Two Turns from Zero
Page 25
I was so grateful that Stacey brought back those memories into a workout where past, present, and future became intertwined and brought out the best in me.
At the end of Stacey’s class, I was in the zone. I was performing at that challenging level that for me, as a former athlete, I want and need to be challenged to reach. My heart rate monitor showed that I’d burned 568 calories with my heart rate averaging 140. That was great—but it was the emotional and psychological benefits that my state-of-the-art wearable technology, blinking on my wrist, was not able to quantify.
In other words, it was the combination of motivation, psychology, and movement that coalesced into the perfect mojo for me. Stacey’s “Come on!” was just the snap I needed to move from a static to a dynamic performance.
And here’s the best thing about what I learned in class that day. You don’t have to be Spinning in the room with Stacey to benefit from the power and the motivation she gives her students. You just have to read this book!
THE TOYA, AKA THE EASIEST, MOST EMPOWERING EXERCISE YOU CAN DO ANYWHERE
The Spanish word for “towel” is toalla, but I’ve adapted the phonetic spelling of “toya” to name this exercise, which I’m putting here, in the final chapter, as something that will make you stronger, anytime, anyplace, using an object found in your home or hotel room, or that can easily be stashed in a desk drawer or in your car. If you only do one song before you leave the house for the day, or when you want a burst of energy, engaging your body and getting moving will help set your intentions and bring better clarity to your thoughts. It takes so little to give you so much!
Stacey’s Toya Arms
DO THIS FOR: 4½ to 5 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars
1.Hold a hand towel lengthwise by the corners and bunch it up in 2-inch increments so that it looks like a bar. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees comfortably bent.
2.With your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle, turn your palms facing out. Keep your shoulders back, chin up, and abs tight. To the beat, pretend you’re facing a clock, then move your arms side to side as if you are hitting the 3 and the 9 on the clock. Your elbows should be steady. Do this for 1 minute.
3.Move your right hand up to the imaginary 12 o’clock position, and swirl the towel around with your left hand as if you’re beating eggs. Do this for 1 minute, then switch hands and swirl to the other side.
4.Move your arms straight arms up over, then bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle so your hands and the towel are behind your head. Press up with straight arms and then back again (like a shoulder press) for 30 seconds. Your hands stay behind your head.
5.Bring the towel in front and wrap it around one hand like a big bandage, then hit out at a pretend punching bag at shoulder height for 1 minute. Wrap the towel around the other hand and repeat for 1 minute.
TIPS
•When I get to step 5, I am really going for the punches. I used to imagine I was punching the cancer cells out of my dad so he’d heal.
•You can also do this to a slower beat as a sort of Moving Meditation. If, for example, I need ideas for a project or have writer’s block, or need to break a cycle and I know something has to give, I like to ask the universe to get something started. Step 3 is particularly useful for creating an imaginary whirlpool of energy that is instantly energizing.
What are you waiting for?
When you finish this book and put it down on your table, the next step is totally up to you. The next step and the next level are out there waiting for you. I know you’re ready to reach out and grab it. Leave this book where it’s easy to see, so you can pick it up at any time, and thumb through until you stop on a page. Think of it as your motivational Tarot card reading. Whatever page you land on was the page you were meant to read that day!
Did you ever see the movie Kill Bill 2? Near the end, Uma Thurman’s character finds the über-assassin Bill, played by David Carradine, and when he tries to kill her, she gets to him first, leaving him fatally wounded. Knowing he’s about to meet his fate, he stands up and asks her how he looks. What does she say in response? “You look ready.”
Being ready means you’ll be able to drive around any roadblocks on your way forward, because you know that nothing is going to stop you from getting to your destination. I always think to myself when I’m leaving the house that if I feel good on the inside, there’s no need to double-check myself in the mirror. I’m just gonna go with it! I think if you’re feeling awesome, go with awesome. Check yourself in the mirror in the morning so you look the way you want, obviously. I do this, set my intentions, and hit the road.
I hope this book will plant seeds for your future—that I’ve sparked your interest and fired the connections in your very capable brain. I hope I’ve shown you how to make different choices, and to use the power you already have in your head to do creative visualizations and Moving Meditations.
The ultimate happiness will come to you, because you have the ultimate control. Over your feelings, your moods, your dreams, your work. Many of my students ask me how I got to the place where I am now, and how I’m able to teach with seemingly 100 percent in every class. “I’ve never had a bad class with you,” they tell me, “and you’re never in a bad mood.” That always makes me laugh, because I am in a bad mood sometimes—but not in my office and not in my classes. Because I don’t bring my issues into the room. That is real control! I set my intentions for the day, and I find the determination to bring them to reality.
With the right motivation in your life, you’re gonna nail every audition or job interview or meeting with your kids’ teachers in school. You can’t be off your game in those meetings. Leave your cell phone in your bag. You can’t be tapping your foot or chewing your fingernails or exuding anxiety or worry. You have to be chill in those meetings. Sometimes you will get frustrated or furious, but you need to just put on a heartfelt smile and say, “Chill, I’m cool,” and then face it. So whatever you have to deal with, right now, or in an hour, or for the rest of today, I want you to say to yourself, “Chill, I’m cool.”
Your new way of thinking is your wealth. It’s not about the things you have—it’s about how you feel in your body, how amazing you feel every single day of your life. I know you’re ready. You could have been born a rock or a tree, or a body of water or a fish swimming in it. But you are a human being and have the ability to change people’s lives. To make people feel comfortable and loved and wanted. To make yourself feel that way, too. You were born ready or you never would have made it into this universe, with endless possibilities for success.
Don’t stop thinking about what you want. What you want to achieve is in your capable hands. Think about what you want, and send it up, out there to the universe. That’s where we send everything we want: Up.
I am so proud of you for pushing through it. It’s not easy. Why? Because easy doesn’t change you. Think about all those difficult decisions you’ve had to make in your life, and how stronger you became after they were done. After you got through them you looked back in amazement that you ever found your way through. But you did. I never thought I would be able to live a sober life. Now I don’t know how I ever didn’t!
Determination gets you through it, focus gets you through it, drive gets you through it, tenacity gets you through it, will gets you through it, desire gets you through it, love gets you through it, light definitely gets you through it!
Close your eyes and feel a moment alone with yourself, feel the stronger version of you that you worked so hard to maintain, fuel, and energize. Take this moment right now, and come back in ten seconds.
Sprint into your life toward your goals and dreams. When you start feeling creative feelings, when you start thinking of amazing ideas, you have to put them in motion. Your creative process is your success in your life.
I was at an amusement park a while ago with a group of friends, and there’s nothing I love more than going on the highest, wackiest,
most scream-inducing roller coaster. One of my friends turned green just at the sight of the tracks, and he said he’d sit it out. He went to get a drink, and by the time I found him I’d ridden the coaster. Three times. “You’re done already?” he asked. “Yep,” I replied. “And I’m gonna go ride it again.” It’s the thrill of the ride.
Turning yourself two turns from zero and toward your Ultimate Center has nothing to do with anybody else but you. This is your life. Look how strong you are when you put your mind to it. Look how strong you are when you set your goals and hit them. You know how amazing that feels. When you’re ready, just turn the knob and go into the life that you know you were meant to be living.
You’re in it to win it. You have your squad. You have your intentions set. You have your MAP. Determination always takes you to the end. Be determined in your efforts with everything in your life.
I’ll leave you with this: If I can come from the depths of addiction, broke as a bum, cars repossessed, traffic warrant arrests, bills, zero zero zero effort to improve myself, and end up as one of the top fitness professionals in the world, you can also accomplish whatever it is you want for yourself.
I found my squad in fitness. I rose up into honesty and stopped using things that hurt me, and fueled myself with things that fired me up. I found my passion in teaching, and I know that you’ll find your passion in what your interests are, too, and then go for it. Can’t stop won’t stop pushing. Can’t stop won’t stop changing. Here we go. . . . Join my SGuad at twoturns fromzero.com/.
TWO TURNS FROM ZERO STARTS NOW.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Deb, without you, Jenna, Cloe, and Lilli, I could never have had a foundation strong enough to write this book.
I want to thank my mom and dad for making me. Dad, I know we talked about this the last week you were on this earth, and it’s finally here—so enjoy it in heaven with my little brother, Seanny. Mom, you really taught me compassion and love, and that has been at the center of my teaching since I began. Thank you.
Tiff, Julye, Griff, and Emz, I love you so much. Sandy Lynch, for taking care of my grandma with such love. Thanks for being my family. You have no choice!
Grandma Stella, for teaching me that working hard and staying in shape are important. Trying things without “askin’ what’s in ’em” is fine. Take risks, get rest, and wash your face. Then finish what you started. Finally . . . I finished something great!
Elizabeth and Julie, thank you for believing we could create magic together, even when the music was too loud on Seventy-Second Street. Thank you for trusting what I was up to on the other side of the frosted glass door.
E, you’re the best wing wifey around. Without you I’m a mess!
Thanks to my entire incredible team: Winston, Lauren, Margaret, Benjamin, and Suzanne.
To my publishing squad of Henry Ferris and Kathy Gordon, thank you for your loyalty and faith that we could create something life-changing!
I want to thank Geralyn Lucas and Lily Neumeyer for the countless hours they spent helping me kick-start this book.
Thank you to Meredith Geller, Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, and Michael Gonzalez-Wallace for their brilliant contributions to this book.
Thank you to ALL my SoulCycle family. You know who you are without my saying!
To all of my LA friends who have witnessed the “cracker” become a responsible adult.
And to every single one of my students over the last two decades, I hope we can continue on this journey together to the end of fitness time. Some of you started as students, became friends, and have become chosen family.
Eighty-Third Street is my home. The Hamptons is my peace. Thank you.
Happiness, joy, love, and light, Deepak . . . you are a divine being.
Oh, and thank you, Oprah, for being my beacon of awesome. And Kelly Ripa for your loyalty and effervescence every year for a decade.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STACEY GRIFFITH is a Senior Master Instructor at SoulCycle, who has been leading sold-out indoor cycling classes in New York and Los Angeles since 1996. She lives in New York City. This is her first book.
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CREDITS
Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
Front cover photograph by Chris Fanning
COPYRIGHT
This book is written as a source of information only. The information contained in this book should by no means be considered a substitute for the advice of a qualified medical professional, who should always be consulted before beginning any new diet, exercise, or other health program.
All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book as of the date published. The author and the publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein or for any injuries suffered or damages or losses incurred as a result of following the exercise program in this book.
All photographs are from the author’s personal collection except for pages here, here, here, here, here, here, here: Debby Hymowitz; page here: Erin Howitt; page here: Jill Lotenberg; page here: Robert Pargac; page here: Chris Fanning; and page here: Sean Simes.
TWO TURNS FROM ZERO. Copyright © 2017 by Stacey Griffith. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN 978-0-06-249684-3
EPub Edition March 2017 ISBN 9780062496867
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