all day and all that
good stuff.
So that I'm really excited forthat one-on-one with you.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah, and you inspired me to create a little
module for people traveling thissummer, so I that's what I've
been filming this week isamazing.
Yeah, so you can do it in ahotel room or wherever you are.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
That's awesome.
I learned so much from you.
Thank you so much, Ashley,everybody in contact Hopefully
I'll see you in her classes and,uh, we just so appreciate that
you took the time to share yourincredible wisdom and the gifts
that you're offering with all ofus today.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Okay, bye everybody.
If you like what you're hearingon the podcast, you got to come
and join us in the Bloom Room.
This is a year-round membershipwhere we take all of these
concepts and we apply them toreal life in a community where
(34:07):
we have each other's backs andwe bring out the best in each
other.
We're all there to make ourideas real, one idea at a time.
We'll see you in the bloom room.
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