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sending...welcome to MommyMoves!
At MommyMoves™ our mission is to provide top-quality Pre & PostNatal fitness programming to new & expectant mothers.Our programs have been developed by Leah Esplen, a Registered Kinesiologist, Fitness Instructor and certified Pre & PostNatal Instructor
All postnatal classes focus on interaction between mother and child, while providing a fun and safe fitness experience. The goals of our prenatal classes are to maintain and possibly gently increase fitness levels in preparation for labour & delivery and the demands of motherhood.
Yoga – PreNatal & otherwise
When I first met Alma Vaugeois at an Enterprising Moms Network function last year, I noticed her gentle and calm demeanor. Anyone who knows me can tell you I am a ‘slightly’ energetic and perhaps ‘somewhat’ forthright person, so her soothing presence drew me in and we started chatting about our personal and business lives.
Alma is a Registered Clinical Counselor, Yoga Instructor and Energy Healer. As a counselor, she often recommends yoga (although she doesn’t demand that it be with her) as an emotional release and way to build strength and stamina. I loved the marriage of the two practices and so when an opportunity to bid on a set of her yoga classes at a silent auction came up, I grabbed it and won! I didn’t do anything with it due to time constraints but I always intended on using it. A few months later I was at the launch party for the Langley EMN and I won a door prize – a gift certificate for a Heart Resonance Healing Session with…Alma! I guess someone somewhere was sending me a message.
I listened to the message and booked my yoga sessions with Alma at her home studio, Alma Mayi Yoga Studio in South Surrey. The studio is in her basement and as a result it feels very homey and comfortable. The other participants were very friendly and we all had a short chat before we got started. In contrast to other studios I’ve been to, I felt that the environment was intimate and when I was spoken to I didn’t feel like I was being interviewed.
Alma’s teaching style was very gentle and she slowly led me into the various postures. We alternated between standing, seated and lying postures so my wrists didn’t get sore at any time. She occasionally uses touch to encourage you into the proper position and will educate you on why the changes are necessary.
Overall, I found the class to be an excellent beginner or special population class and I highly recommend her as a yoga instructor. It is so nice to practice yoga in a non-competitive environment and still feel like you got something out of it!
To contact Alma for an individual, couple or family yoga session or counseling: almavaugeois@shaw.ca or 604-538-2232
Failure Is Just a Step Towards Winning
Please take a minute to watch this video before reading this blog post.
How many of you have failed repeatedly at something? Have you given up? Is that it? You can’t do it so why bother trying, right? Well, this video got me thinking about my own life. Those of you who have met me know that my body is not that of the average fitness instructor. I am larger than most and, as my grandma would say, I’m a little ‘fluffy’ (my grandpa would say I was built like a brick s***house – lovely!). Barring my years in senior high school, I have always been on the big side.
I was also really smart. My grade 3 teacher once commented that I was the only kid she new who could read a novel during math class and still be able to get the answers correct. I was an A student, all right! Except in one class – Physical Education. I was awful! I had no coordination, I felt like a lumbering idiot and I was afraid of being hit by a ball, no matter what size the ball was! That one inevitable C on my report card was the bane of my existence. But I kept doing it. One year I achieved a Silver award for the Canadian Physical Fitness Test. That was a hard-fought silver, let me tell you! And still, the C’s kept coming.
In grade 8 I discovered that I could run long distances. I was coming in first when we did 3 & 5 Km runs in PE. It was bizarre! In grade 9, a friend of mine crossed the line before I did and she felt so good about herself. She told me that her goal was to beat me. Me?! No way! At this point my C’s had given way to C+’s. I had no upper body strength and was still afraid of those round flying projectiles.
I think it was in grade 10 when PE became an elective. I took it and got a C+. My parents were not happy because now my grades were going to count toward university entrance. I fought for my right to take PE in grade 11 and won. I told them that if they wanted me to take Probability & Statistics 12, Geometry 12 and Advanced Algebra then I got to pick my electives! I got a B that year. In grade 12 I had to fight even harder because I also wanted a study block. My parents gave in. I am so glad they did because it forever changed my life’s path. I got an A.
I got in to every university I applied to (despite my parents’ fears) and went on to get first a BSc and then an MSc in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology. I have been a fitness instructor for over 20 years and I love my body. I work to help my children, my students and my participants achieve their fitness and academic goals because it makes them feel good. And when you feel good about one part of your life it is bound to carry over into other things you do.
So, what are your goals? Do you have a story of how you’ve managed to achieve a goal? Or perhaps how achieving a goal has changed your life? Feel free to share!
