Last Friday was my last day as Managing Director of a company I helped to build from scratch over 12 years ago. I was one of 6 people who set out with 6 chairs and 6 mobile phones.For most of that time I was Marketing Director, spending the last year as MD. It has been an amazing adventure and experience. I have met and worked with some inspirational people.
I took the decision to leave and not face the complications of another internal restructuring. This will be the first time in 25 years that I do not have a full-time job, but I have 3 months garden leave to consider my future.
Best wishes.
As well as the day job, over the last decade I have also developed a successful sideline as a fitness and yoga teacher. My passion for yoga and teaching, plus my keen interest and experience in marketing, social media, speaking and blogging suggest to me a whole series of opportunities and dreams. And these are the areas I think I will focus my attention.
Offering consultancy services in marketing and social media, picking up some speaking engagements and of course teaching yoga, Body Combat and Body Balance sounds like an ideal combination – if I can get the business mix right.
I’ve already made a start. On my first day of garden leave I went along to a local club and covered a yoga class. It was a class I hadn’t covered before. In the studio I met 15 ladies who were quite surprised to see a male teacher. That’s hardly surprising as most yoga teachers in Edinburgh are women. An hour later I finished the class in my usual way and invited questions from the participants. Was there anything about what we had done today that they wanted me to explain in more detail?
One lady put her hand up and said, “I only have one question. When are you coming back to teach us again.”
I love that sort of feedback.
So I am sat in my garden, slightly nervous that I no longer have the safety net of corporate life to support me. But I feel very excited about leaving the politics and bureaucracy behind and looking forward to possibilities and opportunities of working for myself.
To quote from one of may favourite songs.
“I’d like to make myself believe.
That planet Earth turns slowly.
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay awake when I’m asleep.
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams “
Your turn: Have you made a big leap from a secure full-time job into the world of consultancy or full-time teaching? I’d love to hear your stories. Leave a comment below or post a link to your own blogs or articles.
After the sweaty excesses of the Quarterly Workshop for Body Combat 56, I staggered out of Virgin Active at the Omni Centre in Edinburgh and found sanctuary in St. Andrew Square for a couple of hours. It was lovely to sit on the grass in the sunshine people watching as my muscles recovered from all those “matrix kicks”.
But soon I was heading back to Virgin Active for the Quarterly Workshop for Body Balance release 61. Our trainer was Kathryn Cullen, a very witty enthusiastic lady who had us all in stitches during the education session. As the only male instructor at the session, I wasn’t as interested in her stories of the perfect bodies of some International Master Trainers she had met recently, but the ladies seemed to appreciate her graphic descriptions.
Here are my first thoughts about Body Balance release 61.
Screenshot from the DVD Masterclass.
The class begins with a stunning piece of music by Delerium (featuring Aude Feuilerat) called Paris which sounds almost angelic. We build up a lovely tai chi sequence layer by layer until we finish with a very beautiful flowing set of moves. A great start.
Pink’s song Try is very aptly named for the standing strength track. You will really have to try hard to get through a tough set of poses including triangle, extended warrior and sun warrior.
If you have tight hips from running then you are going to love the hip opener track. The combination of cowface pose and modified half lotus is exquisite, almost pleasureably painful. I know us guys find cowface pose difficult for obvious reasons but stick with it. Flexibility will come.
The core abs track is a great bit ouch. This could be one of the toughest ever.
I like the way we use upward facing dog and bridge pose to extend our backs in track 7. We do it slowly and I found this a refreshing change from the more recent full back bends we have had to contend with.
Once again we have two forward bends tracks amounting to nearly nine minutes of hamstring stretches. I love the focus on the wide leg forward bends in the first one and then the seated bends in the second.
It seems that we have another tough but lovely release. I can’t wait to learn this and launch it to my classes over the next few weeks.
Your turn: Are you a Body Balance instructor? Do you agree with my first impressions of Body Balance release 61. Share your thoughts. Leave a comment. Participants let me know what you think of the class once we’ve launched it.
The calm intensity of the winter release has warmed up many a cold and miserable evening. And so as spring finally arrives and summer beckons, it’s time to look ahead to the next Body Balance class from Les Mills.
Have a look at the sizzler video preview for Les Mills Body Balance release 61.
Delerium are back supplying the music for the Tai Chi warm up which I have to say looks very beautiful and flowing.
Sound’s like Pink’s, Try, for the standing strength. I wonder how challenging that will be this time?
It’s always exciting to see what’s in a new release. This little taster has me looking forward to trying out the full class in a few weeks time.
Your turn: What do you think of the sizzler video preview for Les Mills Body Balance release 61? Why not post a comment or share your thoughts? Let me know what you think.
I knew that this new release of Body Balance would include some challenges. About 6 months ago the programme director, Jackie Mills, put up a short video on Facebook. In it she demonstrated a yoga pose which she called “Bird in a Basket” and the even harder “Bird in Flight”. Yoga participants, especially those who practice Ashtanga yoga, will recognise this as arm pressure pose.
Jackie’s question was simple. “Should we include this pose in Body Balance release 60?” I don’t know how many responses she got but here it is. Question is, can you do it?
Let’s have a look at the tracks.
Tai Chi Warm Up (All of the Lights): Ever since I have taught Body Balance I have loved tai chi arm circles and this track is arm circle overload. It’s graceful and flows beautifully. I also like the warrior style bow and arrow lunges which really warm up your legs quickly. And we have a very interesting piece of music with various rhythms and tones.
Sun Salutation (If I Ever Lose My Faith in You): A very short Sun Salutations track necessitating a short sequence of poses. It passes by unremarkably and does its job of completing the warm up phase. There are much bigger challenges to come so I guess we should welcome this simplicity.
Standing Strength (Grenade): Bruno Mars delivers a very catchy song with some lyrics which are likely to upset those who have a nervous disposition. Les Mills felt it necessary to also give us an instrumental version to deploy should we find our participants running for the exits in horror. I haven’t had anyone comment on the lyrics at all but the instrumental version is nice to play before class begins.
This is a short but tough series of Warrior I and II, sun warrior and extended warrior poses. The quads certainly start to scream quickly. I am not too keen on the arm lines here with hands behind head in extended warrior. I know they are trying to introduce variety but it feels awkward. I would have preferred the traditional yoga arm lines.
My Saturday Class in the Standing Strength Track
Balance 1 (Give Me Love): A stunning ballad and some gentle balances to begin with which builds up to a tougher sequence at the end. I love tree pose and we get to explore it for longer than usual here. Asking the class to lift their gaze up to the ceiling causes wobbles and topples and a few laughs as well. As the music becomes more upbeat we enter an extensive series of knee lifts into aeroplane pose. The wobbles and topples continue here but now the participants replace laughs with looks of determination.
Balance 2 (The Parting Glass): From leg balances to arm balances. To a haunting and beautiful piece of music we explore three poses. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Most people can do Hindi squat. The problems begin when we try to balance in bird pose. I find it an infuriating pose. I can do it, and hold it, about one time in five. Finally the big challenge of bird in a basket. I cannot do this as my arms are two short. Very few people in any of my classes can rest their palms on the floor and only one has been able to lift their legs so far.
It is good to be tested and to be taken out of our comfort zones. Everyone is trying hard to do this. But sometimes the attraction of the alternative, easier, happy baby pose, wins.
Hip Openers (Tonight (The Best You’ve Ever Had): I cannot remember a hips track ever starting with frog pose (they usually end with them). It is such an intense hip stretch it always makes participants groan. The rest of the track with modified half lotus and torso circling are pleasant but not particularly memorable.
Core Abs (Warrior): You can guarantee tough core work out if the music begins with a heavy drum beat. It’s another short track but it’s hard. I like the kneeling side plank with side crunches. And the hovers with weight shifting forward and back and hovers with diagonal reaches get those core muscles burning.
Core Back (Next to You): Another heavy drum beat, striking cobra to upward facing dog and strong camel poses create a great sequence of back extensions. I always like to see bridge pose with leg extensions and this time we have the space to stay in the pose for longer. It’s also good to see more people achieving the full back bend at the end.
Twists (Lost and Found): This is my favourite piece of music in Body Balance release 60. We start with some gentle supine twists and seated twists and then rise to our feet for the more challenging twisting triangle and intense pose twist. I can’t help singing along to the “Oh Oh” section of the song. I do however apologise to the class for being out of tune.
Once again people seem to have trouble stepping the correct leg forward here. It doesn’t matter whether I cue back leg or front leg, left or right; twist tracks turn people’s brains to mush. Best solution is to use the mid-track down dog to get everyone facing the same way otherwise the twisting triangles become too confusing.
My Saturday Class in the Standing Strength Track
Hamstrings 1 (A Thousand Years): Another stunning piece of music with beautiful lyrics. We finally end up on the floor for an extended sequence of seated forward folds and supine hamstring stretches. The moves fit perfectly with the delightful music.
Hamstrings 2 (Perth): At the end of the first hamstrings track we are lying on the floor. It feels as if we should go straight into the relaxation at this point. So the first time I heard the quite frankly bizarre music for this second half I really felt like it ruined the mood that “A Thousand Years” creates. But I was lucky enough to have UK Trainer Ann-See Yeoh come along to one of my classes for a team teach and she explained how the track allows us to explore even deeper stretches and how to interpret the music. It still feels like we are up and down like yo-yos in the last few tracks but I feel more comfortable with it now.
Relaxation/Meditation (Finely Balanced): An aptly named calming piece of music that lets us reflect on the challenges we faced during the class whilst we relax our bodies and focus on our breath.
Body Balance release 60 is another great class, combining challenging pose sequences with a winning collection of songs. If I was to teach this release for “A Thousand Years” I might just be able to do bird in flight pose.
Your turn: Do you agree with my review of Body Balance release 60? Are you an instructor? Can you do “bird in flight pose”? Are you a participant? What do you think of the challenges of this release? Does it go to far or are you enjoying it?
