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LAUREL BEVERSDORF

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laurelbeversdorf

Yoga with Resistance Bands
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Online Classes
Workshops & Trainings

I love receiving messages like this after Kettlebe

I love receiving messages like this after Kettlebell Gym. This note in particular really captures what this experience is about (and what I’m about.)
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Wanna join tomorrow 3pm EST? It’s free! Click the link in my bio. 👆You’ll receive an email at 2pm EST with instructions for how to join.
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Doors close at 2p EST. Doors open at 2:45p EST.
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EQUIPMENT QUESTIONS? If you have kettlebells, great! If not, still great! Get a bottle of laundry detergent or fill a milk jug with sand. You can also use dumbbells for a lot of the exercises we do in the circuits.
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Drop a comment if you still have questions 👇
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See you soon! I’ll be there with bells on. 😃 #kettlbellgym

Woot! I have a special announcement! 🎉 My 6-wk

Woot! I have a special announcement! 🎉
My 6-wk course with @YogaJournal—Resistance Bands 101—goes live today!
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Pssssst! Use the coupon code Laurel50 to save $50.
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Expect over 12 hours total viewing (yours forever) that includes:
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💥 Six 45-75 min. Innovative Practices that take a progressively sequenced, targeted, and playful approach toward exploring a peak pose. Each class begins with a pre-check and ends with a re-check for a “before and after” internal experience of how your body feels. There are box on screen customizations offered for increased accessibility.
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💥 Six “Body Science Why” discussions to contextualize your practices. These talks span anatomy, exercise science, and biomechanics. Expect myth-busting and thought-provoking talks on the importance of body positivity, anti-fragility consciousness, accessibility, and evidence-based approaches to pain and injury prevention.
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💥 Six Band Technique tutorials so that rather than memorizing a bunch of techniques, you can learn banded concepts that are transferable across poses, movements, and body regions. This will help you innovate and develop your own banded sequences.
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💥 For the first week you'll get several bonus videos on band cutting, tying, choosing the right resistance level, and band safety.
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👈👈👈Swipe L to see the bands you need!👈👈👈
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💥Also included: 8 LIVE webinars over the course of the next two years, all recorded and all your to review as much as you like. (There are two scheduled forJune 9 and 30 EST for this launch) You’ll also have ongoing access to a private Facebook group throughout.
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Click the top link in my bio 👆to learn more + download a guide to buying bands! Don’t forget to use the code LAUREL50 at checkout.
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#resistancebands101 #yogawithresistancebands

Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym is ON for this Friday,

Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym is ON for this Friday, 3pm EST (same time/NEW place 🏡 I’m beta testing Namastream as a host for my live classes. I’d love for you to test it with me.)
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Sign up for this FREE offering via the link in my bio! 👆
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Here’s a wicked game (errr, I mean flow) we’re gonna play (with).
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🎶 Wicked Games, Para for Cuva (Feat. Anna Naklab)
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This one takes up some space so clear your dance floor! 💃 Don’t worry, this room is pretty small, so you don’t need THAT much space.
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As always we build toward the flow slowly. Baked into the session are options to customize for what equipment you have + your experience level. It’s always a mixed group, like any open gym — you do you together with everybody else!
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Here’s how it works:
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Click the link in my bio to register. You will receive a link FRIDAY around 2:00 EST with info on how to access the class. The cut off to get in is 2p Fri so sign up now!
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I’ll open the Zoom room at 2:45pm for some prelim chit chat and to find out what you’re working on with kettlebells 🤓.
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For the open gym, I demo, give group and individual feedback, and take questions throughout. You can also expect a loose structure —
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First part — activation circuit, a couple of exercises to get in gear.

Next part — strength circuit, 3 exercises to target muscles for strength and power and some moves and skills in our flow.
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Last part — flow! We’ll start with a flow that combines moves that don’t involve swings/momentum (a better place to start if you’re newer to bells) and then work into the trickier stuff.
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In summary, in an open gym “you do you” together with everybody else! Bring your PLAY game. 😎
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If you don’t have a kettlebell, get a bottle of laundry detergent and screw that freakin’ cap on tight. Also you could adapt a lot of stuff with dumbbells.
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See you at the Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym! Link in bio 👆
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#kettlebellworkout #kettlebellswings #kettlebellexercises #kettlebelllove #kettlebellflow

🙄 . I used to get this question a lot. . After

🙄
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I used to get this question a lot.
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After chatting for a bit, I’d get the impression students believed tightness was *the cause* (not symptom) of their lack of flexibility & if they could "release tightness" they'd be more flexible.
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As a student, I had similar beliefs and spent a lot of time suffering in pigeon pose. Then my hip pain got worse. I wondered if passive stretching was hurting me.
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After that, I started demonizing all passive stretching.
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And thennnn, I learned some pain science + the difference between flexibility and mobility.
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I settled on a more nuanced understanding of the role passive stretching played.
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1️⃣ passive stretching wasn't inherently bad. In many cases, it was serving a positive purpose, giving me a temporary feeling of release that soothed me.
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2️⃣ buuut, passive stretching wasn't the best way to help myself gain better joint control.
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3️⃣ so, if my hip "tightness" was a symptom of a lack of joint control, active hip strength/control practices were likely a better bet.
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I started to take a more constructive approach to fielding students’ questions about hip tightness and refrain from immediately shooting down their strategies.
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Instead, I'd encourage them to do the poses that felt good, while also asking them to consider adding in more active mobility & strength work.
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Depending, I might also explain how sometimes our nervous system outputs a perception of tightness to limit our range of motion if it senses we lack joint control.
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Rather than a cause, tightness can act as a symptom of this lack of control.
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If this piques your interest, I have good news! It’s not too late to sign up for my 3-part series Absolving the Asanas, Busting the Myths. The last email goes out at 10am EST and you’ll get access to all 3 videos in which I share
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➡️ a body science talk that busts a body myth
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➡️ a resistance band move to improve the strength and control of your SI joints, shoulders, and hip flexors.
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‼️Aaaand, you’ll also be entered to win a FREE spot in my upcoming 6-week course Resistance Bands 101 with @yogajournal. I’ll randomly select the winner tonight!
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☝️Link in bio!
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#yogawithresistancebands #resistancebands101

I used to get a lot of questions from students who

I used to get a lot of questions from students who wanted to know how to fix their alignment in chaturanga.
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As a self-described alignment-based teacher, I loved these questions! I got to wax poetical on topics like:
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🤓scapulohumeroclavicular rhythm
🤓scapular tilt (aka winging)
🤓eccentric contraction of the triceps, serratus anterior, anterior deltoids...
🤓joint angles (usually 90 degree ones because bone stacking!)
🤓body proportions and how different people needed to shift forward more or less before lowering
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and on and on...
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However, through experience dealing with my own shoulder issues (from years of chaturangas, and volleyball) I started to question whether alignment rules were helping me.
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My alignment and that of many of my students was "ideal" (AKA idealized according to our style of practice). We were performing these stylistic preferences, but many of us still had shoulder pain.
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Eventually I learned that my focus exclusively on alignment was keeping me stuck and I had to change my beliefs and look at how I was loading (and then also not loading) my body. I had to reckon with understanding that asanas, like chaturanga, offer us a pushing practice, not a pulling one.
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What's extra cool about this shift in perspective is that often in completely altering the loads of a shape (for example pulling in chaturanga, rather than pushing) the “alignment” makes way more sense because we feel it differently in our body and can have proprioceptive AHA moments 💡 that carry over to inform how we approach the more traditional shape.
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Want to see one example of how? Well I have good news!
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It’s not too late to sign up for my 3-part series Absolving the Asanas, Busting the Myths. Tomorrow is the last day and you’ll get access to all 3 videos in which I share
.
➡️ a body science talk that busts a body myth
.
➡️ and a resistance band move to improve the strength and control of your SI joints, shoulders, and hip flexors.
.
‼️Aaaand, you’ll also be entered to win a FREE spot in my upcoming 6-week course Resistance Bands 101 with @yogajournal.
.
☝️Link in bio to get in on the body nerd action!
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#yogawithresistancebands #resistancebands101

Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym is ON for this Friday,

Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym is ON for this Friday, 3pm EST (same time/same place 🏡 link in bio 👆)
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Here’s a flow we’re gonna work toward this week. SOUND ON 🎧for the source of my groove!
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🎶 Yo Diggity, Blackstreet
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And yes, there’s a wee bit of coordination involved in this flow inspired by @scottfournierpt 😅
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We’ll build toward it slowly. Aaaand...baked into the session will be lots of options to customize for what equipment you have and your experience level. It’s always a mixed group, like any open gym — you do you together with everybody else!
.
Here’s how it works:
.
Click the link in my bio to register. You will receive a link FRIDAY around 2:30 EST. I’ll open the room at 2:45pm for some prelim chit chat and to find out what you’re working on with kettlebells 🤓.
.
For the open gym, I’ll explain and demo what I’m working on for anyone who wants to join in. There’ll be details shared about customizing for your experience level, equipment, and preference.
.
Expect a loose structure —
.
First part — activation circuit, a couple of exercises to get in gear.

Next part — strength circuit, 3 exercises to target muscles for strength and power.
.
Last part — flow! We’ll start with a flow that combines moves that don’t involve swings/momentum (a better place to start if you’re newer to bells) and then work into swings and the trickier stuff.
.
In summary, in an open gym “you do you” together with everybody else! Bring your PLAY game. 😎
.
If you don’t have a kettlebell, get a bottle of laundry detergent and screw that freakin’ cap on tight. Also you could adapt a lot of stuff with dumbbells.
.
See you at the Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym! Top link in bio 👆
.
#kettlebellworkout #kettlebellswings #kettlebellexercises #kettlebelllove

These beliefs (swipe ⬅️) about my SI joints ce

These beliefs (swipe ⬅️) about my SI joints certainly didn't decrease my pain.
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The "culprit" poses + positions I blamed included...
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🤠 (For extra fun, imagine each of these on wanted posters in Wild Wild Western Yoga saloons...)
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❌ Warrior 1 - avoid! What an awful pose. Who came up with this thing?
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❌ Revolved Triangle - only if you let your pelvis turn with your spine, otherwise, you'll (dislocate...!) your SI joint. Yeesh!
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❌Warrior 2 - short stride + turn pelvis toward front knee, stop it with end-range everything. STAAAAAHP!
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❌ Bridge - don't tuck! It’ll ruin your whole life. Plus, posterior pelvic tilt in backbends is so last year!
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❌ Forward bends - (depending on the flare up - avoid!, and also good luck getting through a yoga practice without them. They're the flour to an asana class loaf.)
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❌ Prasarita Padottonasna - (evil posture + wrecker of SI joints!)
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❌ Passive stretching - (BAD! all baaaad.) 🤠 (Wasn't that so fun?) #hashtagsarcasm
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Then I started lifting weights and using resistance bands.
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I stopped having pain.
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It took about 2 weeks.
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Not only that, but I could practice all these "culprit" poses without flare ups.
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In fact, they felt good, like a sweet, relatively more passive compliment to my active practices.
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So, I'd like to extend a big "sorry, asanas!", to all those shapes and all that movement I demonized. I guess you weren't so bad after all.
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Wanna know how I beat SI joint pain both in ditching fragility consciousness and in changing my practice? Well I have good news!
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It’s not too late to sign up for my 3-part Absolving the Asanas, Busting the Myths series. Today is the first day, but you’ll get access to all videos each day.
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SIGN UP VIA THE LINK IN MY BIO 👆
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Each day you’ll get access to a body science talk that busts a body negative myth and then a resistance band move to improve the strength and control of your SI joints, shoulders, and hip flexors. Who doesn’t want that?
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You’ll also be entered to win a FREE spot in my upcoming 6-week course Resistance Bands 101 with @yogajournal.
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Join to be entered to win via the link in my bio 👆
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#resistancebands101 #yogawithresistamcebands

If you haven’t signed up yet, Absolving the Asan

If you haven’t signed up yet, Absolving the Asanas, Busting the Myths starts tomorrow.
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Get in on this 3-part series via the top link in my bio 👆
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Each day, in your inbox, you'll receive a body science talk that busts a pervasive myth about movement, AND a resistance bands move to improve strength and control of your SI joints, shoulders, and hip flexors.
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Who doesn't want that?
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But wait, there's more..when you sign up for this series you will be automatically entered to win a FREE spot in my upcoming 6-week course Resistance Bands 101 with @yogajournal
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This body nerd adventure starts tomorrow. Get in on the action via the top link in my bio 👆
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#resistancebands101 #yogawithresistancebands

Baby knows SQUAT! I could watch her move allll day

Baby knows SQUAT! I could watch her move allll day. And I do. 😍
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#squatlife

My body had adapted to the repetitive demands of m

My body had adapted to the repetitive demands of my practice. Chronic pain ensued. So I hung WANTED posters in my mind for the poses and alignment strategies I knew were, at least in part, responsible for my pain.

But I was confused because my alignment was “optimal” (or, aesthetically-pleasing). I could do advanced poses w/o breaking a sweat. I had won approval, but I’d also plateaued.

I wasn't receiving what I needed for my nervous system to feel safe. Pain sounded this alarm.

Additionally, I held fearful beliefs about my body, like joints are unstable, my tissues are "impinged". I imagined my body as unreliable and broken, which likely exacerbated my pain.

Pain science shows us how fearful messaging (nocebos) about our bodies can create negative expectations for well-being & make pain worse.

Today, as the result of various forms of resistance-training to diversify and progress loads, I practice w/o pain.

In lunging postures, I can explore a wide variety of alignment strategies rather than adhering to one “right” (and load variety-limiting way). I can lunge & arch. I can lunge & tuck. I can lunge w/ neutral spine.

Instead of fearing options and exploration as wrong, I can practice with curiosity and inquiry. What happens if I tuck? What happens if I arch? What does neutral spine feel like & how can I better sense this position?

My body is not only better prepared to handle these loads, but I also benefit from the variety that a mindset of exploration intrinsically highlights, one made possible through load exposure, not avoidance.

If part or all of this sounds intriguing to you, you might love what I’m up to next week in a 3-part email series.

Absolving the Asanas, Busting the Myths + Banded Interventions for your Achy Joints

Starting May 20th you'll receive three short body science videos to help inoculate you from some pervasive thought viruses around movement + actionable ways to use resistance bands to prepare your SI joints, shoulders, and hip flexors for practice.

Aaaand...when you sign up, you’ll be entered to win a FRE* spot in my upcoming 6-wk course Resistance Bands 101 w/ @YogaJournal.

Sign up via the link in my bio 👆

Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym is ON for tomorrow —

Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym is ON for tomorrow — this Friday, 3pm EST (same time/same place 🏡 link in bio 👆)
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Here’s a flow we’re gonna work toward this week. It’s the mutliplanar version of the saggital-oriented flow I shared a couple days ago. We’re gonna work on both this Friday! (I learned both these flows from Marcus Martinez of @kettlebellkings, an excellent kettlebell flow resource!)
.
Baked into the session will be lots of options to customize for what equipment you have and your experience level. It’s always a mixed group, like any open gym — you do you together with everybody else!
.
Here’s how it works:
.
Click the link in my bio to register. You will receive a link FRIDAY around 2:30 EST. I’ll open the room at 2:45pm for some prelim chit chat and to find out what you’re working on with kettlebells 🤓.
.
For the open gym, I’ll explain and demo what I’m working on for anyone who wants to join in. There’ll be details shared about customizing for your experience level, equipment, and preference.
.
Expect a loose structure —
.
First part — activation circuit, a couple of exercises to get in gear.

Next part — strength circuit or EMOM, 3 exercises.
.
Last part — flow! We’ll start with a flow that combines moves that don’t involve swings/momentum (a better place to start if you’re newer to bells) and then work into swings.
.
In summary, in an open gym “you do you” together with everybody else! Bring your PLAY game. 😎
.
If you don’t have a kettlebell, get a bottle of laundry detergent and screw that freakin’ cap on tight. Also you could adapt a lot of stuff with dumbbells.
.
See you at the Kettlebell Virtual Open Gym! Top link in bio 👆
.
#kettlebellworkout #kettlebellswings #kettlebellexercises #kettlebelllove

I’m sharing this story which I posted while preg

I’m sharing this story which I posted while pregnant. I think it carries over to while pandemic, too.
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It’s about acting from a place of curiosity and desire (whenever possible, it’s not always possible, I know) rather than fear.
・・・
#repost
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Said another way, “begin well.” Question advice built on the premise of fear. Is that how you want to begin?
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Not that fear doesn’t play an important role in decision making. It does and it should. It might be the key to our survival as a species.
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But it gets mixed up when we bring capitalism and marketing into the mix. Fear is often a point of entry for manipulation by others to sell you stuff you don’t need, and make you beholden to solutions you chose while afraid.
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When I got pregnant, I decided that this would be my approach: take advice (because what the hell did I know?), but not advice couched in fear.
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It was a pretty effective filter for all the solicited and unsolicited advice I ended up receiving.
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One day I was visibly pregnant riding the subway and editing a movement video on my laptop. A woman peered over my shoulder to watch the video I was editing of me teaching abdominopelvic exercises for the @movementlogicseries Pelvic Floor Tutorial.
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She decided she should tell me that her husband was a gynocologist and that I might lose my baby if I moved like that. I looked at her, listened patiently, and then told her everything she has just told me was complete nonsense. I got up, walked to the other end of the car, and proceeded to edit my video.
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Yesterday I was talking to a woman at the dance studio in México where I’m teaching. She had just taken a salsa class. She told me she had a herniated disc in her cervical spine. Her doctors warned her that if she didn’t get surgery she might lose feeling in her arm. She got 7 opinions and decided to take the 3 that advised against surgery. She was still worried about why her pushups didn’t feel strong. I asked her if she’d been doing push-ups.
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She said no.
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