August 4, 2025 • 48 mins
Stepping into the gritty Astoria Boxing Club in Vancouver for the first time, Lara Cubitt never imagined it would change her life. "It's old, it smells of empty beer cans and maybe urine?... blood?" she recalls with a laugh. Yet this unlikely beginning set her on a path to becoming a two-time Canadian amateur boxing champion—before multiple sclerosis forced her to reimagine her relationship with movement entirely.
Lara's journey from championship boxer to certified Iyengar yoga teacher unfolds with raw honesty in this conversation. She describes being drawn to boxing almost by accident, initially thinking "I probably won't fight" before finding herself blood-covered after her first sparring session. Her coach noticed something special: "She keeps going forward." This resilience would become crucial when mysterious symptoms began appearing—extreme fatigue, inability to perform, and eventually the devastating MS diagnosis that ended her boxing career.
The heart of Lara's story lies in adaptation. When boxing became impossible, she turned to yoga, initially viewing it as "the exact opposite of boxing." But as her MS progressed, bringing numbness, cognitive challenges, and what she describes as "shut down your life fatigue," yoga became both anchor and lifeline. Eventually completing a rigorous three-year Iyengar yoga teacher training, Lara discovered a new purpose in helping others navigate their own movement challenges.
Whether you're facing health challenges or simply curious about movement's deeper dimensions, Lara's perspective challenges us to value motion in all its forms. After a bone marrow transplant unexpectedly improved some abilities, she embraces each day's possibilities without attachment to outcomes. Her message resonates clearly: presence matters, adaptation isn't failure, and how we move profoundly shapes how we live.
About Lara Cubitt
Lara Cubitt is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher and former two-time Canadian Amateur Boxing Champion who competed internationally as part of Team Canada. She has also lived with MS for over 15 years and uses her experience navigating severe chronic illness - physically, mentally & emotionally - to inform her teaching.
Lara teaches private clients at their homes & can be reached via email lara.cubitt@gmail.com to arrange sessions.
I'd LOVE to hear from you! Send me a text!
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 Susanna 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.
Welcome to the Heart of MotionPodcast, where we explore the
(00:22):
stories, the science and thesoul of moving.
Well, I'm Susanna Steers andtoday I'm thrilled to introduce
a guest whose journey is asdynamic as it is inspiring.
Lara Cubitt is a two-timeCanadian amateur boxing champion
, a certified Iyengar yogateacher, a passionate advocate
for the power of posture andmovement.
(00:43):
From the intensity of theboxing ring to the mindful
precision of yoga, and throughher own ongoing experience
living with multiple sclerosis,lara brings a unique perspective
to what it means to move, toadapt and to thrive.
From coaching boxers atVancouver's iconic Astoria Hotel
gym to helping clients discoverconfidence and self-efficacy
(01:05):
through yoga, Lara's story is atestament to resilience,
curiosity and the transformativepower of movement.
So settle in and get ready tobe inspired as we dive into
Lara's remarkable journey, onethat reminds us all that how we
move shapes how we live.
Welcome to the podcast, lara.
I'm so happy to see you.
Lara Cubitt (01:27):
Thanks, Susannah, thanks for having me.
Such a thrill.
Susannah Steers (01:30):
I think first can we just dive into your
boxing story and yourexperiences in that sport.
What drew you to it and whatinspired you to drive to that
elite championship level?
Lara Cubitt (01:42):
A lot of it was just luck and or just things
that kind of wound me up there.
When I was really young.
I wanted to be a bodybuilder,and for a while I did that.
From about 13, I started goingto the gym, and then, around 15,
16, I actually startedkickboxing for a couple of years
(02:03):
, and that was because I thoughtor partly maybe from influence
of my parents my dad saying,"what are you going to do though
, you're just going to be aweightlifter Like this wasn't a
real thing.
And then I thought, oh, maybeI'll try something.
I guess I was doing all thethings that were a bit tomboy,
(02:25):
though, and so I startedkickboxing, but I still kept
working out at the gym, and thisman that I knew was a friend of
a friend said hey, I reallythink you'd like this place.
I go to this boxing gymdowntown.
And I said, oh, okay, and Ithought I'll try it.
I don't know why he thinks I'dlike it, and that took me to the
(02:46):
Astoria Boxing Club, which isquite an experience to walk into
, certainly back in those days.
It's old, it smells of emptybeer cans and like, maybe, urine
.
.
.
blood.
Anyway, just I was thinking, oh, from the prissy, I want to be
a bodybuilder in my white tightsand that kind of look to just
(03:07):
raw, real something.
And I thought, I don't know whyhe thought I would like this.
And I went there one time andthen one of the coaches there
was hitting us with a stickwhile we were doing calisthenics
and yelling at us, calling usdog- effers, and I was like,
okay, wow, this is reallyintense.
(03:29):
And then I thought, well, Idon't know if I'll go back there
.
And then that same man askedabout me and I was so thrilled
that he remembered me that Ithought maybe I will give it
another shot.
And I went back and quicklyrefined my outfits from white
tights to just sort of cut off,you know, looking like how I
(03:51):
thought someone should look inthis gym, which is pretty rough.
And yeah, it just started and Ithought I'll just try it out.
I probably won't fight.
I don't know.
But all one thing leads toanother oh, do you want to spar
today?
I don't know.
And then all one thing leads toanother oh, do you want to spar
today?
I don't know.
And then you kind of feel likea chicken if you don't.
So then you say, oh, okay.
And then the first time Isparred I just got beaten with
(04:14):
blood all over my face, I mean,my shirt covered, oh my gosh.
And I thought, oh yeah.
But then I also thought, hey, Iguess that doesn't bother me
that much.
And the other coach who endedup being my main coach, he said,
well, she keeps going forward.
So he was like that's enough,who will actually pay attention
(04:35):
to you a little bit?
So that was kind of what got mein and got some attention to
improve.
And then the same thing withthe fight was just you want to
fight?
I don't know, we got one foryou, so get ready.
And then I fought and it wasjust really over very quickly.
I won quickly, that is.
(04:55):
And then it's kind of hooks youbecause this is pretty exciting
, all the buildup, the trainingand then getting in there, and
it's sort of like I realizedpretty soon that once the bell
goes, it's like a relief of youknow, you're not thinking
anymore, it's just sort ofyou're doing something.
Susannah Steers (05:15):
Well, it seems so interesting when I'm hearing
your story and you know youdidn't go into it necessarily
because you decided I want totry boxing, but to hear you know
they were seeing something inyou and you were responding and
that sort of sheer just keepgoing forward and okay, I'll try
this and, and you know, thatmust've been something that was
(05:37):
really interesting to thecoaches at the time.
You know she's, she's ready togo.
Lara Cubitt (05:43):
Yeah, cause they're very uh, they discount people
pretty quickly in that gym.
I don't really believe ifyou'll show up or something.
But if you do show up and youkeep trying, then it's a
different thing.
But it takes a little while toprove it usually.
Susannah Steers (06:00):
I have pictures of Rocky Balboa's gym.
Yeah, it's like a Spinning inmy head
Lara Cubitt (06:05):
Like a Rocky gym kind of thing
Susannah Steers (06:08):
Was it hard to fit in there, especially in a
gym like that, as a young womanin what's seen quite often and
maybe not so much now, butcertainly a while ago as a men's
sport.
Lara Cubitt (06:29):
Yeah, it was strange because there was only
one other woman who eventuallyor that was the person I ended
up sparring with and she hadbeen around for a while, but
partly because her cousins werealso there, a couple of guys and
they were most of the peoplethere went there for a long time
.
So it felt like going into thiskind of strange universe that
(06:49):
was already established and justbeing new and I think being a
woman was.
There's definitely an attention, but I don't know necessarily a
negative is sort of a bit ofmaybe admiration that you're
willing to go into this dump ofa gym and work out.
So I didn't get you know, Icaught some flack on my outfits
(07:13):
in the beginning, but peopleweren't unkind or anything and
they didn't pay me too muchattention in the way that
sometimes women would prefer notto have.
They kind of just let me be.
Eventually.
It ended up being that thereweren't many other women that
came through there.
There definitely were over time, but at the time that I was
(07:35):
there it was infrequent and itwas the men who got me to be as
good as I was, because theyended up being the only sparring
partners I could use were men.
So that was kind of interestingtoo, and I think back now of
how lucky I was to have and notto have them overdo anything or
(07:56):
use their, you know, becausethey were about the same weight
as me but they were stronger,they were faster, but they would
work with me in a way that wasjust enough to push me but not
so much to injure me over time.
Susannah Steers (08:16):
And they respected you enough not to baby
you in the moment.
Lara Cubitt (08:20):
So I think that's such a finely skilled aspect of
boxing is that being able tocontrol things on a level and
also help someone improve.
It's really a fine skill.
That's not in a new person.
Susannah Steers (08:37):
Well, you collected so many wins and so
much success.
What was the first indicationfor you that something wasn't
quite right in terms of, maybe,the onset of your MS?
Lara Cubitt (08:50):
Yeah, that was in retrospect.
It's so wildly wrong that Ishould have thought there's
something very wrong, asprobably could have a doctor,
but they did not.
Very wrong, as probably couldhave a doctor, but they did not.
(09:10):
So what happened was there werea couple of things that now I
maybe wouldn't have noticed thenthat that was wrong.
But I had one fight.
That was after I first won theCanadian Championships, which is
a tournament in amateur boxing,and then you have to fight one
of the people.
If they want to challenge youfor your spot, they get two
chances to beat you.
If they beat you twice, thenthey take your spot.
So this is called the box offsand it's a few months after the
(09:33):
Canadian championship.
And going into that fight Ionly had to fight once, but
going into it I got.
The level of nerves was kind ofit was almost like I had a
nervous breakdown before Ifought and I was always nervy.
I kind of would get that wayand then it was all fine once I
was in the ring.
(09:53):
But this was rather extremewhen I look back and my coach is
kind of questioning this likewhat the hell is wrong with you?
Anyway, but we got through that.
And then I was going to meet mysister who was in Australia for
a month and we were travelingand I had to always go to.
I always had to go pee.
(10:14):
It was just that we thought itwas funny.
But I was also suddenly, when Iwould I cause I was like, oh,
I'm going to keep up my fitnesswhile I'm gone so I can go right
back into boxing when I getback, and I would go try to go
running and I just would not beable to do it.
I was so tired and I keptthinking it was jet lag.
(10:34):
And you know, this is juststrange, but I feel weird.
And then when I came back fromthat trip so those were not that
insanely weird from that trip,so those were not that insanely
weird but when I came back Istarted, I just suddenly was
unable to spar almost at all.
It would take me 30 seconds andI would be just heaving, trying
to get oxygen because for somereason everything had changed.
(10:59):
So that was very weird.
I also got extreme upper backpain that in the beginning was
making it through workouts butthen collapsing when I got home.
So that was also a sign.
But then it sort of went fromthat, these strange events, to
just being so tired that Icouldn't make it to the gym
(11:24):
anymore and I just I ended up.
We thought, oh, maybe it'sovertraining, which now sounds
sort of ridiculous, so you don'treally overtrain in, like how
can that be it?
But anyway, you think thatpeople tell you, it's all in
your head, and then you think,oh well, hopefully.
And then I had to take sometime off and it was.
(11:46):
I had made the Canadian teambut I had to say no to fighting
internationally that year, whichwas kind of what got me through
the Canadian championships.
I was like I'm going to Turkey,I'm going to Turkey, which was
where the world championship was, and I had to say I can't go
because my condition is terrible.
Suddenly, but terrible.
Susannah Steers (12:07):
That must have been heartbreaking.
Lara Cubitt (12:09):
It was.
Yeah, it was pretty hard there,but not quite to heartbreaking
yet, okay.
Okay, yeah, I was.
You're just kind of focused andthinking like, how am I going
to do this, how am I going to dothis?
And anyway, near the second thenext year, the Canadian
Championships.
It was only about six weeksbefore things kind of cleared up
(12:31):
.
And then I thought, okay, whenwe train really hard, we go back
, we win it again and we go.
And so I did train hard and wasable to win the tournament
again and I even won best boxerof the tournament for female
boxer that time.
And I was like, okay, I didn'tfeel right but I thought must be
(12:54):
okay, probably just residue ofhaving time off.
And then things from there startto go where I lost, a couple of
fights I went to.
I did fight in France and Italy, which was exciting.
I beat the Italian champion andthen the French champion was
also the world champion and Ididn't win against her.
(13:16):
She was great, but I diddecently.
Anyway, when I came home, mycoach was like, yeah, you won
against the Italian, but wewanted to win against the French
.
The French one, that was theone we needed to win Kind of
disappointed and then from herethings go a little bit more
downhill.
Like I lost a couple of fightsthat was almost just in a way
(13:39):
that didn't seem right to mycoach, and started not being
able to lose weight, to make myweight, which was unusual, and
then in the end it was thatfinally we go back to the
Canadian Championships again.
Now I'm in a higher weight classbecause I just couldn't make
(14:00):
the other one and that wasprobably a huge sign that my
body was probably flooded withcortisol, like stop it, you know
what are you doing, you'restarving us and now you want to
go get hit in the head like thisis enough.
And then at the at the CanadianChampionship, that one, I think
I won one or two and then Ilost against the woman who would
(14:22):
become the champion.
But I lost in kind of anunexciting way, no big thing,
just kind of lost.
And then my coach said that'sit, you need to take a break.
And that was the end of boxing,because he just thought that
something was wrong and hedidn't know what, but he didn't
(14:44):
like it and he said you have totake time off.
This is where the heart breaks,cause he said you can keep
training, but I won't train you.
And this was like yeah, yeah,and no real explanation.
I also don't know.
I have MS, so this is where Ileave boxing and I kind of left
everything.
I left my friends, I left mycoat, I didn't go into the gym
(15:06):
Like I just couldn't bear it.
And that's where yoga comes in.
Susannah Steers (15:12):
No kidding.
Well, so how did it come in?
At that point you lefteverybody.
I mean, I can only imagine thatyour confidence was in the
toilet and you were confused andstill not feeling great and not
really knowing what's going on.
I mean, did yoga start beforeyou had a confirmed diagnosis of
(15:34):
MS, or was that something thatcame after?
Lara Cubitt (15:37):
It takes a while until the actual diagnosis later
on.
It takes medically retiring at29, but we're still a few years
out from that.
So I had tried.
A friend had just invited me tocome to yoga some couple times
while I still was boxing and Ithought, oh, this is hard in a
(15:59):
weird different way, you know,like it's sort of maybe even
sort of hard that it's boring tome or I'm used to fast and you
know, competitive.
And then when I left boxing,when that whole event happened
at first, I kind of gripped onand was like I'm still going to
(16:22):
run six days a week and you know, but it was all kind of it was
falling apart a bit, even therunning.
So then I thought you know whatI'm going to do?
The exact opposite, or what Ithought was the exact opposite
of boxing.
And that's how I started yoga,because I thought if I can't do
that, I just don't want to beanywhere near it, like I want to
do something different.
So that's how I started doingyoga and I ended up really
(16:46):
liking it and I started in thekind of hot yoga.
So maybe it wasn't as extremelyopposite in that sense is kind
of like unnecessarily hot.
Susannah Steers (16:58):
You started off with the hot yoga.
What gravitated you to theIyengar stream of things?
Lara Cubitt (17:05):
Yeah, so that happened.
That does happen.
Later, various things happenthat are again in retrospect,
appallingly strange, like mywhole body going numb from the
neck down for months at a time,multiple times, vertigo, things
(17:26):
that would happen.
But then they'd go away and thedoctor would be like, well, we
don't see anything wrong withyou.
And I was very happy to chalkit up to being nothing because I
had already the boxing thinghad already happened and I don't
think I could have reallytolerated more.
So I was not investigative, Ijust sort of oh yeah, well,
(17:47):
nothing's wrong, it's just aweird thing that happened to me
Again.
You know that kind of thing.
So anyway, later on, when I'mworking, a bunch of very strange
things start to happen.
Where I just I there's like thefatigue is so high, my mom's
driving me to work and pickingme up, and just I'm sleeping
(18:09):
under my desk at work.
I can't focus anymore.
So there was a very strangewhile I was working at a mining
company, very strange kind ofuptick and feeling like
permanent to what was going onand then I suddenly couldn't
move my legs properly, like Iwent to go running and I
couldn't like pick them up andthis sort of went into this
(18:34):
weird could not run anymoreBecause when I lifted my legs I
couldn't feel them from thewaist down and this was kind of
starting to be a more extremerelapse.
This I knew, this can't beright.
That was finally the thing.
Like this cannot be right orokay.
And then it triggered all theseappointments and eventually
(18:57):
finding out I had MS while I wasworking and then having to
leave work because I just wasunable to keep up in any way.
And so when I left, then Ithought, oh my God, I'm not
doing anything.
What am I going to do?
Like that was alsoheartbreaking.
Being told like you're probablynever going to work again.
(19:18):
This is it, and you're 29.
And I was the kind of personwho was like nobody's going to
take care of me, I'm going tomake my own money, I'm going to
be really successful, delusional, but still, it was a way of
thinking.
And then so it's to thecomplete opposite.
And at that point I thought,well, maybe I could be a yoga
(19:41):
teacher if I slowly found a wayto do the training.
See, at that point there was noway I was going to do some fast
forward training of like amonth or something thing.
(20:02):
So I did this once a week oversix months, training to become a
yoga teacher, and I startedteaching and then I believe I
had had steroids to recover fromthat relapse, or maybe it just
with the not being able to run.
So I still couldn't run but Ifelt like I got better maybe.
And then once I was teachingyoga a little bit, pretty
infrequently but nonethelessthen I had a relapse where I
(20:25):
really my I mean, I couldn'tsign my name.
One arm was sort of dead.
My foot was dropping.
I was completely out of my mind, probably just because I was
working so hard to try and stayI don't know cohesive in no real
control of my body.
I could feel that my core wasgone.
(20:47):
It was very much like thedescription that a pregnant
woman will say about how thebody relaxes so that the baby
can grow.
It was like that, only with nobaby.
And that time I was like whoa,this is really extreme.
And my dad had to drive me to ayoga class, and this one I
(21:08):
picked Iyengar, because I knewthey were a lot about the
therapeutic aspects and it feltlike a more in-depth study of
yoga.
So both those things attractedto me.
But when I started Iyengar Yoga, I actually went to people
recovering from chemotherapy andcancer session because it used
(21:32):
a lot of props, a lot of helpand you know, and completely
different from even the yoga Ihad been doing.
So that kind of hooked me in,though, because I was like this
is amazing what these people cando with yoga and teaching you
how to do things even when youbasically can't do them.
(21:54):
So this was fascinating to me,and then the so I started
practicing Iyengar yoga and thenI thought I would like to teach
Iyengar yoga.
But it's a really long program,so it's a three-year teacher
training and you have at the enda written assignment, sort of
test, and as well as doing anassessment in person with people
(22:19):
.
You know that you teach andyeah, so that's that's kind of
what it's always kind of.
Losing something is the thingthat got me to something.
That's a great part of what Ihave today yeah, anyway.
Susannah Steers (22:33):
Well, that I mean it really speaks to your
resilience that you just keptlooking, because I mean it seems
to me MS is such anunpredictable disease.
Right, there's just no.
I have a cousin who would sayyeah, you wake up and you don't
know what's not going to worktoday.
Lara Cubitt (22:49):
Yeah.
Susannah Steers (22:51):
And to be able to move through that and you
know, find ways to keep going.
And find ways to not only keepgoing in your own body, but to
learn more about how to workwith other people too.
That's pretty cool.
Lara Cubitt (23:06):
Thank you.
Yeah, oh, you know thishappened, then that happened,
but there's a lot of yeah,there's a lot of pain and things
that happen where I did notfeel like a resilient person,
and depression, all kinds ofstuff that happens.
(23:28):
So, yeah, but it is a tough one, it's so unpredictable and just
the constantly losing things,and I think that it does teach
you to be resilient in a waythat a lot of people aren't
exposed to, without that kind ofconfronting disability in a
(23:50):
real way that you know you canthink like, oh, I empathize, but
you can really empathize whenyou feel it and understand
what's happening.
So that's, I mean, that's avery useful skill for working
with other people, for sure,yeah when you're right in it.
(24:10):
Yeah, yeah.
Susannah Steers (24:11):
You're right in it.
Lara Cubitt (24:12):
You're right in it.
Susannah Steers (24:13):
Well, you've described yourself as a posture
fanatic, and I think I couldrelate to that in my profession
as a Pilates teacher.
Yeah, what does it mean to you?
Lara Cubitt (24:23):
I guess it's.
One of the things was thatafter I had been boxing I saw a
picture of myself and I thought,oh, this is unattractive
because I was kind of roundedand so it was just pure
aesthetics in the beginning,like that's, you know, not
attractive.
(24:43):
I've got to fix that.
So when I fixed it it was justme.
This is when I'm still workingand me at work.
Don't forget your posture.
And I would be sitting upstraight and probably overdoing
it a bit, but training the mindto never forget it.
And then so it starts to peak aninterest in this kind of thing
(25:06):
and the yoga starts happening aswell, and then learning about
how posture affects not onlythat aesthetic, what you look
like to other people, but reallytheir interpretation of your
personality, your level ofconfidence, and as well about
how opening the chest, sittingin certain ways, the postures,
(25:30):
yoga, pilates, those things, howhaving a core that is
coordinated and works to holdyou up and balance, and all of
that, and how much this affectsevery single thing in your life.
So I guess it just ended upbeing sort of something that I
just always notice, maybe morethan I used to notice.
(25:52):
I notice if someone, howsomeone's sitting, that I mean
you can even tell is someone notfeeling well.
Maybe you're used to seeingthem and they're kind of like
chest is drooped or just thesethings that you notice.
And then it started being likewell, imagine that everybody
could have access to this kindof knowledge about what they're
(26:17):
doing.
That's making them feel worseor presenting them in a way
that's not how they want to bepresented.
So, yeah, so it just becamesomething that I like to read
about and look at.
Try to teach, find out moreabout yoga, yeah, pilates all
very interesting for this.
Susannah Steers (26:39):
It certainly makes people watching a whole
different experience, doesn't it?
Lara Cubitt (26:43):
Yeah, yeah, the people watching, I mean.
It's sometimes silly, though,because if you make writing
someone's life according to howI interpret their posture, which
is ridiculous, but it can bekind of fun too.
Susannah Steers (26:58):
Can you share a story where you might have seen
someone who found I mean asidefrom your own story, obviously,
which is powerful enough, butmaybe somebody that you were
working with that found eithernew confidence or a new way of
being in the world, as you kindof played with this stuff with
them?
Lara Cubitt (27:13):
Well, I was trying to think what this would be and
I didn't really think of aprofound way.
But it's something that younotice in just little things
that have happened where oneboxer I was working with before
a fight.
He was quite nervous and youknow, but we were getting really
(27:35):
close to it.
It ended up never happening,but we were getting really close
to it.
So we're kind of downgradingthe amount of heavy, hard boxing
we were doing and I was takinghim through some yoga, a bit of
stretching and stuff, and youcan just see I put him into an
upper back bend, just kind oflying down, but with his chest
(27:56):
lifted and head lifted a littlebit.
So he was relaxed but his chestwas really, really open and
this was.
He sat there for a bit and youcan see the difference in the
anxiety level of just from doingthat.
You know that this changes themood and it will happen too with
(28:20):
something like working with.
I guess this.
Maybe it happens moreprofoundly over time, but just
things like this kind of it's sostriking that it's that
immediate, like one time I waswatching a girl training for
boxing and then I realized thatshe was hunching or she had her
(28:41):
chest was a little bit droopedand it wasn't a ton.
But I said to her that trylifting your chest up and let
your shoulders relax and spreadacross here your collarbones.
And then she was like wow, it'sso different.
You know she started doing itand things like that are just
(29:04):
amazing, like that quick, thatdifferent.
So I've had a lot of thoseexperiences and probably are
looking for something a littlebit more of a story there, but I
guess that's the kind of thingsthat come to mind.
Susannah Steers (29:20):
I think that's a story in and of itself.
I find the same thing.
You introduce something new andat first they sort of think
it's nothing at all.
And then they try it and itdoes feel different.
And then I find it interestingtoo when you see those little
small moments that do add upover time and all of a sudden
someone's capable of doingsomething that they never
(29:41):
imagined they could do yeah.
Or they're willing to trysomething brand new where before
they might not have had thecourage to do it because they
didn't really think they couldget there.
Lara Cubitt (29:49):
Yeah.
Susannah Steers (29:50):
And you just see those things that are little
small moments that feel amazingin the moment, but you don't
know they're going to add up toanything.
And then all of a sudden, alittle while goes by and
physically you've changed andyour confidence is different, as
you've experienced yourselfLike it really does.
This is why I always my littlemotto at the studio is you
(30:13):
matter and how you move matters.
Little motto at the studio is"you matter and how you move
matters.
And I believe that right andit's not that I'm looking to
change for change's sake, thatthere's a right way or a wrong
way of doing it, but we all haveways of being in the world.
And isn't it cool when you canfind those little things that
just tweak it up a notch andthen you feel better in your
(30:34):
body and you feel better in yourmovement and it's easier to be
in the world.
You can navigate thingsdifferently.
That's what I get excited about.
Lara Cubitt (30:43):
Yeah, and I related to all of your just the bits
that are written on your websiteand the things that you said
about those things, exactlywhere I thought like, yeah, I
really got her.
It is those things, andespecially that when you said
about the confidence to trysomething new that they had.
(31:05):
Because that is especially asyou get older.
You see more and more of thiskind of resistance just to the
kind of I'm not sure if I'll begood at that, and I mean most
things you're not going to begood at if you've never tried
them, but that kind of like Ibetter not, I don't know if I'll
try that and then seeing thatchange because actually they are
(31:25):
already trying things theyhaven't tried or in a different
way, and then it starts tobroaden the horizon.
Susannah Steers (31:33):
Yeah Well, and as you say, with aging, you know
, what I notice is, if you don'ttake those steps, if you don't
do those little things, theworld starts to get smaller
pretty fast and you don'trecognize it until you've put
yourself in a little box whereyou haven't done the things and
your body doesn't move very well, and then it gets scarier even
more to try new things.
Lara Cubitt (31:53):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think having MS is like
aging on speed, Like it's just Irelated to people over 80 so
much in so many ways because ofjust that.
It's like that really hyperquickly to that and being unsure
of yourself, being imbalancedand not having a way to figure
(32:16):
it out, so you're scared.
Scared of falling.
I've met people who have fallenso badly that then it changes
how they approach everything.
And yeah, with aging it's likethat's happening all the time
and getting in front of it is soimportant.
Susannah Steers (32:34):
As you say.
I mean it's.
We talk about movement and andeverybody's first thought is
that it's physical.
Yes, clearly it is, but Ialways like to think that we're
not.
We're not separated parts theway we like to think.
You know, our mind over here,our emotions over here, our body
over here, and they all kind ofexist in the same time and
place, like a little hologram,and they all affect each other.
(32:57):
It's not just a matter of beingable to move or not move.
All of that affects your wholebeing.
Lara Cubitt (33:04):
Yes, what has this journey with MS?
(33:29):
Not a chosen movement's sake,but there doesn't have to be
some kind of end to it.
Like I'm going to win a boxingcompetition, I'm going to be
able to do this pose, or it'syou start learning all the
benefits of movement that comejust to even basic bodily
functions digestion, you know,moving a cold along, something
(33:53):
like that.
It's so important just to do itthat your mind can be changed
by any kind of movement.
Like you'd say, if someone'sable, going for a walk is going
to be a huge difference.
You can change everything withthat walk.
So, finding ways to move where,when you can't walk, being able
(34:15):
to find these things that canhappen in a very, very narrow
space of working.
Like I did teach a yoga classin a hospital once, and this
time I taught chair yoga,because some of the people
weren't really mobile or theyused walkers or whatever and
(34:36):
some kind of walking aid, and Ithought you know, we're not
going to challenge everythingall at once here with people
that I don't know, and so Ithought let's do chair yoga and
just the ability to move andthink like, oh, I can do some of
these things with these props,and how that changes people's
(34:56):
life or their outlook, at leastfor a little while, that they
don't know that they can do that.
I guess having MS has taught meto appreciate those things more
, because I definitely wassomeone who would always be
setting the bar higher as soonas I got really close to it.
Bam, move it, and that was howI ran my life.
(35:19):
If I couldn't do something, whatdid I do?
I tried harder and this istaken off the table Like you
cannot try harder.
That is not an option.
You can try to accept.
You can try harder to acceptwhat's happening, but that's
about it.
So it teaches you a lot abouthow the mind works, with
(35:41):
motivation and trying to findways to I don't even know if
it's motivation but accept orsee smaller steps as valuable
and using them instead of saying, oh well, that's only that.
Why would I bother?
Because I think there is anelement that when I started you
(36:03):
know I've learned that over time, but it wasn't how I started it
was kind of like, oh, I can'teven do that, so what's the
point?
Not with the thinking it,actually articulating it in my
head, but I think that is partly.
It's a level of defeat beforestarting, because you've
discounted these smallermovements or just the ability to
(36:26):
move at all, as which now I'm.
I'm grateful for that and youknow for that.
I can see it, I can feel itevery day, whereas it isn't how
it starts, I think.
Susannah Steers (36:39):
It seems like kind of a radical presence
process, like all the time wetalked about being in it and
you're in it, it and there's noway around that.
So what do you do with that?
Yeah, you know, and, and everyday it might be okay.
I can't get out of bed today,and that might be a thing, or it
might be okay.
(36:59):
I have some small thing thatI'm able to do, and then the
small thing maybe makessomething else available, or
maybe it just makes you feel alittle better in the moment.
Lara Cubitt (37:08):
Yeah, yeah, and then this is basically a whole
other conversation.
But pretty much from the time Ileft work there were things
that changed, but I deterioratedover time and a lot of it was
cognitive things that aren'tsuper visible super visible.
(37:35):
But then two years ago I had orover two years ago had a bone
marrow transplant.
That was just supposed to kindof stop the process, but
actually I was given improvementfrom how I was before, in my
even day to day or things, evendoing things like this or like
saying that I can do sometraining in boxing.
(37:55):
That was off the table socompletely, just because I could
not do it, and now it's kind ofcome back.
So it's, yeah, the presence ofjust being like what is this?
What's happening?
I don't know that it'll stay.
And, yeah, you do, you alwayshave to be present to both ways.
If something for some reasonchanges to the good, taking that
(38:20):
in and using it to the best ofyour ability instead of being
scared that it's going to goaway, because there's a very
good chance of that.
But would you want to miss allthe time that it's here because
you're just want to adjust yourmind to dealing with that
disability again, and right,yeah, so yeah, I think that that
(38:42):
presence is is always somethingthat's always changing.
I mean, that's a very luckyexperience to have something.
I don't think this is the thingthat most people with MS are
confronting.
Oh, and then I improved a bitit just tends not to be in that
(39:03):
trajectory.
but you never know
Susannah Steers (39:04):
Are there, I'm sure there must be,
misconceptions about multiplesclerosis and how you move
around in the world that youwish more people understood, or
the things you've experienced oryou see in the world?
Lara Cubitt (39:17):
yeah probably the primary thing is the idea that
just, I mean, it's human nature,I think, is that we want to be
able to see the disability inreal time.
And one of the worst effectseven with all the other stuff,
(39:37):
one of the worst effects that Iexperienced was fatigue that is
of a level that's so differentto anything I'd ever experienced
before that it's hard to youcan't even even experiencing it,
you can't communicate it toother people, and this is the
(40:00):
thing that basically plagues alot of people with MS.
So you know I could go out andlook great.
So you know I could go out andlook great, completely fine, and
then just be almost crippledwith fatigue, like how am I
going to get out of here?
I can't be here.
Why did I come?
Oh, my God, I'm so tired andjust being unable to do like.
(40:23):
People think of fatigue as Idon't know just having certain
effects, but the effects are somuch more profound shut down
your life, fatigue, that's.
I guess people with MS arealways trying to explain what
this is like, but it's reallysomething where you think I
don't know if anyone could getthis without experiencing it.
(40:45):
It's just like but it's likethat is an incredible disability
and it just looks like nothing.
So people don't can't reallyconceptualize it, I guess.
But I think there's not a lotof empathy for that.
I mean, certainly there is to adegree with the people that are
close to you.
(41:06):
Well, if you're lucky, I doknow people that don't even have
that.
But it's just it sort of opensup this whole.
If that fatigue is like thatwith this disease, then what
else is happening to people thatwe have no idea and we can't
conceive of it.
But that wouldn't be the onlything.
(41:26):
And I guess there are thingsmaybe just like that.
You understand this conceptlike fatigue, but maybe you
don't.
And I think that applies to metoo with other things.
There are a lot of things inthe world where you think, oh,
yeah, yeah, I get it, I tried itout before or something, and
(41:48):
it's like not really, but justthere's an OT that I have, an OT
that I know in the Vancouverarea who her specialty is
working with people withinvisible health conditions, and
that's what she does.
Susannah Steers (42:01):
It's all about the stuff you can't see, and I
think the fatigue is one ofthose huge pieces that you know.
You find a way to kind ofsometimes do the things you need
to do, as you say, and you goout looking fine and then all of
a sudden it hits and okay, Igot to curl up under my desk
because there is no other optionin this moment.
It's a lot.
Lara Cubitt (42:23):
It's a lot, yeah.
And then you're too cognitivelytaxed, like it's sort of this
fatigue.
It's like taxing your emotions,taxing your cognitive function.
So then you're actually in aposition where you don't have
the basically capacity tocommunicate why or how you need
to get out of there, and then itoverwhelms your whole system
(42:45):
and then sometimes things govery badly, some kind of you
know breakdown of some sort orwhatever, and then that triggers
the oh my God, why would I goout?
Susannah Steers (42:56):
You know people talk about before a migraine -
they see things or, you know,are there any kind of precursors
to an onset of intense fatigueor like something that indicates
(43:22):
, okay, I only have like 30minutes, or I mean, I wouldn't
be that exact obviously, butsomething's coming?
I got to go find myself a safeplace to be because it's going
to go now?
Lara Cubitt (43:32):
hey think after a long time you start to notice
things, but it's almost it canbe.
After a number of years with MS.
It's like almost not an event.
It's the state of being thatit's always close to that.
(43:52):
Just are you going to end upstanding for a while?
But it won't necessarily end inthat same kind of abrupt
breakdown way, because you'realways preparing in the back of
your mind, or even in the frontof your mind sometimes, of how
you're going to get out.
So you do this and you get usedto doing that, so it's not as
(44:15):
extreme.
But then it just things likeeven for me it would be starting
to fidget and not hearing whatpeople are saying, because I'm
losing my kind of way.
And then it's like I don't havea time limit on it, but I know
it's about to go, it's over.
There is because there's notgoing to be recovery.
(44:35):
It doesn't matter.
Like, oh, do you want to sitdown?
Yeah, I can sit down, but it'stoo far already.
It's done.
So the dream is over.
We got to get out of here, or Igot to get out of here, you
know.
Susannah Steers (44:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So there's a lot of planningthat goes into so much.
I know people who will, youknow, read a menu before they go
to the restaurant because ityou know that kind of thing, you
know you're having to planahead to make sure that that, as
you say, there's an exit plan.
I'm going to be okay while I'mthere and if I'm not, okay.
Lara Cubitt (45:14):
I got.
I got options, yeah yeah.
And not being to planning tonot be perplexed by decisions
that these are stupid littledecisions that other people
would not consider.
But when your brain isoperating at like 20% optimality
or whatever you want to call it, it's like you have to plan out
what's going to, what you'regoing to do, so that you don't
have to sit there and go backand forth in your head thinking,
(45:34):
oh, am I going to do this, am Igoing to go right or am I going
to go left when we get to thatfork?
That happens every time we go.
But you have to decide thosethings.
And, yeah, things like menus,for sure, because otherwise it's
like I'll get distracted whileI'm sitting there and think,
okay, I'm going to choose andI'll just blurt something out.
I don't even want to eat, ifyou know, because I'll feel like
(45:57):
under pressure to get this tohappen.
Make a decision.
Because it's like annoying topeople like why would this be
such a big decision to you?
And that's not even the bestexample.
But yeah, a lot of planningends up happening and it annoys
you that you have to plan thismuch and people think you're
(46:18):
very.
It changes your personalityentirely.
I mean, I was like I'm not eventhe same person at all.
I think people would label meas maybe not quite outwardly
anxious, but like that kind ofplanning and stuff, this does
not go unnoticed.
It's like why would you care?
You would care.
Susannah Steers (46:37):
You would care, tell me a little bit more about
the work that you're doing now.
You're coaching, you knowyou're.
You're coaching, you'reteaching yoga.
You're in hospitals, you're inhomes, what, what are you up to?
Lara Cubitt (46:49):
So, yeah, a lot of my experience with teaching yoga
in different places isbasically over time.
I've done such a variety ofthings.
I'm pretty much open toteaching anywhere and if I'm
somewhere for an extended stay,like in a hospital, which I have
been, I'll offer to do it andjust to teach people that are
(47:10):
nearby or you know things likethat.
So, um, so currently I'd mostlywould just teach people in
their home and I alsoincorporate into boxing the.
The boxers that I do train geta lot of yoga happening for the
(47:30):
warm-up, for the stretch andsome things just really apply.
That ability to focus andreally understand a movement is,
to me, yoga.
So there are those similaritiesof kind of understanding.
The form and the refinement ofthe skills is a lot like yoga.
Susannah Steers (47:54):
I'm going to leave contact information for
Lara in the show notes, so ifyou have questions for her, you
can reach her there.
Thank you so so much forjoining me today and for sharing
your story with us.
I have enjoyed every minute ofit.
I hope we will meet in personone of these days.
Bye-bye.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
(48:16):
Subscribe and, if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
Welcome to the Heart of Motion Podcast.
I'm Susanna 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.
Welcome to the Heart of MotionPodcast, where we explore the
(00:22):
stories, the science and thesoul of moving.
Well, I'm Susanna Steers andtoday I'm thrilled to introduce
a guest whose journey is asdynamic as it is inspiring.
Lara Cubitt is a two-timeCanadian amateur boxing champion
, a certified Iyengar yogateacher, a passionate advocate
for the power of posture andmovement.
(00:43):
From the intensity of theboxing ring to the mindful
precision of yoga, and throughher own ongoing experience
living with multiple sclerosis,lara brings a unique perspective
to what it means to move, toadapt and to thrive.
From coaching boxers atVancouver's iconic Astoria Hotel
gym to helping clients discoverconfidence and self-efficacy
(01:05):
through yoga, Lara's story is atestament to resilience,
curiosity and the transformativepower of movement.
So settle in and get ready tobe inspired as we dive into
Lara's remarkable journey, onethat reminds us all that how we
move shapes how we live.
Welcome to the podcast, lara.
I'm so happy to see you.
Lara Cubitt (01:27):
Thanks, Susannah, thanks for having me.
Such a thrill.
Susannah Steers (01:30):
I think first can we just dive into your
boxing story and yourexperiences in that sport.
What drew you to it and whatinspired you to drive to that
elite championship level?
Lara Cubitt (01:42):
A lot of it was just luck and or just things
that kind of wound me up there.
When I was really young.
I wanted to be a bodybuilder,and for a while I did that.
From about 13, I started goingto the gym, and then, around 15,
16, I actually startedkickboxing for a couple of years
(02:03):
, and that was because I thoughtor partly maybe from influence
of my parents my dad saying,"what are you going to do though
, you're just going to be aweightlifter Like this wasn't a
real thing.
And then I thought, oh, maybeI'll try something.
I guess I was doing all thethings that were a bit tomboy,
(02:25):
though, and so I startedkickboxing, but I still kept
working out at the gym, and thisman that I knew was a friend of
a friend said hey, I reallythink you'd like this place.
I go to this boxing gymdowntown.
And I said, oh, okay, and Ithought I'll try it.
I don't know why he thinks I'dlike it, and that took me to the
(02:46):
Astoria Boxing Club, which isquite an experience to walk into
, certainly back in those days.
It's old, it smells of emptybeer cans and like, maybe, urine
.
.
.
blood.
Anyway, just I was thinking, oh, from the prissy, I want to be
a bodybuilder in my white tightsand that kind of look to just
(03:07):
raw, real something.
And I thought, I don't know whyhe thought I would like this.
And I went there one time andthen one of the coaches there
was hitting us with a stickwhile we were doing calisthenics
and yelling at us, calling usdog- effers, and I was like,
okay, wow, this is reallyintense.
(03:29):
And then I thought, well, Idon't know if I'll go back there
.
And then that same man askedabout me and I was so thrilled
that he remembered me that Ithought maybe I will give it
another shot.
And I went back and quicklyrefined my outfits from white
tights to just sort of cut off,you know, looking like how I
(03:51):
thought someone should look inthis gym, which is pretty rough.
And yeah, it just started and Ithought I'll just try it out.
I probably won't fight.
I don't know.
But all one thing leads toanother oh, do you want to spar
today?
I don't know.
And then all one thing leads toanother oh, do you want to spar
today?
I don't know.
And then you kind of feel likea chicken if you don't.
So then you say, oh, okay.
And then the first time Isparred I just got beaten with
(04:14):
blood all over my face, I mean,my shirt covered, oh my gosh.
And I thought, oh yeah.
But then I also thought, hey, Iguess that doesn't bother me
that much.
And the other coach who endedup being my main coach, he said,
well, she keeps going forward.
So he was like that's enough,who will actually pay attention
(04:35):
to you a little bit?
So that was kind of what got mein and got some attention to
improve.
And then the same thing withthe fight was just you want to
fight?
I don't know, we got one foryou, so get ready.
And then I fought and it wasjust really over very quickly.
I won quickly, that is.
(04:55):
And then it's kind of hooks youbecause this is pretty exciting
, all the buildup, the trainingand then getting in there, and
it's sort of like I realizedpretty soon that once the bell
goes, it's like a relief of youknow, you're not thinking
anymore, it's just sort ofyou're doing something.
Susannah Steers (05:15):
Well, it seems so interesting when I'm hearing
your story and you know youdidn't go into it necessarily
because you decided I want totry boxing, but to hear you know
they were seeing something inyou and you were responding and
that sort of sheer just keepgoing forward and okay, I'll try
this and, and you know, thatmust've been something that was
(05:37):
really interesting to thecoaches at the time.
You know she's, she's ready togo.
Lara Cubitt (05:43):
Yeah, cause they're very uh, they discount people
pretty quickly in that gym.
I don't really believe ifyou'll show up or something.
But if you do show up and youkeep trying, then it's a
different thing.
But it takes a little while toprove it usually.
Susannah Steers (06:00):
I have pictures of Rocky Balboa's gym.
Yeah, it's like a Spinning inmy head
Lara Cubitt (06:05):
Like a Rocky gym kind of thing
Susannah Steers (06:08):
Was it hard to fit in there, especially in a
gym like that, as a young womanin what's seen quite often and
maybe not so much now, butcertainly a while ago as a men's
sport.
Lara Cubitt (06:29):
Yeah, it was strange because there was only
one other woman who eventuallyor that was the person I ended
up sparring with and she hadbeen around for a while, but
partly because her cousins werealso there, a couple of guys and
they were most of the peoplethere went there for a long time
.
So it felt like going into thiskind of strange universe that
(06:49):
was already established and justbeing new and I think being a
woman was.
There's definitely an attention, but I don't know necessarily a
negative is sort of a bit ofmaybe admiration that you're
willing to go into this dump ofa gym and work out.
So I didn't get you know, Icaught some flack on my outfits
(07:13):
in the beginning, but peopleweren't unkind or anything and
they didn't pay me too muchattention in the way that
sometimes women would prefer notto have.
They kind of just let me be.
Eventually.
It ended up being that thereweren't many other women that
came through there.
There definitely were over time, but at the time that I was
(07:35):
there it was infrequent and itwas the men who got me to be as
good as I was, because theyended up being the only sparring
partners I could use were men.
So that was kind of interestingtoo, and I think back now of
how lucky I was to have and notto have them overdo anything or
(07:56):
use their, you know, becausethey were about the same weight
as me but they were stronger,they were faster, but they would
work with me in a way that wasjust enough to push me but not
so much to injure me over time.
Susannah Steers (08:16):
And they respected you enough not to baby
you in the moment.
Lara Cubitt (08:20):
So I think that's such a finely skilled aspect of
boxing is that being able tocontrol things on a level and
also help someone improve.
It's really a fine skill.
That's not in a new person.
Susannah Steers (08:37):
Well, you collected so many wins and so
much success.
What was the first indicationfor you that something wasn't
quite right in terms of, maybe,the onset of your MS?
Lara Cubitt (08:50):
Yeah, that was in retrospect.
It's so wildly wrong that Ishould have thought there's
something very wrong, asprobably could have a doctor,
but they did not.
Very wrong, as probably couldhave a doctor, but they did not.
(09:10):
So what happened was there werea couple of things that now I
maybe wouldn't have noticed thenthat that was wrong.
But I had one fight.
That was after I first won theCanadian Championships, which is
a tournament in amateur boxing,and then you have to fight one
of the people.
If they want to challenge youfor your spot, they get two
chances to beat you.
If they beat you twice, thenthey take your spot.
So this is called the box offsand it's a few months after the
(09:33):
Canadian championship.
And going into that fight Ionly had to fight once, but
going into it I got.
The level of nerves was kind ofit was almost like I had a
nervous breakdown before Ifought and I was always nervy.
I kind of would get that wayand then it was all fine once I
was in the ring.
(09:53):
But this was rather extremewhen I look back and my coach is
kind of questioning this likewhat the hell is wrong with you?
Anyway, but we got through that.
And then I was going to meet mysister who was in Australia for
a month and we were travelingand I had to always go to.
I always had to go pee.
(10:14):
It was just that we thought itwas funny.
But I was also suddenly, when Iwould I cause I was like, oh,
I'm going to keep up my fitnesswhile I'm gone so I can go right
back into boxing when I getback, and I would go try to go
running and I just would not beable to do it.
I was so tired and I keptthinking it was jet lag.
(10:34):
And you know, this is juststrange, but I feel weird.
And then when I came back fromthat trip so those were not that
insanely weird from that trip,so those were not that insanely
weird but when I came back Istarted, I just suddenly was
unable to spar almost at all.
It would take me 30 seconds andI would be just heaving, trying
to get oxygen because for somereason everything had changed.
(10:59):
So that was very weird.
I also got extreme upper backpain that in the beginning was
making it through workouts butthen collapsing when I got home.
So that was also a sign.
But then it sort of went fromthat, these strange events, to
just being so tired that Icouldn't make it to the gym
(11:24):
anymore and I just I ended up.
We thought, oh, maybe it'sovertraining, which now sounds
sort of ridiculous, so you don'treally overtrain in, like how
can that be it?
But anyway, you think thatpeople tell you, it's all in
your head, and then you think,oh well, hopefully.
And then I had to take sometime off and it was.
(11:46):
I had made the Canadian teambut I had to say no to fighting
internationally that year, whichwas kind of what got me through
the Canadian championships.
I was like I'm going to Turkey,I'm going to Turkey, which was
where the world championship was, and I had to say I can't go
because my condition is terrible.
Suddenly, but terrible.
Susannah Steers (12:07):
That must have been heartbreaking.
Lara Cubitt (12:09):
It was.
Yeah, it was pretty hard there,but not quite to heartbreaking
yet, okay.
Okay, yeah, I was.
You're just kind of focused andthinking like, how am I going
to do this, how am I going to dothis?
And anyway, near the second thenext year, the Canadian
Championships.
It was only about six weeksbefore things kind of cleared up
(12:31):
.
And then I thought, okay, whenwe train really hard, we go back
, we win it again and we go.
And so I did train hard and wasable to win the tournament
again and I even won best boxerof the tournament for female
boxer that time.
And I was like, okay, I didn'tfeel right but I thought must be
(12:54):
okay, probably just residue ofhaving time off.
And then things from there startto go where I lost, a couple of
fights I went to.
I did fight in France and Italy, which was exciting.
I beat the Italian champion andthen the French champion was
also the world champion and Ididn't win against her.
(13:16):
She was great, but I diddecently.
Anyway, when I came home, mycoach was like, yeah, you won
against the Italian, but wewanted to win against the French
.
The French one, that was theone we needed to win Kind of
disappointed and then from herethings go a little bit more
downhill.
Like I lost a couple of fightsthat was almost just in a way
(13:39):
that didn't seem right to mycoach, and started not being
able to lose weight, to make myweight, which was unusual, and
then in the end it was thatfinally we go back to the
Canadian Championships again.
Now I'm in a higher weight classbecause I just couldn't make
(14:00):
the other one and that wasprobably a huge sign that my
body was probably flooded withcortisol, like stop it, you know
what are you doing, you'restarving us and now you want to
go get hit in the head like thisis enough.
And then at the at the CanadianChampionship, that one, I think
I won one or two and then Ilost against the woman who would
(14:22):
become the champion.
But I lost in kind of anunexciting way, no big thing,
just kind of lost.
And then my coach said that'sit, you need to take a break.
And that was the end of boxing,because he just thought that
something was wrong and hedidn't know what, but he didn't
(14:44):
like it and he said you have totake time off.
This is where the heart breaks,cause he said you can keep
training, but I won't train you.
And this was like yeah, yeah,and no real explanation.
I also don't know.
I have MS, so this is where Ileave boxing and I kind of left
everything.
I left my friends, I left mycoat, I didn't go into the gym
(15:06):
Like I just couldn't bear it.
And that's where yoga comes in.
Susannah Steers (15:12):
No kidding.
Well, so how did it come in?
At that point you lefteverybody.
I mean, I can only imagine thatyour confidence was in the
toilet and you were confused andstill not feeling great and not
really knowing what's going on.
I mean, did yoga start beforeyou had a confirmed diagnosis of
(15:34):
MS, or was that something thatcame after?
Lara Cubitt (15:37):
It takes a while until the actual diagnosis later
on.
It takes medically retiring at29, but we're still a few years
out from that.
So I had tried.
A friend had just invited me tocome to yoga some couple times
while I still was boxing and Ithought, oh, this is hard in a
(15:59):
weird different way, you know,like it's sort of maybe even
sort of hard that it's boring tome or I'm used to fast and you
know, competitive.
And then when I left boxing,when that whole event happened
at first, I kind of gripped onand was like I'm still going to
(16:22):
run six days a week and you know, but it was all kind of it was
falling apart a bit, even therunning.
So then I thought you know whatI'm going to do?
The exact opposite, or what Ithought was the exact opposite
of boxing.
And that's how I started yoga,because I thought if I can't do
that, I just don't want to beanywhere near it, like I want to
do something different.
So that's how I started doingyoga and I ended up really
(16:46):
liking it and I started in thekind of hot yoga.
So maybe it wasn't as extremelyopposite in that sense is kind
of like unnecessarily hot.
Susannah Steers (16:58):
You started off with the hot yoga.
What gravitated you to theIyengar stream of things?
Lara Cubitt (17:05):
Yeah, so that happened.
That does happen.
Later, various things happenthat are again in retrospect,
appallingly strange, like mywhole body going numb from the
neck down for months at a time,multiple times, vertigo, things
(17:26):
that would happen.
But then they'd go away and thedoctor would be like, well, we
don't see anything wrong withyou.
And I was very happy to chalkit up to being nothing because I
had already the boxing thinghad already happened and I don't
think I could have reallytolerated more.
So I was not investigative, Ijust sort of oh yeah, well,
(17:47):
nothing's wrong, it's just aweird thing that happened to me
Again.
You know that kind of thing.
So anyway, later on, when I'mworking, a bunch of very strange
things start to happen.
Where I just I there's like thefatigue is so high, my mom's
driving me to work and pickingme up, and just I'm sleeping
(18:09):
under my desk at work.
I can't focus anymore.
So there was a very strangewhile I was working at a mining
company, very strange kind ofuptick and feeling like
permanent to what was going onand then I suddenly couldn't
move my legs properly, like Iwent to go running and I
couldn't like pick them up andthis sort of went into this
(18:34):
weird could not run anymoreBecause when I lifted my legs I
couldn't feel them from thewaist down and this was kind of
starting to be a more extremerelapse.
This I knew, this can't beright.
That was finally the thing.
Like this cannot be right orokay.
And then it triggered all theseappointments and eventually
(18:57):
finding out I had MS while I wasworking and then having to
leave work because I just wasunable to keep up in any way.
And so when I left, then Ithought, oh my God, I'm not
doing anything.
What am I going to do?
Like that was alsoheartbreaking.
Being told like you're probablynever going to work again.
(19:18):
This is it, and you're 29.
And I was the kind of personwho was like nobody's going to
take care of me, I'm going tomake my own money, I'm going to
be really successful, delusional, but still, it was a way of
thinking.
And then so it's to thecomplete opposite.
And at that point I thought,well, maybe I could be a yoga
(19:41):
teacher if I slowly found a wayto do the training.
See, at that point there was noway I was going to do some fast
forward training of like amonth or something thing.
(20:02):
So I did this once a week oversix months, training to become a
yoga teacher, and I startedteaching and then I believe I
had had steroids to recover fromthat relapse, or maybe it just
with the not being able to run.
So I still couldn't run but Ifelt like I got better maybe.
And then once I was teachingyoga a little bit, pretty
infrequently but nonethelessthen I had a relapse where I
(20:25):
really my I mean, I couldn'tsign my name.
One arm was sort of dead.
My foot was dropping.
I was completely out of my mind, probably just because I was
working so hard to try and stayI don't know cohesive in no real
control of my body.
I could feel that my core wasgone.
(20:47):
It was very much like thedescription that a pregnant
woman will say about how thebody relaxes so that the baby
can grow.
It was like that, only with nobaby.
And that time I was like whoa,this is really extreme.
And my dad had to drive me to ayoga class, and this one I
(21:08):
picked Iyengar, because I knewthey were a lot about the
therapeutic aspects and it feltlike a more in-depth study of
yoga.
So both those things attractedto me.
But when I started Iyengar Yoga, I actually went to people
recovering from chemotherapy andcancer session because it used
(21:32):
a lot of props, a lot of helpand you know, and completely
different from even the yoga Ihad been doing.
So that kind of hooked me in,though, because I was like this
is amazing what these people cando with yoga and teaching you
how to do things even when youbasically can't do them.
(21:54):
So this was fascinating to me,and then the so I started
practicing Iyengar yoga and thenI thought I would like to teach
Iyengar yoga.
But it's a really long program,so it's a three-year teacher
training and you have at the enda written assignment, sort of
test, and as well as doing anassessment in person with people
(22:19):
.
You know that you teach andyeah, so that's that's kind of
what it's always kind of.
Losing something is the thingthat got me to something.
That's a great part of what Ihave today yeah, anyway.
Susannah Steers (22:33):
Well, that I mean it really speaks to your
resilience that you just keptlooking, because I mean it seems
to me MS is such anunpredictable disease.
Right, there's just no.
I have a cousin who would sayyeah, you wake up and you don't
know what's not going to worktoday.
Lara Cubitt (22:49):
Yeah.
Susannah Steers (22:51):
And to be able to move through that and you
know, find ways to keep going.
And find ways to not only keepgoing in your own body, but to
learn more about how to workwith other people too.
That's pretty cool.
Lara Cubitt (23:06):
Thank you.
Yeah, oh, you know thishappened, then that happened,
but there's a lot of yeah,there's a lot of pain and things
that happen where I did notfeel like a resilient person,
and depression, all kinds ofstuff that happens.
(23:28):
So, yeah, but it is a tough one, it's so unpredictable and just
the constantly losing things,and I think that it does teach
you to be resilient in a waythat a lot of people aren't
exposed to, without that kind ofconfronting disability in a
(23:50):
real way that you know you canthink like, oh, I empathize, but
you can really empathize whenyou feel it and understand
what's happening.
So that's, I mean, that's avery useful skill for working
with other people, for sure,yeah when you're right in it.
(24:10):
Yeah, yeah.
Susannah Steers (24:11):
You're right in it.
Lara Cubitt (24:12):
You're right in it.
Susannah Steers (24:13):
Well, you've described yourself as a posture
fanatic, and I think I couldrelate to that in my profession
as a Pilates teacher.
Yeah, what does it mean to you?
Lara Cubitt (24:23):
I guess it's.
One of the things was thatafter I had been boxing I saw a
picture of myself and I thought,oh, this is unattractive
because I was kind of roundedand so it was just pure
aesthetics in the beginning,like that's, you know, not
attractive.
(24:43):
I've got to fix that.
So when I fixed it it was justme.
This is when I'm still workingand me at work.
Don't forget your posture.
And I would be sitting upstraight and probably overdoing
it a bit, but training the mindto never forget it.
And then so it starts to peak aninterest in this kind of thing
(25:06):
and the yoga starts happening aswell, and then learning about
how posture affects not onlythat aesthetic, what you look
like to other people, but reallytheir interpretation of your
personality, your level ofconfidence, and as well about
how opening the chest, sittingin certain ways, the postures,
(25:30):
yoga, pilates, those things, howhaving a core that is
coordinated and works to holdyou up and balance, and all of
that, and how much this affectsevery single thing in your life.
So I guess it just ended upbeing sort of something that I
just always notice, maybe morethan I used to notice.
(25:52):
I notice if someone, howsomeone's sitting, that I mean
you can even tell is someone notfeeling well.
Maybe you're used to seeingthem and they're kind of like
chest is drooped or just thesethings that you notice.
And then it started being likewell, imagine that everybody
could have access to this kindof knowledge about what they're
(26:17):
doing.
That's making them feel worseor presenting them in a way
that's not how they want to bepresented.
So, yeah, so it just becamesomething that I like to read
about and look at.
Try to teach, find out moreabout yoga, yeah, pilates all
very interesting for this.
Susannah Steers (26:39):
It certainly makes people watching a whole
different experience, doesn't it?
Lara Cubitt (26:43):
Yeah, yeah, the people watching, I mean.
It's sometimes silly, though,because if you make writing
someone's life according to howI interpret their posture, which
is ridiculous, but it can bekind of fun too.
Susannah Steers (26:58):
Can you share a story where you might have seen
someone who found I mean asidefrom your own story, obviously,
which is powerful enough, butmaybe somebody that you were
working with that found eithernew confidence or a new way of
being in the world, as you kindof played with this stuff with
them?
Lara Cubitt (27:13):
Well, I was trying to think what this would be and
I didn't really think of aprofound way.
But it's something that younotice in just little things
that have happened where oneboxer I was working with before
a fight.
He was quite nervous and youknow, but we were getting really
(27:35):
close to it.
It ended up never happening,but we were getting really close
to it.
So we're kind of downgradingthe amount of heavy, hard boxing
we were doing and I was takinghim through some yoga, a bit of
stretching and stuff, and youcan just see I put him into an
upper back bend, just kind oflying down, but with his chest
(27:56):
lifted and head lifted a littlebit.
So he was relaxed but his chestwas really, really open and
this was.
He sat there for a bit and youcan see the difference in the
anxiety level of just from doingthat.
You know that this changes themood and it will happen too with
(28:20):
something like working with.
I guess this.
Maybe it happens moreprofoundly over time, but just
things like this kind of it's sostriking that it's that
immediate, like one time I waswatching a girl training for
boxing and then I realized thatshe was hunching or she had her
(28:41):
chest was a little bit droopedand it wasn't a ton.
But I said to her that trylifting your chest up and let
your shoulders relax and spreadacross here your collarbones.
And then she was like wow, it'sso different.
You know she started doing itand things like that are just
(29:04):
amazing, like that quick, thatdifferent.
So I've had a lot of thoseexperiences and probably are
looking for something a littlebit more of a story there, but I
guess that's the kind of thingsthat come to mind.
Susannah Steers (29:20):
I think that's a story in and of itself.
I find the same thing.
You introduce something new andat first they sort of think
it's nothing at all.
And then they try it and itdoes feel different.
And then I find it interestingtoo when you see those little
small moments that do add upover time and all of a sudden
someone's capable of doingsomething that they never
(29:41):
imagined they could do yeah.
Or they're willing to trysomething brand new where before
they might not have had thecourage to do it because they
didn't really think they couldget there.
Lara Cubitt (29:49):
Yeah.
Susannah Steers (29:50):
And you just see those things that are little
small moments that feel amazingin the moment, but you don't
know they're going to add up toanything.
And then all of a sudden, alittle while goes by and
physically you've changed andyour confidence is different, as
you've experienced yourselfLike it really does.
This is why I always my littlemotto at the studio is you
(30:13):
matter and how you move matters.
Little motto at the studio is"you matter and how you move
matters.
And I believe that right andit's not that I'm looking to
change for change's sake, thatthere's a right way or a wrong
way of doing it, but we all haveways of being in the world.
And isn't it cool when you canfind those little things that
just tweak it up a notch andthen you feel better in your
(30:34):
body and you feel better in yourmovement and it's easier to be
in the world.
You can navigate thingsdifferently.
That's what I get excited about.
Lara Cubitt (30:43):
Yeah, and I related to all of your just the bits
that are written on your websiteand the things that you said
about those things, exactlywhere I thought like, yeah, I
really got her.
It is those things, andespecially that when you said
about the confidence to trysomething new that they had.
(31:05):
Because that is especially asyou get older.
You see more and more of thiskind of resistance just to the
kind of I'm not sure if I'll begood at that, and I mean most
things you're not going to begood at if you've never tried
them, but that kind of like Ibetter not, I don't know if I'll
try that and then seeing thatchange because actually they are
(31:25):
already trying things theyhaven't tried or in a different
way, and then it starts tobroaden the horizon.
Susannah Steers (31:33):
Yeah Well, and as you say, with aging, you know
, what I notice is, if you don'ttake those steps, if you don't
do those little things, theworld starts to get smaller
pretty fast and you don'trecognize it until you've put
yourself in a little box whereyou haven't done the things and
your body doesn't move very well, and then it gets scarier even
more to try new things.
Lara Cubitt (31:53):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think having MS is like
aging on speed, Like it's just Irelated to people over 80 so
much in so many ways because ofjust that.
It's like that really hyperquickly to that and being unsure
of yourself, being imbalancedand not having a way to figure
(32:16):
it out, so you're scared.
Scared of falling.
I've met people who have fallenso badly that then it changes
how they approach everything.
And yeah, with aging it's likethat's happening all the time
and getting in front of it is soimportant.
Susannah Steers (32:34):
As you say.
I mean it's.
We talk about movement and andeverybody's first thought is
that it's physical.
Yes, clearly it is, but Ialways like to think that we're
not.
We're not separated parts theway we like to think.
You know, our mind over here,our emotions over here, our body
over here, and they all kind ofexist in the same time and
place, like a little hologram,and they all affect each other.
(32:57):
It's not just a matter of beingable to move or not move.
All of that affects your wholebeing.
Lara Cubitt (33:04):
Yes, what has this journey with MS?
(33:29):
Not a chosen movement's sake,but there doesn't have to be
some kind of end to it.
Like I'm going to win a boxingcompetition, I'm going to be
able to do this pose, or it'syou start learning all the
benefits of movement that comejust to even basic bodily
functions digestion, you know,moving a cold along, something
(33:53):
like that.
It's so important just to do itthat your mind can be changed
by any kind of movement.
Like you'd say, if someone'sable, going for a walk is going
to be a huge difference.
You can change everything withthat walk.
So, finding ways to move where,when you can't walk, being able
(34:15):
to find these things that canhappen in a very, very narrow
space of working.
Like I did teach a yoga classin a hospital once, and this
time I taught chair yoga,because some of the people
weren't really mobile or theyused walkers or whatever and
(34:36):
some kind of walking aid, and Ithought you know, we're not
going to challenge everythingall at once here with people
that I don't know, and so Ithought let's do chair yoga and
just the ability to move andthink like, oh, I can do some of
these things with these props,and how that changes people's
(34:56):
life or their outlook, at leastfor a little while, that they
don't know that they can do that.
I guess having MS has taught meto appreciate those things more
, because I definitely wassomeone who would always be
setting the bar higher as soonas I got really close to it.
Bam, move it, and that was howI ran my life.
(35:19):
If I couldn't do something, whatdid I do?
I tried harder and this istaken off the table Like you
cannot try harder.
That is not an option.
You can try to accept.
You can try harder to acceptwhat's happening, but that's
about it.
So it teaches you a lot abouthow the mind works, with
(35:41):
motivation and trying to findways to I don't even know if
it's motivation but accept orsee smaller steps as valuable
and using them instead of saying, oh well, that's only that.
Why would I bother?
Because I think there is anelement that when I started you
(36:03):
know I've learned that over time, but it wasn't how I started it
was kind of like, oh, I can'teven do that, so what's the
point?
Not with the thinking it,actually articulating it in my
head, but I think that is partly.
It's a level of defeat beforestarting, because you've
discounted these smallermovements or just the ability to
(36:26):
move at all, as which now I'm.
I'm grateful for that and youknow for that.
I can see it, I can feel itevery day, whereas it isn't how
it starts, I think.
Susannah Steers (36:39):
It seems like kind of a radical presence
process, like all the time wetalked about being in it and
you're in it, it and there's noway around that.
So what do you do with that?
Yeah, you know, and, and everyday it might be okay.
I can't get out of bed today,and that might be a thing, or it
might be okay.
(36:59):
I have some small thing thatI'm able to do, and then the
small thing maybe makessomething else available, or
maybe it just makes you feel alittle better in the moment.
Lara Cubitt (37:08):
Yeah, yeah, and then this is basically a whole
other conversation.
But pretty much from the time Ileft work there were things
that changed, but I deterioratedover time and a lot of it was
cognitive things that aren'tsuper visible super visible.
(37:35):
But then two years ago I had orover two years ago had a bone
marrow transplant.
That was just supposed to kindof stop the process, but
actually I was given improvementfrom how I was before, in my
even day to day or things, evendoing things like this or like
saying that I can do sometraining in boxing.
(37:55):
That was off the table socompletely, just because I could
not do it, and now it's kind ofcome back.
So it's, yeah, the presence ofjust being like what is this?
What's happening?
I don't know that it'll stay.
And, yeah, you do, you alwayshave to be present to both ways.
If something for some reasonchanges to the good, taking that
(38:20):
in and using it to the best ofyour ability instead of being
scared that it's going to goaway, because there's a very
good chance of that.
But would you want to miss allthe time that it's here because
you're just want to adjust yourmind to dealing with that
disability again, and right,yeah, so yeah, I think that that
(38:42):
presence is is always somethingthat's always changing.
I mean, that's a very luckyexperience to have something.
I don't think this is the thingthat most people with MS are
confronting.
Oh, and then I improved a bitit just tends not to be in that
(39:03):
trajectory.
but you never know
Susannah Steers (39:04):
Are there, I'm sure there must be,
misconceptions about multiplesclerosis and how you move
around in the world that youwish more people understood, or
the things you've experienced oryou see in the world?
Lara Cubitt (39:17):
yeah probably the primary thing is the idea that
just, I mean, it's human nature,I think, is that we want to be
able to see the disability inreal time.
And one of the worst effectseven with all the other stuff,
(39:37):
one of the worst effects that Iexperienced was fatigue that is
of a level that's so differentto anything I'd ever experienced
before that it's hard to youcan't even even experiencing it,
you can't communicate it toother people, and this is the
(40:00):
thing that basically plagues alot of people with MS.
So you know I could go out andlook great.
So you know I could go out andlook great, completely fine, and
then just be almost crippledwith fatigue, like how am I
going to get out of here?
I can't be here.
Why did I come?
Oh, my God, I'm so tired andjust being unable to do like.
(40:23):
People think of fatigue as Idon't know just having certain
effects, but the effects are somuch more profound shut down
your life, fatigue, that's.
I guess people with MS arealways trying to explain what
this is like, but it's reallysomething where you think I
don't know if anyone could getthis without experiencing it.
(40:45):
It's just like but it's likethat is an incredible disability
and it just looks like nothing.
So people don't can't reallyconceptualize it, I guess.
But I think there's not a lotof empathy for that.
I mean, certainly there is to adegree with the people that are
close to you.
(41:06):
Well, if you're lucky, I doknow people that don't even have
that.
But it's just it sort of opensup this whole.
If that fatigue is like thatwith this disease, then what
else is happening to people thatwe have no idea and we can't
conceive of it.
But that wouldn't be the onlything.
(41:26):
And I guess there are thingsmaybe just like that.
You understand this conceptlike fatigue, but maybe you
don't.
And I think that applies to metoo with other things.
There are a lot of things inthe world where you think, oh,
yeah, yeah, I get it, I tried itout before or something, and
(41:48):
it's like not really, but justthere's an OT that I have, an OT
that I know in the Vancouverarea who her specialty is
working with people withinvisible health conditions, and
that's what she does.
Susannah Steers (42:01):
It's all about the stuff you can't see, and I
think the fatigue is one ofthose huge pieces that you know.
You find a way to kind ofsometimes do the things you need
to do, as you say, and you goout looking fine and then all of
a sudden it hits and okay, Igot to curl up under my desk
because there is no other optionin this moment.
It's a lot.
Lara Cubitt (42:23):
It's a lot, yeah.
And then you're too cognitivelytaxed, like it's sort of this
fatigue.
It's like taxing your emotions,taxing your cognitive function.
So then you're actually in aposition where you don't have
the basically capacity tocommunicate why or how you need
to get out of there, and then itoverwhelms your whole system
(42:45):
and then sometimes things govery badly, some kind of you
know breakdown of some sort orwhatever, and then that triggers
the oh my God, why would I goout?
Susannah Steers (42:56):
You know people talk about before a migraine -
they see things or, you know,are there any kind of precursors
to an onset of intense fatigueor like something that indicates
(43:22):
, okay, I only have like 30minutes, or I mean, I wouldn't
be that exact obviously, butsomething's coming?
I got to go find myself a safeplace to be because it's going
to go now?
Lara Cubitt (43:32):
hey think after a long time you start to notice
things, but it's almost it canbe.
After a number of years with MS.
It's like almost not an event.
It's the state of being thatit's always close to that.
(43:52):
Just are you going to end upstanding for a while?
But it won't necessarily end inthat same kind of abrupt
breakdown way, because you'realways preparing in the back of
your mind, or even in the frontof your mind sometimes, of how
you're going to get out.
So you do this and you get usedto doing that, so it's not as
(44:15):
extreme.
But then it just things likeeven for me it would be starting
to fidget and not hearing whatpeople are saying, because I'm
losing my kind of way.
And then it's like I don't havea time limit on it, but I know
it's about to go, it's over.
There is because there's notgoing to be recovery.
(44:35):
It doesn't matter.
Like, oh, do you want to sitdown?
Yeah, I can sit down, but it'stoo far already.
It's done.
So the dream is over.
We got to get out of here, or Igot to get out of here, you
know.
Susannah Steers (44:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So there's a lot of planningthat goes into so much.
I know people who will, youknow, read a menu before they go
to the restaurant because ityou know that kind of thing, you
know you're having to planahead to make sure that that, as
you say, there's an exit plan.
I'm going to be okay while I'mthere and if I'm not, okay.
Lara Cubitt (45:14):
I got.
I got options, yeah yeah.
And not being to planning tonot be perplexed by decisions
that these are stupid littledecisions that other people
would not consider.
But when your brain isoperating at like 20% optimality
or whatever you want to call it, it's like you have to plan out
what's going to, what you'regoing to do, so that you don't
have to sit there and go backand forth in your head thinking,
(45:34):
oh, am I going to do this, am Igoing to go right or am I going
to go left when we get to thatfork?
That happens every time we go.
But you have to decide thosethings.
And, yeah, things like menus,for sure, because otherwise it's
like I'll get distracted whileI'm sitting there and think,
okay, I'm going to choose andI'll just blurt something out.
I don't even want to eat, ifyou know, because I'll feel like
(45:57):
under pressure to get this tohappen.
Make a decision.
Because it's like annoying topeople like why would this be
such a big decision to you?
And that's not even the bestexample.
But yeah, a lot of planningends up happening and it annoys
you that you have to plan thismuch and people think you're
(46:18):
very.
It changes your personalityentirely.
I mean, I was like I'm not eventhe same person at all.
I think people would label meas maybe not quite outwardly
anxious, but like that kind ofplanning and stuff, this does
not go unnoticed.
It's like why would you care?
You would care.
Susannah Steers (46:37):
You would care, tell me a little bit more about
the work that you're doing now.
You're coaching, you knowyou're.
You're coaching, you'reteaching yoga.
You're in hospitals, you're inhomes, what, what are you up to?
Lara Cubitt (46:49):
So, yeah, a lot of my experience with teaching yoga
in different places isbasically over time.
I've done such a variety ofthings.
I'm pretty much open toteaching anywhere and if I'm
somewhere for an extended stay,like in a hospital, which I have
been, I'll offer to do it andjust to teach people that are
(47:10):
nearby or you know things likethat.
So, um, so currently I'd mostlywould just teach people in
their home and I alsoincorporate into boxing the.
The boxers that I do train geta lot of yoga happening for the
(47:30):
warm-up, for the stretch andsome things just really apply.
That ability to focus andreally understand a movement is,
to me, yoga.
So there are those similaritiesof kind of understanding.
The form and the refinement ofthe skills is a lot like yoga.
Susannah Steers (47:54):
I'm going to leave contact information for
Lara in the show notes, so ifyou have questions for her, you
can reach her there.
Thank you so so much forjoining me today and for sharing
your story with us.
I have enjoyed every minute ofit.
I hope we will meet in personone of these days.
Bye-bye.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
(48:16):
Subscribe and, if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
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