Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Belly Up to the Barre (Code)

Right before the new year, my friend Marissa and I were talking about our goals for 2016. She mentioned that she wants to take advantage of those free introductory fitness classes. And I’m like yes, sign me up. It gets boring doing the same thing over and over and yo, it’s expensive. Each fitness studio has their own package deal. And depending on the day, I may want to do Pilates, yoga, barre, or just run.

Long story short…I tried a barre class at The Barre Code‘s new location (right by my Trader Joe’s..win!) and was blown away by how awesome barre is.

We live by a code..the Barre Code.

So I get there and everyone is just hanging out..not looking at each other..not really talking. And I’m like shit, what did I get myself into? Naturally, I took a spot in the back and then found out that people new to barre should probably be closer to the front. Yep, put me right by the instructor when I’ve never done this before. Because that isn’t mortifying for me.

Turns out, everyone is so focused on what their muscles are doing that no one cared.

Dude. I was tapped out when it was all said and done. We used a smallish ball as our “resistance” in the class and focused on working the muscle out entirely to the point of fatigue with focused, precise movements. Like, I was on my toes barely holding onto the barre and using my quads to raise and lower my body. Just my quads. And if your heels dipped, Vanessa came around and held them up.

Basically if your muscles aren’t shaking, you’re doing it wrong.

Vanessa told us to pick a mantra to get you through class and say it over and over when you wanted to give up. While I completely appreciate mind-over-matter thinking, I’m pretty sure this was just to get our minds off of how much it all hurt and how many seconds of pain was left.

Does it sound like hell? It really isn’t, I promise! It’s the best.freaking.feeling ever to walk out of that class knowing you a) didn’t die b) didn’t fall over and c) didn’t give up.

Seriously, I need to have someone standing over me holding me accountable to doing the full 30 seconds or I would be like, I’m just gonna half ass these last few reps…

I signed up for a Barre Code class, but there are other tons of other classes to try out depending on what you want to do. I was really excited to try a class at The Barre Code, especially now that I know it is a completely accessible workout and makes you feel like you’re floating on air when you’re done.

How do you mix up your workouts?

I was able to take this class complementary as part of The Barre Code’s grand opening celebration in the North Hills. All opinions are of course my own. Be sure to check them out and tell them I said hello!

Radiant

For the last three years, I’ve participated in Molly Mahar‘s Holiday Council. Part of the goal-setting work we do includes picking a word or theme to guide you.

Last year, I proudly adopted FOCUS. I wanted to concentrate really closely on a few things and do them really, really well. That lasted for about 2.5 weeks before I totally lost focus and started to go all willy-nilly with my plans and time.

But this year… This year will be different.

I chose RADIANT for my word. Everything I do will be measured against the ruler of, “Does this make me feel radiant?” I want to be so freakin’ unstoppable this year that I’m positively radiating awesome.

Or at least, I’ll try to.

All I know is that I want to glow, damnit. And like I said before, short of ingesting glitter, I’m going to be as radiant as possible.

My word for 2016 is RADIANT. What’s yours?

A photo posted by Angelica (@gardeninginhighheels) on

RADIANT just found me and I’m glad it did. I was going to pick STREAMLINE, but RADIANT is way more fun.

What’s your word for 2016?

Many thanks to Life with Lolo for writing about her word, Thrive, and inspiring this post!

Need some Dolce Vita? Practice Gratitude.

Today’s post comes from the fantastic Audrey Vanim. I had the luck to run into her at a Propelle acupuncture session a few weeks ago where we got to talking about blogging and the Dolce Vita Fall Reset challenge she was organizing. I’ve been shifting my mindset around the challenges in the fall reset and it’s been awesome, so I asked Audrey to share her best tips for infusing a little Dolce Vita into your life this season.

Ah, Thanksgiving—one of my favorite holidays to stuff my belly full of good food, spend time with friends and family, and relax into a tryptophan haze. But it’s also one of my favorite holidays because it’s a whole day devoted to giving thanks—the practice of gratitude.

You might be thinking, why is this girl so excited about practicing gratitude? The short answer would be because it relaxes my brain, energizes my body, and makes my life magical. The long answer starts with a story about Italy.

About 2 years ago, I went on a family trip to Italy during a time when I was really burned out in my life—I hated my job, was out of shape, had constant brain fog, was exhausted all the time, and felt completely stuck in my life.

So when I got to Italy, one of the first things I noticed was just how energetic, upbeat, and relaxed the Italians were. They were healthy, happy, and living a lifestyle that was exactly what I had been craving for myself. I wanted to know the secret to their dolce vita.

What I found was that a big part of la dolce vita is practicing gratitude.

The best way to bring some sweetness into your life is to start by giving thanks for what you have. Gratitude practice really works!

Practicing gratitude has become a bit of a fad in recent years—even Oprah’s doing it. But beyond the hooplah, gratitude practices have some really solid evidence (I am a nurse, after all) behind them for boosting your health and your energy by helping you refocus your mind and decrease stress.

Gratitude has been shown to be one of the most powerful ways to shift your mind from negativity to positivity—from stress and fear to relaxation and love. Studies show that women who use defeatist coping strategies—like restraint, denial, disengagement—have higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), more anxiety, depression, and higher levels of stress. Consistent gratitude practices have been shown to increase energy, decrease stress levels, decrease depression, and lead to healthier lifestyle choices like exercising more regularly and eating healthier foods.

The Italians already know how powerful gratitude is for creating a healthy and happy life. They have an amazing way of infusing gratitude into everyday life—they accentuate the positive in conversations, take pleasure in small things, and always find a reason to celebrate. No matter how tough life might be, they pause and say a heartfelt “grazie!” for even the smallest of joys—a glass of wine, a child’s smile, or dinner with a friend.

They live la dolce vita because they make an effort to recognize and accentuate how sweet life truly is.

So do yourself a favor this week and take some time to really give thanks. Here are some ways to make gratitude an easy and powerful practice for you too:

Frame your day with gratitude.

Keep a journal by your bed. When you wake up, take a deep breath and write down 3 things that you are grateful for. For each item, pause and really feel the gratitude. Take another deep breath and then start your day. Do the same thing just before you’re ready to go to bed. This is a great way to start your day off with energy and positivity and end your day feeling relaxed and joyful.

Take a gratitude break!

So many of us take a coffee or snack break at work to decrease stress. But what if we took a gratitude break? Set an alarm or reminder on your phone to go off several times per day. When you see this alarm, it’s time to pause and feel gratitude. Doing this throughout the day will keep your stress levels continuously low, your mind focused and positive, and your body a whole lot lighter.

Use gratitude as a tool to turn any situation around.

When you find yourself stuck, disappointed, unhappy, or stressed, take a moment to pause and find one thing either in that situation or in your life to be grateful for. It’s amazing how quickly this can help your brain switch from a stressed and negative mindset to one that sees positivity and opportunity. When you find something to appreciate in any situation, it redirects you to the positive and helps you to remove yourself from the anxiety.

I have to say that practicing gratitude is one of the most powerful things I’ve ever done in my life—it’s helped me to become more energized, positive, and joyful.

So this Thanksgiving, get a jump-start on creating your own dolce vita by practicing gratitude—it might just become your favorite part of the holiday, too.

How are you doing to bring Dolce Vita and gratitude into your life this week?

 

Audrey Vanim is a health coach that helps busy women create more energy so that they can make their mark on the world and create a fulfilling life—their very own dolce vita. Audrey is a registered nurse whose work combines the latest in nutritional science with the best of what the Italian lifestyle has to offer. Learn more about Audrey and her work at audreyvanim.com.

Favorite Quote, Part Two

Today’s post is going to be nice and short to make up for yesterday’s sprawling post.  To be a good quote, I think it has to be short, simple, impactful, and incredibly direct..everything this sentence is not.  To be a favorite quote, it has to carry power and meaning to the reader / person whose quote is their favorite.

Last month, I really wanted to share Baron Batch‘s line, “Be aware when your time is up,” because it was perfect for the day I shared it.  While I absolutely love that saying, another quote that I always come back to this one by Abraham Lincoln:

Whatever you are, be a good one. - Abraham Lincoln

Whatever you are, be a good one.

I always liked that saying from Abraham Lincoln.  Whatever you want to be, just make sure you’re really damn good at it.

It’s like what I heard Jenny Blake say during my Nicole Antoinette No BS Lab podcast binge.  She wrote a post about having a life purpose.  She says if you need a life purpose, take this one: Be as helpful as you can to as many people as you can.

Jenny is just about echoing Lincoln here.  Whatever you choose to do with your day, make sure it’s done to the best of your abilities.  However you choose to make yourself useful, be really useful.

Spread this around as far as you can, so long as it’s still doing good for someone else.

Just don’t spread it too thin.  If it’s too thin, it doesn’t do anyone any favors.  And when you get to the point where you’re sacrificing your doing good in the name of profitability, that’s when you need to turn back around and remember where you started.  That’s a very Dale Partridge thing to say, but I’ll get there later.

What are you doing today to be a good one?

Be a Better Blogger is a weekly link up dedicated to helping you be a more intentional blogger. Want to be a better blogger but don’t know where to start? Head over to the Be a Better Blogger page for daily prompts and a weekly linkup to help get the creative juices flowing! Oh, and use #beabetterblogger on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

Holding Out for a Hero

There are so many great people out there in the world who deserve to be recognized.  They don’t do things for accolades, awards, money.  They do it because they know they have to.  Or they want to.  There is no outside pressure on these heroes; they have a pretty strong moral compass and operate in there.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. - Audrey Hepburn

This post is dedicated to any hero who needs a little kudos.  The hero who…

  • Stops at stop signs. #DontDoTheCaliforniaRoll #AndPutYourPhoneDown
  • Mows three lawns in the neighborhood just to be helpful. #ThankYouKarmaForThisOne
  • Helps out a neighbor when someone runs over their mailbox. #ThereAreSkidMarksOnTheDriveway #HowDrunkWereYou #OnSundayMorning
  • Tears out a board on the deck and manages to replace it even though I purchased it a foot too short. #IKnewIShouldHaveSaidEightFeet #MeasureOnceCutTwice
  • Flourishes in customer service. #BlessYourHeartImNotThatPatient
  • Takes a little blog and turns it into something awesome. #TellMeYourSecretsPlease
  • Manages to keep their tupperware lids and bottoms together. #WhereDoTheyAllGo
  • Lets the world see that they are real and not Pinterest-perfect all the time. #RealBloggersLiveInTheRealWorld

Who is your hero?

I’m linking up with Life With Lolo for Hashtag Humpday and….myself, Katy, and Meghan for Be a Better Blogger!

Be a Better Blogger is a weekly link up dedicated to helping you be a more intentional blogger. Want to be a better blogger but don’t know where to start? Head over to the Be a Better Blogger page for daily prompts and a weekly linkup to help get the creative juices flowing! Oh, and use #beabetterblogger on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

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We Belong in the Garden Together