Two Turns from Zero

by Stacey Griffith

  I don’t care how you move, but I want you to get up and get a move on. Even just doing a minute or two is a start. Rosanna Scotto is the cohost of a local morning TV show, Good Day New York, and she asked me to come on the program one day to reach those viewers sitting on the couch who didn’t have exercise equipment like an indoor bike at their disposal. I wanted to reach the viewers who knew they should be exercising, but still weren’t.

  Together, Rosanna and I decided to demonstrate a thirty-second T-shirt workout that anyone can find the time to do. (It was all the time they had in the segment for us to do the moves!) We hoped it would trigger these people to see how easily they could incorporate a really fun little sequence of movement into their lives, even while they were watching TV.

  Obviously, you can’t change your body in thirty seconds, but you can trigger some endorphins, capture a small amount of motivation, and possibly activate your brain to challenge yourself and do something bigger as a result of the thirty-second kick-start!

  It is easy, and it is fun. Gradually, I want your magic number to increase so you’re aiming for 150 minutes of movement a week. Or more!

  Finally Confronting Fear Itself

  I’m pretty fearless, but even I have my moments. I know the primary reason people don’t do the things they dream of—whether it’s starting a new business, moving, opening their heart to love, standing up to a bully, treating themselves with the nurturing care they deserve and making better eating and working out habits a regular part of their lives—is fear.

  Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear of failure.

  When I got the call that I was going out with Oprah Winfrey on her “Life You Want” tour in November 2014, I had to sit down for a minute. I was told I’d be training fifteen thousand people. All at once. You gotta give me this one. Yes, I, the fearless Stacey, had a moment of sheer, blind panic.

  No way, I told myself, that fifteen thousand people are going to get up out of their seat and do this workout. No freaking way! What if they don’t like my teaching? What if I ask them to get up, and they stay in their seats? What if, what if, what if?

  Was I listening to my own normal, confident self? Nope. That blind moment of sheer panic took residence in my brain the entire time I was working with Angela Davis, who was teaching Sheri Salata (president of Harpo Productions) and Oprah at SoulCycle at the time. She lived in Los Angeles, and I was in New York, so we had to create the routine over Skype, using a two-by-two-foot space because we knew the participants were going to be in a stadium, in their seats, not on bikes, and we had to keep the movements small so they wouldn’t be whacking the people sitting next to them. It took us about two months to figure it out, and I spent the entire time working myself into a tizzy.

  STAND TALL—IT WORKS

  I had horrible posture as a kid. It was so bad that my dad would make me stand against a wall with a book on my head to practice what it was like to keep my shoulders back! My mom would also constantly say, “Stand up straight!”

  They knew that posture is important. It speaks volumes about you because the second you walk through the door, it’s the first thing anybody sees. You always want to walk into any room with your head up and your eyes focused on some point in the distance to elongate your neck—as if you were clad in an enormous velvet cloak, and you were dragging it regally behind you.

  Pattabhi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga or “flow” yoga, was a teacher famous for the head-up-high/cloak-behind-you method of thinking. He is the reason Ashtanga became what it is today.

  And this means, of course, that you are not looking down at the cell phone glued to your hand. Doing this is terrible for your posture, especially the muscles of your neck and upper back. It’s also terrible for your ability to open your eyes and see what’s truly happening around you.

  When you show up in the morning with your intentions set and a positive attitude, good vibrations are going to start passing through your body automatically. Remember, thoughts are vibrating inside you, so keep them positive. Pass the negative ones like clouds; just let them leave your head. It’s the positive ones that you have on repeat . . . those are the ones that vibrate through you and keep your disposition on point. They’re going to give you energy. They’re going to make you push past your fears. They’re going to make stride wherever it is you’re going with power and confidence.

  I still battle the rolled-shoulder syndrome thanks to all my years of riding the bike, and I have to really think about it when I go anywhere. You need to pay more attention, too. That, and keeping your chin from jutting out and leading your gait with your head sticking out. Try it. It works!

  What if they don’t like what we’re doing? I asked myself. There’s just no way this is going to work. I mean, Oprah’s people, most of them are women, are going to be in nice clothes because Oprah asked them to be in their Sunday best, and a lot of them won’t be in fantastic shape. Nobody’s going to want to do it right after lunch; they’ll be tired. I’m going to make a total fool out of myself and Oprah is going to think I suck. Of all the people on this planet I want to impress, at the top of my list is Oprah . . . and I’m in a complete self-doubt zone!

  Finally, the big day arrived, and I showed up at the Prudential Center in New Jersey with my Soul army in tow. There were twelve people onstage on bikes, and me in front of them cueing the “#soul-15” workout Angela and I created. As soon as I started talking and showing the crowd what to do, sure enough, every single person was jumping up and down in their Sunday best, enjoying the movements we’d devised—and having a blast.

  They easily followed our lead, watching us and repeating everything I showed them. I could tell, because they’d been given light-up wristbands. Every single light was moving in unison, all thirty thousand arms, like a magical army of fireflies. (You can see snippets of it on YouTube at www.youtube.com/results?search_query=oprah+live+the+life+you+want+tour+soul+cycle.)

  All my fears melted away, and I was filled with a pure surge of ecstatic energy, watching those wonderful participants as they shouted out wild whoops of joy and power. It was one of my proudest moments as a teacher.

  Afterward, when the adrenaline was finally melting away, I had to have a tough conversation with myself. It was one of my biggest life lessons ever. I had allowed myself to become so fearful, and I had to push past the fear. I had to learn that I could not torture myself by being too scared to try. Never again.

  After all, what was the worst thing that could have happened to me that day? I could have missed that opportunity by passing on it altogether. I could have said no just because the thought of fucking up in front of fifteen thousand people was so unbelievably terrifying!

  Actually, once we got to Seattle, I did get caught up in a wardrobe malfunction, but at that point I had already done two cities, and I knew the audiences. I still remember seeing people up in the rafters dancing and jumping, and they were so far away their heads were the size of pins.

  I often think of that day when a new student comes up to me before class and tells me he or she is scared, that everyone else knows what they’re doing, and that they won’t be able to do it. “Nobody else in the class matters except you,” I always tell them. “You have your own bike; you have your own seat; you have your own space. And in my class nobody’s looking at anybody else. No one cares.”

  You know why no one cares?

  Two reasons. One, they are concentrating so hard on what they’re doing that they don’t see anyone else. And two, it starts at the top. It starts with who’s creating the vibe in the room. And my vibe is focused on each and every person who’s there to work. They are setting their intentions. That’s more than enough to deal with!

  “Besides,” I go on, “you have your own will, and you have your own goals. So you don’t have to worry about anything. It’s not like we’re in a boat and you have an oar and you go the wrong way and your oar’s going to hit theirs and the boat is going to topple over and sink. That’s not why we’
re here. You’re going to be in your own universe in this studio, inside of a bigger universe. You’re going to turn that knob past zero, and you’re going to have the ride of your life.”

  Moving Meditation—Motivation to Push Past the Fear

  If the fear is getting to you, this Moving Meditation ought to help. As you need to keep your eyes closed, do this one when you are moving on a stable piece of equipment, such as a Spin bike, a recumbent bicycle, or a rowing machine. You can also do it when holding on to the edge of a pool and kicking, or marching in place in your home.

  1.Close your eyes and see yourself in your mind’s eye. You are a vivacious, strong human being. There is a reason why you were born a human being and not a book or a tree. You were meant to do special and amazing things.

  2.Picture yourself climbing or cycling up a hill. I don’t know what’s at the top of the hill. Only you know. This is only about you and your goals—not anyone else’s. The top of this hill is you pushing as hard as you possibly can against resistance. That’s what the top of the hill means in real life. You are climbing your personal mountain. This is your hill, baby. This is your time. This is your place. This is your workout. This moment belongs to you.

  3.Keep climbing until you get to the top. That’s where you’ll find what you want: your goals, your dream job, your next big project, more goals, more dreams, your love.

  PLAYLIST

  FOR WORKING OUT

  Even if I’m having a draggy kind of day, when I walk into the studio, where seventy expectant faces are turned toward me, I know there’s one easy thing guaranteed to get me in the mood: I turn the music up. Way up. And then I am ready to kick butt. It never fails!

  These particular songs are relatable to the same vibration that makes you want to instantly get up and get on the dance floor. They’re some of my favorites that are all extremely propulsive in feeling, with that sexy beat that literally compels you to move.

  Astor

  “Flashback”

  Michael Chiklis/David Bowie

  “The Way to Dirty Fame”

  Depeche Mode

  “Policy of Truth”

  Dirty Vegas

  “Tonight”

  deadmau5

  “Let Go”

  Demi Lovato

  “Old Ways”

  Pink

  “Fuckin’ Perfect”

  Lisa Shaw

  “Like I Want To”

  Taylor Swift

  “Better than Revenge”

  Yelawolf

  “Till It’s Gone By”

  4.Instantly, you are flooded with an indescribable sensation of accomplishment and happiness, and you stand there for a minute, basking in the love.

  5.You hear a soft, sweet, but determined voice saying, Let it all out. Let out everything you’ve got through your breath. . . . Celebration, frustration, happiness, anxiety, anticipation, fear—all of it, let it out, exhale it out. Every emotion you ever had, let it out. You cannot keep it all inside. You have got to let it out in your life. This is your safe place. This is where the hot air comes out of your body, and the courage and strength is breathed in as you inhale.

  6.Take another deep breath. You let it all out. You are in charge.

  7.Slowly, you imagine yourself living inside the goals you just visualized. You see that you are several thoughts away from actually manifesting these things into your life.

  Now it’s time to leave the Moving Meditation and go put these awesome thoughts into physical action. Go send the e-mail, send the text, make the phone calls to the people who can help you bring your visualization into reality. Do it now!

  This will change the trajectory of your life. If you can do these visualizations during exercise, while you’re in motion, you will have a bigger chance that they may actually come true, especially if, after the meditation, you actually put them in motion!

  I know how well these visualizations work, because I’ve been told they do, hundreds of times over the last two decades, from the people who actually do this regularly.

  You can be one of them!

  So mark this page, put this book down, and send a text or e-mail that puts one of your goals or dreams in motion!

  HOW EXERCISE AFFECTS YOUR BRAIN

  Did your professors at college lectures or the speakers at a TED Talk or an online seminar sit at a desk or in a chair? No—they are always in motion. They’re walking back and forth. They’re waving their hands and writing on SMART Boards. They’re not doing this just so they can make eye contact with everybody in the audience.

  They’re doing it instinctively because their brains need them to move so they can get their message across most effectively. And they do this because movement stimulates brain activity, emotionally and intellectually. So if you want a brain boost, get up and get going. Anything that’s good for your heart is going to be good for your brain, too—more blood flow means more thinking power.

  Still not sure? Well, Dr. John Ratey, author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, says, “Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and learning. Even ten minutes of activity changes your brain.”

  Scientists used to think the brain stopped growing when we were around age four, but fortunately we now know that just isn’t true. Your brain cells, or neurons, are constantly being formed, even when you’re past the age of retirement. This is called neuroplasticity or neurogenesis.

  “All new learning creates new synapses in your brain,” Michael Gonzalez-Wallace, a professional trainer and author of Super Body Super Brain, a mind/body exercise system particularly designed to stimulate brain activity, told me after class one day.

  “We use the word plastic to show how adaptable to change and stimulus your brain is. The more complicated the movements you do are—even if they’re actually very simple, what counts is to have your brain think they’re complicated—the more brain activity you’ll stimulate.”

  This is why one of my favorite reasons to exercise is brain growth. In the same way that learning a new language long after you’re out of school wakes up a dormant part of your brain, exercise stimulates the release of growth factors called brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) that increase neurogenesis. BDNF is what allows your brain to grow new connections between neurons—and the more connections we can form, the better “shape” our brains are in. This is an extremely important factor in keeping your memory strong—especially as exercise stimulates activity in the temporal lobe, which is responsible for storing sensory memories—and to help prevent degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.

  For even more brain power, try doing exercises or a sport that constantly challenge your thinking as well as your moving; any kind of dance, for example, where you have to learn new sequences and remember steps, is a fantastic brain stimulator. So are racquet sports, where you’re always trying to think of where to hit the ball even as you’re hitting it. Mixing it up is always a good idea. Intersperse your runs or lap swimming or machines at the gym with a Zumba or yoga class. Your body will thank you. So will your brain.

  Your Very Own Dr. Feel-Good: How Exercise Helps Regulate Your Emotions

  Every time you move or work out, you stimulate neurotransmitters, signaling nerve cells in your brain to fire up and get a move on. Your heart rate rises, your body temperature rises, your metabolism kicks in, and you got it poppin’. Your brain is on chemical fire. This is how you change your attitude in life. You simply move, and your brain does the rest.

  The most important neurotransmitters for movement are serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and endorphins. Serotonin is linked to muscle stimulation, memory, moods, digestion, and sleep. Dopamine and norepinephrine regulate movement, but they also deal with emotional responses.

  Endorphins are truly unique. They are released when you exercise, and not only do they help us regulate pain and stress, but they can induce a glowing feeling of euphoria. You feel a rush of sweet ha
ppiness, and while you’re feeling so good, these endorphins are also improving your immune and circulatory systems while they reduce stress and improve memory.

  Much better than just a cup of coffee to get you going, right?

  Endorphins and other brain chemicals are released and stimulated during exercise, and this can help to regulate your moods. In some cases, this can act as a natural antidepressant—without the side effects of prescription medications. My father is a perfect example of this. Let me tell you why . . . .

  My dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2014, when he was seventy-two years old. He had been healthy and was taking care of himself and eating well and was always active for his entire life. He was an avid sportsman and was especially good at tennis, golf, and bowling. It was this athletic attitude that made him able to fight his cancer for as long as he did.

  From the minute of his diagnosis, he had a difficult cancer to treat. His bladder was removed and replaced with an artificial one; it was often very painful and uncomfortable. But this is what he said to his oncologists: “I don’t care what the plan is—whatever you say to do, I’m gonna do it. Radiation, chemotherapy, you just tell me what I have to do. As long as I can still play golf. I need to make sure I’m okay to get out on the course.”

  Me, Tiff, and Poppa

  My dad had a true warrior spirit. He refused to sit at home and give up. He went to the hospital, had his chemo and radiation treatments, and then went straight to the course to play golf.

  I was so proud of my dad’s attitude, up until the day he died more than two years after a dire diagnosis. He didn’t complain. He was very realistic. He adjusted to his illness; he needed to take more frequent naps, and sometimes he lost his appetite and my stepmom had to nag him to eat. For the most part, his attitude was amazing. I was in awe of his courage.