It’s been about a month since my last life update. Do you find these posts interesting? Sometimes I feel like I have a TON of things to share about my life. Other times it feels like the same old same old. Either way, I thought today would be a good day to give y’all a little life update and a peak at what’s been going down behind the scenes.
[taken this weekend at a pop-up event for Bar Method at the new Lululemon in Soho]
Overall I feel like I’m finally [finally!] starting to get into a groove with my current schedule. Right now I’m teaching 8 permanent classes at Y7 and I’m subbing as much as I can as well. I’m also practice teaching a lot for Bar Method instructor trainer [more on that below!]
I no longer feel like I’m frantically running around like a chicken with it’s head chopped up. Which is a pretty big improvement from where I was a few weeks ago.
Part of this shift has been thanks to leaving CorePower Yoga. I can’t even tell you how much I tortured myself over that decision because I really did love teaching Yoga Sculpt. But now I can honestly say it was the right decision for me and my body right now.
✨
Bar Method Instructor Training Update:
As you know I’m currently in training to be a Bar Method instructor. I feel like I’m always bringing it up here… but I guess that makes sense. This certification process is a huge part of my life these days.
A quick little recap: I’ll be teaching at the brand new Noho studio which will open sometime this spring. Because this studio doesn’t exist yet I’ve been practice teaching at other Bar Method locations [Hoboken + Darien in Connecticut]. I also take classes at the Williamsburg location. Confusing, right?
Every week I practice teach community classes in Hoboken on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. On Friday’s I go to Connecticut to practice teach during 2 classes in Darien as well.
Lemme tell you, teaching a Bar Method class is not easy! Not only do instructors learn the names of every student in class but they are also expected to give super specific verbal and hands-on adjustments. I always knew I had mad respect for all my Bar Method instructors, but now I really really know just how much work went into becoming an instructor. For reference I started training back in October and am still not technically a certified instructor. But I’m getting close!
This process has been more in-depth and lengthy than anything I’ve gone through before in fitness — including becoming a NASM certified personal trainer and going through 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training. I kind of wish it would’ve been my first intro into the fitness industry. I know by the time I teach my first class I’ll feel SO SO SO prepared.
Going through this process has also been a reminder as to why I love the Bar Method so so much as a student. The instructors know their shit! By the time I’m actually teaching my own classes I will know my shit, inside and out.
Even though it’s been a lengthy process and I’m traveling to two different states as a part of it I am also SO excited to soon be a Bar Method instructor. After every class I practice teach I have a moment of holy moly, I freaking LOVE this. I know it will all have been SO worth it in the end.
✨
Speaking of the Bar Method…
Today I took my 100th class at Bar Method Williamsburg. Say what! I’ve actually taken more than 100 Bar Method classes at this rate — I’ve been to a lot of Bar Method locations over the years. But it’s still WILD to me that I’ve taken that many Bar Method classes. I think the only other studio I’ve been to 100+ times is Uplift, my other workout love.
Today I got my blue century socks and got to join the century club “hall of fame” as I like to think of it.
✨
A blog redesign:
In my last “life update” post I talked about craving a new design for the blog. Well I finally did it! What do you think?!
I could not be happier with the new layout and design. I spent a lot of time researching potentially working with a designer like I previously did. Financially it just didn’t make sense to drop that kind of money on a blog refresh. I also like having full control of the design process. I’m a total control freak and actually kind of like doing some of the “backend” parts of blogging. With a designer I’d need their help to tweak little things in the code.
I ended up purchasing a template with Pipdig and then customized the colors, fonts, layout and design things here and there. I’m still tweaking some things to make things look perfect, but all in all I’m so happy with my decision to go this route.
If you’re a blogger and thinking about a redesign but don’t want to spend an insane amount of money I cannot recommend Pipdig enough for templates. The whole process was SUPER easy and not super expensive. Win win.
✨
ALL the travel:
I’m heading to LA in two weeks (!!!!) and I could not be more excited. This girl needs some sunshine, quality time with my west coast friends and multiple days off in a row 😂
The next few months will actually be super travel filled. I’ll be in LA for a week in March. The end of April I’m heading to Ireland + England on a cruise with my parents. We booked this trip over a year ago and I can’t believe it’s finally almost here. I’ll then also be away for two different cousin weddings in May: first to a beach town in North Carolina and then in Baltimore. That’s a whole lotta travel coming my way soon. I have a feeling it’s going to make these next few months fly by.
✨
I’m currently doing an online course to up my blogging [and business!] game
It’s been a hot second since I’ve taken a blogging focused course. I’ve done a few over the years to help me figure out my Pinterest strategy and grow my instagram. When I saw one of my all time favorite bloggers The Healthy Maven was offering a course focused on business growth I decided to check it out. I find courses to always be helpful in forcing me to take a step back and reflect on where I’m at with my blog so I can figure out where I need to go next. I also through it would be useful just to see I’d like to offer courses in the future too.
We’re one week in and so far I’m really enjoying it. This week was all about reflecting and getting really real about our career ambitions. I did a lot of journaling last year about my career ambitious while I was still finishing up grad school but I haven’t been too great about journaling lately.
It felt really good [and honestly necessary] to sit down and work my way through the exercises in the course. I was actually surprised with a few things that came up this week while doing “passion testing.”
I’m looking forward to working my way through the course over the next few weeks. Will keep you posted on how it’s all going!
✨
And you? What’s been going down in your life lately?
I’m a few steps behind you! I’m working on getting in the groove of posting to my blog that I launched at the beginning of this year on a weekly basis and figuring out how to expand my presence. I am three weekends away from finishing my YTT200 (with Y7) so taking classes while they are free to drop in but also practicing and studying. Plus I have a full time job that is increasingly demanding lately. And then in every ounce of spare time beyond that I am squeezing in the social hours that I would normally have on the weekends pretty much every night of the week. Sleep? Maybe in April.
Ashley
mixtapeyogi.com
Trust me in the last 7 years of blogging my groove comes and goes but you’ll start to figure it out! It will also feel a lot different once TT is over, that’s a HUGE commitment in itself and requires so much additional energy. It will all start to come together!
i loooove these posts, please don’t ever stop writing them!! i’m so glad you’re finding your groove – i can’t think of anyone that works their butt off as much as you do, so it makes me happy that you feel confident in your choices and schedule 🙂 also thank you for that website design rec!! i’ve been wanting to do my blog and also my personal site so i appreciate all the help i can get!
Ugh this whole schedule thang is slowly coming together. And yesss I def recommend Pipdig. We can chat all the details when I see you in like two weeks 😊😊😊