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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Feb 28, 2023
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
This season we come to the final sign of the Zodiac wheel - Pisces. As a mutable water sign, Pisces is incredibly porous and goes with the flow. Like a fish cycling water in and out of its gills, Pisces absorbs information from the field around them, predisposing them to high levels of psychic ability. Their tendency to get redirected or inundated by passing currents gets them a bad wrap as being flaky. All water signs are known for their connection with intuition, emotion, and sensitivity. Pisces is particularly good at turning these qualities outward, making it an incredibly compassionate and empathic sign. Pisces rules the feet and lymph. As we explored this morning in Full Body Awakening, the feet only connect to the body on one side, and the other side connects to earth. The feet transmit energy/information directly from the world around us into our bodies, and vice versa. The lymphatic system balances our fluid body and removes toxins that have come in. So, the body parts that Pisces rules are very much related to taking in energy, processing it, and releasing what is not in the body's best interest to hold - almost like a colander. Ruling over this free flow of information in and out of the body is what gives Pisces its psychic tendencies. As we finish off the Zodiac wheel (astrological year), what lessons have you learned by embodying each sign during your movement classes? It is said that Pisces holds the lessons of each sign that has come before it - an accumulation of lived experience. This would be an excellent time to reflect on how you have expanded and matured in your relationship with your body. Were there certain astrological signs that just clicked? That felt natural to embody? Where there signs that felt foreign to your understanding? What aha moments did you have through these embodied explorations? Everything you've learned throughout the astrological year will move with you into the next year as the wheel returns to the beginning again with Aries season on March 21 (spring equinox).
In the slipstream dream of Pisces Season content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Feb 01, 2023
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
The final air sign of the zodiac, it may seem confusing, but actually is quite fitting that Aquarius is known as the water-bearer. That air/water misdirection is the kind of nuanced and out of the box thinking that jives perfectly with Aquarians. Aquarius is the non-conformer of the zodiac. Their water-bearer nickname comes from an origin story that credits this sign for bringing healing and life to humanity -- mythically poured from their own collection. This sign is represented in the tarot deck by The Star card, classically depicted with one foot in the water and one grounded on the earth. Their role in saving humanity requires them to be creative, innovative and progressive. They’re thinking not just ten steps ahead of the rest of us, but dancing to a beat that won’t even be invented for another fifty years. They can seem easily distracted and obsessed with their phones, but they’re ruled by Uranus, a planet known for its disruption. There’s a method beyond Aquarius’s sometimes quirky exterior and it’s all in the name of the greater good. They see the world on a macro level and excel at big picture thinking. This can also earn them a reputation for detachment, but it’s because they’re always coming at life with the perspective of a 30,000 foot view. As the connective medium between earth and space, it follows that this sign rules the ankles, calves, shins and circulatory system. The ankles are the complex and delicate intermediary between the feet and upper body, while the circulatory system is the water-bearer embodied: delivering life to each cell of our selves with every heartbeat. As we enter into the second month of the calendar year, use Aquarian energy to zoom waaaaaaaay out and look at your life from a much wider perspective. Our daily activities can become so immersive that we forget to question why we do them. Aquarius asks us to find the why and consider what we want for ourselves and our communities in the future. Are our habits and routines useful to make that future possible or are we just doing them because everyone else is or they’re what we think we should be doing? Buck traditional fitness instruction, embrace Aquarius’s love of freedom and let your intuition guide your movements in a Full Body Awakening class (Sundays at 10am CT) this month. You can also sign up for our workshop Why Do I Feel This Way? Discovering Your Values on February 15 (right before Aquarius szn ends!) to delve into the deep end and emerge with a better grasp on your personal core values. Aquarius Season runs Jan 20 - Feb 18.
You say you want a revolution? It's that season! content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Feb 01, 2023
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Capricorn Season starts off strong with a New Super Moon! Ready to get to work turning dreams and goals into reality, Capricorn brings a can-do energy to the start of each Gregorian calendar year. Capricorn is represented by the mythical sea goat - a half goat, half fish creature that symbolizes creative life energy, or the ability to move something from creative waters into earthly form. Capricorn loves purposeful work to pour its energy into and a job well-done. Because it has marathon-level endurance, when given something meaningful to focus on Capricorn has the fortitude to see things through over a long period of time. It's not one to start a bunch of piddly projects that never get finished. Capricorn often gets a bad wrap for being overly serious and, therefore, boring or even controlling. I'll admit, I've had to reexamine this stereotype after discovering that a couple of my favorite people are Capricorns. Every sign can come into negative aspects when out of balance, and Capricorn can run the risk of overworking and undernourishing/underplaying. So many of us, conditioned within a culture of multiple side hustles, perfectionism, and end stage capitalism, play out Capricorn's overly strict and self-denying energy. This season, play around with using Capricorn's strength of creating structure and boundaries so that you are able to rest in the yin space of winter and nourish your dreams. Keep the larger vision of your hard work in mind so that you don't get lost in work for work's sake - especially as social media starts to froth with New Year's resolution energy. Capricorn is an earth sign that rules the skeletal system and teeth, the underlying hard structure of our bodies. Without bones, we would lack defined shape and something dense enough to sense our individual selves through. What could you notice about yourself this season if you tune more into your bones while you move, in and out of class? What wisdom and messages are held in your bones? Drop into Anna's Wednesday morning Conscious Core class to explore Capricorn energy. Anna has a unique way of translating the subtle inner felt-sense into outwardly expressive form - her style reminds me a bit of Capricorn's half goat/half fish creature that sculpts immaterial into material. Capricorn Season runs December 22 - January 19.
Can-do Capricorn Season content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Nov 29, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Sagittarius Season pushed open the doors on November 22nd! Bringing optimism and a desire for expansion, Sagittarius lends the air that extra feeling of magic this time of year. Sagittarius is represented by the centaur or archer - an archetype that knows how to both roam the wide world and zero in on what catches its attention. It can pendulate between macro and micro, and if its not under stress, Sag doesn't get stuck in either expression. I once heard Sagittarius referred to as the luckiest sign of the Zodiac. Though this isn't a universal interpretation of Sag, I can certainly understand where it comes from. Because Sag is open to adventure and generally holds a positive outlook, it opens itself up on the regular to opportunity, and more than likely says "yes" when opportunity presents itself. Some people might take that to be luck, but I see it more as attuning to what you want, rather than what you don't want, and being open to receive (both signs of a regulated nervous system). Sagittarius is a fire sign ruled by Jupiter, planet of of expansion and wisdom. Sag's fire gives it the energy to go off on endless quests in search of the truth and answers to life's biggest questions. By this point, you're well aware that Comfy Fitness sees the body as a gateway... to understanding, to wisdom, and to the greatest exploration you could ever go on - that of your inner terrain. As the great explorer and wanderer of the Zodiac, Sagittarius rules the thighs and legs. I personally can attest to feeling an overall sense of freedom in times where my legs have been particularly strong. It's always brought a feeling of confidence that I can handle any adventure I set off on. As you move through the current season, notice how connecting through the legs makes you feel. A great class for exploring Sagittarius Season: any of them! Sag is pretty much always game for something new, as it knows that experience is how true wisdom is received. So put on your safari hat and try out a class you haven't made it to yet. You just may learn something new about yourself or the world through saying yes.
Sagittarius Season: The Search is On! content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Nov 03, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Scorpio Season slithered in October 23rd! And we are now in the mid-point between Equinox and Solstice, when we can really feel and see around us that all things come to an end. Being confronted with death inevitably creates a turn inward. And Scorpio Season brings the energies needed to face our underworld journeys. Scorpio energy feels like a still, small, extremely cold pond I once swam in on the border between Poland and Germany. Had it not been 98 degrees out, I never would have tolerated the water. It was the kind of water, unnervingly deep and dark, that gave the impression that if I went under for too long, I may slip into another world, never to come back. There was no way of knowing where the bottom was except to dive deep down. Like that water, Scorpio Season invites us to face our fears, emotions, and the darker aspects of life - understanding that a life well-lived encompasses the full spectrum of experience. Scorpio rules the reproductive organs and lower bowels; the parts of the body that often force us to face our shadow to release energetic and physical sh*t from our bodies. To work with Scorpio energy in your classes, keep in mind that the body is the portal into your entire being. Having a body allows us to feel pain, fear, joy, bliss. Our body keeps the record of all our life experiences. So moving the body can be a way in. But entering the body while moving is a choice we must make. Mainstream fitness culture has conditioned us to focus on the external - how we look, how fast or hard we can go, how we compare to what the culture tells us is valid. So it takes a very different approach to make moving about how you feel and how you come to know yourself. You wouldn't be here, though, if you weren't up for a different approach - being that our work focuses on embodiment over aesthetics. Notice in the coming weeks - as you move, unravel tension, and bring more breath into the body...does that reveal any emotion you've been ignoring or unconscious of? Notice if during or after your classes you have any flashes of insight into what you most desire - and this doesn't have to be the biggest desire of you life. It can simply be an awareness of what you would most want to do with the next 15 minutes of life if you allowed yourself to follow impulse. Let the time you spend moving your body draw you further and further into your inner world. There are riches within you beyond all measure. A wonderful class for exploring Scorpio Season energy is Conscious Core with Anna, Wednesdays at 8 am CT. Her subtle cuing demands you land deeply in your body to experience the power and truth that rests at your core.
Dig Deep during Scorpio Season content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Oct 20, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Hey all - and esp. Alexis' regulars for Friday night Big Queer Yoga! Alexis is out of town on retreat this weekend and so I will be stepping in for her tomorrow night (10/21). Since I don't teach yoga - to stay true to the ethos of the class - I'll be offering a SourcePoint Therapy guided meditation practice + conducting group energy work. It will be, as Alexis put it in our recent text exchange, "the ultimate non doing." For max comfort- bring pillows, blankets, space heater, any props you love to either be in restorative postures of your choosing or at complete rest. You may even consider doing the practice in bed. It's not uncommon for people to fall asleep or into a sleep-like deep trance state. I look forward to sharing SourcePoint with you tomorrow night!
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Oct 04, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Libra Season rolled in September 23rd! Apologies for the delay in this Member Missive. After the go-go-go drive of revamping our website and launch week, my body pendulated hard into a deep need for rest. Since then, I've only been able to muster working at a snail's pace. I have no doubt the energies of the Equinox and Libra season have something to do with that... Libra is represented by scales as it's always trying to move things towards balance and justice. It shines in relationship as it cares deeply about others' comfort and needs. Libra is associated with the kidneys, circulation, and the skin. If that seems like a lot of areas, think about the interconnection of these 3. Circulation is what keeps things moving between our inner and outer experience. Toxins that aren't properly filtered by the kidneys are often reflected in skin health. Balance requires interaction of multiple forces. It's no coincidence that Libra Season falls at the same time as the Fall Equinox, when we have equal day and equal night. Myself and many around me this year have been feeling the strong influence of the energies this time of year. Many are feeling a pull inward after the outward, expanded energies of summer. What have you been noticing? When it comes to working with Libra energy in your movement, what happens when you feel into and keep consideration on the whole of your body, rather than the single area that an exercise or movement is specifically activating? Can you feel the interconnection of all parts of you as you move? If something feels out of balance, what can you adjust to make every movement a collaboration rather than a solo-show? In relationships, Libra can easily self-sacrifice to make others more comfortable. Where in your life do you notice a tendency to do this and how does it feel in your body? Fairness and justice is achieved when no part of the whole is suppressed. Can you withstand the bodily sensations of conflict in order to have everyone's needs considered? And finally, Libra is astutely aware of the power of beauty and aesthetics. This has nothing to do with beauty as an industry, but everything to do with how taking in something through the senses makes you feel. Do you feel more at ease and more balanced after staring at a beautiful landscape, feeling a luxuriously textured sweater, or drinking from a cup that fits your hand just-so? As we move towards winter, paying attention to the little ways you can imbue your space with what you find beauty in will make for an even sweeter hibernation. Great classes to take to explore Libra Season energies: Energetic Alignment with Caroline, Saturdays at 11 am CT & Full Body Awakening with Carrie, Sundays at 10 am CT.
Balance & Beauty of Libra Season content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Aug 23, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
And just like that, we're in Virgo Season! How will the shift in energies affect your movement this month? I'm excited to explore this one! Virgo is the great refiner of the Zodiac. It loves organization, a job well done, and a good ritual. Virgo is associated with the small intestine and the nervous system. In quite the energy reversal of Leo Season, Virgo is very aware of the balance between outgoing and incoming energy. Because Virgo co-rules the nervous system, it can be more health-conscious than most signs, ensuring there is enough energy to go around and structures in place to make energy expenditure more stress-free. The most obvious way you can explore this in your membership this month would be to set yourself up with organization and structure for your movement - i.e. decide how you'd like to engage your body for the next 30 days or so, discern which classes are best for that, and get your RSVPs in early + added to your calendar. Once you commit to this structure, you can flow a little easier through your month knowing that you've prioritized your relationship with your body. Another way to tune into the energy of the season is to purge things that create stress. Is there a pile of junk in the corner of your movement space that makes classes even 2% less enjoyable? Is there an old attitude or belief about your body that doesn't feel good to keep around? Let go of that external and internal clutter this season and see how it changes the way you feel. The caveat here is to discern when we are creating space, structure, and honest effort because it makes us feel good vs. doing it out of embodied cultural beliefs about perfection, self-worth, body-image. Virgo Season is about separating the wheat from the chaff - not about being overly critical and controlling. And if I had to match a class with Virgo Season, I'd say to try out Strong & Centered with Kris on Tuesday mornings or in the Replay Library. It'll help you embody the Virgo trait of refinement. See you in class!
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Jul 21, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Welcome, welcome, welcome - to Leo Season - dear audience! How will the Season of the Showman affect your movement this month? Let's explore. Leo loves to put on a show; the spotlight, the applause, and the accolades are fuel that keep this fire sign burning bright. Leo is associated with the 3rd chakra and digestive system - the center of our personal fire and will. If there's one sign that is meant to throw off the cloak of humility and seek praise, it would be Leo. As it relates to our bodies, this can be a loaded energy to explore. In a culture of body shaming, with narrow definitions of which bodies are worthy of praise and attention, Leo Season offers us an opportunity to loosen the grip of those conditioned insecurities. So in the spirit of Leo Season, we invite you to be a little braggadocious! Stay for a moment after class and let us know what you were proud of - maybe you felt stronger in a plank than you ever have before or had an aha moment of sensing your body from within. Whatever it is, say it out loud so we can sing your praises! If you're doing video replays with no one to glow to, we've got a forum section for exactly this (and, TBH, it has far too few posts - there must not be many Leos among you). You can be a source of praise for others too - intentionally giving strangers and loved ones alike a little extra acknowledgement. Leo or not, we all benefit from having our unique flavor of being witnessed and admired aloud. At the end of the day, the approval and appreciation that is most important is your own. I've recently been working with the notion that to activate the ego in a good way, is to express it inwardly. To know our own worth, in our bones, ensures we don't get stuck in the tricky ego territory of "power over" or "power under". To exercise the ego into balanced strength and flexibility, write love notes to yourself and stick them around your space. Every time you run into one, take in your own acknowledgement, feel it in your body, and let that light shine through you this season. And obvi, you can always drop your shines in the comments below for all to see. I look forward to celebrating you all in classes this season!
Ready, Set, SHINE, Leo Season content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Jun 22, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Happy Summer Solstice and Cancer Season, friends! How will Cancer Season affect your movement this month? So glad you asked! Cancer may just be the swooniest of all the signs - swimming with relative ease in the deep waters of emotional life. It is associated with the liquid-filled cauldron of our low belly, womb, prostate, and bladder. Cancer loves to feel, so this is a great time to focus on emotional connection and bonding - with your own body. The fitness industry largely promotes a superficial relationship with the body and even encourages disconnecting our physical body from our emotional self. "No pain, no gain," eh. We know you didn't become a Comfy Fitness member to experience more of that nonsense, but cultural conditioning is hard to shake. So for Cancer Season, we invite you to let yourself drop even deeper inside your body during class. Throughout the classes and replays you participate in, ask yourself regularly, "What am I feeling right now?" or "How does this make me feel?" And allow yourself to find a more emotional answer. It's not just about where you are feeling something in the body, but also what is coming up for you. Maybe anger, maybe sadness, maybe a movement taps you into a wellspring of joy you didn't realize was there. I remember taking a workshop with Caroline last year where she led self-massage of the feet and I could not stop smiling and gigging. It was as if all my joy had been trapped in the tight tissues of my feet and massaging into them released it like confetti for me to enjoy. Movement classes become way more fun and interesting when we allow them to move our emotions, intellect and spirit - not just our bodies. Cancer is also the most nurturing and caregiving sign of the zodiac. Turn that skill inward and make sure you are taking good, true care of yourself over the next month. It's easy to overextend ourselves as Summer is a naturally active time with longer days. So remember, the more you take time to fill your own cup, the more you have to share and give to others. See you in class!
Swimming into Cancer Season

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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
May 21, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
We just breezed our way into Gemini Szn, friends! What does that mean for your movement this month? Gemini is an infinitely curious sign that loves learning, exchanging ideas, and playfully communicating information as it swirls through. For these reasons, it is associated with speech and sound through the mouth, throat, and ears. Gemini can be tricky for embodied practices because it's an air sign. When we come out of the earth, water, and fire of our bodies, it means our energy is usually up in our heads. And embodiment is all about dropping down from the head and into the body. A great way to work with Gemini's intellectual strengths without abandoning your body is to feel first and then understand. When you take classes or do video replays this season, seek to drop into the body even more than you usually do. Use that Gemini curiosity to feel for interesting things happening. After class, journal about your experience, chat with someone about it, or stay a little later after the classes where extra time is given for questions and discussion. If you're not used to sharing about your experience, use the winds of Gemini under your wings to float forward and speak. By combining a deeper embodied approach to your classes with the mental processing power of Gemini, you're bound to discover something about yourself that might turn into a brilliant conversation and point of connection. Gemini Season runs May 21st - June 20th. What are you learning about yourself by way of your body this season? Comment below!
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
May 13, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Those of you who regularly come to class and do video replays have likely been seeing our Monthly Mover Badges added to your profile and noticed that instead of the badge being named for the month, it's named for the prior zodiac season. Yes, astrology is having a big moment breaking into the mainstream as of late (at the Starbucks within my local Target the baristas came up with drinks for each Zodiac sign ☕️♍️) but we're not just hopping on a trend. While I can't speak for everyone on our team, I know that astrology has been a beautiful and important system for several of us. Many many moons (about 84) ago, when @alexiskoran was a Team training client of mine and we would regularly dish about the inexplicable things we were discovering about ourselves through bodywork, energywork, etc, she turned me on to the now famous astrologer, Chani Nicholas. @Kira and I lived together at the time so we both would eagerly await Chani's weekly readings and often times read them to each other at the start of our meetings so we knew what to expect for and from each other 😂. Sometimes Chani's readings were so dead accurate it was hard to believe she wasn't spying on me big-tech style. Now I'm not here to say you should or shouldn't be into astrology, but for the sake of embodiment and movement, the zodiac offers rich soil for us to stick our feet in and see what we can feel. If I were to lead an embodiment exploration of the month of July, I'd struggle to have enough material to work with. However, if I were to lead an exploration of the zodiac sign of Cancer, there's a treasure trove of goods to unearth. Each zodiac sign has characteristics, themes, bodily and emotional associations, etc. And most importantly, the Zodiac is fun and playful. The quickest way to open up our nervous systems to exploration and self-discovery is through play. So the zodiac really seems like a perfect way for us to explore all aspects of who we are (we all have EVERY sign in our natal chart even if we don't have any placements (sun, moon, planets, etc) in certain signs). AND because each sign falls within a certain part of the year, paying some attention to where we are in the turn of the wheel is an easier way to come back into sync with the natural rhythms of nature/our bodies than, say, trying to revive our ancestors ancient earth-based celebrations (though I'm all for that too!). ANNNND this is all a long way to say that as well as the Zodiac mover badges y'all have been receiving for participating in classes, each movement guide will be leading at least one class each zodiac season inspired by the themes of that sign. And then because @alexiskoran is always coming up with cool ideas, we are going to take those classes and make Zodiac playlists that you can find in the Resource Library. That way if it's Leo Season and you are burning up from all the fire, you can cool off with an embodied dunk into a water sign by doing a class from, say, the Cancer Season playlist. Each sign holds plenty of medicine. We will be building this throughout the year as we go through the wheel and I hope you enjoy it as much as I know I'm going to! I'd love to hear in the comments, on a scale of Ba Humbug to Belieber, where do you fall when it comes to astrology? And if you know your Rising, Sun, and/or Moon sign, put it below! Enquiring minds want to know!
Moving through the Zodiac content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Mar 02, 2022
In Carrie's Corner
I recently started reading Anna Halprin's "Making Dances that Matter - Resources for Community Creativity". I wish I had known about her work and had the opportunity to study with her while she was still alive. The first chapter of the book eloquently puts to words so much of what I hope Full Body Awakening is instigating in your bodies when you attend that class. It's a little uncanny reading what someone has written and have it so closely match what you are trying to do, having not been at all familiar with their work previously. It just goes to show how universal the body and the wisdom that can be found there is- and maybe even speaks to a universal desire that our bodies have to be known, deeply. I wanted to share a juicy tidbit of her writing as something to reflect on whenever you may read this and when you are engaging in any of the classes we offer. This is at the heart of all embodiment work we do at Comfy Fitness- not just my classes: "When we open ourselves up to all our senses and learn to listen to what our bodies are telling us, we often find ourselves at odds with dominant cultural injunctions against feeling and responding authentically. Reclaiming ordinary movement as something important and meaningful is a resistance to routine disregard of the body. Working with people using dance to express issues that are central to us brings us quickly to a place of commonality, empowerment, and the possibility of transformation. Activating the kinesthetic sense and experiencing our bodies as resources, rather than liabilities, can help move us across outdated social boundaries that limit our compassion and our love. We can reinhabit the whole body, and in so doing, gain a dimension of understanding, creativity, and connection to the mystery of the universe that is available to us when we try to understand our lives only through mental analysis." In what ways have you noticed yourself shifting away from the "cultural injunctions against feeling" and "routine disregard of the body"? What is opening up for you and what are you discovering as you enter into the unknown space beyond that conditioning? Please, share below! I would love to hear your insights 💞
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Feb 05, 2022
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Hi hi LIVE Online members! I've scheduled this month's TRE Intro Workshop for this upcoming Thursday evening, Feb 10th, from 7-8:30 pm CST. For new members, this workshop is the prereq for my Sunday Group Shakes; once you take the workshop, you'll be ready to join in on the weekly fun! Of course, if you've taken the workshop before and want to again, you are more than welcome. It's nice to revisit things from time to time, as inevitably you may hear something you didn't catch the first time and things always register differently in our system at different times. The workshop is open to non-members, so invite friends or family who could use some nervous system support: https://www.comfyfitness.com/event-details/intro-to-tension-trauma-releasing-exercises-tre-r-workshop-10 See you there!
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Aug 23, 2021
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Hi Friends! Kira and I are in the midst of creating some fab new content for the video library over the next couple of months. As part of this effort, I just tidied up the library of old class formats that we haven't offered in a while. If I took down one of your fave classes that you do on repeat, just message me which class and the date of the class video and I can send you the link for that class specifically so you still have access to it. And if there's anything in particular you would like to learn or that would make it easier for you to feel comfortable when taking the LIVE classes, let us know and we will certainly take it into consideration when creating our new video content for y'all :)
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Jun 07, 2021
In Carrie's Corner
We say we are a "conscious fitness and embodied movement" company, but I often wonder if anyone gets what that means and why it's different from the traditional fitness approach. To me, it's what sets us apart. But it's also hard to "sell" an idea that is dependent on experience to people who have not delighted in the experience of (or been conscious of experiencing) embodiment. If you're reading this, then you are conscious of experiencing embodiment - otherwise you wouldn't be here already. When we meet someone truly embodied, we can usually feel it. They carry a sense of being rooted in their being, rather than in concepts, a constructed identity, or what others may project upon them. A perfect example of this is Donald Williams, who testified in George Floyd's murder trial. When the defense lawyer tried to claim that he and the crowd that stood witness to Floyd's murder grew angrier and angrier and so had some part to play in its occurrence, Williams replied, "I grew professional and professional. I stayed in my body. You can't paint me out to be angry." I was floored when I first heard his articulation of this. But also shook my head, knowing that the defense lawyer probably had no idea what that means. One of my favorite teachers says embodiment isn't something you do. It is an orientation. I see it as a way of being. Certainly we can do embodiment exercises to have more lived-experiences of what embodiment feels like. But then to become embodied we must use our past felt-sense experience of embodiment as a north star - continuously guiding us back to embodied states (because modern culture is always pulling us out of embodiment) - so that the ratio of time spent in embodiment vs. disembodiment tilts in the other direction. Another favorite teaching-artist of mine says the more time we spend in disembodiment, the more room there is for ghosts to enter. Now, they don't just mean ghosts as energy of people who have died but are still hanging around to hijack human nervous systems in an attempt at satiating their hungers. Ghosts can be cultural values that we don't truly believe in, passed down through the generations. Ghosts can be habits and patterns that don't uphold who we truly want to be, but were once born out of a desire for safety/control/belonging/love/etc. Ghosts can be that thing we notice we are doing that our mother does that we can't stand and are shocked when we discover we do it too. Ultimately, embodiment is something you must enact yourself. No one can feel your body for you. Which then sets me into the inquiry of what actually constitutes "the body". Instead of opening that can of worms, I'll leave a couple of links - one to a small piece of my own writing on embodiment and one from my SourcePoint Therapy teacher on embodiment through the perspective of energy. I'll be subbing Caroline's Qigong and Yoga classes this week and using the time to lead SourcePoint Therapy-based meditations. Join me for those classes to experience embodiment from that point of view!
Musing on Embodiment content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Apr 03, 2021
In Carrie's Corner
Hey Movers & Shakers, Here's the playlist from the last 2 classes. I used the 30 minute chunk from somewhere near the front and center 2 weeks ago and then used the last half of the playlist for this morning's class. The playlist has the songs and artists listed underneath in case there were certain songs that grabbed you. See you next week! https://soundcloud.com/posterchild-art/lights-out-mix-8-11-19
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Mar 20, 2021
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
At Comfy Fitness, our definition of what it means to be fit encompasses our mental, emotional, and spiritual needs as well as our physical ones. Comfy Fitness co-founder Carrie Drapac and our yoga and Qigong instructor, Caroline, come together each month to host a Full Moon Gathering. They combine their backgrounds in movement, somatic practices, bodywork, energy work, and spiritual inquiry with the current astrological movements into a 2 hour ceremony to address the health of the whole self. This month's Full Moon in Libra invites us into a well-known but often hard to accept paradox: that true healing comes from accepting our wounds just as they are. Using the word "healing" is even tricky, as it infers there is something wrong, something to be fixed. This moon sits in the sky opposite Venus in Aries conjunct Chiron. Chiron, the wounded healer, represents the wound so deep that we do not ever rid ourselves of it. Instead, it becomes our greatest teacher and the source of our healing power. Conjunct Venus in Aries, we are given an expanded opportunity to work with Chiron through the power of self-love. Join us this month as we explore the winding road to self-love. From personal experience, Caroline and I both take issue with self-love as it is often addressed: spiritual-bypass your way there through mantras and positive thinking or stay mired in the cynicism that self-love is for the Pollyannas of the world. We know that self-love is a lifelong practice and acceptance is a necessary step along the way. From the preparatory journaling through to the ceremony itself, we will guide you into nervous system exploration, inner child witnessing, and creative-body engagement as ways to cultivate self-acceptance on the path to self-love. The Gathering requires participation from you beforehand - taking time to set the intentions you have for your life, work, relationships - and exploring on a deeper level what it is you need to shed in your life, environment, behaviors, beliefs, and patterning. You’ll be emailed journaling prompts and suggestions for reflection in the days leading up to the event. We’ll open with a guided circle-casting and calling-to-the-four-directions ceremony to create sacred space, set intention, and activate the energetic container for deep embodiment work. You're encouraged to incorporate any of your personal spiritual or religious practices in the experience - all practices and beliefs are welcome! The ceremony will include gentle movement, energetic practices, and intentional journaling. $33 - Saturday, March 27th, via Zoom - 10:30am-12:30pm PST - led by Caroline Cardino & Carrie Drapac Register here: https://www.schedulicity.com/scheduling/CCYHCT/classes **Journaling prompts will go out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the ceremony. So please register early to give yourself enough time to fully dive into the self-inquiry the journaling provides. Once you register, you’ll be emailed a Zoom link for the ceremony an hour before the event begins.
3/27 Full Moon Ceremony: Acceptance as the Path to Self-Love content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Mar 13, 2021
In Carrie's Corner
For my fellow nerds out there, here's the video that was a big inspiration for today's class. This and "My Teacher the Octopus" on Netflix. As well as it being a New Moon in Pisces ;) Lots of water water water.
3/13 Under the Sea Evolutionary Exploration content media
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Carrie Drapac
Instructor
Instructor
Feb 22, 2021
In Hear ye, Hear ye!
Hey all! I forget to announce non-fitness things that I'm doing here, but seeing that many of you take both mine and Caroline's classes, you may be interested to know that we host Full Moon Gatherings once a month. We combine our backgrounds in movement, somatic practices, bodywork, energy work, and spiritual inquiry with the current astrological movements into a 2 hour ceremony. I've put more info about the themes of Saturday's gathering below with sign up info for anyone interested. We'd love to have your presence and energy included. This month, we'll use the full moon in Virgo to make practical changes in daily routines, living spaces, and energetic bodies - shoring up our internal energetic structures and organizing our external ones! February, just like life, is filled with opposing energies: Contraction/Expansion, Giving/Receiving, Pushing/Pulling. The grounded Earth energy of Virgo loves organization. And the ecstatic energy of the Full Moon loves a good purge. As these opposing energies come together at the end of February, they offer an opportunity to look at the ways we have set up our space, our days, our lives - and invite us to make new choices that allow energy to flow more freely without either running into walls or overtaking us. The Gathering requires participation from you beforehand - taking time to set the intentions you have for your life, work, relationships - and exploring on a deeper level what it is you need to shed or shore up in your environment, behaviors, beliefs, and patterning. You’ll be emailed journaling prompts to guide you through reflection in the days leading up to the event. We open with a guided circle-casting and calling-to-the-four-directions ceremony to create sacred space, set intention, and activate the energetic container for deep embodiment work. You're encouraged to incorporate any of your personal spiritual or religious practices in the experience - all practices and beliefs are welcome! The ceremony will include gentle movement, energetic practices, meditation, and intentional journaling. $33 - Saturday, February 27th, via Zoom - 12:30am-2:30pm CST - led by Caroline Cardino & Carrie Drapac Register here: https://www.schedulicity.com/scheduling/CCYHCT/classes You’ll be emailed a Zoom link an hour before the event begins.
2/27 Full Moon Gathering: Restoring the Foundation of Self-Support content media
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Carrie Drapac

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