Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Loving Me for Me


Last night, I did my 150th class at Pure Barre Boulder. That's not a milestone in and of itself, but I'm halfway to joining the 300 Club, which I'm pretty thrilled about. It took me exactly 8 months to get to 100 classes and now it's only been (a little over) 3 months and I've already logged another 50 more.

I feel like after each class I take, I learn more about my body. I've come to realize that I'll never have a thigh gap. I have big legs and that's just how it is. I also have narrow hips and that's just how it is. I've discovered that my legs go toward each other above the knee, but away from each other below the knee. It's strange, but I probably wouldn't know that without Pure Barre.

But I've also learned so many good things about myself. I have discovered how strong I am. I have discovered new limits I can push myself toward. I have discovered it's true that your mind gives up long before your body ever does. I think I've come a long way since my first class last July.

My body might not be perfect. I'll certainly never be on the cover of the Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated. But my body is mine and it's the one I've got for the rest of my life. I love taking care of it and I love being able to do something now that I couldn't do before.

I'm starting to set some Pure Barre goals for myself for the next 150 classes. I'm not adding "get a thigh gap" or "have a six pack" onto that list because I might just not be blessed with amazing genes. But I want to conquer positions I struggle with now. I want to get through a class without coming out of any position. I want to get stronger abs.

I was reading through some old Pure Barre posts and loved the post marking my 50th class and I figured I would do that again:

1st class Hannah could barely make it through weight work during the warm up.
50th class Hannah can do the entire routine without dropping the weights, and keep her shoulders down and away from her ears.
150th class Hannah has started using 3 pound weights when we "grab a heavier set of weights" and I can still do the warm up without dropping them.

1st class Hannah could barely do one of the three thigh exercises without coming out of the pose.
50th class Hannah can do all three thigh exercises without coming out of it.  She just embraces the shake and breathes through it, rewarding herself with deep stretching after.
150th class Hannah has finally conquered chair position and doesn't shake in most positions for thigh sprints.

1st class Hannah felt more work in her standing leg than her working leg during seat work.
50th class Hannah still feels work in that standing leg, but she crunches her Pure Barre ledge and her outer seat and thighs even come to a shaking point sometimes.
150th class Hannah can do all the seat work effectively and rarely feels it in her standing leg.

1st class Hannah never felt her abs work during the under-the-barre ab portion of the class.
50th class Hannah realizes that the deeper you tuck, the harder you work.
150th class Hannah is finally getting the hang of round back and flat back ab work.

1st class Hannah faked her way through the rest of the ab work, thinking all those years of crunches were a joke.
50th class Hannah knows her abs need to shake if they're going to change, and she needs to stay in it if they're going to shake.
150th class Hannah is embracing the shake in her abs and pushing herself to do better than the last class.

Mastering Pure Barre doesn't happen over night and I still have plenty of room to grow, but I love my body for allowing me to accomplish what I have accomplished so far. 

I'm also excited to announce that I started working at the front desk since my 100th class. It's been almost two months and I absolutely love it!  

Check out my other posts about Pure Barre:

2 comments:

  1. Hannah, you are so positive and I love reading your blog. So inspiring, especially this post and the other ones about your envelope system:)

    Stephanie
    http://ishowedupinboots.com

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