Move With Meaning

I think we spend too much of our lives feeling that some things are impossible.

We think we'll never feel better. We'll never be free of the body pain or be able to feel truly healthy. Or that we'll never figure out what we really want or what will make us happy. We try a new exercise class or fad, and then when we fail, we worry that the big things will always be out of our reach.

I see this all too often. As part of Conscious Strong, I was leading a retreat in Umbria, Italy. Our Bed and Breakfast host was a woman in her 50's who suffered from fibromyalgia. She'd never exercised in her life and I watched her struggle with chronic pain. One morning, I offered to work with her and lead her briefly through one of our programs. Later that day, she came floating across the lawn, doing a pirouette, arms open and beaming, saying, "Look at me! I can breathe! I don't hurt! It is magic."

And it was magic. It was a door now open to possibility, and it resonates with my own story. More than a decade ago, I was struggling in a failing marriage and managing a busy life with five children. Our son was diagnosed with ADHD, and in the process, I discovered that I myself suffered from it. After a divorce and the years that soon followed, the choice to take care of myself and rebuild my life did not come naturally or easily. To do so took one step in front of the other. It took moving with meaning and being intentional not just about my body, but also about my life.

In that time, I realized a passion for movement and for Pilates. I ultimately became a multi-certified instructor, started an award-win- ning fitness studio in Chapel Hill, NC, and in 2017, founded the Conscious StrongTM platform. Across the past 11 years and thousands of clients, my work and my life has become about helping people find a real balance, far more powerful than just a new exercise routine. I needed more than that when I was in pain and feeling lost in my life, and I'm willing to bet you need more than that, too.

And the thing is that you deserve more. Because when you're empowered and feel safe to find your own way to well-being with your body, mind, and the life you want - it really is magic. The impossible can become possible, but only when you move and only when your movement has meaning.

So wherever you are right now, today, you can choose to go on a journey to what's possible. Through Conscious Strong, let's go on that amazing journey together.

• Lauren