Day 1: Taking My Biggest Stand on What Truly Matters To Me

D?a?y? ?1? ?o?f? ?t?h?e? ? ?#?F?E?A?R?L?E?S?S?3?0?C?H?A?L?L?E?N?G?E?:? ?T?u?r?n?i?n?g? ?i?n?w?a?r?d? ?i?n? ?o?r?d?e?r? ?t?o? ?l?i?v?e? ?o?u?t?w?a?r?d?.?

?? Reshaping and respecting the way we educate and inform health, movement and wellbeing is what I will forever stand for. ??

It's what I eat, drink, breathe, sleep and move with with every single day. I meditate. I feel. I love.

As a highly sensitive human, I feel every person in my presence like a horse feels a human heartbeat within 6 feet away. The way a person moves is the way I feel their energy.

It is a gift that I had denied for many years. In truth, I wasn't sure what to do with it.

In my teenage years, I feared it.

What happens when we fear? We step out of our integrity and core values, searching aimlessly for a different path.

That never works.

I felt awkward and different, which led me down the party path. I sought identity from who I was with and what I was wearing, numbing myself with alcohol. I cried and felt shame more than I laughed and felt self-love.

I was confused.

My outlet was tennis, to which I embrace as the means that has me here today. It was the cadence and rhythm of the inner game that kept me awake within.

My choices and patterns continued to lead me to unhealthy relationships and behaviors. I kept searching outside of me for the answers.

This is the short version. There were many other stories and circumstances that led to further confusion.

What I now realize is that all of the confusion and "suffering" is what led me back to the gift.

This was the birth of the voice I found over 20 years ago through Pilates. The magic (as I call it) of the movement brought alive my gift. I honestly started to feel some sense of normal for the first time. This journey has been a novel of experiences that has shaped every cell in my human brain and body.

I feel love and gratitude for every tear, painful moment, angry outbursts and confusion. Without it, I would still be buried deep in a false identity, looking pretty and crying behind the curtain.

This challenge is scary. It is vulnerable. It will expose personal information that some may find unnecessary.

I lived in a shallow world for many years and know first hand that I would rather live authentically and vulnerably than experience that inner turmoil again.

I also know that there are millions of women still suffering and feeling the same confusion, living with a fake smile during the day and crying behind the bathroom door at night. You are not alone. I get it.

Let's all stand together for change. Let's reshape (literally) the world together. Let's redefine health and wellbeing together. Let's move together.

I am in this with you. It's the #FEARLESS30CHALLENGE!

I feel you.

?? Lauren?