January 6, 2025 • 28 mins
What if the key to transformation isn't about chasing resolutions but cultivating presence? As we embark on Season 2 of the Heart of Motion Podcast, I share how the power of presence and mindfulness can break the cycle of failed New Year's resolutions, bringing balance to our physical, emotional, and spiritual lives. By acknowledging where we stand at any given moment—be it energized or stressed—we can harmonize our actions with our true selves. Through personal stories and reflections, I highlight the profound impact that embracing presence has had on my journey, particularly in overcoming movement-related challenges. Discover how mindfulness and embodiment can reduce anxiety, improve emotional regulation, and enhance cognitive abilities.
Join me on a journey of self-discovery that moves beyond rigid protocols toward a more creative, joyful approach to life and movement. By celebrating small wins, and making a consistent practice of tuning into our body's signals, we pave the way for authentic transformation. Presence isn't just a tool for athletes—it's a skill that can transform our daily lives, offering freedom, joy, and a deeper connection to ourselves and others. Let's explore how everything we need for transformation is already within us, waiting to be unlocked. Happy New Year, and here's to a more mindful and connected journey ahead.
Heart of Motion Podcast host Susannah Steers is a Pilates & Integrated Movement Specialist and owner of Moving Spirit Pilates in North Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about movement, about connections and about life.
Through movement teaching, speaking, and facilitating workshops, she supports people in creating movement practices that promote fitness from the inside out. She loves building community, and participating in multi-disciplinary collaborations.
Along with her friend and colleague Gillian McCormick, Susannah also co-hosts The Small Conversations for a Better World podcast – an interview based podcast dedicated to promoting the kind of conversations about health that can spark positive change in individuals, families, communities and across the globe.
Social Media Links:
Moving Spirit Pilates Instagram
Moving Spirit Pilates Facebook
Susannah Steers Instagram
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Susannah Steers (00:00):
Welcome to the Heart of Motion Podcast.
I'm Susannah Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
It is a brand new year.
Welcome to Season 2 of theHeart of Motion Podcast.
(00:23):
I am so happy you're joining mehere today.
This time of year I see peoplearound me creating all kinds of
resolutions about the waythey're going to change their
lives for the better, startingnow New diets and exercise
routines, new financial plans.
You know the drill.
Sometimes people makeresolutions because they've just
(00:44):
had a week or two or maybe amonth of excess around the
holidays and something's got tochange.
Maybe it's just that the end ofthe year is kind of a benchmark
.
It's a natural place to kind oflook back and reflect at what
we did and didn't do and decidewhere we want to do things
differently going forward.
But I also find it interestingthat about 23% of all adults who
(01:08):
make a resolution will haveabandoned it by Quitter's Day.
Did you know that was a thing?
The second Friday in January,by the end of the month, that
number goes up to 43%, with allthe resolution making and
breaking, it's clear thatthere's a group of us who want
something to be different, butdespite our best intentions,
(01:31):
those resolutions don't seem tobe very effective ways to
promote change.
There's something attractiveabout an instant transformation,
though, isn't there?
Wouldn't it be great to simplymake a decision and have that be
the end of it?
We have what we want.
We've changed.
Most of us know intuitivelythat it isn't that easy, but I
(01:51):
think the thing to remember isthat the goal, whatever that is,
is not really the thing thatwill make things different.
It's actually who we become inthe pursuit of that goal.
So today I want to talk aboutsomething that I think can make
a difference in how we are, howwe live and maybe how we show up
(02:12):
in the world.
It's my antidote to theepidemic of transformational
change strategies I seeeverywhere this time of year,
but all the time.
I'm so tired of the constantpressure to be more this, to be
less that, to be betteroptimized and more organized, to
be whatever.
I mean.
Whose metrics are those anyway?
(02:32):
What if we didn't have to makebig changes?
What if we could simply becomemore present to what is?
What if everything we need isalready available to us within
us.
It's something I've beenthinking a lot about lately, and
it's presence.
It's a pretty simple concept.
It requires no equipment, youdon't have to spend a dime, you
(02:56):
can do it wherever you are,anytime of the day or night, and
the more you practice it, thebetter you get.
At its simplest, presence isreally just the state of being
in the moment.
In my head, it's about beingfully and completely in the now
Physically, mentally,emotionally and spiritually too.
You're all in right now.
(03:19):
People talk a lot aboutmindfulness these days.
You'll find tons of apps andvideos that can help us calm our
squirrelly active minds,regulate our heartbeats and our
breathing and basically bring usback to ourselves.
Quite often, though, once we'reunleashed back into the world
out of that moment and thestresses and pressures and
outside distractions descend onus, we drop back into a reactive
(03:43):
state where that squirrel brainramps right up again and we're
spinning.
It's hard to stay true to anykind of inner vision against the
force of all that outsidepressure.
I don't know about you, butwhen that happens for me, I feel
less grounded, less focused,more apt to make rash decisions,
or I tune out, or, on the otherside, I tend to push my body
(04:06):
too hard when I'm just not up tothe task.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere information overload is
the norm.
Our attention is constantlybeing pulled in a million
different directions and ournervous systems are stressed in
ways that our biology is notreally equipped to deal with
easily.
Presence, mindfulness andembodiment all give us an
(04:29):
opportunity to shift that script.
I think of these words all asdifferent facets of the same
thing In my mind.
Presence integrates the idea ofmindfulness and the notion of
embodiment into a state of beingthat brings all the parts of us
into harmony.
Right now, research shows thatmindfulness and presence can
(04:51):
have some powerful positiveeffects on our physiology.
There are mental healthbenefits like reduction in
anxiety and depression, betteremotional regulation and less
ruminating thoughts.
There are actually neurologicalchanges that support these
improvements in the brain.
There are changes in theamygdala, which is the brain's
fear and stress center.
(05:12):
Imagine being able to look intothe world through a lens that
isn't already clouded with toomany emotional preconceptions
and excess lizard brainshenanigans.
You can think better too.
Research shows better cognitivefunction in people who practice
mindfulness.
Your attention improves and youcan focus more.
You're able to think morecreatively and adapt to new
(05:34):
situations better, and yourworking memory gets better.
Working memory is thatshort-term memory that stores
information temporarily whileyou're doing cognitive tasks
like comprehension, problemsolving, reasoning and learning.
According to the data, movementand physical health also
improve the more we can bepresent.
Blood pressure gets lower,sleep improves and people
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experience less chronic pain, aswell as immune function
improvement, and it just feelsgood too.
You feel less stress, you'rehappier, and the research
indicates that people seem tohave a better capacity for
self-insight and a greater senseof purpose.
How they are in the worldstarts to shift in some pretty
(06:20):
powerful ways.
But how does any of this beingpresent business relate to
movement, to fitness andwellness?
Maybe this stuff just soundslike so much woo.
I mean, how do you get anythingdone with all that being in the
moment stuff?
Well, I'd like to share withyou a little personal experience
.
Before the pandemic, I hadseveral years of increasing
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challenges with my own body andmovement.
Despite spending tons of timeand money trying to sort things
out with various medicalpractitioners and experts,
movement was becoming more andmore difficult and less and less
comfortable.
For someone who has earned aliving and found great
fulfillment in movement over alifetime.
(07:01):
I was not okay with this on anylevel.
Over a lifetime.
I was not okay with this on anylevel.
I kept searching for answers.
I just wasn't finding anysolutions that would move the
needle in the direction I wantedto go.
In the fall of 2019, I got somex-rays that showed that I had,
sometime in my checkered past,fractured several vertebrae in
(07:26):
my spine.
Weird that I didn't know that,but when I think back, there
were maybe some intense momentsthat might have been to blame,
or maybe I was born that way,and then life and pregnancy and
constant drive started to weardown my ability to manage load
on these compromised bones.
I will likely never know.
But now, with that little x-raydiagnosis, I felt like I had
something I could sink my teethinto.
This was a problem I could getmy head around.
(07:47):
I was certain that this newpiece of information would help
me shift things, so I made myplans and got to work.
Sadly, things just kept gettingworse.
The fractured vertebrae werejust another piece of the puzzle
.
And as I was still searching,it took the wise words of a dear
friend and movementpractitioner to wake me up.
(08:08):
She said something like, andshe was more poetic than this,
but it was something like youhave everything you need inside
of you.
Your urgency around this ismaking it worse.
I heard her, but I didn'treally know what to do with it.
And then the pandemic hit, ashappened for so many people.
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My business was in tatters, noincome to speak of, and the
stress was through the roof.
I couldn't see any of thepractitioners I'd been relying
on to keep me moving and I quiteliterally fell apart.
I was well and truly broken injust about every possible way.
I felt like a complete fraud.
How could I possibly leadpeople in finding their way back
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to movement when I couldn't dothat for myself?
They say that necessity is themother of invention.
I was not okay with the declineI was experiencing and, despite
promising protocols thatpromised some kind of relief, no
one seemed to be able to helpme.
I had, over the years,consulted experts in fitness in
(09:11):
movement, physiotherapy,osteopathy, orthopedics,
neurology, acupuncture,menopause, mental health and
more.
Acupuncture, menopause, mentalhealth and more.
I had gone down deep rabbitholes, taking extensive
continuing education courses tolearn more about all kinds of
movement and body-related things, always in search of more
knowledge so I could figure thispuzzle out.
I saw some incredibly gifted,knowledgeable and experienced
(09:35):
people, and each one seemed tohave a small piece of something
that created a glimmer ofunderstanding and a short-term
shift, but nothing thatsupported any real, meaningful,
sustainable change.
Well, when I finally hit thatwall, I realized that all this
information was great, that Iwas the common denominator.
(09:56):
I was the only one who couldput the knowledge I had gleaned
into context inside of me.
I didn't need more of anything.
Maybe I just needed a deeperawareness of what was going on
inside me and how all thesepieces fit together.
That mean I had to let go andlearn, with no push, no heavy
drive, no grand plan, except tobe with whatever I found.
(10:21):
I needed to do that tounderstand it, and it was
terrifying.
I felt like I was in free fall,things being what they were.
I didn't feel like I had muchof a choice, though, so I let go
of all the things I wassupposed to do.
I stopped doing the things thatwere supposed to be good for me
but left me feeling terrible.
I decided I would do the smallthings I was capable of, no
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matter how tiny andinsignificant they felt, and pay
attention.
I would start exactly where Iwas and do only the things that
felt right, and most of the timeI didn't know what right was
until I tried it.
It was an exercise in deeppresence.
I walked my neighborhood withmy dog and started swimming
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again.
I am someone who will always upthe bar whenever I have the
chance, so I made a promise tomyself.
The only imperative in all thiswas that I had to show up and
stay curious.
If I went for a walk and couldonly go a few blocks, that was
okay.
I had to listen and hear whatmy body was telling me.
What is available for me today,what is possible.
(11:28):
Some days it wasn't much.
Other days I surprised myself.
On those days I had to takecare that in my excitement, my
performance goals didn'toverride that inner wisdom.
I rested when I was tired.
This went on for months withoutfeeling a whole lot of progress,
but for the first time in awhile I wasn't getting worse,
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and that was new.
So I kept doing it.
I learned that when I broughtmy awareness to the moment, to
what was truly happening in realtime in my body, in my mind and
in my emotions, I could beginto choose the kind of movement,
the intensity, the flow and eventhe level of rest I needed to
nourish my progress.
It brought me face to face withoutdated ideas, beliefs and old
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stories that no longer servedme outdated ideas, beliefs and
old stories that no longerserved me.
It showed me the things that Ihad been chasing that were
really not aligned with what Ineeded and not only wasted my
time but actually got in the wayof my progress.
I began to see habits in mythinking and behavior that
really weren't working for me.
This process of being presentwas self-care at a level that I
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had never experienced.
Now I'm still on this path.
I'm by no means an expert, butI am a convert.
No more miracle protocols forme, no more shortcuts.
I've always been aboutfundamentals anyway, and now I
am more committed to presenceover protocol than ever.
I have a renewed enjoyment increative pursuits, good books
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and play.
My body feels better than ithas in years and I'm getting
stronger again.
Finding presence was somethingI did because I had no other
choice, but it has undoubtedlychanged my life for the better.
So that's my recent healingjourney.
Maybe it's relatable, maybe it'snot, but it showed me pretty
clearly that all the variousparts of our bodies and minds
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are connected in complex andinterrelated webs within us and
we move through our lives inrelationship to everything and
everyone around us.
To be in an authentic andconnected relationship with
anything where needs are met andsupport happens in the right
places at the right time, weneed to be real, and we can't be
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real unless we're payingattention and embracing
everything the good, the bad andthe ugly, the light and the
dark.
So here's where I want to bringit back to the idea that
everything is connected.
Our physiology is intimatelyconnected to all those things we
do and feel Heart rate,circulation, nervous system,
balance, muscle tone, mobilityall these things are influenced
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by what's going on for us,whether we acknowledge it or not
.
If we have unresolved stuffgoing on that we've stuffed away
, it can affect how we move.
If we're overwhelmed alreadyand trying to throw more at our
bodies, things can gopear-shaped pretty quickly.
And if, absent of any kind ofmedical issue, you cannot seem
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to motivate yourself to any kindof movement.
Maybe it's not that you're lazy, maybe there's something else
going on.
The only way to unpack any ofthis is to become aware of it,
to reserve judgment, to put awayyour stories, invite curiosity
and simply observe that rightthere is presence.
(14:54):
And here's the beautiful thing.
A movement practice can be abeautiful place to explore
presence in a really gentle way,a little starter pack if you
will.
With practice you can dive inas deep as you're interested in
going, and movement with all itsconnections to our bodies and
minds offers a great way to getgoing.
(15:17):
Working with clients in thePilates studio, I see a lot of
folks who come in with a superdefined idea of exactly what
they want to achieve in theirbodies and in their movement and
how they want to get there.
They move through theirprograms with purpose and focus,
but always inside the contextof what they already know about
their own bodies.
This was me for a long time.
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I would only acknowledge whatwas going on for me in the
moment if it wasn't going toslow me down.
Otherwise I would quiteliterally tell inner me to shut
up and get out of the way.
Now this perspective can getdarn good results for a long
time and you can see that in thepopularity of the boot campy
take no prisoners.
Pain is weakness, leaving thebody kind of fitness programs
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all around us.
They serve a purpose, but theydon't leave much room for
learning new ways of being andnew ways of doing in the body.
So as we grow and change ashumans and different things
happen for us and around us inour lives, this approach can't
always give us what we need.
What I've learned is that,unless we're in that top
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percentage of elite athletics,it's not so much the specific
activities that we do but thethings we learn about ourselves
and our relationships withourselves, our activities and
life in general that createlasting change.
The journey is the destination.
The sparkly winds we mayachieve along the way are just
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dressing on the cake to keep usmotivated.
So what might it look like inpractice?
This being present thing, I'mgoing to relate it to a Pilates
practice.
But you could take it to thegym or on a run or out on a ride
on your bike if you want.
But you could take it to thegym or on a run or out on a ride
on your bike if you want.
It could be as simple as thiswhen you show up for a workout,
take a minute before you startto tune into how you are right
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now.
Are you feeling energized,enthusiastic, relaxed, tired,
stressed, in pain or are yougrief-stricken?
None of those things in and ofthemselves would necessarily
dictate whether you worked outor not, but acknowledging the
state you're in when you arrivemight inform things about your
workout, like the level ofintensity or the kind of work
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you're going to do that day.
What's going on in the room?
Can you bring your attention toyour own body, to your own work
or play?
You may not be able to becompletely present, but when you
notice your attention iselsewhere, do what you can to
bring it back to you.
In this moment and this one, doyou feel your body warming up
to the task, getting lubricated,waking up, finding harmony and
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flow, or is it a slog, with youfeeling less good as you go?
Can you actually feel your bodyor is your mind running the
show?
The idea isn't just to stickwith easy, but really to feel
into how your body is managingwhat you're doing and staying
curious so you can choose whatyou need in the moment.
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If something you're doingdoesn't feel right, ask yourself
what might feel better.
Is there something else yourbody needs?
What could you do that mightsupport you differently?
Could you try going faster,slower?
Perhaps you want lighterweights or heavier ones.
Maybe you want extension beforeyou do flexion.
Maybe you'd like to startseated or standing instead of
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supine.
What if you tried it upsidedown or backwards?
The possibilities are limitedonly by your imagination.
And it's not about the novelty,though.
It's just about payingattention to what you're feeling
and exploring options in thatmoment.
Sometimes that's doingsomething new.
Sometimes it's about leaninginto work you already know and
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finding the ground through that.
The more you practice this way,the easier it gets, until it's
just a part of what you do.
Gradually, you'll find thatyour grocery list stays at the
gym door.
I'm amazed at how often I seepeople coming into the studio
looking frazzled and stressed.
I wasn't sure I was going tomake it today.
They say my team purposefullyputs some kind of breath or
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embodiment activity at thebeginning of every program, just
to help people drop in.
As they breathe and attend tohow they feel and what they're
working on, the studio, chatterbegins to subside, we see the
stress levels drop and we watchpeople's bodies become more
integrated and coordinated.
By the time they're done,they're feeling much better.
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It can be like a movingmeditation, whether you're going
full out or taking it easy Ifyou're a competitive athlete,
you might be thinking that thisapproach contradicts the kind of
structured training plan thatyou're used to.
Your training plan is designedto get you from now to the date
of your competition in a waythat will have you strong and
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ready to peak at just the rightmoment.
You want to be efficient andeffective with each training
session.
You know that the only way toget better is to work through
hard things.
You're used to pushing yourselfand your boundaries, and there
is nothing easy about that, andI want you to remember that you
are not the thing you do.
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Even though your sport orathletic pursuit may feel as
important to you as breathingright now, there is some part of
you that is not about thatthing you love to do, and that
part is what runs in thebackground and supports the
thing you do, so you ignore itat your own risk.
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Perhaps the key is in findingways to set goals with
compassion for ourselves.
Balancing goal setting whilerespecting our current
limitations is a delicateprocess that requires
self-awareness, compassion andsome strategic planning.
If you're working on a trainingschedule, here's a way to
explore things Using mindfulness, presence and self-reflection.
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Bring awareness to your ownstrengths, your weaknesses and
personal boundaries with respectto your chosen goal.
Now, no judgment here.
This is just where you are now.
Can you see any gaps betweenwhere you are and where you want
to go?
Look at weaknesses and gapssimply as current limitations,
not as immutable characteristics.
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It's all part of being here now.
Things will likely be differenttomorrow.
Set your goals.
Athletes are pretty used tosetting specific, measurable
goals with timelines attached.
Make sure your goals arerealistic given your current
situation.
Timelines attached.
Make sure your goals arerealistic given your current
situation.
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I once had someone come in andask me if I could help her get
ready for a heli-skiing trip insix weeks.
I hadn't met her in person yetand I allowed as how it would
depend to some degree on hercurrent level of fitness, but
that I would do my best.
When she came in for a sessionI realized that heli-skiing was,
for her at that moment, apretty unrealistic expectation
based on the fact that she washaving trouble simply navigating
the stairs in her home withoutdysfunction and pain in her
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knees.
We could have worked towardheli-skiing next season or to
skiing bunny runs morecomfortably in a few weeks, but
the gap was just too big for aheli-skiing trip in six weeks.
It's important to find a middleground between pushing yourself
and being kind to yourself, andI mean that gently.
I think you always need to bekind to yourself.
This is a tricky one In ourwork together.
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Renowned sports psychologist, drSaul Miller, once asked me,
susanna, what do you do with anathlete who will literally kill,
to get the point?
And he was someone who workedextensively with NHL and NBA
athletes, so you can imagine thelevel of kill we're talking
about.
First, the only thing that willmake you a better hockey player
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, mountain biker, dancer, skier,whatever is to practice that
activity period.
Practice it a lot is topractice that activity period.
Practice it a lot.
But if you want to be a betterathlete overall, if you want to
survive your sport and supportnot just parts of you that do
the sport but all of you, then amindful, connected movement and
presence practice will help asyou go, set both difficult and
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easy goals to maintainmotivation and create a sense of
progress.
I'm going to let you in on alittle secret of mine.
I have a Garmin watch thattracks all kinds of things,
including the number of minutesof intense activity I achieve
each week.
I have it set for 150 minutesof intense activity, which is
the minimum recommended, so thatI can feel like a rock star
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when I regularly hit three orfour times that.
It's a small thing, but itfeels good.
Who really cares?
Practice self-care andactivities that rejuvenate you,
and in that I include presenceand mindfulness.
Never forget to celebrate thesmall wins along the way.
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Recognize where you are rightnow, when you can embrace
presence in your athleticpursuits.
You can look at every movementas an opportunity to learn.
Be open to changing your planas you learn more.
Mastery comes with a whole lotof repetition, but, like
anything else, the quality ofwhat goes in affects what goes
out.
Attend to what you're doing,even if you've done it a
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thousand times.
Find an environment that allowsyou to surround yourself with
people and resources thatsupport your growth Mentors,
peers and professionals who canhelp when you need it.
And remember that progresstakes time.
Stay flexible, adaptable andpresent, whether you've got a
serious goal or you're justlooking to feel better and more
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connected to yourself and yourmovement.
Deepening into your own presencecan be a powerful thing.
As you can imagine, though,it's not a quick fix.
It's not a hack.
It takes some practice and somediscipline.
It might change your timelines,it might change your goals, but
if the end result is a happier,healthier, stronger you, why
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not?
There is a freedom that beingpresent provides and a simple
joy in just being.
There's no comparison, no FOMO.
There can be a simple pleasurein just being alive.
From that place of simple joy,the world around us is a
different place too.
Calamities feel less calamitous, emergencies less emergent, the
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world slows down and we canrespond rather than constantly
reacting and overreacting.
I've talked a lot today aboutthe power of presence and the
fact that you can do it anywhere, anytime, to enjoy the array of
benefits it can provide, thoughyou can't treat it like a
drive-by practice.
As with learning any skill,embodying it takes practice and
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time.
The more you do it, the moreaccessible a state of presence
becomes.
One of my favorite quotes issuccess doesn't come from what
you do occasionally.
It comes from what you doconsistently.
If you pick up an app thathelps you to be more mindful and
that feels like all you can dofor now, great, do that.
Do it as often as you can, evenif it's just a couple of
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minutes, a few times a week.
Stick with it.
You may find that, withpractice, your world opens up a
little, and maybe you can startto sink into presence during a
walk or a workout.
Once you start to feel it, youcould explore how it might be to
feel present in new ways withyour partner, with your kids, in
nature, in your community.
I feel like presence is anantidote to so many of the
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things we're dealing with in ourown bodies, in our lives and in
our world.
Yep, I'm going there.
I know some of my friends willbe rolling their eyes at this,
because I'm prone to some ofthis big picture unicorns and
rainbows thinking.
But what can it hurt If we allfound ways to be present more
often?
It might show us the ways thatwe're similar and open us up to
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more compassion and care foreach other.
Maybe it'll bring us back intorelationship with each other and
with nature.
Maybe it can help us heal thewounds that we don't even know
are there.
For now, though, why not juststart with ourselves?
We can start small and easywith a bite-sized practice you
know you can take regularly.
Start with this moment or thisone.
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Maybe it's a daily meditationor a walk, maybe you'll find it
during a workout, maybe during ameeting or a ride on the bus.
When you think about it, bringyour mind to the task of
attending to what you see, whatyou hear, what you smell, what
you taste, what you feel andwhere you feel it.
How are you responding?
How are you breathing?
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Do you need to respond or canyou just be?
I love to play with this insidea movement practice because I
find it's so much easier tocarry it into the rest of my
life If I'm only practicing itwhen I'm meditating.
It feels like it kind of staysin my head.
Now.
That might say more about mymeditation practice than
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anything else, but I've said itbefore, movement is where
everything makes sense for me,so for me this is a great place
to practice it.
I'm no expert.
I am sure you will find yourown way.
If you have big things you wantto achieve, or if you just want
a deeper relationship with whatis, maybe you can forget the
resolutions and thetransformation.
(28:20):
Everything you need is alreadyinside you.
Everything you need is alreadyinside you.
Maybe becoming present withwhat is can open possibilities
for you that you never imaginedpossible.
You are enough just as you are,and I believe in you.
Happy New Year.
(28:42):
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and, if you love whatyou heard, leave a 5-star
review.
Happy New Year.
Welcome to the Heart of Motion Podcast.
I'm Susannah Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
It is a brand new year.
Welcome to Season 2 of theHeart of Motion Podcast.
(00:23):
I am so happy you're joining mehere today.
This time of year I see peoplearound me creating all kinds of
resolutions about the waythey're going to change their
lives for the better, startingnow New diets and exercise
routines, new financial plans.
You know the drill.
Sometimes people makeresolutions because they've just
(00:44):
had a week or two or maybe amonth of excess around the
holidays and something's got tochange.
Maybe it's just that the end ofthe year is kind of a benchmark
.
It's a natural place to kind oflook back and reflect at what
we did and didn't do and decidewhere we want to do things
differently going forward.
But I also find it interestingthat about 23% of all adults who
(01:08):
make a resolution will haveabandoned it by Quitter's Day.
Did you know that was a thing?
The second Friday in January,by the end of the month, that
number goes up to 43%, with allthe resolution making and
breaking, it's clear thatthere's a group of us who want
something to be different, butdespite our best intentions,
(01:31):
those resolutions don't seem tobe very effective ways to
promote change.
There's something attractiveabout an instant transformation,
though, isn't there?
Wouldn't it be great to simplymake a decision and have that be
the end of it?
We have what we want.
We've changed.
Most of us know intuitivelythat it isn't that easy, but I
(01:51):
think the thing to remember isthat the goal, whatever that is,
is not really the thing thatwill make things different.
It's actually who we become inthe pursuit of that goal.
So today I want to talk aboutsomething that I think can make
a difference in how we are, howwe live and maybe how we show up
(02:12):
in the world.
It's my antidote to theepidemic of transformational
change strategies I seeeverywhere this time of year,
but all the time.
I'm so tired of the constantpressure to be more this, to be
less that, to be betteroptimized and more organized, to
be whatever.
I mean.
Whose metrics are those anyway?
(02:32):
What if we didn't have to makebig changes?
What if we could simply becomemore present to what is?
What if everything we need isalready available to us within
us.
It's something I've beenthinking a lot about lately, and
it's presence.
It's a pretty simple concept.
It requires no equipment, youdon't have to spend a dime, you
(02:56):
can do it wherever you are,anytime of the day or night, and
the more you practice it, thebetter you get.
At its simplest, presence isreally just the state of being
in the moment.
In my head, it's about beingfully and completely in the now
Physically, mentally,emotionally and spiritually too.
You're all in right now.
(03:19):
People talk a lot aboutmindfulness these days.
You'll find tons of apps andvideos that can help us calm our
squirrelly active minds,regulate our heartbeats and our
breathing and basically bring usback to ourselves.
Quite often, though, once we'reunleashed back into the world
out of that moment and thestresses and pressures and
outside distractions descend onus, we drop back into a reactive
(03:43):
state where that squirrel brainramps right up again and we're
spinning.
It's hard to stay true to anykind of inner vision against the
force of all that outsidepressure.
I don't know about you, butwhen that happens for me, I feel
less grounded, less focused,more apt to make rash decisions,
or I tune out, or, on the otherside, I tend to push my body
(04:06):
too hard when I'm just not up tothe task.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere information overload is
the norm.
Our attention is constantlybeing pulled in a million
different directions and ournervous systems are stressed in
ways that our biology is notreally equipped to deal with
easily.
Presence, mindfulness andembodiment all give us an
(04:29):
opportunity to shift that script.
I think of these words all asdifferent facets of the same
thing In my mind.
Presence integrates the idea ofmindfulness and the notion of
embodiment into a state of beingthat brings all the parts of us
into harmony.
Right now, research shows thatmindfulness and presence can
(04:51):
have some powerful positiveeffects on our physiology.
There are mental healthbenefits like reduction in
anxiety and depression, betteremotional regulation and less
ruminating thoughts.
There are actually neurologicalchanges that support these
improvements in the brain.
There are changes in theamygdala, which is the brain's
fear and stress center.
(05:12):
Imagine being able to look intothe world through a lens that
isn't already clouded with toomany emotional preconceptions
and excess lizard brainshenanigans.
You can think better too.
Research shows better cognitivefunction in people who practice
mindfulness.
Your attention improves and youcan focus more.
You're able to think morecreatively and adapt to new
(05:34):
situations better, and yourworking memory gets better.
Working memory is thatshort-term memory that stores
information temporarily whileyou're doing cognitive tasks
like comprehension, problemsolving, reasoning and learning.
According to the data, movementand physical health also
improve the more we can bepresent.
Blood pressure gets lower,sleep improves and people
(05:57):
experience less chronic pain, aswell as immune function
improvement, and it just feelsgood too.
You feel less stress, you'rehappier, and the research
indicates that people seem tohave a better capacity for
self-insight and a greater senseof purpose.
How they are in the worldstarts to shift in some pretty
(06:20):
powerful ways.
But how does any of this beingpresent business relate to
movement, to fitness andwellness?
Maybe this stuff just soundslike so much woo.
I mean, how do you get anythingdone with all that being in the
moment stuff?
Well, I'd like to share withyou a little personal experience
.
Before the pandemic, I hadseveral years of increasing
(06:41):
challenges with my own body andmovement.
Despite spending tons of timeand money trying to sort things
out with various medicalpractitioners and experts,
movement was becoming more andmore difficult and less and less
comfortable.
For someone who has earned aliving and found great
fulfillment in movement over alifetime.
(07:01):
I was not okay with this on anylevel.
Over a lifetime.
I was not okay with this on anylevel.
I kept searching for answers.
I just wasn't finding anysolutions that would move the
needle in the direction I wantedto go.
In the fall of 2019, I got somex-rays that showed that I had,
sometime in my checkered past,fractured several vertebrae in
(07:26):
my spine.
Weird that I didn't know that,but when I think back, there
were maybe some intense momentsthat might have been to blame,
or maybe I was born that way,and then life and pregnancy and
constant drive started to weardown my ability to manage load
on these compromised bones.
I will likely never know.
But now, with that little x-raydiagnosis, I felt like I had
something I could sink my teethinto.
This was a problem I could getmy head around.
(07:47):
I was certain that this newpiece of information would help
me shift things, so I made myplans and got to work.
Sadly, things just kept gettingworse.
The fractured vertebrae werejust another piece of the puzzle
.
And as I was still searching,it took the wise words of a dear
friend and movementpractitioner to wake me up.
(08:08):
She said something like, andshe was more poetic than this,
but it was something like youhave everything you need inside
of you.
Your urgency around this ismaking it worse.
I heard her, but I didn'treally know what to do with it.
And then the pandemic hit, ashappened for so many people.
(08:29):
My business was in tatters, noincome to speak of, and the
stress was through the roof.
I couldn't see any of thepractitioners I'd been relying
on to keep me moving and I quiteliterally fell apart.
I was well and truly broken injust about every possible way.
I felt like a complete fraud.
How could I possibly leadpeople in finding their way back
(08:51):
to movement when I couldn't dothat for myself?
They say that necessity is themother of invention.
I was not okay with the declineI was experiencing and, despite
promising protocols thatpromised some kind of relief, no
one seemed to be able to helpme.
I had, over the years,consulted experts in fitness in
(09:11):
movement, physiotherapy,osteopathy, orthopedics,
neurology, acupuncture,menopause, mental health and
more.
Acupuncture, menopause, mentalhealth and more.
I had gone down deep rabbitholes, taking extensive
continuing education courses tolearn more about all kinds of
movement and body-related things, always in search of more
knowledge so I could figure thispuzzle out.
I saw some incredibly gifted,knowledgeable and experienced
(09:35):
people, and each one seemed tohave a small piece of something
that created a glimmer ofunderstanding and a short-term
shift, but nothing thatsupported any real, meaningful,
sustainable change.
Well, when I finally hit thatwall, I realized that all this
information was great, that Iwas the common denominator.
(09:56):
I was the only one who couldput the knowledge I had gleaned
into context inside of me.
I didn't need more of anything.
Maybe I just needed a deeperawareness of what was going on
inside me and how all thesepieces fit together.
That mean I had to let go andlearn, with no push, no heavy
drive, no grand plan, except tobe with whatever I found.
(10:21):
I needed to do that tounderstand it, and it was
terrifying.
I felt like I was in free fall,things being what they were.
I didn't feel like I had muchof a choice, though, so I let go
of all the things I wassupposed to do.
I stopped doing the things thatwere supposed to be good for me
but left me feeling terrible.
I decided I would do the smallthings I was capable of, no
(10:45):
matter how tiny andinsignificant they felt, and pay
attention.
I would start exactly where Iwas and do only the things that
felt right, and most of the timeI didn't know what right was
until I tried it.
It was an exercise in deeppresence.
I walked my neighborhood withmy dog and started swimming
(11:05):
again.
I am someone who will always upthe bar whenever I have the
chance, so I made a promise tomyself.
The only imperative in all thiswas that I had to show up and
stay curious.
If I went for a walk and couldonly go a few blocks, that was
okay.
I had to listen and hear whatmy body was telling me.
What is available for me today,what is possible.
(11:28):
Some days it wasn't much.
Other days I surprised myself.
On those days I had to takecare that in my excitement, my
performance goals didn'toverride that inner wisdom.
I rested when I was tired.
This went on for months withoutfeeling a whole lot of progress,
but for the first time in awhile I wasn't getting worse,
(11:52):
and that was new.
So I kept doing it.
I learned that when I broughtmy awareness to the moment, to
what was truly happening in realtime in my body, in my mind and
in my emotions, I could beginto choose the kind of movement,
the intensity, the flow and eventhe level of rest I needed to
nourish my progress.
It brought me face to face withoutdated ideas, beliefs and old
(12:17):
stories that no longer servedme outdated ideas, beliefs and
old stories that no longerserved me.
It showed me the things that Ihad been chasing that were
really not aligned with what Ineeded and not only wasted my
time but actually got in the wayof my progress.
I began to see habits in mythinking and behavior that
really weren't working for me.
This process of being presentwas self-care at a level that I
(12:40):
had never experienced.
Now I'm still on this path.
I'm by no means an expert, butI am a convert.
No more miracle protocols forme, no more shortcuts.
I've always been aboutfundamentals anyway, and now I
am more committed to presenceover protocol than ever.
I have a renewed enjoyment increative pursuits, good books
(13:05):
and play.
My body feels better than ithas in years and I'm getting
stronger again.
Finding presence was somethingI did because I had no other
choice, but it has undoubtedlychanged my life for the better.
So that's my recent healingjourney.
Maybe it's relatable, maybe it'snot, but it showed me pretty
clearly that all the variousparts of our bodies and minds
(13:28):
are connected in complex andinterrelated webs within us and
we move through our lives inrelationship to everything and
everyone around us.
To be in an authentic andconnected relationship with
anything where needs are met andsupport happens in the right
places at the right time, weneed to be real, and we can't be
(13:49):
real unless we're payingattention and embracing
everything the good, the bad andthe ugly, the light and the
dark.
So here's where I want to bringit back to the idea that
everything is connected.
Our physiology is intimatelyconnected to all those things we
do and feel Heart rate,circulation, nervous system,
balance, muscle tone, mobilityall these things are influenced
(14:12):
by what's going on for us,whether we acknowledge it or not
.
If we have unresolved stuffgoing on that we've stuffed away
, it can affect how we move.
If we're overwhelmed alreadyand trying to throw more at our
bodies, things can gopear-shaped pretty quickly.
And if, absent of any kind ofmedical issue, you cannot seem
(14:33):
to motivate yourself to any kindof movement.
Maybe it's not that you're lazy, maybe there's something else
going on.
The only way to unpack any ofthis is to become aware of it,
to reserve judgment, to put awayyour stories, invite curiosity
and simply observe that rightthere is presence.
(14:54):
And here's the beautiful thing.
A movement practice can be abeautiful place to explore
presence in a really gentle way,a little starter pack if you
will.
With practice you can dive inas deep as you're interested in
going, and movement with all itsconnections to our bodies and
minds offers a great way to getgoing.
(15:17):
Working with clients in thePilates studio, I see a lot of
folks who come in with a superdefined idea of exactly what
they want to achieve in theirbodies and in their movement and
how they want to get there.
They move through theirprograms with purpose and focus,
but always inside the contextof what they already know about
their own bodies.
This was me for a long time.
(15:39):
I would only acknowledge whatwas going on for me in the
moment if it wasn't going toslow me down.
Otherwise I would quiteliterally tell inner me to shut
up and get out of the way.
Now this perspective can getdarn good results for a long
time and you can see that in thepopularity of the boot campy
take no prisoners.
Pain is weakness, leaving thebody kind of fitness programs
(16:01):
all around us.
They serve a purpose, but theydon't leave much room for
learning new ways of being andnew ways of doing in the body.
So as we grow and change ashumans and different things
happen for us and around us inour lives, this approach can't
always give us what we need.
What I've learned is that,unless we're in that top
(16:24):
percentage of elite athletics,it's not so much the specific
activities that we do but thethings we learn about ourselves
and our relationships withourselves, our activities and
life in general that createlasting change.
The journey is the destination.
The sparkly winds we mayachieve along the way are just
(16:45):
dressing on the cake to keep usmotivated.
So what might it look like inpractice?
This being present thing, I'mgoing to relate it to a Pilates
practice.
But you could take it to thegym or on a run or out on a ride
on your bike if you want.
But you could take it to thegym or on a run or out on a ride
on your bike if you want.
It could be as simple as thiswhen you show up for a workout,
take a minute before you startto tune into how you are right
(17:08):
now.
Are you feeling energized,enthusiastic, relaxed, tired,
stressed, in pain or are yougrief-stricken?
None of those things in and ofthemselves would necessarily
dictate whether you worked outor not, but acknowledging the
state you're in when you arrivemight inform things about your
workout, like the level ofintensity or the kind of work
(17:28):
you're going to do that day.
What's going on in the room?
Can you bring your attention toyour own body, to your own work
or play?
You may not be able to becompletely present, but when you
notice your attention iselsewhere, do what you can to
bring it back to you.
In this moment and this one, doyou feel your body warming up
to the task, getting lubricated,waking up, finding harmony and
(17:51):
flow, or is it a slog, with youfeeling less good as you go?
Can you actually feel your bodyor is your mind running the
show?
The idea isn't just to stickwith easy, but really to feel
into how your body is managingwhat you're doing and staying
curious so you can choose whatyou need in the moment.
(18:12):
If something you're doingdoesn't feel right, ask yourself
what might feel better.
Is there something else yourbody needs?
What could you do that mightsupport you differently?
Could you try going faster,slower?
Perhaps you want lighterweights or heavier ones.
Maybe you want extension beforeyou do flexion.
Maybe you'd like to startseated or standing instead of
(18:36):
supine.
What if you tried it upsidedown or backwards?
The possibilities are limitedonly by your imagination.
And it's not about the novelty,though.
It's just about payingattention to what you're feeling
and exploring options in thatmoment.
Sometimes that's doingsomething new.
Sometimes it's about leaninginto work you already know and
(19:00):
finding the ground through that.
The more you practice this way,the easier it gets, until it's
just a part of what you do.
Gradually, you'll find thatyour grocery list stays at the
gym door.
I'm amazed at how often I seepeople coming into the studio
looking frazzled and stressed.
I wasn't sure I was going tomake it today.
They say my team purposefullyputs some kind of breath or
(19:24):
embodiment activity at thebeginning of every program, just
to help people drop in.
As they breathe and attend tohow they feel and what they're
working on, the studio, chatterbegins to subside, we see the
stress levels drop and we watchpeople's bodies become more
integrated and coordinated.
By the time they're done,they're feeling much better.
(19:44):
It can be like a movingmeditation, whether you're going
full out or taking it easy Ifyou're a competitive athlete,
you might be thinking that thisapproach contradicts the kind of
structured training plan thatyou're used to.
Your training plan is designedto get you from now to the date
of your competition in a waythat will have you strong and
(20:06):
ready to peak at just the rightmoment.
You want to be efficient andeffective with each training
session.
You know that the only way toget better is to work through
hard things.
You're used to pushing yourselfand your boundaries, and there
is nothing easy about that, andI want you to remember that you
are not the thing you do.
(20:27):
Even though your sport orathletic pursuit may feel as
important to you as breathingright now, there is some part of
you that is not about thatthing you love to do, and that
part is what runs in thebackground and supports the
thing you do, so you ignore itat your own risk.
(20:47):
Perhaps the key is in findingways to set goals with
compassion for ourselves.
Balancing goal setting whilerespecting our current
limitations is a delicateprocess that requires
self-awareness, compassion andsome strategic planning.
If you're working on a trainingschedule, here's a way to
explore things Using mindfulness, presence and self-reflection.
(21:09):
Bring awareness to your ownstrengths, your weaknesses and
personal boundaries with respectto your chosen goal.
Now, no judgment here.
This is just where you are now.
Can you see any gaps betweenwhere you are and where you want
to go?
Look at weaknesses and gapssimply as current limitations,
not as immutable characteristics.
(21:29):
It's all part of being here now.
Things will likely be differenttomorrow.
Set your goals.
Athletes are pretty used tosetting specific, measurable
goals with timelines attached.
Make sure your goals arerealistic given your current
situation.
Timelines attached.
Make sure your goals arerealistic given your current
situation.
(21:51):
I once had someone come in andask me if I could help her get
ready for a heli-skiing trip insix weeks.
I hadn't met her in person yetand I allowed as how it would
depend to some degree on hercurrent level of fitness, but
that I would do my best.
When she came in for a sessionI realized that heli-skiing was,
for her at that moment, apretty unrealistic expectation
based on the fact that she washaving trouble simply navigating
the stairs in her home withoutdysfunction and pain in her
(22:13):
knees.
We could have worked towardheli-skiing next season or to
skiing bunny runs morecomfortably in a few weeks, but
the gap was just too big for aheli-skiing trip in six weeks.
It's important to find a middleground between pushing yourself
and being kind to yourself, andI mean that gently.
I think you always need to bekind to yourself.
This is a tricky one In ourwork together.
(22:36):
Renowned sports psychologist, drSaul Miller, once asked me,
susanna, what do you do with anathlete who will literally kill,
to get the point?
And he was someone who workedextensively with NHL and NBA
athletes, so you can imagine thelevel of kill we're talking
about.
First, the only thing that willmake you a better hockey player
(22:57):
, mountain biker, dancer, skier,whatever is to practice that
activity period.
Practice it a lot is topractice that activity period.
Practice it a lot.
But if you want to be a betterathlete overall, if you want to
survive your sport and supportnot just parts of you that do
the sport but all of you, then amindful, connected movement and
presence practice will help asyou go, set both difficult and
(23:20):
easy goals to maintainmotivation and create a sense of
progress.
I'm going to let you in on alittle secret of mine.
I have a Garmin watch thattracks all kinds of things,
including the number of minutesof intense activity I achieve
each week.
I have it set for 150 minutesof intense activity, which is
the minimum recommended, so thatI can feel like a rock star
(23:40):
when I regularly hit three orfour times that.
It's a small thing, but itfeels good.
Who really cares?
Practice self-care andactivities that rejuvenate you,
and in that I include presenceand mindfulness.
Never forget to celebrate thesmall wins along the way.
(24:01):
Recognize where you are rightnow, when you can embrace
presence in your athleticpursuits.
You can look at every movementas an opportunity to learn.
Be open to changing your planas you learn more.
Mastery comes with a whole lotof repetition, but, like
anything else, the quality ofwhat goes in affects what goes
out.
Attend to what you're doing,even if you've done it a
(24:24):
thousand times.
Find an environment that allowsyou to surround yourself with
people and resources thatsupport your growth Mentors,
peers and professionals who canhelp when you need it.
And remember that progresstakes time.
Stay flexible, adaptable andpresent, whether you've got a
serious goal or you're justlooking to feel better and more
(24:45):
connected to yourself and yourmovement.
Deepening into your own presencecan be a powerful thing.
As you can imagine, though,it's not a quick fix.
It's not a hack.
It takes some practice and somediscipline.
It might change your timelines,it might change your goals, but
if the end result is a happier,healthier, stronger you, why
(25:07):
not?
There is a freedom that beingpresent provides and a simple
joy in just being.
There's no comparison, no FOMO.
There can be a simple pleasurein just being alive.
From that place of simple joy,the world around us is a
different place too.
Calamities feel less calamitous, emergencies less emergent, the
(25:29):
world slows down and we canrespond rather than constantly
reacting and overreacting.
I've talked a lot today aboutthe power of presence and the
fact that you can do it anywhere, anytime, to enjoy the array of
benefits it can provide, thoughyou can't treat it like a
drive-by practice.
As with learning any skill,embodying it takes practice and
(25:52):
time.
The more you do it, the moreaccessible a state of presence
becomes.
One of my favorite quotes issuccess doesn't come from what
you do occasionally.
It comes from what you doconsistently.
If you pick up an app thathelps you to be more mindful and
that feels like all you can dofor now, great, do that.
Do it as often as you can, evenif it's just a couple of
(26:14):
minutes, a few times a week.
Stick with it.
You may find that, withpractice, your world opens up a
little, and maybe you can startto sink into presence during a
walk or a workout.
Once you start to feel it, youcould explore how it might be to
feel present in new ways withyour partner, with your kids, in
nature, in your community.
I feel like presence is anantidote to so many of the
(26:37):
things we're dealing with in ourown bodies, in our lives and in
our world.
Yep, I'm going there.
I know some of my friends willbe rolling their eyes at this,
because I'm prone to some ofthis big picture unicorns and
rainbows thinking.
But what can it hurt If we allfound ways to be present more
often?
It might show us the ways thatwe're similar and open us up to
(26:57):
more compassion and care foreach other.
Maybe it'll bring us back intorelationship with each other and
with nature.
Maybe it can help us heal thewounds that we don't even know
are there.
For now, though, why not juststart with ourselves?
We can start small and easywith a bite-sized practice you
know you can take regularly.
Start with this moment or thisone.
(27:18):
Maybe it's a daily meditationor a walk, maybe you'll find it
during a workout, maybe during ameeting or a ride on the bus.
When you think about it, bringyour mind to the task of
attending to what you see, whatyou hear, what you smell, what
you taste, what you feel andwhere you feel it.
How are you responding?
How are you breathing?
(27:39):
Do you need to respond or canyou just be?
I love to play with this insidea movement practice because I
find it's so much easier tocarry it into the rest of my
life If I'm only practicing itwhen I'm meditating.
It feels like it kind of staysin my head.
Now.
That might say more about mymeditation practice than
(28:00):
anything else, but I've said itbefore, movement is where
everything makes sense for me,so for me this is a great place
to practice it.
I'm no expert.
I am sure you will find yourown way.
If you have big things you wantto achieve, or if you just want
a deeper relationship with whatis, maybe you can forget the
resolutions and thetransformation.
(28:20):
Everything you need is alreadyinside you.
Everything you need is alreadyinside you.
Maybe becoming present withwhat is can open possibilities
for you that you never imaginedpossible.
You are enough just as you are,and I believe in you.
Happy New Year.
(28:42):
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and, if you love whatyou heard, leave a 5-star
review.
Happy New Year.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.