BADASS MINDSET PODCAST
BADASS MINDSET PODCAST is the ultimate resource for women dedicated to cultivating a transformative mindset that unlocks a life of abundance, health, healing, confidence, connection and true fulfillment.
If you believe you’re destined for MORE—to BE more, ACHIEVE more, and to CONTRIBUTE more—then you're in the right place. Each episode dives deep into the power of a badass mindset, offering actionable & empowering strategies and insights that support you in reshaping your thoughts, manifesting your desires, and attracting life-changing experiences and opportunities!
It's time to claim the abundance that is your birthright, and unleash the ultimate BADASS that lives within you.🤘🏼❤️🔥⚡️
BADASS MINDSET PODCAST
Holistically healing through the power of breath and the mind-body connection ft. BETH SANDLIN (Cancer Survivor, Owner of Trifecta Pilates)
To find and connect with Beth deeper:
Website -- trifectapilates.com
Membership & App -- Trifecta Pilates
YouTube -- Trifecta Pilates (182K Subscribers!)
IG -- @trifectapilates
FB -- Trifecta Pilates
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When you're faced with life's toughest battles, sometimes it's the quiet strength of movement and self-care that carries you through. That's the message Beth Sandlin, a celebrated Pilates instructor and warrior in her own right, brings to our show. Her journey of triumph over acute myeloid leukemia and the sanctuary she found in Pilates is nothing short of extraordinary. As we unpack her story, you'll discover the indomitable power of health advocacy and the vital role of tuning into our bodies' most subtle signals.
This episode isn't just about overcoming illness; it's also a testament to the transformative power of mindset shifts and the embrace of authenticity. We share the wisdom of integrating the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of health and how Pilates serves as a tool for holistic well-being, offering stress relief and a pathway to a calmer nervous system.
And the cherry on top? The essence of living boldly and authentically, something Beth exemplifies as she turned her Pilates passion into a thriving YouTube community. This episode celebrates the small, consistent steps toward well-being and the joy of making life adjustments that resonate with our personal values. Prepare to be inspired to show up as your most badass self, embracing life with the vitality and courage that comes from being true to who you are!
Share a personal story or submit a question you'd like answered in a future episode!
❤️🔥SUBSCRIBE to the podcast for weekly tips and insights to fuel your journey!⚡️
❤️🔥Add us on IG & TikTok @badassmindsetpodcast & @boldlylacy to connect deeper + ignite your journey and keep your growth game on point!!🤘🚀 Let’s goooo!
Hey, bestie, welcome, or welcome back to the Bold and Badass Podcast. I'm your host, Lacey, and I'm fired up that you're here, because I am so tired of women feeling inadequate for not being further along in life and like they're crazy or ungrateful, even for wanting more. On this show, I'm going to help you cut through the noise, turn your setbacks into your success story and become the most bold and badass version of you. I'm talking about calling in the most exciting opportunities, experiences and people into your life and claiming the abundance that is your birthright. So if you're ready to make some serious magic happen, grab your coffee and water and let's fucking go. All right, I'm so grateful that you're here and excited to have you on the podcast, Beth.
Speaker 1:For anyone listening, Beth Sandlin is a nationally certified Pilates trainer and her superpower is that she merges her passion for Pilates, health and trauma-informed practices to help people uncover the joy and beauty in every single day through movement. Now, I'm a huge believer that movement is medicine. It's one of the most holistically healing things we can do for our bodies. So this was one of the reasons that I wanted Beth to come on the podcast. But Beth is also a cancer survivor and Pilates played a massive role in her recovery process, which we'll be diving into in just a few minutes, but I'm so grateful to have you here with us, Beth.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for inviting me, and I am thrilled to be here so we can dive deep into this powerful conversation.
Speaker 1:Yes. So first just want to set the stage. When did you discover that you had cancer? What were you doing during that point of your life and how exactly did you discover this news?
Speaker 2:I was in college and I was 20 years old and it was actually a very quick diagnosis. There's obviously a lot of different types of cancer. I had acute myeloid leukemia and the trajectory of that is usually a very quick onset, quick diagnosis and then even faster, let's get you into treatment so it's not prolonged Like many cancers. It can be many months. That was not my case. So for a quick timeline July 4, I went rollerblading with my boyfriend at the time he's my husband now and I just massively fell down. It was so painful but I got no bruise. Nothing happened.
Speaker 2:Less than two weeks later I went to the doctor because I was bruising everywhere and I had no idea why it was bruising. I would come home from work and just be so exhausted. And I went to take a shower one day and just brushed my leg up against the tub getting into the shower and I thought I'm going to remember that. And the bruise that formed from that was so big it hurt to walk on. It spanned my entire shin and that's when I really knew something was wrong.
Speaker 2:So I went in and I really had to advocate for myself to get some testing done, because the doctor just said oh no, you know, it's just fine. And I said listen, you don't understand, this is not how I am. And so that advocacy has played a big role at pivotal points in my life and not being one of them, about a few days later I was away on the trip and they said you need to come back from your trip, you need to have additional testing done because something is really wrong with your labs. So I went back from my trip that next day, had a bone marrow biopsy, went immediately into the hospital because I would not stop bleeding, and from there was diagnosed with leukemia that same evening and the next day transported to another hospital where I immediately started my cancer treatment. So, yeah, it was a journey, and incredibly fast, where it's just like in go mode from the instant.
Speaker 1:Zero to 100. Yes, oh, my God, okay, so you're a college student like freshman sophomore junior I was a sophomore at that time and just looking at transferring.
Speaker 2:So when under the treatment I had to drop out of university at that time, and just because I was an inpatient, that was my full focus I was able to go back the following semester. But that transition back the following semester I took a relatively light load. My trajectory was off because we weren't thinking, oh, we should maybe like tell people more about what's going on and what would be my options to transfer the following semester. So it really delayed college, which happens sometimes for a variety of reasons. But I also think that it was a time just kind of easing back into college was helpful to get my health back up. So it wasn't just full focus on study. I was able to get back in to the gym at the time and slowly rebuild my physical strength and stamina, which took a major hit undergoing the treatment that I did.
Speaker 1:Yes, Okay. I really want to touch on this because so many women so often they know that something feels off. They feel something off in their body and they go the traditional route. They go to the doctor, they get the work done and they're told like you're completely fine, there's nothing wrong with you, and they don't get answers. But they know, they feel it in their body that something is wrong. So I want to talk about the mental journey here. You knew something was off and you had to advocate for yourself. What was that journey during all of this time?
Speaker 2:It was the first time probably I'd really put my foot down and said, like I am not leaving here until you do an additional test for me, some evaluation, because this really is not how my body responds, like I don't just bruise for no reason whatsoever. I need to know what's going on and based upon that it actually helped me later on advocate for myself in other ways. Another time I had a different surgery and again they were no, if you're fine, that that's just how surgeries go afterwards. And no, you understand. No, my body's, and that's going on. And I would just suggest that people have that feeling that sometimes it may even mean going to a different medical provider.
Speaker 2:I also had that once when I was having a really hard time getting back into my regular routine of working out and I was so adamant something was going on in my body.
Speaker 2:But the difference between the time I'm referring to now, when I had cancer, is my blood work came back fine and in fact my doctor said everything is fine with you, you must be working out. I mean, you're really healthy and I just broke down in tears and that was not my reality, and I think a lot of women in particular experience that where our blood work may be fine, maybe it's not cancer, but we know something else is going on, and what I realized is that the doctor for that instance didn't have the answers Actually did, and that point in my life I had to rely more on my understanding of what it meant to get back into working out and stress management. That's when I started understanding more about trauma as well, because what a lot of medical providers are looking for is are you within that normal range? And I've been within that normal range most of my life.
Speaker 2:Clearly, I've been not within that normal range at certain points in my life for cancer and other things that I've experienced, and sometimes it can be really frustrating when everything checks the box like we're just fine, but we know something isn't fine with us. This isn't how we want to be. It's like we can't find the way that we thrive. So I found that working with sometimes different medical providers or just tapping into different areas of health and wellness, depending upon what's going on in our life, can be really valuable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, always, always, get a second, a third or even a fourth opinion, because sometimes doctors even they're biased about whatever it is that they're helping you with and sometimes they don't see all sides or all perspectives. But when it comes to listening to your body and trusting that feeling, I know some of us can be tricked by our own minds into thinking we're overreacting, it's not that serious, or we're just being extra cautious, or we're just being extra cautious. How do you differentiate between I'm being overcautious and no, like my body is trying to tell me something. Can you define that feeling?
Speaker 2:Yeah, for me, I have been blessed with, for the most part, having really good medical providers and medical team where they have encouraged me to ask questions and if I don't understand what they're saying, they'll try to rephrase it in a different way. However, I also know that sometimes that's not the case. So where is our kind of set point? And when we tune in, sometimes it's the whisper and sometimes, when it's a whisper, that's hard to listen to the wisdom, because we are told no, just keep pushing, you're fine. Oh, of course you're tired. You're a college student and you're working full time. Yeah, it's gonna be tired from work, whatever it may be. We're told narratives that just keep going, keep going. But what happens is when we don't listen to the whisper, it will get louder and louder and it starts screaming at us, and many times it manifests.
Speaker 2:As for me, it was cancer. Other times it's been pain or just extreme exhaustion. There was a point in my life where, when I was trying to work out, I would just crash immediately afterwards, sleep all day, and the next day I would be sleeping and I thought why can't I get back to my regular routine? And so sometimes that voice does need to escalate a little bit until we pay attention and rather than using that as shame because we can think, why didn't I listen when it was that whisper, it's okay. Now I actually know I need to listen to myself and, yes, I'm going to listen to experts when that makes sense.
Speaker 2:But when can I tune in and make shifts with my healthy lifestyle, which is sleep or nutrition or working out? When can I manage this on my own? When do I need to reach out for someone else? When it's repeatedly occurring or when it's a dramatic shift in a very quick amount of time? That's when we want to definitely get someone else's professional opinion and when all boxes are checked, we're good to go. Then maybe there's some self-practice that I can work on for those healthy management lifestyle.
Speaker 2:And let me share something that may be helpful. Whenever I go to the doctor, I'm always asking more questions about best practice and research, and this is what doctors know now and what they're just now starting to learn in their continuing education. It is not the medication, it is not specific tests. All the time it is the lifestyle factors that are the most important. So they say, yes, beth, work out, focus on that, sleep, it's all these other pieces and those are big indicators and those go a little wonky, sometimes for a variety of reasons, when maybe we need to go in sooner rather than later and not wait for that annual check that we have.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh my God. I agree 100%. It's the lifestyle factors that plays the biggest role for most people and that's one of the reasons why I don't I used to, but I don't really subscribe to the no days off. Grind every day, hustle mentality, because we aren't meant to be in grind all the time and a lot of times people will say just push through. You got to push through and it's all about the mental toughness and resilience, but your body's going to break down if you don't slow down and listen to it. So I think you said that really well. All right, you find out you have cancer. Then you go to treatments a month on, a month off. What did that look like? What were the protocols? What was your life during the months outside of the treatments?
Speaker 2:Paint that picture for us In the hospital. It was in an isolated wing that had special filters for my type of cancer, so my cancer wing was full most times. It was not just me going through this experience. Other people were as well where we had to have that isolation and when people came in, depending upon where we were, they would have to wear masks and make sure to wash their hands and it was just life consuming. And rather than having a hospital gown, I was wearing my own pajamas because I was there 24 hours a day for a month and was pretty much in my bed.
Speaker 2:I mean, I tried to get up and walk around, but especially that first round of treatment, my immune system was already really low, trying to fight cancer that had overtaken my body at the time and now they're putting extra things into my body trying to fight that and I just go downhill incredibly fast, got migraines virtually every day, insomnia what I suffered with the entire time I was there because my sympathetic nervous system was going and going. We know the sleep we actually need to like feel safe and calm and repair sympathetic nervous system needs to set in so that we can rest. I got a major infections during that first time and lost 25 pounds in that month, and it's one of the reasons why, to this day, when people come to me I want to lose weight, I really shy away from it because weight loss in and of itself isn't an indicator of health, and the two points in my life when I weighed the least were my two unhealthiest points in my life ever. And when I left the hospital, I was a little bit different in the fact that I didn't lose all my hair right away. It wasn't until my second round of treatment that I lost hair and my doctors were like well, I don't know, you're just different. And so, even though we can look sometimes to other people's journey, to how they responded to treatment, it really is personal, hair being one of the examples.
Speaker 2:And I bring that up because, as I was back into my somewhat daily routine and at home, I had my hair and I was walking through my life and people would have thought, yeah, she's young, healthy and fit and I was anything. But I passed out trying to leave the hospital because I wanted to walk rather than go in a wheelchair. I wanted to walk and that was too much physical activity for me at the time and it was really through that experience that I realized why I work out is so I can have physical strength and stamina, not only to walk, but because when I tried to hold my nephew when I went home, I couldn't. I was too exhausted. I started shaking and sweating and less than a minute later my sister had to take him back. And I really wanted to be there for my family, my future kids, which I have now and be strong and be able to have fun. Because, let me tell you, it's not fun to feel like you don't have energy and can't do even simple daily activities.
Speaker 1:Did you have any other family members or any history of cancer or any medical or health issues leading up to this that you could have drawn experience from, or was this a total shock to you?
Speaker 2:It was a total shock to me. It was a total shock to my family, partially because I was, in air quotes, the healthiest person in my family. It was at a point in my life where the year before I had just started working out like voluntarily, I had made sort of making shifts in how I was eating and cooking for myself. That was much different than how I grew up and my younger sister says how out of everyone in our family did you get cancer? Because you're making these healthy shifts? And it just was a curveball that life threw me and I think it actually it did change my life path. At the time I was going to school for floral design. I shifted that to health education. I came into Pilates after it.
Speaker 2:The only other person who I knew who had leukemia was when I was in elementary school.
Speaker 2:It was a friend and he was diagnosed in the fifth grade and at that time when I was diagnosed, that's when I knew I was going to die from leukemia, because his journey lasted maybe two years and I remember attending his funeral and I will always be so grateful that his parents came that first week that I was in the hospital.
Speaker 2:I have no idea how they found out because, like a lot of friends from elementary school, we lose touch and he was no longer here and they said Beth, your cancer is different. Yes, it's leukemia. He had a much different type of cancer and the technology has just so evolved from where he was many, many years ago, and so that was my only understanding of leukemia at the time, which is one reason why I like to talk about cancer and different types and different types of leukemia, because we hear it as big word and sometimes it's really devastating, like it was for him and also for my dad who, 10 years after I, got brain cancer and died from that and other times it's like my story, where we go through something that's really challenging. I'm not going to discount the experience I had and at the same time I was able to recover from that and really have just major resilience and transformation, which has not only helped me but I know serve into my life's purpose and how I work and teach Pilates as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is awfully sad and gut wrenching to hear about that little boy's story, but I'm really happy that their family was also there to support you during that time and I think that that's one of the most important things we can have in our everyday life is that connection and that support from our friends and family. So I'm really glad you had that. And one of the things that you actually touched on that I really appreciate is what you said, that your appreciation for exercise changed. When that happened. It wasn't about I just want to lose weight or I want to work out to look a certain way. It was. I want to be healthy to hold this baby. I want to be healthy enough to walk down the hall and spend time with my friends and family. So were there any other mindset shifts that you had to make to help you throughout this process through the healing?
Speaker 2:There was another one, and that was that first time I was going through treatment. I made a declaration of I'm going to live through this and I'm going to enjoy life. I'm not going back into my old patterns, and my old patterns were highly stressed out, overreactive to daily life circumstances, and I didn't want that anymore. And what's interesting is it's really easy for us to shift right back into where we were, and that's what happened, like cancer loss. It's aha moment for me as I got back into my daily grind and it was a few years later that I realized I'm kind of back to where I was pre-cancer. Yeah, I'm working out and healthy, but my response to everyday stressors is not where I want it to be. I want to manage this so much better for myself and also for those around me. And it just reconnected me to evaluating my own patterns, both to trauma and stress. Sometimes they're similar, sometimes they're much different, and it really helped shift my life from what I termed, as I was like, a realist. And here's the thing If we always look to the negative, sometimes we are going to be right, because life is not all 100% happy and we're going to always enjoy it For sure. However, if we look to the positive elements, we are also going to be right, sometimes, more often than not, and what that's going to help us do is reassess and highlight and focus and magnify in those areas. And it's like what areas of our life do we want to magnify? Do we want to magnify the positive elements or the negative? Now we can definitely take lessons learned from the negative and then maybe transform them.
Speaker 2:I didn't want to go through that cancer experience, but that's what my life involved at the time, and the healing journey overall I didn't recognize at the time would take many, many years, like over a decade, and I would say for a lot of people, whether they've gone through cancer or some other type of trauma, healing takes an incredibly long time. There was something that while I was in treatment I can't remember exactly what the quote said, but there was a rose garden and I would walk outside with my mask on to this rose gardens and it said, in the process of curing the body, if we destroy the soul, there's no purpose in essence, and so that stuck with me, that sure, I'm cancer free now, but my healing journey needs to continue on, and it did for many years. And once I recognized oh, I'm still being triggered by different scents, different environments. That understanding actually of trauma and how it personally manifests to me contributed to my healing journey so that it could be more fully integrated.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know Pilates played a role in that, but where does Pilates come into play here? Did they mention from the get-go that lifestyle habits would be a part of this protocol, or is that something you discovered on your own outside of that? Or is that something you discovered?
Speaker 2:on your own. Outside of that Wonderful question, yoga was mentioned, which I tried yoga and I really did not like it. In fact it was so negative I did not go back for over 10 years Now I also have my yoga teacher training, so clearly that has shifted. But there's a lot of people who like when they first began Pilates it just seemed like a better fit and we know Pilates is so adaptable. So I started Pilates about a year after my cancer treatment my primary cancer treatment so it's still undergoing the maintenance treatment.
Speaker 2:I was getting back into college at the time and there was something that felt kind of similar to what I was doing in my typical gym workouts, but it was also really intriguing different exercises and variations. My teacher at the time was amazing and really offered different ways to personalize it. So it was really beneficial and it was very helpful in the sense that it could be a very challenging workout or something that wasn't quite so vigorous, especially when I was in high medication days. I went through cycles every month and also every three months where some days I just did not have as much energy due to the medication I was on, let alone, maybe it was midterms and then that compiled as well, where I was able to still move my body, but not with that very challenging workout. It also helped me restore range of motion in a different way than standard gym workouts did.
Speaker 2:There's a huge emphasis on breath and while I was in the hospital I would try different breathing techniques, but this was 1999. So there was not the internet as it is today with all these great YouTube videos where you can easily go through a guided meditation. So that was kind of hit or miss and it just helped explain different ways of moving all the way from breath awareness to a challenging workout. That was really just the right fit at that time for me and it's been the right fit now for over 20 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so would you say that it was less about movement in general and more about the mind and body connection that you were able to build through Pilates?
Speaker 2:Over time, because I had that gym background. That's how I first went into Pilates. Because I had that gym background, that's how I first went into Pilates. And my first Pilates teacher as well, was more from the anatomy perspective and the physical benefits, and there's nothing wrong with that. But for many years that kind of leading up to how I was trained, I only focused on the physical.
Speaker 2:So, sure, after I had my appendicitis surgery that had complications, I was going to adjust Pilates because I needed to physically modify. Yes, after I had children I had to ease back in. But I didn't think of other considerations, of when I may want to adjust my dial of intensity, with workouts focusing on not only the physical body but also mind and spirit or soul. And it was through understanding more about trauma and the nervous system in particular. But that really was the key to work in a more integrated way with Pilates. Because when I first began we read Joseph Pilates book return to life and he talked about body, mind, spirit. But there wasn't a lot of teaching about the mind and the spirit and it was the absolute foundation which helped me integrate then my Pilates practice, which now I'm sharing with others, and it just it's that key to unlock motivation and work in alignment with what we need, rather than just that traditional workout mentality of just keep pushing hard, keep going, keep going. That really isn't always what our essence of who we are needs nor appreciates.
Speaker 1:Yes, 100% agree. Were there any challenges that you didn't foresee going throughout that journey, that you had to learn to navigate your mindset around?
Speaker 2:I think one of the biggest is detaching away from that narrative of what workout should be and it's hour long workouts challenging us physically in some way. But then, once I made the connection of not only would we want to do something restorative, sometimes for our mind and soul, it needs something more nourishing. When I looked at the overall physical conditioning elements, that there are slower workouts, easier workouts are actually working, a different element of physical conditioning that those challenging Pilates classes or running, for instance, just cannot work in the same way. And so it was really helpful to kind of zoom out a little bit Like what does body, mind, soul need? And also then how does it contribute to our overall physical conditioning program?
Speaker 2:And what I realized is, as I started tuning in and doing more restorative work, there was a time it was after COVID things were opening back up again and for two years I was pushing and grinding, working full time, starting the business of trifecta Pilates, and I was go, go, go, and I had just resigned from my full-time position because I stepping fully into the business of trifecta Pilates and my body was saying you need to rest.
Speaker 2:Now you would think, oh, you're no longer working full-time and doing the business, you can dedicate more time now to working out. My body was the opposite, where, for like two months, I walked, I did restorative short Pilates classes and I was not concerned with a challenging workout, and when I circled back into the more challenging exercises and workouts, I was working so much more in alignment and in tune with my body, wasn't pushing against it as much, and it just felt so much better. It as much and it just felt so much better. And that I just keep referring back to that it's so valuable to take rest days or even prolonged rest periods.
Speaker 1:Yeah, agreed. And how long were you doing Pilates when you found out that you were completely cancer free?
Speaker 2:I was fortunate that I went into remission my very first round of treatment and so I asked okay, so I'm done right, I don't need to do any additional treatment. And they said, no, you need to come back for the next two rounds because we found, if you don't, it's in your body somewhere we just can't see it body somewhere we just can't see it. I said Okay, so after my two rounds I had some scares where I needed to do additional testing to see if maybe it had come back. I did not have that happen, but what how it works for leukemia anyways, the type of leukemia I had acute myeloid leukemia is after your final round of treatment. My final round of treatment was oral chemotherapy two years after my initial diagnosis, so that's about two and a half years. Five years after that you are officially cancer free. So I went into remission relatively quickly. I was very fortunate with that and I've been in remission the entire time, but from like the textbook, cancer free after that five year mark.
Speaker 1:Okay, so do you feel like there was a big difference before you started Pilates and after in your experience?
Speaker 2:Before Pilates, I mean, I didn't even know it existed. When I was going through my cancer treatment, it wasn't even an option, and it's one of the elements that, looking back upon it now, I wish I would have known about it and also known about the way in which we can work out. Doesn't need to be incredibly long, like what are those options I could have done in the hospital room? Even simple stretches. What are those options I could have done in the hospital room, even simple stretches, just to feel better? Because, let me tell you, you may think sitting in bed for 30 days is wonderful it's not, let alone, cancer, but it's just not comfortable. The body gets achy because of the lack of movement and so if I would have known at the time I can do something more supportive, it actually, I think, would have helped me during that time, because we know that movement can be so very healing and beneficial and not think of it like have to do something hard and that piece obviously was missing because I didn't know about it at the time.
Speaker 2:As far as how Pilates helped me when I was still going through treatment because I was going through the oral treatment, I was still doing bone marrow biopsy slash aspirations. Now, those of you who aren't familiar with that and this might seem a little graphic but they literally screw or drill into the bone and for me it was always in the back area and the sacrum area and they extract literal bone marrow from the bone. That is the best way they can tell if you still have cancer cells. Now there's blood work that can do this as well, but that is like the gold benchmark that they want to see before they start any type of cancer treatment. For leukemia, and as we're going through treatment as well, and after that time, I just did not feel like working out because I was in a lot of pain, and so that's when relying on deep breathing would be really helpful, even from the car ride home from the bone marrow aspiration or biopsy, just to help manage that pain and doing exercises and movements that felt beneficial.
Speaker 1:Okay, so in hindsight, Pilates played a role in the modality of this, but would you say that beating the cancer and getting healthy again actually had more to do with the mind and body connection that was missing?
Speaker 2:I really do. And that is the piece that took a really long time, to be honest, because for so long my medical providers talked about how you're cancer free, you're cancer free, you're doing great, you're back in school now. Cognitively, you're fine mental health, you're back to working out. And I was, and still am, in a lot of different study groups. So they're comparing what they term cancer survivors, slash thrivers, to people who really still are not doing well from their treatment. Like what is that difference? But I have to tell you, even when I was sitting waiting for my appointment to talk about how I was doing so great, I just started crying and I didn't know why. And I realized now oh, that was actually.
Speaker 2:I was in a triggered state because I was in the hospital and I was waiting for another appointment.
Speaker 2:Sure, I was doing wonderful on the books, but no one really ever took the time to talk about what may be triggered or maybe what could be classified as post-traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, and it wasn't until I had that understanding of trauma that that piece isn't quite healed. Well, what do we do with that? And that's where the understanding of trauma and how it manifests in us personally, even many, many years later can be really helpful because then we can work more gently sometimes and move through that. So through my Pilates practice there have been times not unusual at all. Not only have I experienced it, I've had a lot of clients who have experienced where we just start crying and, yes, you know, something has been unblocked. Now I'm never searching to like I want to cry on my Pilates mat today or I want that to be the experience for my client, but sometimes that happens just because it's a time and space where we take dedicated time for ourselves. Everything else gets quiet and sometimes emotions are released in that way and sometimes that's all we need.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's an indicator okay, we need to move with this a little bit more, other times a little bit less, maybe seek outside help sometimes. So what we do with that information is also personal, but I really do think that Pilates over many years has contributed so much to my healing journey 100%.
Speaker 1:Trauma is stored in the body as tense energy, and so movement and breath are great ways to release that energy. So that makes perfect sense why some people would start crying or releasing that trapped emotion that was inside of their body during those types of movements that they maybe haven't ever done or haven't done in a long time. So that's really cool. Thank you, this has been such a good conversation so far. I only have a few questions left, but before we dive into them, I'd love it if you shared where can people find you on social media? How can they connect with you deeper or even work with you?
Speaker 2:You can connect with me at Trifecta Pilates anywhere you search Facebook, if you're still there Instagram. I'm also on YouTube and provide some free classes over on the Trifecta Pilates YouTube channel. And for those people who are wanting a deeper dive into Pilates, with foundational level programs all the way through advanced level programs, different types of classes or not only focusing on a good workout but working in alignment with your nervous system, I invite you to join me in the Trifecta Pilates app, because it just is such a wealth of resources, of classes and tutorials. Can connect with me live as well, to really support your Pilates practice.
Speaker 1:I love it and I will have everything linked in the show notes for you guys, so you can find it all there Now. Beth, we know how Pilates played a role in your healing journey, but are there other, more casual benefits to Pilates?
Speaker 2:Of course. I mean we look at the benefits of Pilates and unfortunately, one of the misconceptions that's really common, especially from people who think they're experts in movement but have never actually tried Pilates is Pilates is a good core workout. It is an amazing core workout. I'm not going to discount that.
Speaker 2:I'll take that every day, and it's so much more than that. It is about overall total body strength. It is about total body mobility, and mobility is a little bit different than strength and flexibility. It's kind of a combination between the two. Where we're looking how is the body moving through with a particular range of motion? And that's what has always been included in Pilates and what we're seeing as a rising trend right now in fitness, whereas maybe five years ago it was focusing on strength, and that's really important as well. It's mobility work now the rising trend, and every single time I see a mobility reel on Instagram. I think that's just really great.
Speaker 2:Pilates and if you just come and do Pilates, you can get an all in one workout where you get the core, you get the mobility, you get strength. There's mind benefits as well. We feel better energetically after a workout, and that's encourage actually everyone to do after a workout, whether it's with Pilates or otherwise, to do after a workout, whether it's with Pilates or otherwise. Just take a moment and reflect how was that experience? How did your energy shift? And sometimes it's like whoa, that workout gave me more energy, and other times it's ah, I feel more at peace, and what this can help us do then is on those days when we're have lower energy. Well, do you need that energy shift where workouts going to give you energy? Do you need something a little bit more peaceful, a little bit more nourishing, like that soft place to land, and that can help contribute to not only physical conditioning elements but then ties back into using this as a more holistic approach.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love it. I can't tell you how many friends I have that know their way around the gym, are very comfortable lifting weights, and then they try Pilates and they're like Whoa, they feel like a newbie or a novice. I think that Pilates is a true test of your core and your foundation range of motion and mobility, so that's great. What are some specific exercises or routines that women can start incorporating today to help them relieve stress and promote a calmer nervous system?
Speaker 2:One of the most beneficial aspects of Pilates is what you do actually off the mat and away from your workout, and that's something that takes some time. But a quick strategy is do a check in and have awareness, rather than brushing aside the tension or I'm not motivated to work out, take a moment to pause and check in. What does that mean? Do you need to take a brief walk outside? Do you need to come to the Pilates mat for five minutes and do a stretching session? Or maybe something more challenging, a challenging workout, so that you feel better at the end of the day? And that awareness piece. For so long, especially as women, it's been shame filled. Oh, you don't feel like doing that hard workout. Well, you just lack motivation. You just need to stick to your guns and follow through. But now we know that that awareness piece is a way in which we can make adjustments, whether it's picking up your tea and taking a sip because you need a little bit more fluid, or getting on your mat and moving. We're thinking about specific Pilates exercises. Oh my gosh, there are so many. And this is actually perfect timing, because coming available soon on the YouTube channel is the five minute mix program and it's five minute focus Pilates workouts, and one reason why I really wanted to feature this is because I've been there where it's like I don't have time to work out and as I was starting to get back into working out I realized actually I don't have time working full time, having two kids at home to do an hour long workout, and so I started five minutes, a five minute walk followed by a five minute Pilates session, and that really was the inspiration for the five minute mixes.
Speaker 2:Give yourself five minutes and do that consistently. Start simple, short and small, and let that be your building block for going maybe a little bit longer. So when we consistently carve out five minutes, even that opens up the space for in the future, maybe it's going to be 10. And then we just keep evaluating it's going to be 10. And then we just keep evaluating what's going to be helpful. And what's beautiful is, even if you enjoy working out and you have time on Sundays for that full hour, there's bound to be days where you don't have that full length of time. So you know there's an option of something shorter. It's like one of your recent podcasters. We're saying it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Same with workouts. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.
Speaker 1:Exactly. I love that you mentioned that. That's one of the things that I went through in my postpartum journey. Before pregnancy, I would have defined myself as like all around athlete. I was very active, I was very confident and comfortable in the gym and very consistent.
Speaker 1:And then pregnancy came, postpartum came, and it was like all that went out the window and I felt like a newbie when it came to working out and movement, because not only did I not have the energy and motivation to do it, but I was like I don't even feel like confident in this anymore, and so I had to take a step back and literally go back to basics, and it started with daily movement, the concept that I've been doing for the past four years now. It was, at that time, 15 minutes of walking every single day. That was the bare minimum I could get myself to show up for and commit to, and then, on days when I had more energy or more motivation, I would do more. I started incorporating living room workouts felt silly as heck at first, but one thing led to another and it built upon that. So I like that.
Speaker 1:You say that it's like listen to your body but also just do what you can and then when you have more energy and more strength on those days, then you can push a little harder, but it starts with just let's do the bare minimum, show those days. Then you can push a little harder, but it starts with just let's do the bare minimum, show up and do what you can, even if that's five minutes. It's going to make a huge difference. So thank you so much, beth. I've loved this conversation. I have two final questions that I ask every single person that comes on this podcast. This is the Bold and Badass podcast, and it's all about women stepping into, embodying and showing up as the most bold and badass version of themselves. So the first question is what is something bold you've done in 2024?
Speaker 2:Actually putting myself out there more yeah, so many years as like, I want to be on more podcasts and I don't know how to do this. You know we put up all these blocks, so it's sharing my message more and really leaning into not only workouts for the physical but for a more holistic perspective, and it has been so amazing connecting with people like you where we have similar shared mission of we want to ignite people to live their fullest and best life, and I think the best way to do that is share our personal stories and examples, our lessons learned and I have to tell you my lessons learned are not only from me, but from all the people I've worked with throughout the years I've been teaching, and that's really what I like to share is let's lean into what can you learn from others and also what can you learn from yourself.
Speaker 1:I agree, and I appreciate you saying that as well, because I feel like I've had a similar journey where and maybe you don't even realize this, but I've had people reach out to me that I had no clue, or listening and tell me that either my story or seeing something that I've done or said has made a huge impact on them. And, as silly as I feel sometimes putting myself out there and sharing and trying to help people, it's those moments that remind me why we're doing this and how important it really is. So I appreciate you for showing up and doing that. That is really bold.
Speaker 2:Can I say one more thing, if that's okay? Yeah, I'm 45. I grew my hair out my natural color, which is gray for those of you who can't see this, since it's a podcast many years ago and I am showing up consistently on YouTube. Now I would have never thought that would have been my journey, but this is what I knew when I started YouTube. People were asking me Beth, I want to keep working out with you. You only teach classes at the university and we go on breaks in summer and I work out with you. I said just, I'll find someone for you on YouTube. And at the time, there wasn't really what I felt like, that authentic style with Pilates, which is why I started the YouTube channel. And so listen, I would say, not only to what drives you. Mine was I want to bring Pilates to more people. Listen to what other people are craving more of.
Speaker 2:I wanted more Pilates and I would have never thought when I'd be on podcasts like this or on YouTube. My husband thought I was like what are you talking about? You want to quit your full-time job with benefits and open up a business and be on YouTube all online? I have no idea what you're talking about. So, for all of those of you who are bold and badass, something else to keep in mind is you may know your vision way more than anyone else does, Because we have a different vision and insight sometimes than other people, and just stick to it 100%, and I have to say I've seen her YouTube.
Speaker 1:Guys, it's popping, so I'll link that here as well, like I said before. But okay, beth, so the last question I have for you is a little bit of future pacing. So I want you to imagine that you're on your deathbed and you're reflecting back over your life. What was the most badass thing that you did in this lifetime? It could be something that you've already done or something that you are still in the process of creating or dreaming of.
Speaker 2:I think the consistency of showing up and being able to make pivots without being attached to what used to work well in the past Because that's actually one of the reasons why I transitioned from my full-time job to what I do now is, I thought, if I didn't at least try, would I regret this in future years, and I knew 100% I I would. And what I realized is that I don't want to just wait for a vacation to have fun in life, but I want to enjoy my every day, and it's one of the reasons why I actually don't have a bucket list, because I'm showing up every day for myself, for those who I love, in a way that's really authentic, and so I think it's more than just the one thing. It is that one concept of making pivots and making adjustments and ensuring that I am working in alignment with that, so I can feel really happy with where I am today.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love it. I love having these conversations with badass women so much. I love hearing the way you think and your perspective on things and how you do live. So thank you so much again. I really, really appreciate you coming on today.
Speaker 2:And thanks so much for having me on Lacey. It was such a blast.
Speaker 1:Yes, on Lacey, it was such a blast. Yes, thank you so much for being here and, queen, give yourself a high five for showing up and committing to be the best version of yourself for you and your people. You are such a bad-ass for that. If you got anything good from this episode, would you send the love back by DMing me on Instagram at Boldly Lacey, letting me know exactly which part resonated with you? These types of messages empower me to keep showing up and they also help me understand the types of conversations you really care about. All right, bestie, we'll talk again soon, but for now, it's time for you to step up and start being the badass that we both know you are.