Matthew Markiewicz - Inspiration!

Beth’s Note: Meet Matt! I am enjoying sharing stories of those who have set a goal and succeeded. No one will say it is easy. Lynne cussed at the Zoom class & I am sure there were days when Hal did not want to run (see previous 2 posts). Matt is an example of determination & discipline.

Hope you enjoy! It’s all about how to enjoy the adventure even with the twists & turns that surprise us.

I had hit rock bottom. I was 284 lbs. I wore size 48 pants and XXL shirts that were starting to get too tight for me. I felt powerless and ashamed of my body. I believed that this had “happened” to me. Girls wouldn’t look twice at me (unless making fun of me). I dreaded gym class and having to struggle while my classmates had fun. I didn’t know what to do and felt lost .

Looking back, this was the best thing that could have happened to me. Ten years later I’m living my dream. I’m a CrossFit coach and personal trainer, in the best shape of my life, and have been dating the love of my life for 3 years. Hitting rock bottom was my rebirth. I let go of the victim mentality that led to inaction. I realized that everything in my life was under my control. Whether I could control a situation or not didn’t matter: I took control of my life and recognized that I controlled my destiny.

Losing weight is simple: a caloric deficit will lead to weight loss. The true work begins with finding the motivation and dedication from within. For me, the flip switched on for my New Year's Resolution. My resolution was simple: become who you’re meant to be. I didn’t give myself any options. I made the choice to change my life and stuck with it.

This rebirth led to a completely new life for me. Going from spending hours playing video games in the dark to working hard in the gym. My life now revolves around helping others and is dedicated to health and wellness. I got my degree in Kinesiology, am a personal trainer, CrossFit coach, health coach, and yoga teacher. I help others flip on this switch too. To make the choice to be their true self. To lose weight for good. To make healthy habits and live life to its fullest. No more excuses, no more exceptions.

Through my own studies and experiences I’ve figured out the formula for weight loss. More than weight loss though, this is the formula to a healthy and happy life. To increase your quality of life, to do the things you love for longer. Creating healthy habits that support the activities in life that give you purpose and meaning, and not just pursuing a number on a scale. It all comes down to nutrition, fitness, and accountability & support.

Nutrition is eating healthy food that supports and enhances your body’s capacities. Fitness is increasing your ability to move and live your life. Accountability & support means surrounding yourself with people that will aid in your pursuit of a healthier life.

My life completely changed when I chose to take back control of my life. I realized my life’s mission was to help others do the same. Taking responsibility for your health is a simple way to take back control of your life.

There’s no better time to start than today.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about online coaching, be sure to follow me below:

Facebook: Matt Markiewicz

Instagram: @mattmarkiewicz

Email: matthewjmarkiewicz@gmail.com

Hal Malone - Inspiration!

Beth’s Note: Meet Hal. I have been inspired by many (like Lynne is my previous blog post who lost 50lbs) this past year.

My hope is that by Hal, Lynne & others sharing their stories you too will be inspired. Hal took on the challenge to run for 365 conservative days. The take away isn’t to lace up sneakers and do what Hal has accomplished. But ask the question, “What can I commit to for a year that will improve my health and physical/emotional well-being?”.

Here is Hal after his 100th consecutive day of running. He has completed 365 consecutive days.

I didn’t really think there was any technological solution available for improving my physical-spiritual life—unless it included a technology fix for removing technology. I had dreamt of other changes to better align myself with my perceived better life: stop driving, run more, work from home (heck, I even daydreamt about the potential benefits and challenges of a daily trail-running practice, known in the running community as a running “streak”). That sounded dangerous for an aging gent.

Prana, the well-known yoga life-style retailer, promoted a challenge right before everything (except imagination) got shut-down for the pandemic: quit your job, the company said (or even threaten too, or in pondering it buy these hipster pants here, see?), a selected winner would get 100k to quit their day job and follow their dreams. It got me scrambling. Not that I don’t love my day job, I do, often…and the good we do, the lives I get to become acquainted with. And yet…aren’t I supposed to be strideling up and down a trail somewhere, every day in fact, breathing real outside-air and uniting with nature? I failed to verbalize and monetize my best-case life for the challenge, I had no happiness-contingency-plan, and I was deeply ashamed.

Nevertheless, and despite the gyms shutting down all around, I figured that I was pretty well prepared for a pandemic-era-fit-life. After all, I’d spent years doing quiet fitness R&D, carried out in basements and spare rooms, in membership-spaces both sketchy and polished, some elite, others skuzzy, located in rural and urban spots across a few American states and several decades. I had all my fitness “implements” and workout hacks at the ready.

After purging my gym membership, I thought I might miss Beth’s class most, it was a touchstone in my week that made all the other duties bearable (the car-commutes, the ridiculous desk-contortions, toxic over-head lighting, the universal drone of office…I digress). I entered into a corner of the reduced two-dimensional yoga space of my living room laptop more warily than I had Beth’s real-life yoga class some five years ago.

And yet, over the weeks I came to see that virtual yoga class, to which I was at first so leery, as a kind of revolution, a quietly democratizing, ego-leveling alternate yoga dimension. The down/upside: I could drink coffee and go to the loo; up/down-side: I couldn’t show off or be showed off too. Upside/upside: I had to think about what doing yoga MEANS, what it meant to my life, what it meant in spite of the pandemic or because of it. My carbon footprint was also severely reduced by not driving to class in a car, which, let’s face it, always felt a bit hypocritcal, like rolling out an oil slick to get blissed out on.

My answer wouldn’t have been uncovered without last year’s vexing corporate challenge—which I now interpret as something like the question “what could make you happy?” And my answer was simple: run, run every day outside, run for a year if necessary (I guessed wrongly that I might not have made it past like 50 days). The few Saturdays when Beth was unavailable to teach I realized how crucial she was to my goal(s), and to running in particular. She was my “fixer”, and without her even my resolve couldn’t make these hips and ankles and rhomboids behave in order to finish whatever “this” was that I was trying to finish.

I’m happy to report that I completed running every day 365 times in a row. But more than that I’ve learned about life and fitness and people and processes and how doing what works, well, works. And I have Beth and her openess and the inspiration of my classmates to thank for that. And frankly those jeans would probably look better on now but I no longer feel a need for new hipster pants.

Lynne Ellis - Inspiration!

Before

Rewind to January 2020, the year of our 40th wedding anniversary, a wonderful trip set up and paid for to go to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean for two weeks in October. I need to lose weight and get healthier real bad!!!! No excuses this time, get a gym membership and GO, start a diet plan called Slimlife health and wellness and DO IT, lose enough to start going to Yoga classes again from Beth Graham and really GO every week! And then came Covid-19…. SCREECH…… And it all comes to a dead stop. Gym closes down, Anniversary trip canceled, life closes down and a stress eater is starting to look at all the bad stuff that always gave me comfort but in the end made me miserable… I am not sure how it happened, it was all a fog but somehow Beth Graham Wellness website pops up on my computer screen… huh.. what do you know.

I can do yoga at home by zoom.. huh, I can meditate and get my head right… huh… I can do this if I really kick my self in the back side…huh? Hell YES! Beth sent me meditation videos, her voice got in my head and really plugged in the good thoughts and the strong mindset I needed. The first couple of Yoga classes on zoom were crazy, squeeze my right glut?? Are you kidding? Where the heck is that muscle cause I don’t feel a thing, tilt my pelvic floor?? Really I can do that? I listened, I worked hard, I sweated and groaned and cursed because on Zoom I was muted no one could hear me. And then it was clicking, the hard work, the mind that wouldn’t let the chips and cookies creep into my mouth it was starting to work!!! I can’t believe it. With every pound I lost I got stronger in my practice, I was doing kitchen yoga (practicing while cooking dinner 😉) When things at work were getting me stressed or depressed I sat and would put on a Beth video and close my eyes… I let her words get in and straighten me out, I was not going to quit! I am strong! I am a warrior and yes I can do warrior I II and III and feel my right glut when I squeeeeeeze it tight! I found it! Haha

49 lbs lighter and still going I feel strong and happy, I know I can do it and I can keep doing it. Having my Yoga friends every Saturday morning with Beth’s guiding voice steering me to continue to be healthy, happy and never give up… Covid Smovid…I got this!

Thanks Beth… you mean a lot to me and so happy Rachel [Beth’s daughter, also a yoga teacher] told me not to fear going to yoga, do what you can do and don’t worry about it.

After (March 2021)

Simplify.Connect.Enjoy

When Scott built the first website in 2011 for my studio, Simply Yoga MD, our theme was Simplify Connect Enjoy. It represented what we wanted to get back to, because somewhere along the way we had picked up a lot of “baggage” in thinking what we needed to be happy. By 2008 we thought a certain dollar amount in the bank, new garage doors & redecorating the family room was what we needed (and I’m sure once these were checked off the list redoing bathrooms, pool deck and more would have been added).

In the past 10 years Simply Connect Enjoy has continued as the theme running quietly in the background like an intention or prayer. I would label 2011 – 2020 as our chapter on Simplify. At times in simplifying there needs to be a little chaos in the process. We’ve moved 3 times and are now settled and truly feel at home. Scott’s settled at a new insurance brokerage firm Maury, Donnelly & Parr which took a year of moving his book of business. And then there’s covid. It initially felt like a wrench in the works and now feels like it was another opportunity to Simplify. This past year we have had many conversations about “wiping the slate clean” and no longer doing something because “it’s the way we always do it”. Scary at first and then exciting as many new ideas and possibilities surface.

Returning to Costa Rica for the sixth time this February seems to be the beginning of the Connect chapter for us. We met locals, Lily & Dani, who are now our “boots on the ground” in Nosara and also a couple from Houston, Jennifer & Eddie, who have been living between Houston & Nosara for 10 years. They had all of the “insider” scoop on the town, its history and growth. Jennifer had a way of speaking that just made you want to connect with her – a bit of charm, spice and an infectious excitement over little things like banana pancakes. She shared with us that they were on a journey to “simplify”.

On our daily walks to the beach or in restaurants we met people from Switzerland, France, Argentina, Nashville & LA. Scott heard two women speaking Swiss German and began a conversation asking where they were from. The next day when we’d meet again it felt like old friends passing. Or at my new favorite Argentinian restaurant, La Brasa, hearing French we leaned over to the table next to us to learn they were from southern France and “escaping” for a month or so.

One evening watching the sunset we were drawn to a toddler yelling to his father, “Can’t catch me!” as he fell into the sand at his feet. This little guy was our introduction to meeting their crew of singer songwriters from LA & Nashville. Check out the music of Britney Spencer (Baltimore gal making it big in Nashville!) and Emily Brimlow. Both are on Instagram, Spotify, Itunes etc. Music is always a great connector and I hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

Of course a highlight is returning to Bodhi Tree Yoga Resort. Melanie who works behind the scenes welcomed us back with not just her charming smile, but with hugs. We’ve all needed to recreate ourselves this past year and she shared how Bodhi was doing the same. It was also exciting to share experiences with other teachers who we had met in years prior and as we connected there was joyfulness. Not just joy in the moment, but also a feeling of joyful expectation as we talked about plans for 2021 & 2022.

Costa Rica is the land of Pura Vida – it’s more than the translation “pure life” it’s a way of being – living simply and knowing the best things in life are when we do just that - Simplify.Connect.Enjoy.

Our Town

I was once told that a “yogi” always questions. That’s the beginning to “wake up” and to question our world rather than accepting someone else’s word or opinion, but what is left out is the next step. What is the purpose of a question, but to seek or allow the answer?

Many of us (at a certain age!) are drawn to the yoga asana practice (physical poses) because we have something physical for which we seek relief. Low back pain, restriction in movement due to stiff joints or for me neck pain from a ruptured C 5-6 disc. Practicing the poses with focused alignment and building strength in weak or under used muscles is the best way to support movement and freedom in the body. At 58 years with 26 years of practice I’m sold that yoga works!

When we are practicing yoga we are “waking up”, becoming mindful and learning to ask questions about our experience. What I mean is simple – is our right hamstring more flexible then the left? Does one hip have greater range than the other? What about the low back in a forward fold in relation to the rotation of the pelvis? You get the message. (On a side note this is what I absolutely love! I could spend hours looking at the body & its movement or lack thereof. This is how with first awareness and practice we can make changes to feel good again!)

OK so that is a solution for the physical, but what about the mental; the day to day stresses that cause “pain” when life doesn’t go quite our way. How does yoga help with this?!? Initially the physical practice helps for many reasons. Body pain is reduced or diminished. And just the act of breathing deeply and moving the muscles of respiration relaxes the mind. There are a number of chemical reactions such as the release of endorphins, but I’ll leave that for another discussion.

But how do we take it to the next level? How do we find a little more peace in our days? This is where the concept of mindfulness comes into the equation. The mind is always pulling us back into past events, upsets & dramas or hurling us into the future where we create predicted outcomes. Or we are merely busy, busy, busy and don’t pause to see the world around us and the people we share it with. This is where the play “Our Town” has inspired me and answered some questions.

Did you read “Our Town” in high school or see the 1977 adaptation with Hal Holbrook in the role of Stage Manager? I was reminded of the play reading the January 10 passage in Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. In her passage was the reminder to enjoy the simple moments of the day and “how much the living take for granted”. I’m rereading the passage now and getting goose bumps, for we can “no longer afford to throw away even one ‘unimportant’ day.”

The 2 hour play is in three acts, and if time limits you watch the last 30 minutes (act 3) and I guarantee you will feel a little more awake to this wonderful world in which we live. I’ve watched it 3 times in the past month and each time there is another take away or lesson learned.

Click here to watch it free on YouTube link

I look forward to hearing your experience! Perhaps you can share something that I have missed. Comment below or email me Beth@BethGrahamWellness.com

$10 off NEW Course expires 6/20

When we "do" yoga it's called a Yoga Practice. BUT how do you learn what to practice? I created these courses so that students (both experienced & beginners) can learn how to practice. The most basic pose can feel advanced when practiced properly.

This week I released the Forward Folding Yoga Poses course. For $10 off use code FORWARD10 (expires 6/20, Saturday). Forward folds are the most calming of postures & soothe the nervous system. They lengthen the back body (from heels to hamstrings to the low back & are great for back pain issues IF practiced properly). Plus you will build strength in the muscles surrounding the knees, quadriceps, front core and upper back. All of these functions support a more agile spine! And help us to stand a little taller during the challenges that life serves up.

For more head to my website www.BethGrahamWellness.com

Take Much Care,

Beth

Get Started | FREE Course

Students have asked for this for years and I’m thrilled to announce, “It’s HERE!”

Students I have taught in group classes or have worked with privately have said, “I need something so that I can practice and learn more about what you teach on my own.”

One of the blessings of the Covid-19 Experience for me is that I’ve had the time to film and create this course. Beth Graham Wellness Align & Connect is my online yoga school through Teachable.com. The courses are based on my unique teaching style. If you haven’t studied with me the foundational movement I teach is in relationship of the pelvis and thigh bones. From these alignment principals the spine can return to its natural state.

What are the benefits you will receive from my approach?

1. Habitual pain patterns from injury or lifestyle will be reduced

2. Increased strength

3. Increased mobility

4. Stand Taller

5. Look like you’ve lost 10 lbs (direct quote from a student!)

6. Feel more calm & relaxed both physically & emotionally

7. Learn to respond rather than react to life’s challenges

8. AND MORE!

To get started Enroll TODAY in the Free Course.

The Standing Yoga Poses Course will teach you the alignment in these fundamental poses. You will build strength, mobility and a understanding of your body’s individual movement patterns.

The Back Bending Yoga Poses Course will build more strength in the posterior chain muscles to protect the low back (sacrum & lumbar) and engage the upper back (thoracic) as a means of supporting the opening of the chest. These poses are a lot of work and after practicing you will feel both energized and calm!

$10 off for first 10 with coupon 10UPDOG

Forward Folding Yoga Poses (Like Down Dog & Pyramid) is coming soon and on the horizon are Twisting Yoga Poses & Balancing Yoga Poses. Stay tuned!

How do you get started? Head to my website www.BethGrahamWellness.com and Online Courses. You will be directed to my Teachables School to enroll.

Questions? Email me! Let’s get started together.

What I did to Feel Good Again

Have you ever known something before you’ve actually learned it?

Let me step back. In 1968 my father took me to see the movie “Camelot”. Back then going to the movies was a special event and as a 6 year old I fell in love with the story of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot and Merlin.

Camelot became one of my Top 10 Favorite Movies. I’ve seen it more times than I can count and always loved the scene with Arthur & Merlin when Arthur is sad and asks the wise man’s advice, “the key is to learn something”. The full quote is below and well worth the read.

I’ve known this lesson for 50 years from seeing the movie. And yet just a few weeks ago in the midst of Covid-19 Stay Home I actually learned the lesson for the first time.

I was frustrated and anxious beginning our 6th week of quarantine. I missed the connection of being with students and seeing the benefits of our work together (increased mobility, relief from pain & stress).Then I began to LEARN as Merlin said to Arthur. And as l learned my spark returned. I got excited to produce an online yoga course knowing it will benefit students in many of the same ways as our work face to face.

I was sad like Arthur and in learning how to produce an online course I could once again teach what I know to age gracefully & get out of pain (physical & mental!). And remember Merlin lived BACKWARDS! He “youthened” rather than aged. Looking back to 1968 I’d say he was probably my first yoga teacher.

Align & Connect Online Yoga Program for both the current & new student

Here is my method for Feeling Good Again

- Increase comfort & relaxation

- Relieve physical discomfort

- Better overall health & wellness

- Tone & build strength

- Save time learning how to “do it right”

https://www.bethgrahamwellness.com/online-courses

Standing Poses Available NOW

Coming Soon - Back Bends, Forward Fold, Twists, Balancing and more!

Enjoy your practice and listen to Merlin, “Learn”.

“Merlin
“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.
”

New YouTube Video for your Home Practice

Yoga is a process of figuring out what your body needs at a specific time. The practice can teach the student how to be “in the NOW”. A group class offers alignment techniques and an understanding of the yoga asanas or poses. But do you stay in a pose longer then the teacher is cueing because your body needs it? Probably not. This is the benefit of a home practice!

To aid your home study this sequence will give you structure to get started. Get creative and change it up! This morning I changed Half Moon to Warrior 2 in the first sequence. Next I flowed from Half Moon to Warrior 2, Revolved Warrior 2 to Low Crescent to Half Split to Down Dog and back to Table Top to begin the sequence again on the second side.

See? Not as scary as you perhaps thought to practice solo. The benefit is you do not need to rush through poses. If your side body needs to stay longer to open in Revolved Warrior go for it! If you need more of an external rotation to open the hip in that direction because you’ve been outside walking or running add Lizard.

If you need more support in creating a sequence specific to your needs email me. I also have many more YouTube videos available on my channel and weekly group Zoom Classes.

Enjoy Your Practice,

Beth

Zoom Meditation & Yoga classes

Thank you to everyone who joined last week. I appreciated your lovely messages after class. I will record the classes again this week and if you’re not able to join at the specific time I will send the recorded class out to all. As I said, it is also beneficial to practice the same class several times.

This week I’m teaching yoga on Saturday because of those who observe Easter on Sunday. Let me know if you’re “in” to receive the “meeting invitation”.

ZOOM GROUP MEDITATION – Wednesday, April 8 at 6:00pm - 6:40pm

This will be a guided meditation practice ending with a specific breathing lesson to create a sense of balance.

$10 (Venmo, PayPal or check via snail mail)

ZOOM YOGA – Saturday, April 11 at 10:00am - 11:15am

We will build on last week’s class with the Anterior/Posterior movement of the pelvis. (I hope you’ve been able to practice last week’s class a few times & read my 4/3 blog on the pelvis.)

$17 (Venmo, PayPal or check via snail mail)

Enjoy your day,

Beth