Hello again! I wanted to invite you to our Facebook group first thing this week, but I do have a few other things to talk about.

The first thing I want to talk about is how we process our emotions.

The second thing I want to share with you is our family quarantine movies.

The last things I want to talk to you about are previews of things to come, and where you can find me this week.

For a while now I've been wanting to write about how we store emotions in our hips, but the time never seemed right. This week a few things converged. A friend, who is a meditation leader, repeated the idea that its okay (even preferable) to feel your feelings. Seems simple enough, but how often do we push feelings down, especially feelings of sadness or anger? Those feelings hurt; we don't want to feel them.

Then I saw the above meme and felt the truth of that sentiment. It can be uncomfortable to bear witness to the physical manifestations of someone else's negative feelings. What feeling are appropriate in public? and by whom?

The last thing that happened this week was I came upon this article: 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/van-jones-cry-emotional-cnn-joe-biden_n_5fadbf22c5b6370e7e313ee0?ncid=APPLENEWS00001

I've said before that representation is important, but I didn't think of it in this sense. Male stereotypes can be toxic. Boys need to see men be emotional and not just hear “boys don't cry.”

So all of this leads up to yet another reason to do yoga. When we push our feelings down because it hurts to feel them, or our feelings make someone else uncomfortable, or even when we think we aren't supposed to let them out, we will feel those feelings physically. Last week I showed you a quick way to release some tension in your neck. Some of us hold tension there. A lot of us hold our negative emotions in our hips. Things get “stuck” there. I know that sounds “woo woo" and weird so I usually tell this story when I talk about hips and emotion. 

When I was in training to be a yoga instructor, we would often practice up to four hours at a time. One of those long, physical practices was leading up to back bends. Our teacher was leading us through a lot of hip opening poses so we could prepare our hip flexors for those deep back bends. I was on the mat next to one of the nicest, sweetest people I've ever met. She always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. During this particular practice, our teacher asked how everyone was feeling. My friend next to me answered, “I feel like I could punch someone!” I was shocked! What? My teacher was unfazed. She just said, “Yep, that's the negative emotions being released from these hip openers. You are all safe to feel them here.”  Wow.

So here you go, this sequence will take you less than 20 minutes. Open those hips and let it all out. You will feel better.

Last week I shared with you seven movies my family watched during our quarantine. Here's a recap of what we did:

We took turns picking the movie, BUT everyone got a vote. We went youngest to oldest and when it was your turn, you texted three movies to our group text, “fam bam.” Everyone then responded by ranking the movies. All #1 choices got three points, down to third place getting one point. The movie with the highest point total was the one we watched. We did have a few movies that we all decided were must watches at that time. That's what happened with Frozen 2, our first quarantine movie. The next pick was Tessa's. Each week I will share seven movies with you. This is the order we went in and I only included movies we all four watched together. I will also include who gave this movie a thumbs up (Siskel and Ebert reference) and a brief commentary by moi. I'll also tell you the movie from the group that we thought was the “must watch.”

Key - T = Tessa, 15 year old female

         G = Gia, 17 year old female

         M = Melissa, adult female

         N = Nick, adult male

I Feel Pretty All - The basic story is that the main character thinks she is, all of a sudden, skinny and beautiful, so she acts as if she is. You could take this as just a cute comedy and move on, or you could think about the morals of the story (of which there were quite a few).

Jumanji 2 All - A rare sequel that measures up to the original (well, the remake of the original). We all enjoyed the action and comedy here. As always, great chemistry between The Rock and Kevin Hart.

Teen Beach Movie T, G, M - This is an Disney Channel Original movie. I enjoyed the fun song and dance numbers and the clever concept. Fans of the old beach movies staring Fankie and Annette will appreciate the references. 

Aladdin (Live Action) All - So much fun! We did see this at the movie theatre (remember those??) and it was made for the big screen. It felt familiar to those of us who saw the cartoon, but it was updated.

Troop Zero All - Cute little movie made by Amazon movie. Great acting and inspiring story line.

The Talented Mr. Ripley  M, N - Gia definitely didn't like this movie. Tessa said she would recommend it for the visuals but not the story line. I liked it, but it was one of those movies that makes me a little anxious. Nick loves it and picked it as he must see of the group.

Onward All - Disney/Pixar movie. This movie had a cute concept, amazing animation, and was a true love story - not romantic love, but love of family. I think we all cried at this one.

And for our MUST SEE, I already told you Nick's vote, but he was outvoted. We chose Aladdin this week. I picked it mostly for this scene. In the theatre, this scene made me smile so big and I wanted to get up and sing and dance (I didn't, but I wanted to).

Here's where you can find me this week!

If you want to join me virtually:

LUNCHTIME CORE CLASSES

Monday Noon CST (35 minutes) Gentle Pilates and Stretch on Zoom

(perfect for beginners to Pilates)

Thursday Noon CST (35 minutes) Intermediate Pilates Mat on Zoom

Zoom link https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9229568910?pwd=OE1Ndjh2UjdYQ3FHRDlkeGp5Qmg1Zz09

Meeting ID: 922 956 8910

Passcode: 384618

These classes are complimentary right now, with donations gladly accepted. I will probably put a reservation system in place within the next few weeks. I will now be recording these (just me, not anyone else in class). If you are interested in the recording, let me know!

I also teach virtually and in person at Yin Yang Pilates and Yoga in Lake Zurich.

Here is my schedule this week:

Monday mornings at 8:00 Yoga Tone and Flow

Monday nights at 7:00 Pilates Barre

Both of these Monday classes are offered both virtually and in the studio.

Thursday morning at 7:00 Rise and Shine Yoga

Virtual only

Saturday 9:15 am Pilates Mat
In studio

Saturday 10:15 am Gentle Yoga

In studio and virtual

There are multiple pricing options, but you can purchase a ten pack of virtual classes for $70. Check out our class offerings HERE

We wear masks and practice social distancing at the studio.

I also teach Pilates reformer classes and private Pilates and yoga sessions at Yin Yang. We do a complimentary 30 session for you to try it out. If that sounds like something you may be interested in, or if you want to talk more about this, let me know.

I will be unveiling a new system for working with you virtually, soon. I know I said this last week too, but I will send separate email later this week with all the details.

The website is still a work in progress. There is a quick preview in the picture at the end of the page. I could use a few more testimonials to add to it, so if you've worked with me and wouldn't mind submitting a short testimonial, it would be greatly appreciated!

If you appreciate the classes and/or the newsletter and want to lend financial support, you can do so with PayPal HERE

I can also accept support via Zelle and Venmo 

Last week should have been a Yoga and a Beer week at Scorched Earth, but we had to shut that down until the indoor dining ban is lifted. The brewery is doing a great job keeping everything safe and clean. If you are local, you can support them by ordering beer online. 

Go to their Facebook page and click on Shop Now.

https://www.facebook.com/scorchedearthbrewing

Let me know what you are thinking:

Did you watch any good movies lately?

What questions do you have for me?

P.S. I couldn't leave without a cameo by Loki and Lacey. 

Here they are “helping” me work again.