Yesterday I attended an intenSati workshop “workin’ it out” with creator Patricia Moreno, positive psychologist Louis Alloro and Jamie Collaco from Do as One. Wow, what ridiculously awesome and inspiring people.
First, what’s intenSati?
in my own words, intenSati is a cardio work out, similar to a cardio kickboxing class. It is incredibly different though because you say affirmations. While it sounds a bit cult-like at first, saying affirmations such as “I AM FIERCE AND FOCUSED” while pushing your body to the limit is absolutely empowering. After my first intensati class I was hooked. The energy in the room is different than any other workout, it is an inspiring and motivating environment as opposed to “ughhhh I have to do this cardio class, I hate the gym”.
The workshop started off with Louis Alloro discussing positive psychology. My “Science of Happiness” course this semester focused a lot on positive psychology. It is really an incredibly way of thinking about the mind and mental disorders. It is a matter of focusing on what is right more so than fixing what is wrong.
While there is more to it than “just look on the bright side”, in a way it really is that simple. Throughout the semester in school we talked a lot about looking at situations from the positive instead of the negative. It is difficult in the midst of trauma and tragedy to look at the situation with anything except devastation, but in the end there is often something good that comes out of it. If I hadn’t been in such a messed up relationship at the beginning of college, it never would have led me to my current boyfriend. If I hadn’t gotten rejected to the program I wanted to attend junior year of college, I never would have taken what ended up being my favorite class at nyu. There are a million what if’s…. but above everything I have become a true believer that everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t know that reason at the time.
We went around the room saying one thing we are grateful for this week. This semester has had a major focus on gratitude— becoming mindful of this little thing makes a huge difference. It was awesome to hear these strangers little victories, and it was awesome to hear the cheers when I announced my nugget of gratitude “I took my last college final ever this week!”. It is just a simple gesture of reminding each other that there is so much to be grateful for, but it filled the room with love.
After Louis’ discussion it was time to sweat it out with Patricia Moreno. The affirmations this week felt absolutely perfect as I begin this awkward, thrilling, terrifying, exhilarating transition to the “real world”.
“I am a SOMO (social emotional) leader
I am in the flow
I am fierce and focused
this I KNOW
It’s all working out
I release myself
I choose to see
what’s right about me
my future is pulling me
I am playing big
I am prepared for victory
I am here to give
We are on a mission
we are agents of change
you and me
we are living it today”
picture a room of 50+ people of all ages doing cardio kick boxing moves and yelling out these powerful words. It sounds cult-y, it sounds religious but it is magical. “I release myself” really hit me hard yesterday, like, fighting back tears hard as I shouted out those words. I think about these 4 years, all the walls and barriers I have put up, how many times in the past 4 years I have masked who I am for fear of being judged. All of that is over. I have been released, released from whoever and whatever I was in college. It is on to the next phase of life now.
I am a planner, I like knowing where I will be and what I will be doing. It is scary to not be positive about what direction I am going in, but yesterdays class was a good wake up call. I like to think the future is pulling me– whether it is theater, fitness, medicine or something I don’t even know about yet, what my future is meant to be will emerge. I know it.
The workshop ended with Jaime from “Do as One”, a community focused on the importance of breath. He led us in a deep breathing exercise. My favorite thing he said is that in many languages and cultures breathing and spirit are a more unified thought, one in the same. In acting class and voice lessons I have been taught about the importance of breath and how “the breath is a thought”. It sounds weird, and maybe a bit hippie dippie, but if New Yorkers and Type-A crazies like myself took more time to focus on breath, it would help us slow down and stop the autopilot. Food for thought?
alrighty, enough blabbing. It was an awesome awesome saturday sweat and the perfect positive outlook I needed a few days before graduation.
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