I recognized about 6 weeks ago that I push my pee out every time I go to the bathroom. When I first considered this might be an issue for me, I thought to myself that I certainly do when I'm in a hurry. To my surprise, it's every time. Without fail. Should I be surprised? I've trained my system to go to the bathroom as fast as I can for a very long time, my earliest memories being between class periods, or during my serving job in high school while customers were waiting for me. Having to pee doesn't always come at the most convenient of times. I had heard something about pushing pee being bad because the strain could cause muscular issues as bad as organ prolapse, but also as "common" as increasing frequency or the urgency to go when there's not a lot of pee...which is already what I am dealing with. When I did more research to share with y'all, I found that the side effects of pushing pee can be irritation or infection, it can make sexual relations more difficult, it can make defecating more difficult, it can cause hemorrhoids, and can contribute to hernia symptoms, among other things, I'm sure. Phew!! I started bringing presence and relaxation to my urination fully about 2 weeks ago. It's been interesting... First thing I noticed is the emotion tied to it. Not pushing while peeing made me really FEEL the anxiety those muscles were holding during that act. I felt a swell of urgency come over my body, and I could even hear the voice in my head say "hurry!" I had a chance to acknowledge the feeling and let it go. I can relax. Since then I've noticed a couple other things: Recently, near of the end of my pee, is a feeling I associate with UTIs, which I've had some gnarly ones. I can feel the fear of that sensation in my system, but I trust this process, and I am curious enough to see what's on the other side of it. I haven't had a UTI in several years, so getting one now would be a real bummer. I can connect with my vagina more fully ever since starting this presence practice. It might sound weird to say, but I can actually feel my vagina more. It feels like it's taking up a lot of space when I actively relax. Even now as I sit here, I feel more vulnerable, less protected. I don't know if I love the feeling of this either, but I'll keep going with it for my well-being. The actual stream of pee when partaking in relaxed peeing reminds me of those rain shower heads. It just trickles all over the place. When you're shooting your piss out like a high pressure washer, that's how it comes out. It makes for a much cleaner process. Again...not sure I love the rain shower effect. What I am most eager to experience, however, is how this might impact my sex life. I have been bringing this act of consciously releasing muscle tension during sex as well, and it has made the whole experience WAAAAAYYY better. I imagine this shift will have some impact in that arena as well. Do you push when you pee? Do you have the ability to release your push, or does that seem lost to you? I wonder what taking a Clinical Somatics approach to that sensation might be like: while peeing, push hard enough so your brain will notice the contraction, then gently and slowly release it. Remember to always go light and use as little effort as possible. And then share! If broadcasting to our community is a little too out there for you on this topic, but you'd still like to share, feel free to email me at kira@comfyfitness.com. I'm so eager to hear your story.

Last week something happened right before I taught my Clinical Somatics class on Monday night. While practicing a move related to walking, I discovered something that had been confusing to me for years about the Walking 1 & 2 movements in Somatics. And for years I'd simply just teach those moves the way it was taught to me to teach it and remained somewhat befuddled as to why they were the way they were. Without getting too into the weeds about my discovery and why my confusion existed in the first place, what I discovered out of all of it is "Yes, and..." For those of you in the world of Improv, you're fully aware of the concept of 'Yes, and', but for those of you who aren't familiar, 'Yes, and' refers to the full acceptance of whatever is said in an improv scene, and then adding more to the story; either another concept, action, or more context. Before last week's class, I had a rigid concept of how a body could move in space, and the Essential Somatics Walking exercises, inside of which I am certified and trained, directly went against that belief. As I explored further, I realized my initial belief was based on another movement not associated with the Walking exercises at all. What I discovered is that ALL OF IT CAN BE TRUE. And often, all of it is true across populations of people. Our bodies are constantly shifting and changing to weather whatever it is we put it through. It's just that every body does NOT react or reorganize in the same way. Even if you and I both got into the same accident and landed the same exact way, it is unlikely we would suffer the same injury. Regardless of that, as long as our bodies are in tact, we all have the possibility for access to those movements we don't already always do, so why wouldn't one movement pattern be just as important to explore than another? Just because one way (in my humble point of view) is more effective or efficient, doesn't mean it's not worth exploring and experiencing the other ways of executing a move. It could be what's needed to FREE that more efficient or effective way of moving. What could open up in our lives if we brought this concept of 'Yes, and' to others areas? What could happen if our rigid view of 'how things are' could loosen up? What relationships could we build or rebuild with that kind of lens? I'd love to hear from our community where you might be being rigid and how you're considering releasing that tension.

I consider myself a person who takes language and its impact on the world very seriously. You can imagine my surprise, then, when inside of a Comfy Lifestyle session this last Saturday, I flippantly said something that I personally have a hard time signing onto myself. It's a sentiment I have heard from SEVERAL transformational learning outlets, coaches, and journaling prompts: Whatever you resist will persist. I've heard this said for years, and as an activist who resists a lot, I've had a hard time reconciling this idea for myself. It's been particularly present for me lately because I'm doing this 108-day-journaling-for-transformation thing, and the whole friggin' last week was about resistance and acceptance, which is probably why it was something I said in my coaching on Saturday. I'll be the first person to tell you that resistance to life is a fundamental cause for tension being held in the body. Tension held in the body can create all kinds of issues, which is why it's so important to identify tension and release it. But I have been having a hard time signing on to the fact that if we resist something specific, like let's say dark money in politics, that that act of resistance has it persisting. I would argue that a lack of resistance would have it grow exponentially... And this is the exact conversation we started having in Comfy Lifestyle: how does resistance to something cause its persistence? By the time our call came to a conclusion, I felt horribly incomplete about the whole conversation. Which, of course, makes for a GREAT forum post, but I think I am about ready to lay this conversation to rest for the time being. What does that mean? Something I teach inside of my coaching is that if something is not working for you, don't use it. Take what works and leave the rest. I used to say "throw away the rest", but I changed that because as we grow and learn as humans, our frequencies shift and we are able to understand and hear things in a completely different way than before. So while I don't necessarily agree with the sentiment of resistance creating persistence, I am totally open to having an understanding of it at some point...it simply doesn't align 100% right now. For now, I will say this about resistance: it comes in many forms, and with practice, you can identify it in the body before your mind even knows it's there. Notice it when you wake up before your alarm in the morning, before you have to leave for work on a Monday, when you watch the news, when you look at your body, when you think about your family - everywhere! Notice what it does and where it lives in your body, and actively use the tools we teach you at Comfy Fitness to LET. IT. GO. I will always be of the belief that for progress to happen in the world and in our lives and bodies, stress, discomfort and resistance is vital. But in order for us to keep showing up with resilience, strength, and an unstoppableness that is required when making real change, our bodies will have to go through some shit. That's why these tools are just as important as the stress itself. For now, I will let this go. It's not mine. I have not embodied it (yet). And that is ok. Have you heard this sentiment before? What are your thoughts to this concept? How could you or do you apply it to your life? Inquiring minds want to know!

I'm going to say something possibly controversial, but it's something that has come up several times in the last couple weeks, and was very prominently discussed at a Forgiveness workshop I attended this weekend. Ready for it? Morality is not an effective gauge from which to take action. It has been argued for millennia whether or not morality is even a thing that exists without two or more humans. Famous philosophers have argued that morality is a reality based on agreement. But whose agreement? My immediate answer is society, capitalism, religion. We may have learned morality from our parents in the way of sharing or the Golden Rule, but where did they pick that up? And then what if one person's morality doesn't match another's? Ever have that happen? Things can get sticky. Whose morality is the most moral? When that happens, I remind myself that what can exist is workability or unworkability. And to truly gauge whether or not something is workable, I simply look at data. Well... and before that even happens, we also want to have the outcome of what we want for ourselves clear in our imaginations, because that is going to be different for everyone. Once you have that picture, ask yourself what consistent and reliable actions you can take in order to reach that end? Coincidentally, we often find that the moral thing to do is the workable thing, so I understand why they get collapsed so much. For example, if you're married and you want to stay happily married, what consistent actions can you take to achieve that end? While most of us look at adultery as something that is immoral, at the core of the argument, in a marriage where trust is of the utmost importance, lying and cheating on your spouse is unworkable. I guess that was a pretty dramatic example because it kinda sounds like I might be saying that adultery is fine, but that not what I am saying at all. I share this because shame can be a really big time waster. I think it's a feeling, when used in appropriate quantities, causes us to be better human beings to each other and nature due to our ability to sympathize and empathize with each other. But when morality is the driving force behind why we do things, I find that's when our own mental sabotage stops us in our tracks. Freeze! or has us running for the door. Flight! or signs us up for every volunteer position. Fawn! or is pissed that others didn't do enough. Fight! So next time you hear yourself calling a food 'bad' or feeling guilty about running late, remember that it is none of that: right, wrong, good, bad. Only workable and unworkable. When I live from there, I doubt myself far less and I have far fewer emotional roller coaster rides. I also know that if I don't take the workable action, any bad feelings I have about it are only my own judgements (morality) or the judgements I think other people are going to have about me inside of their own morality. When I shed my own shame from circumstances, I find I function more fully, happily and vitally!

I am having a hard time navigating the world right now and I could use some input. Many of us who are on a healing and personal growth journey are constantly being confronted with who we are. Something became crystal clear for me this weekend about myself that I am not sure I like, and at the same time, it's this part of me that I hide who's obfuscation is making my present life stressful to put it lightly. I'd say the situation is downright paralyzing on my worst days. I am terrified of public humiliation and ridicule. I have always known this about myself - this is not the new discovery. As if that wasn't bad enough for a person who owns an online business, does political punditry online and takes part in other VERY public activities, including a popular reaction channel on YouTube and a Twitch stream. What I am seeing is that I am very scared of offending people. I am terrified of misstepping and being seen as NOT an ally or Progressive or fighter for justice. I feel as though I have to be VERY careful with my words, my expression, my jokes that one of two things happen: I am somewhat inauthentic in a public setting OR I say something and then I stay up all night or several nights so scared that I will have offended a person or group of people so thoroughly that I'm #canceled. Here's the wilder part: I see myself as a good person. I am a person that puts action behind my words. My mission in life is to empower people. I am continuously checking my judgement, taking responsibility, asking myself who I'm committed to being...but every now and again I slip up. And I did it again this weekend and it completely sent me in a spiral. Then all I could hear from myself was offensiveness - this time it was a misogynistic joke that sent me off. And I'm thinking "what would my feminist friends think about that joke?" What would they think of me? Does this make me a bad feminist? Am I alone on this? In order to be seen by the world and public at large as a "good" person committed to progress, am I supposed to be constantly on the lookout for and actively battling against anything resembling sexism, agism, racism, sizeism, ableism, and every other 'ism'? Is there space for joking right now, or are we at too fragile a period in our history to be doing that kind of joking? Is the Zeitgeist of our time demanding more from those of us who want to see equity and justice in the world? Are we beyond the ability of being playful or careless as the world calls us to take our proverbial corners? I'm also aware, and am growing more aware as time passes, of my extreme privilege. I'm positive that adds to my anxieties, but mostly because I can see how cringy this could all sound with that in the background. To be clear, I have not offended anyone...that I know of. No one has approached me about anything I've said that had been construed as offensive. And it's a rarity that I feel I've said something that could be construed as offensive. I have been in a lot of activist spaces, though, and have taken an extensive course in regard to healing activist trauma, so I am very present to how our society doesn't regard or make space for anyone who is 'other'. And it is ingrained. Ingrained in our education, systems, language, institutions - everywhere. And I am not committed to adding to that... I just have no idea where and how to draw a line between being expressed and being committed to progress. Thoughts? How do you navigate this increasingly divided, reactive and public world?

I love to dance. Any other dancers out there? I know the teacher of Full Body Awakening hears me on this, eh @Carrie Drapac!? I've been doing a lot of dancing lately, and one of the reasons I love dancing so much is that when I am in the right zone, I get the sense that the music moves through me and expresses itself through my body. Sure, I'm making the moves and the moves are limited by my own experience and practice, inhibition, physical limits, and imagination, but it's probably one of the only times that I can actively get out of my own way and do better with less thought and less preparation. I was reminded of dancing after a meeting I had today. I am doing a free workshop series to promote Comfy Lifestyle, and I'm teaming up with an intuitive eating nutritionist and coach for my Saturday workshop this week. I knew through email that Emily had already prepared sort of a first draft for the workshop, and I told her I'd dance inside of what she had already created. Then it dawned on me that I use my sense of myself when I dance to navigate a lot in my life. I step into meetings, conversations, coaching calls, events, debates, and all kinds of circumstances equipped with nothing but my own experience, inhibitions, knowledge, and imagination. When I get out of my own way, I can usually navigate those circumstances with more ease than when I try to predict what someone will say and plan accordingly. I also find that this approach has created many more win-win situations than I think would be created otherwise. Try this on: next time you're in a communication situation that feels stressful, remind yourself that you do not need to know all the answers. You do not need to know what is coming. Slow your brain from planning what to say next, and instead listen to whomever it is you're talking to. Open yourself to receiving their messaging, the way a dancer might receive a shift in tempo and make the appropriate choices based on what comes their way. This whole dancing in the conversation could also be used in circumstances as well. I was thinking of how many times in our lives we find ourselves in the not-best situation to make healthy choices for ourselves. "Crap! I need to eat and all there is within walking distance is a 711!" Sound familiar? Instead of just deciding that that's it, you blew it! Perhaps dance in the possibility that there is something in that small corner store that will satiate and energize you with exactly the nutrition your body needs. It's only your experience, knowledge, inhibitions and imagination that will limit you! I suppose this is largely where I got the idea of Comfy Lifestyle in the first place! I don't fancy myself a particularly "healthy" person in the classic sense. I simply have the experience, knowledge, and imagination to understand how to navigate "healthy" even in the most dire of situations! Here's another idea brought on by simply typing my random thoughts here in this forum post: join Carrie for her Full Body Awakening class on Sunday and really just LET GO. Allow yourself to feel into the music and your body to follow the prompts that simply invite you to feel deeper or differently. Don't think about how you'll do something, what it might look like, or if it's the 'right' way to be doing it. Just do it and feel what it's like to allow yourself to be free in the moment. You have an opportunity to experience yourself without all the answers and just your own innate ability to intuit what will work next. In this post, I continuously refer back to my experience, knowledge, imagination and inhibitions, and it's taking part in activities that feel uncomfortable but are aligned with who I am or who I'm becoming that have created so much freedom for me in a wide variety of situations and circumstances. Using this platform and our classes as a jumping off point could be exactly the right place for you to start creating that resilience for yourself. And if you want more of that resilience, I most certainly invite you to join our Comfy Lifestyle cohort. There are limited spaces as I only take 8 people at a time, so get in while the getting's good and make 2022 a year to remember. The year where you start trusting yourself and your innate ability to dance with whatever circumstance is put in front of you that might have otherwise derailed what you're up to.

I'll admit it. I am a HUGE dork for the new year. Shockingly, it was never due to the overpriced night out, the excessive drinking, or the midnight kiss. No, no...for me it's always been my opportunity to slow down, assess the year that passed, and reconcile my actions with the values and my goals for my life. This year, I visited THREE different workshops and already ran one of my own for the creation of the year ahead. I told you! I LOVE the new year! Each workshop came at the idea of setting intentions from a different perspective and with a different focus, and all three shed light on an aspect of myself that I want to bring into 2022: CEO Days was run by the incredible and inspiring @Dana Magnus. During that time, I got present to how much can get done with limited time. It had me start looking at how I am strategizing my day to day activity and how I might be able to maximize my work productivity when I do it inside of focused time, and then give myself permission to just BE when I am NOT inside of that focused time. The 411 was led by the insightful mother of many, Kimberly Genovese. She actually does this workshop monthly, but what I love about the insight is it boils ALL action down to ONE THING. The question being "what is the ONE THING that only you can do that would make everything else easy or unnecessary?" Phew! And it always seems like such a big question...until you bring yourself through the process. And then the answer is right there! That workshop was made even more powerful after I attended @Carrie Drapac and Caroline Cardino's New Year, New Moon ceremony. After doing the North Star journaling, the meditation, and the embodiment work, I recognized that the thing I want to see more of in the world is one of the things in my life that I deny myself, and that is generosity. I am generous with my time, money, skill, education, energy and love with almost everyone around me. As I say frequently: I am a YES waiting to happen! .... unless that YES is a yes to or for me. It is only then when resources seem to dry up. Everything I want and need takes up too much time, energy, money and space in general. This year I aim to change that. This year, I am commitment that I will be generous to myself. I have already registered for two different Somatics series, created my own meditation and journaling space, and penciled in my own Yoga practice...even if it just has be by video! I've decided the ONE THING that only I can do is to take care of myself, my body, my mental health, and my personal satisfaction. I am personally grateful for and to all of the teachers who surround me. Those who guide me daily to make the choices for myself that are best for me and what I am out to create in the world. I am also grateful that I now have the opportunity to turn around and share with YOU! Just a little shameless plug here: Tonight I am teaching a New Year's Resolution workshop. It's one of the MANY methods up my sleeves to help you harness your BEING and your ACTION in regard to what you're setting out to create for yourself and your life. Check out the event page and register! I'd love to see you there. I wish you all the best that this new year has to offer and that all your intentions for this year and met and even exceeded! Muah!

One of the things I've discovered and have been rediscovering time and again over the last seven years is that I withhold information from people. I do it for a lot of reasons. I do it because I don't want to "get in trouble", I do it because I don't want to hurt someone, I do it because I think "it's not a big deal"... welp...a lot of it has come to bite me in the ass this last month or so. I am discovering how all these little withholds are creating a lot of tension in my relationships and in my body. Not only that, I act as though if I don't share something, it goes away. "Hey! I feel like I've been doing the lion's share of the work," or "Hey! Our conversations really feel like more of an energy suck than energizers," or "Hey! I fundamentally disagree with you on this topic and I'm not in the mood/ready/emotionally prepared to talk about it," and oh, so many more variations. But after you let things go so long, how do you correct it? Like...has anyone ever called you the wrong name or mispronounced your name and you don't say anything? The longer you talk, the more awkward it gets? I think I have it like there's a point of no return. Like..."you've had that piece of food stuck in your teeth for so long now, I can't say something at this point." HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT???? Does anyone relate to this? Anyway, my fingers are friggin' shredded from biting and picking, and I feel like I need to have some really hard conversations. AND I DON'T WANNA!! So, yeah. I'm struggling through this all right now, and it's coming at me from so many different directions, spanning a dozen different circumstances. Today I felt my body vibrating from how much I am holding. I think it's time I make the time to join Saturday's TRE class! Happy Monday, y'all! We're in this together. Shoulder to shoulder.

It's one of my favorite* days of the month: PAYDAY!! Today, beyond the obvious reasoning for my love of this day, payday created something else very magical for me: an opportunity to track what I did this month to build our Comfy community. Of course I always have this opportunity, but things seem to fall by the wayside for me (and prolly many of us) when there is no pay, free food/drink, or fun involved. When tracking my company ownership hours, I got present to how much I did this month and how much has transpired in the last 4.5 weeks. Usually this is not horribly exciting for me, but I was stepping into tracking with a sense that I had not done much for my business this month. After tracking, it was confirmed that I was wrong about that. So why did my brain play that mean trick on me? All I've been able to think about recently is how I took a lot of breaks this month, started sleeping in more, had extensive moments of literally just doing nothing but staring at a wall (twice in the last week!), started a new course curriculum that has eaten more of my time, spent time with friends from out of town, etc. I rarely dwell on all the networking meetings I do, the people I've helped, the forum posts I create and emails I write, the workshops I create and lead, and the consultations I have with potential new clients. Our brain is WIRED to identify and remember our failures. Now, your first thought might be "but none of what you listed was a failure", and you would be right. But in a capitalist society, not producing weighs on us heavily, does it not? Since making money and producing is king in this paradigm, anything that is not that can feel...wrong, even bad. So that is what my brain remembers...all the times I "wasted", didn't complete something, or came up short. This biological construct is so strong that I started leading a community that convenes weekly to assess our past week and create the one ahead. Every single time we meet, we start by writing all of our successes/wins from the week for 3 straight minutes. Why would we do that? Well... What we focus on grows. And wouldn't you know it? Tracking my ownership hours today boosted my energy levels, making this forum post feel accessible - even easy. It boosted my confidence in my actions, my ability, and my grit. It also has me present to the fact that I can slow down in my life, have fun in my work, AND be plenty productive. What a concept! I invite you to take on the daily or weekly practice of setting a timer and, without stopping, write out all of your wins, successes, breakthroughs, gains, and brags. I invite you to include ALL parts of your life as you do this, including but not limited to your career, family, spirituality, fun, travel, relationships, growth, health, creativity and money. Truly, it's one of the only ways to get grounded in reality, instead of getting lost the construct of our survival brains. Much love, y'all, and happy November!! _____ *I say this with the understanding that my incredible business partner works extra hard this day to make sure our whole team receives proper payment. Thank you, Carrie!!

This morning I was really present to gratitude. My daughter got me up at the buttcrack of dawn as she always does, and I got to lackadaisically spend the morning with her while tidying the house. I started reminiscing the days when I got up early and would RACE out the door and hop on my bike to meet with clients. There are so many things that have changed since that time, and I chucked as I thought that now I get to live a life more aligned with all those new-wave teachings. You know? The ones that tell you to take more down time, create your perfect day, be present, meditate more - blah blah blah. While I feel accomplished being in this chapter of my life, those teachings really used to piss me off. Why? Because to me, it always felt really privileged for people to be telling me to slow down, sleep more, take better care of myself, practice presence - even take time to rest when sick. When you live in a world where every moment can earn you another dollar that you desperately need and your income grossly comes in under your bills, it can be easy to feel resentful and shut down good advice wholly. Now that my circumstances are no longer that of simply surviving, I can see more clearly the parts of those teachings, that if maybe stripped away, could have sounded more available to me during that very tough decade and a half of non-stop hustle and 100 hour work weeks. I thought I'd share what those are just right off my head here as I reflect today: Keep moving. Get up from your chair frequently. If you cannot, stretch and move in whatever way works. Go on walks or bike rides. Dance. Do the Comfy Fitness warmup several times a day. I'm not gonna go into the, literally, dozens of reasons why you should move a lot throughout your waking and working time, but I don't think I have to be horribly convincing here. You do not have to be doing something for 30 or more minutes straight. Just move whenever you can. If there are a lot of things that don't work for you, is there any way to be more curious about what could work? <I'm here to talk to anyone who's exploring that, btw.> I tend to start my day with physical (and somewhat mindless) activity. When we used to train in physical studio spaces, I biked 30-40 minutes to see my clients. Now that I no longer commute, I start my day by cleaning my house. I'm not saying to do this exactly, but start your day with something that feels good to you. Something that has the start of your day being one of your favorite times of day; something you look forward to. For a lot of people, it's journaling or some kind of reading or a puzzle. It could just be sharing space with someone you love. Try some things on and see what you find! It doesn't have to look a certain way. And I mean this for whatever time your day starts. I used to do my correspondence, writing work, and honestly, more mundane work in coffee shops. I have always had an office, but I just LOVE LOVE LOVE coffee shops. Something about them feels indulgent and lazy to me, so when I'm working (which I used to do a whole helluva a lot more of) I am still enjoying myself. If there's crap you have to do that you don't necessarily wanna do, I say do it somewhere you love. If you cannot be there (which is most of the time these days), find something that can place you there. Maybe a scent? A food or drink? Music? The relationship can hold a place until whatever keeps you from being there passes. This: you're probably never gonna get it all done, and you'll be surprised what you can get done when you relax. Whenever I feel the pressure of time and deadlines press on me, I stop, exhale, hold it, and feel for tension. I release it and remind myself that I'm doing what I can and this is what I'm doing right now. Sometimes I think that's what everyone meant when they were telling me "slow down". How could I slow down when I have SO much work?!?! I think maybe they meant that being able to take a moment to feel into the anxiety and find a way to soothe it was worth the moment it takes. Sometimes what I can do in a moment is lie down, relax, be on social media or sleep. But being able to check in for shame or guilt has been helpful. As I expand my education on the insidiousness of capitalism and white supremacy in my nervous system, I can source that feeling more clearly for myself. What is the source of that and is it something I can put to rest for now? Basically being able to choose beyond my reaction. I can be powerful in my choices. That last point was a bit ramble-y, but I am not going to try to trim it anymore. I like it. Anyway, I think that's good for a Monday. I better go chase my baby now before she finds her next suicide mission.

We are resilient beings, we humans. We adapt. Fast. Adaptation is a powerful and important thing. It is how so many creatures have survived millennia. It is also how we, as a species, have gotten stuck in ruts, norms, and antiquated ideations. It is also why we get stuck in our bodies, physically. Our bodies adapt to what they are given. And over a lifetime of activity, injury, stress, habits, upright posture, and technology, our physical bodies create new ways of moving and being that adapt to that input. Let's say you work at a computer, and that computer is placed in such a way that has you hunched with your shoulders rolled forward and your belly compressed. Then let's imagine at this job you have responsibilities that creates stress and tension. Let's say that tension shows up in your shoulders rising toward your ears and your teeth grinding. And let's say you stay at this particular job for 5 years and work a minimum of 40 hours a week. Over time your body will ADAPT to this posture and stress. It will start to maintain the posture and the tension it is being trained to maintain. What's the solution? Well...you could change the position of your computer, get a standing desk and start a meditation practice, all of which I strongly recommend. But what about the years of input you've already spent thousands of hours programming? Does that just go away? In short, no. At this point, it is likely your body will either continue this programming in a more insidious way, or it will start a different program ON TOP of the previous programming. Either way, simply creating a different circumstance will not undo the programming of the past. And over time, this programming can create pain, stiffness, injury, organ breakdown, energy depletion, and so much more. This is a prominent piece of what our society refers to as "aging". Bummer, eh? But there's something you may not be aware of: while adaptation to stress, posture, injury, etc. is inevitable, we - humans - have an incredible superpower called SELF-ACTUALIZATION. And with this superpower, we have the ability to rematrix years, even decades of adaptation and conditioning. We are powerful beings. Far more powerful than we know. As humans, we have the distinct ability of bringing awareness to our being. And with that awareness, we have an opportunity to transform what is no longer helpful. Awareness is the first step to shifting anything in our lives. Clinical Essential Somatics is a modality of movement that specifically creates a space for us to FEEL our body's movement from an inside-out perspective - step ONE. After an awareness of what's going on, we use the natural movement patterns of the human body to retrain how our bodies are moving. Our powerful human brain gets to FEEL the difference between what is tense, old, and unworkable compared to what is available, easy, and free - step TWO. Once your brain gets an idea of what is possible, you will start to feel your body throughout your regular day in a way you've never gotten to experience it before. You will have a stronger sense of communication with parts of your body that seem to be constantly holding tension and have the tools to release that tension. You will start to understand new patterns of movement that are more effective in getting you to where you're going, no matter the activity of your life. And over the span of a regular practice, you will be able to release that programming that has so deeply grooved itself into the way you already always move. Life will never stop "lifing" us until we're dead. Having the tools to feel our bodies will create a journey that offers choice instead of programmed reactions. The awareness of choice allows us to make the decisions that serve what we're up to. And whatever it is you're up to deserves attention and energy - the kind of attention and energy that cannot be generated in pain, exhaustion and dis-ease. I am teaching an incredible, 6 week workshop series starting this upcoming Saturday called The Myth of Aging. If you're ready to reverse some of the programming from decades of living, I strongly recommend joining. We'll have playbacks of the videos for participants for 12 weeks after the series ends, so you can revisit your faves or make up the ones you have to miss. HERE is the link with details and opportunity to sign up. You may not have to be dealing with what you're dealing with in the way you're dealing with it. I look forward to seeing you step into the possibility of something different.

I have a jam-PACKED two weeks coming up. And even though I saw it coming a mile away, events, deadlines and plans I'd made are now upon me and I feel completely unprepared! Of cooooooouuuuurrrse! Why wouldn't I? Due to my busy family and social life, preparation for the massive photo shoot Comfy Fitness just had, and building a brand new website for my other business, I haven't had an iota of time to promote or prepare any of the incredible workshops I have coming up. I wanted to share them with you today, but mostly just wanted to brag my face off for how this Sunday has turned out for me so far. Initially, I was feeling VERY stressed. Ari got me up at 6am, so it gave me plenty of time to worry. I had so many folks to communicate with, so many plans with family and friends, and, of course, SOOOO much work. My brain was swirling with an unending list of things to do. I pulled out a sheet of paper and had to start writing them down as I did my mom duties throughout the morning. And then I just started knocking shit out! I did a 30 minute workout, complete with social media posts for Comfy. Then I took a 45 minute nap. It's been a grueling weekend and I was wiped. What a massively necessary step to the sense of success I've had today. From there, I literally just asked myself "ok, now what do I want to do" between catching up with friends on the phone, playing with and feeding my daughter, tidying up the house/doing laundry, and running to the CVS. I'd look for something that seemed doable and simple. And then I did it. And holy buckets! Here I am! Writing a forum post on Sunday night!!!! So yeah...I just needed to brag, even if it was into the ether. I also said I'd mention all the incredible workshops I have coming up. Check these out! I hope one or more speak to you and you can join us: Kimbra 411 Tuesday, October 6th @ 6-9pm Learn more & register HERE. In its full expression, the 411 organizes annual, monthly and weekly goals and tasks to manifest the intentions of its user. 411 stands for FOUR weeks, ONE month, ONE year. This will greatly help you vision the final quarter of the year. Taming Your Inner Critic and Reclaiming Your Body: Monday, October 11th @ Noon & 7pm Learn more and register HERE. I am teaming up with Life Coach, Bri Salsman, author of The Examined Life Workbook, for this a free workshop about identifying what narratives, both mind and body, might be creating barriers for you. Myth of Aging Series Saturdays, October 16th - November 20th @ 11:30am - 1pm Learn more and register HERE. Over the course of our lives, our muscles wind up holding layers of tension brought on by habits, injuries, traumas, etc. Over time, that subconscious and constant tension in the muscles creates a whole host of challenges, including pain and discomfort, terrible sleep, headaches, low energy, any number of issues with organs, etc. You can see how the myth of aging came about. In this series, you will learn the Somatics foundational exercises and experience all the movements of Thomas Hanna's (the creator of Hanna Somatics) "Cat Stretch". By the end of this series, you will know the movements that best suit you to take on as a daily or semi-daily practice. If you cannot make a class live, the recordings will be available on demand. Ok...now that I am done shamelessly plugging myself, I am going to wrap this bad boy up and enjoy my Sunday evening. <deep sigh> what a day....

Nothing gets my nervous system riled up more than an online (or text) political discussion. I'm not totally sure where I am going with this post today, but what I do know is I just posted something on Facebook in a politically based thread, and my hands are now shaking. I can't help but watch the alerts on my phone, waiting for my 'opponent' to respond and re-reading my post to make sure it wasn't factually incorrect or too abrasive. wtf? The incredible part of all of this is that I can get into a discussion face-to-face with someone and not feel this way. There is something about the written realm that causes me to be far more fidgety - scared even. That is why, for many years, I had to STOP posting my opinions online. This may seem silly to you, especially if you know that I have been a political organizer and activist since 2009 in Chicago, and I'm fairly grounded in my beliefs. I have done street protests, even risking arrest (and getting arrested) on several occasions. I also have done political punditry online for YEARS! I am open to other opinions, and can also back mine up with my own resources. It's not about being wrong or right, though. I have been wrong a lot, and I'm actually pretty good at it, and, honestly, not at all afraid of it. It's about public ridicule in a massively public place: social media. Being outed as not knowing enough. And there is no need for commentary soothing my fears of not knowing enough. That will always be there and be noticeable until I have rematrixed that conversation. And the only way to rematrix something is by taking different action (different from the automatic response) again and again and again. My life has mostly been peaceful without getting involved in the online space, however, so I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet. I can still feel myself getting emotionally charged when I read something that is based in what I consider ignorance, but I actively weigh the cost with the return of getting involved. What would be the purpose of engaging? How much of my energy will being involved in a conversation take? Are there more effective ways of getting my messaging out? After reflecting on those questions, I discover that I am still of the opinion that being active in comment threads is not worth what it does to my stress levels. And I suppose that is a rematrixing in a way - where I would have engaged, I no longer do. I figure I'll stick to what I'm good at: talking with people in the streets or on their doorsteps about issues that matter to them. What are your thoughts on this? Have you engaged in political discourse online? How does it make you feel? Does it stop you or inspire you? I'd love to have a variety of input on this topic to hear how people deal with this issue. I believe we are all faced with this issue, if not on a daily basis, at least a weekly one. Speak up!

Comfy Fitness had a BIG and much anticipated day on Saturday: a photo shoot for our website and marketing. A year ago, we hired a big time commercial photographer to create the photos on our site. We decided creating exactly the website we want is worth top dollar, so we hired the best talent. We waited out the ups and downs of the pandemic, and decided that with proper precautions, we could FINALLY get this photoshoot in. We had several meetings with our photographer: prepping shots, taking a tour of my home which would be the venue, scrolling through our site so as not to miss anything, and emailing/organizing our models, which were going to be made up of friends and clients. It was all coming together. Carrie arrived Wednesday, and our week together between clients and meetings was filled with preparation for the big day. Fast forward to Friday night as I'm visiting with a friend I haven't seen in person in two years: I receive a text message from two of our models to let us know that one of them had tested positive for Covid. Shit. For so many reasons, shit. I could feel myself actually wanting to get mad about it - one of my nervous system defaults. But what would that do? Who would I be mad at? Ok. So not that choice. What are my other choices? I immediately send out a text message to another couple I know who would be a good replacement and decide I'd like to be present with my friend. I wake up Saturday morning to a text message declining my request for last minute modeling. Gah! Carrie then informs me that she has not heard from two other models in over a week. I text them. They had not received our communications and they were no longer available for the shoot. OMG. Now....Carrie and I have been partners for 14 years, and I can confidently say that 6 or 7 years ago, we would have shown up much differently to this circumstance. We quickly moved from "are you fucking kidding me right now?!" to acceptance. Ok...so we just have a more spacious day and make due with who we have... That was a good place to start. But we both wanted more. We postponed the venue prep and started going through our phonebooks. Who could take the place of these folks in matching demographics? I texted people and disregarded the sense of "asking for too much" or that it was "too last minute". Hi! Could you be here in a few hours, camera ready and agree to be a model for our website? Greeeeaaaat! You won't believe it: we replaced every. Single. Model. Demographic and look. I really got present to the power of our community and how people inside of those communities view Carrie and myself. The whole thing was incredibly humbling and, at the same time, so inspiring. The rest of the day was a whirlwind, and we acknowledged that the models that were supposed to be there, made it. Everyone did such a good job! When all was said and done, Carrie and I took a moment to acknowledge ourselves and all the work we've been doing around embodiment, reaction, communication and focus. And the whole thing got me to thinking about the embodiment practices we teach at Comfy Fitness and how they help people show up fully functional and present in life, and I had to chuckle. With how long I've been using the term "Functional Fitness" in regards to our strengthening and conditioning movement modalities, I never considered how much our embodiment modalities truly make us functional in life. It's a whole new way to practice Functional Fitness one could argue. Strong, agile and flexible are all ways of BEING, as well as body-based descriptors. I like to think that's what embodiment largely goes to work on. I think I'll write more on this in the future, but I think this is enough for now...

My husband runs marathons. He started 7 years ago right before we started dating, and over the last 6.5 years of our relationship, he has slowly chipped away at me to run along with him. I started with 5Ks and worked my way up to half marathons. On September 26th, 2021 I will be running my first marathon EVER. Yesterday I ran the furthest I have ever run in my life: 15 miles! And it was NOT pretty. What I enjoy about this kind of work, though (and I REEEEAAAAALLY have to look for what I enjoy), is that it is a great way to hear, loud and clear, what conversations I have with myself. At about mile 11 the wheels really started coming off during my run, and by mile 12 I had to stop and walk. Here's what I heard: "What the fuck? I have run further than this before. What is wrong with me." "If I can't even run 15 miles, how am I gonna do 26?!" "If I had just gotten enough sleep, eaten breakfast beforehand, drank more water, etc, I could have finished." "I should just head home. Twelve miles is enough." You may be thinking "yeah - 15 miles is no joke!" and I would agree with you. But what I want to point out is that these conversations do not only happen during a double digit mile run. Everywhere you go, there you are. When we are up against high levels of stress, most humans have a personal default. My default, and I've known it for a while now, is to wonder what is wrong with me, how it's my fault things are not turning out, justifying what DID happen, or (my fave), saying it's good enough - which certainly is helpful in other areas of my life!! Having said that, not all default reactions are bad. I would not consider feeling that 12 miles is good enough for the day a bad thing. I do it all the time with emails in my inbox, the cleanliness of my house in my personal life, the design of a placard for social media, the level of communication I have with my clients, etc. You see, I actually feel like that conversation is a super power of mine. The reason it's helpful to know your default conversations is so you have a CHOICE when they come up. I can say to myself "Oh! There's my 'I don't care about perfection' conversation. Do I want to honor it, or do I think I could run further, answer another email, vacuum another room, tweak that color in that design?" And from there, I can make a conscious and intentional decision about my next action. I decided yesterday that I was going to finish 15 even if it meant I was walking the rest. I want my body to be ready for 26 miles whether I am walking or running, and I had it in me to walk. So I walked a half a mile as I ate my gummi bears and listened to my podcasts. After that, I tried picking up running again. And I did it! I completed the last 2.5 miles running. The gummies had helped, and my choice to make it the 15 no matter what was my conscious and empowered choice, differentiated from my 'anti-perfection' default AND my 'what's wrong with me' conversation. We make choices from a place of empowerment when we're aware of what we say to ourselves when we are feeling disempowered. Next time you're up against 'it', listen to your default. Once you have that awareness, THEN make your empowered choice.

Wow. What a day it's been. This morning I had a one-on-one networking meeting that was supposed to start at 9:30am in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. Instead of looking at my calendar regarding the appointment, I went off of memory and remembered the meeting was at 9am. I found myself rushing out the door and hopping in my car because my preferred mode of transportation, the train, was not going to get me there in time. When I arrived to the neighborhood, I glanced my calendar and realized the meeting was actually at 9:30am. Phew! I could now take my time. I reached the restaurant, ordered food and sat down. I would now be cool as a cucumber when my networking date arrived. I texted her that she could find me at a table outside when she got there. Her message back: "Omg, Kira! I am so sorry! I meant to be scheduling for 9/13!" Turns out I wasn't 30 minutes early, I was a month early! I looked back through our email thread, and sure enough! She had mentioned 9/13 in her very first email with me. Oy. I told her not to worry and that I'd make the most of it... I ate my breakfast, updated my family's budget and recalled I still had equipment in the neighborhood from when Comfy Fitness was a brick and mortar in that area, and since I had my car with me, perhaps I could swing by and pick those items up. After all, I had been making attempts at various times throughout the last year to do so. I drove over to the space I used to operate out of, and sure enough - the PT that worked there when I worked there was with a client. What luck!! I picked up those items and headed home. Next on the agenda was a meet up with a new mom friend of mine. I packed up my infant daughter, Ariadne, and we walked over to the cafe I had picked out for us to meet at. The cafe was closed. I started surfing the web immediately for other places nearby. I knew my new friend was on her way from another part of the city, so I wanted to make sure she had a destination. But it was Monday. And everything was closed! I ended up settling on a chicken and waffles hole-in-the-wall about a mile away. I hauled ass over there. Due to our late start, we did not get to visit the park as planned, but the food was INCREDIBLE. It is easily one of my new favorite spots in my hood and I can't wait to go back! Ari and I headed back. Once I got home, I looked over my schedule for the rest of the day. I had forgotten about a meeting at 7:30pm, and decided I'd better confirm with everyone...if I'd forgotten about it, I am sure others may have as well. I sent out texts to the other two parties: I got one confirmation, and one "I can't. I told you that I am busy tonight." Whomp, whomp...yet again...another change of plan. There would be no meeting this evening. I got to thinking what is the lesson in all of this? I could make the lesson anything I want, really. Perhaps I should slow down? Be more careful in my planning? Maybe I need more sleep or grace? What I've decided to settle on is that the Universe created exactly the day I was supposed to have. A day where I had brunch by myself in the sunshine, knocked out a chore that's been on my list since the Covid shutdown began, got lots of built-in, outdoor exercise with my daughter, found a new favorite restaurant in my neighborhood, and then got an early night off. When I look at how the day turned out and how I showed up to all of it, I realize that the outcome of most days are dictated by who we are being rather than whether or not things go as planned. I could have been upset or irritated with myself. I could have seen much of what happened today as a waste of time. I could have thrown my hands in the air and said "Fuck it. I'm gonna blow off the rest of this day." And gratefully, I did not choose that today. I don't always make the most peaceful, harmonious choice, btw. And when I make the choices I am not proud of, I tend to focus on that. So today, in light of the choices that created such a fun adventure of a day, I will take a moment to acknowledge that as well.

Through a journaling journey @Carrie has been taking our Comfy Team through this last month and a half, I've discovered quite a lot about my inner workings. Through this journaling exercise, I expressed that I desire to be a person who takes things in stride, is chill - someone who can be present and also get the things done that need getting done. As someone who owns two businesses and is an active part in growing another one, not to mention, a social butterfly, an activist in her community, and a mom to an infant, I was (and still am to some extent) highly doubting that that way of being is in the cards for me. Without off-loading several of the things I'm up to in life, I couldn't imagine not constantly being in a conversation with myself about how I SHOULD be doing this that or the other instead of what I am presently doing. The internal sense of myself as I'm bringing presence around this 'should' conversation is that of a tug-of-war. It very much feels like the multi-tasking diva of old is fighting tooth-and-nail against the new stopping, grounding, and being-satisfied-with-what-is-happening-right-now-and-what-is-not woman of the present. I am finally starting to get a felt sense of where the need to self medicate with marijuana over the years has come from. The drug was always helpful in zeroing in on one activity at a time and feeling satisfied in my choice of activity. Can I achieve this mindset without the drug? I've been told for well over a decade that I need to slow down, but that never made any sense to me with the amount of activity I'm up to and not willing to let go of. But now I see that 'slow down' conversation as more of a 'being present and satisfied with what I'm doing' conversation. My actions don't have to be slower. I don't need to take more time between activities. I simply need to BE with the activity I am doing at that present moment, instead of multi-tasking or having my brain race around what still needs to be done. And when I feel time encroaching on the activity I'm presently wrapped in with another action, I can put one down and move to the next. This presence has also been helpful in my efforts for more self-care and 'me' time, not to mention enjoying time with my new daughter. I can be grounded in those activities and when I hear that little voice saying "you really should be doing x-y-z", I can either choose to shift activity, or put it aside and enjoy the place I'm in. What are your methods for being present and satisfied? I'd love to hear, and possibly try out, what has worked for you!