Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 199. Kendall Toole, Peloton Instructor
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Even if you're in a bit of a season or
- 0:01Speaker 1: a bit of a moment of that darkness or that storm,
- 0:05Speaker 1: there's always opportunity. There's always something excitable. There's good that
- 0:09Speaker 1: can come from such deep, deep feelings and deep sorrow
- 0:13Speaker 1: and deep chaos. Good morning, good afternoon, Good evening.
- 0:31Speaker 2: Emily, A body here coming to you live from the
- 0:33Speaker 2: Age Studio. You are listening to Hurdle, a wellness focus
- 0:37Speaker 2: podcast where I connect with everyone from your favorite athletes
- 0:40Speaker 2: to top experts and industry CEOs about their highest highs,
- 0:44Speaker 2: toughest moments, and everything in between.
- 0:47Speaker 1: We all go through hurdles in life.
- 0:49Speaker 2: And my goal through these discussions is to empower you
- 0:52Speaker 2: to better navigate yours and move with intention so that
- 0:55Speaker 2: you can stride towards your own big potential and of
- 0:59Speaker 2: course have some fun along the way.
- 1:03Speaker 1: Today, for episode one ninety nine, I.
- 1:07Speaker 2: Am chatting with Peloton instructor Kendall O'Toole a conversation that
- 1:12Speaker 2: has been a long time requested from you, the Hurdlers,
- 1:18Speaker 2: and do you want to make sure that I say
- 1:20Speaker 2: this upfront? We do talk about some sensitive topics within
- 1:24Speaker 2: today's conversation, including self harm and depression. As Kendall opens
- 1:28Speaker 2: up about her struggles with both OCD and depression through
- 1:32Speaker 2: her teenage years, so I just want to throw that
- 1:35Speaker 2: into the mix upfront, and I will be linking some
- 1:38Speaker 2: helpful resources in the show notes if today's conversation really
- 1:43Speaker 2: resonates with you and you too find yourself struggling. We
- 1:48Speaker 2: talk about the life changing Hurdle moment that Kendall experienced
- 1:52Speaker 2: involving suicidal thoughts and her choice to move home from
- 1:55Speaker 2: college and seek therapy. She also offers up a lot
- 1:59Speaker 2: of really great advice for anyone who is navigating negative
- 2:03Speaker 2: self talk, as well as some helpful tips for any
- 2:06Speaker 2: fellow raises hand in the air and gestures like let's
- 2:10Speaker 2: go a single thirty something woman who may be having
- 2:14Speaker 2: a hard time finding happiness on their own. Overall this conversation,
- 2:20Speaker 2: there is so much vulnerability. There's also so much joy
- 2:24Speaker 2: and happiness. I'm grateful to Kendle for being so transparent.
- 2:29Speaker 1: I know that this is the type.
- 2:32Speaker 2: Of conversation that is going to help a lot of people.
- 2:36Speaker 2: I want to again say a huge, resounding thank you
- 2:40Speaker 2: to all the Hurdlers that came out last week in DC.
- 2:43Speaker 2: I had the most fun with you, and I am
- 2:46Speaker 2: looking forward to doing it in both New York and
- 2:50Speaker 2: Los Angeles soon. New York, I am opening up an
- 2:54Speaker 2: extra ten spot to this Saturday, March twenty sixth Hurdle
- 2:59Speaker 2: Huddle at ten am. If you want one, send me
- 3:04Speaker 2: a DM including a review a screenshot of your review
- 3:08Speaker 2: of the show in Apple Podcasts, and I will give
- 3:11Speaker 2: you one, limited to the first ten people who take
- 3:15Speaker 2: the time to review the show and want in on
- 3:18Speaker 2: next weekend but weren't able to snag a spot before
- 3:21Speaker 2: they sold out again, ten spots only.
- 3:24Speaker 1: I'm so excited.
- 3:25Speaker 2: I'm so amped for this weekend, so get your reviews
- 3:27Speaker 2: in asap. Also Los Angeles, Saturday, April second. It's gonna
- 3:32Speaker 2: be let's call it for ten am and I don't
- 3:36Speaker 2: have a location yet, but hold Saturday April second, ten am.
- 3:41Speaker 2: I'm amped and I can't wait to bring the Hurdle
- 3:44Speaker 2: love over to the West Coast. Make sure you're following
- 3:47Speaker 2: along with Hurdle over at Hurdle podcast. I am over
- 3:50Speaker 2: at Emily a body and last little bit of housekeeping.
- 3:53Speaker 1: Subscribe to the Weekly Hurdle.
- 3:55Speaker 2: It is the Hurdle newsletter that comes out every single
- 3:58Speaker 2: Friday morning. With a lot of the same motivation and
- 4:02Speaker 2: inspiration that you love from the show directly in your
- 4:05Speaker 2: inbox before the sun comes up.
- 4:07Speaker 1: I would love to keep in contact with you over
- 4:11Speaker 1: there with that.
- 4:21Speaker 2: Today, I am sitting down with Kendall Toole. She is
- 4:24Speaker 2: a beloved Peloton instructor. How you do it today, Kenny.
- 4:28Speaker 1: I'm great. Oh.
- 4:29Speaker 2: I love that you just called me Kenny immediately. Yes, immediately, Yes,
- 4:33Speaker 2: we're on this level. We are, we really are. I
- 4:35Speaker 2: love that.
- 4:35Speaker 1: That is It's funny people who I meet sometimes they
- 4:39Speaker 1: just it slips out or even early on in like
- 4:41Speaker 1: my getting to know them, and I'm like, oh, you
- 4:43Speaker 1: get me, you get me. I love that. I am well,
- 4:45Speaker 1: how are you, Emily, I'm so good. You know.
- 4:48Speaker 2: It's funny because I am sure that when you meet
- 4:52Speaker 2: people who follow along with you, they take your classes,
- 4:55Speaker 2: they say stuff like that because they are under this
- 4:57Speaker 2: impression that they know the ins and outs of you.
- 4:59Speaker 2: And so when I meet people as well, people are
- 5:01Speaker 2: always like am Like I was on the street in
- 5:04Speaker 2: DC last month or the month before, and someone yelled
- 5:07Speaker 2: my name across the street that I had never met before,
- 5:09Speaker 2: and it was wonderful.
- 5:10Speaker 1: It was wonderful, and then it's also like you feel
- 5:13Speaker 1: really bad. I have this dreadful like anxiety that comes
- 5:16Speaker 1: up when that happens, because I'm like, did I go
- 5:17Speaker 1: to middle school with you?
- 5:19Speaker 2: Like?
- 5:19Speaker 1: Did I go to college with you? Or it's like
- 5:22Speaker 1: are you related to me somehow? And I just haven't,
- 5:24Speaker 1: you know.
- 5:25Speaker 2: So I always had that like first perpetual fear, and
- 5:27Speaker 2: then the conversation starts going. I'm like, oh no, they
- 5:29Speaker 2: ride with me, Okay, cool, okay, cool, We're good, We're.
- 5:32Speaker 1: Good, We're good, we're good.
- 5:34Speaker 2: Well, people that ride with you, and there are many
- 5:37Speaker 2: of them, know something that you say often, which is
- 5:40Speaker 2: that they can knock.
- 5:41Speaker 1: You down, but never let them knock you out.
- 5:45Speaker 2: Knowing that, I want to start this off by asking you,
- 5:49Speaker 2: when was the last time you actually felt borderline knocked out?
- 5:56Speaker 1: Oh? God, I'll be honest. I was going through a
- 6:00Speaker 1: rough patch recently, like this stuff kind of happens. I
- 6:04Speaker 1: think the concept of being knocked out isn't that everything
- 6:06Speaker 1: in life collapses, but something takes enough precedence that it
- 6:10Speaker 1: really shifts your perspective. It makes you feel like you're
- 6:12Speaker 1: on the ground. So candidly, I went through a breakup
- 6:15Speaker 1: not too long ago. It's been very interesting to go
- 6:17Speaker 1: through breakup more publicly because I was very open about
- 6:20Speaker 1: my relationship and was very proud of it, and there
- 6:22Speaker 1: were wonderful things with it. But going through that process
- 6:25Speaker 1: of having to continue to show up in the world
- 6:27Speaker 1: the way that I do with my job, with these
- 6:30Speaker 1: great responsibilities, and to stay this positive light knowing that
- 6:34Speaker 1: I was processing loss and transition and all of the
- 6:38Speaker 1: moments of a breakup. That was probably the most recent
- 6:40Speaker 1: one that was back in November, November December, and so
- 6:43Speaker 1: it took a bit of a shift.
- 6:44Speaker 2: Yeah, I can totally relate to that, And I love
- 6:46Speaker 2: the way that you framed that just now, saying great
- 6:49Speaker 2: opportunities and great obligations. That so often is a hard
- 6:54Speaker 2: way to look at what's going on in your life
- 6:57Speaker 2: through that positive lens, as you so eloquently put it,
- 7:01Speaker 2: because there is all of this pressure around you, is
- 7:04Speaker 2: this lingering sadness about what you're going through. But to
- 7:08Speaker 2: be able to spin it like that, that takes practice.
- 7:11Speaker 2: I would say, Oh.
- 7:13Speaker 1: It does.
- 7:14Speaker 2: Years of therapy, years of being on my own mental
- 7:16Speaker 2: health journey, and you know, of having some really honest,
- 7:19Speaker 2: pure conversations. I have great stakeholders and people in my
- 7:22Speaker 2: life and friends, and frankly like they'll kick me in
- 7:26Speaker 2: the ass and they'll be like, Kendall, I love you.
- 7:28Speaker 2: I'm here at to e vent I'm here for the space.
- 7:30Speaker 2: But okay, now, what are you going to do about it?
- 7:32Speaker 2: And not to say that we don't feel our emotions.
- 7:35Speaker 2: It's very important that we allow them and we meet
- 7:37Speaker 2: them where they're at. But there ultimately becomes a choice,
- 7:40Speaker 2: in my opinion, where do we allow this to be
- 7:43Speaker 2: our narrative or do we allow us to be a
- 7:46Speaker 2: segment of the story.
- 7:47Speaker 1: Right. Am I going to make this an entire focus
- 7:49Speaker 1: of who I am now I'm going to let this
- 7:51Speaker 1: experience shift my person? Or am I going to stay
- 7:54Speaker 1: in alignment and understand? Okay, this is just part of
- 7:57Speaker 1: the process. This is part of the growth, and it
- 7:59Speaker 1: is I think oftentimes we have obligations that we can
- 8:02Speaker 1: look at it like, oh my god, I'm so overwhelmed,
- 8:04Speaker 1: I'm so stressed. That's me. Often I'm like a chicken
- 8:07Speaker 1: with my head cut off. Sometimes I'm like, okay, wait,
- 8:08Speaker 1: hold on, write the list and then recognize, wow, I
- 8:12Speaker 1: have this list of things that I'm asked to do that.
- 8:15Speaker 1: I have the responsibility that the world was asking me
- 8:17Speaker 1: to show up in that years ago. I mean when
- 8:20Speaker 1: I was broke and living in like a basement and
- 8:23Speaker 1: Laurel Canyon and trying to figure out how to make
- 8:25Speaker 1: my car payment. You know, I would have dreamed of
- 8:28Speaker 1: having these obligations. So it's so funny how you know,
- 8:32Speaker 1: we're always kind of looking for that next element, that
- 8:34Speaker 1: next energy, but we forget how far we've come in
- 8:37Speaker 1: the process.
- 8:38Speaker 2: Well, speaking about how far you've come, and before you
- 8:42Speaker 2: were questionably broke living in the basement and Laurel Canyon,
- 8:46Speaker 2: you were originally from Texas, is that right?
- 8:49Speaker 1: I was born in Houston and lived there for about
- 8:51Speaker 1: I mean, I don't remember much, I'll be honest. I
- 8:54Speaker 1: like to pull out the y'all though, so I think
- 8:55Speaker 1: that's my one connection back to the South. Kendall. I
- 8:58Speaker 1: like to pull out the y'all. And I was born
- 9:00Speaker 1: in Connecticut, so okay. It is a gender neutral, like
- 9:03Speaker 1: perfect term to address a large group of people in
- 9:06Speaker 1: like an effervescent way. You know, it's kind of like
- 9:09Speaker 1: a lexus rose of pronouns. You know, we're like of
- 9:12Speaker 1: group I don't know. I'm probably gonna mess it up,
- 9:14Speaker 1: but still I think y'all's great. And so I was
- 9:17Speaker 1: in Houston for about two years, and then we moved
- 9:20Speaker 1: to Atlanta, so I had a little bit more southern
- 9:23Speaker 1: and then we moved to California when I was about ten,
- 9:26Speaker 1: ten eleven, and that's really what I consider home because
- 9:29Speaker 1: I spent all of the developmental years, all the fun
- 9:32Speaker 1: teen years, you know, all the highs and lows in
- 9:34Speaker 1: California and was there until, you know, the job at
- 9:36Speaker 1: Peloton came knockin, and I moved to New York City. Okay, well,
- 9:39Speaker 1: don't speed us up too fast here.
- 9:41Speaker 2: You mentioned before the word therapy, and I know that
- 9:44Speaker 2: you actually started working with a therapist from a very
- 9:47Speaker 2: young age. So talk me through how that came to
- 9:51Speaker 2: be within your life, totally, so safe to say.
- 9:55Speaker 1: I was very much a high, strong, intense, was often
- 10:01Speaker 1: called bossy and chatty on the report cards type of
- 10:03Speaker 1: a kid. And I think that's what drew me to gymnastics, ironically,
- 10:08Speaker 1: was the perfectionism, the beauty, the overcoming these barriers. And
- 10:13Speaker 1: I loved it. I loved flipping, I loved doing things
- 10:15Speaker 1: that it looked like little girls couldn't do or were
- 10:18Speaker 1: supposed to do. So I was drawn into the sport.
- 10:21Speaker 1: But I definitely found that that perpetuated and kind of
- 10:23Speaker 1: ignited what was already existent within me, which was this
- 10:27Speaker 1: obsessive compulsive disorder. So I was diagnosed with OCD. Oh goodness,
- 10:32Speaker 1: I always am a butcher with time, but I want
- 10:34Speaker 1: to say it was around eight or nine years old
- 10:36Speaker 1: and incredibly obsessive thoughts and was a very anxious, high strung.
- 10:41Speaker 1: If not this, then that superstitious kid. And my parents
- 10:44Speaker 1: acknowledged like, Okay, Kenny has gone through stuff. She has
- 10:48Speaker 1: these rituals. I couldn't be barefoot. I had to wear
- 10:51Speaker 1: socks all the time. I had like a bedtime ritual.
- 10:54Speaker 1: And they got me into therapy and that was my
- 10:57Speaker 1: first that was my first foray into therapy. So in
- 10:59Speaker 1: my life process, it's just been a part of my growth.
- 11:03Speaker 1: It's been a part of certain seasons of my life.
- 11:05Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, it's time time to go back. As
- 11:08Speaker 1: someone who's dealt with OCD.
- 11:11Speaker 2: Does it bother you when people make references kind of
- 11:15Speaker 2: flippantly being like, oh, I have so much OCD?
- 11:19Speaker 1: It does in the sense that I understand what it
- 11:23Speaker 1: feels like to when someone says that they don't understand
- 11:26Speaker 1: the gravity behind what OCD really is, and I'm still
- 11:30Speaker 1: guilty of it, like, oh, I'm being OCD today, and
- 11:31Speaker 1: I'm like, oh no, no, no, let me let me,
- 11:34Speaker 1: let me change that narrative, let me change that way
- 11:36Speaker 1: I'm speaking, because it is a very it can be
- 11:39Speaker 1: a very debilitating experience. It's, you know, trying to control
- 11:43Speaker 1: your life, trying to control things around you, and you know,
- 11:46Speaker 1: we look to different elements of our lives where we
- 11:48Speaker 1: can do. That was where kind of OCD came into
- 11:50Speaker 1: play for me, and it was the precursor to what
- 11:53Speaker 1: would then come down the line. But whenever I hear
- 11:56Speaker 1: someone say I'm just being OCD, I would love if
- 11:59Speaker 1: that were removed from language, where we could say, you know,
- 12:01Speaker 1: I'm being hyper focused or I'm being you know, intense today.
- 12:05Speaker 1: I think there's other words that express it in a
- 12:07Speaker 1: far better and a far better life.
- 12:10Speaker 2: And I think it's having that conversation right or saying
- 12:14Speaker 2: something like oh, I can totally sympathize with how you're
- 12:17Speaker 2: feeling that way or why you're feeling that way. But
- 12:21Speaker 2: maybe if we express it like this and coming from
- 12:24Speaker 2: a place that's with understanding and compassion rather than an
- 12:28Speaker 2: attacking place, so that you can have an educational, progressive
- 12:32Speaker 2: conversation about how to identify those feelings going forward completely.
- 12:36Speaker 1: And I think that's what's kind of lost and where
- 12:38Speaker 1: everybody feels afraid to say the wrong thing in today's
- 12:41Speaker 1: world is that it's not there's so often Oh, I
- 12:44Speaker 1: just don't want to be wrong. Well, that's not the
- 12:46Speaker 1: way we need to live our lives. We're not trying
- 12:48Speaker 1: to be here to be right all the time. That's
- 12:49Speaker 1: not being human. The whole point is to learn. But
- 12:52Speaker 1: if you're going to learn something, you're going to mess up,
- 12:54Speaker 1: or you're going to say something that you're like, Oh,
- 12:56Speaker 1: I didn't understand the gravity of that until someone enlightened
- 12:59Speaker 1: me on this topic. So I'm all for that. I'm
- 13:01Speaker 1: all about going out a situation with empathy, understanding. Everybody
- 13:04Speaker 1: has their own context. But if you don't speak up,
- 13:08Speaker 1: you don't really have a right to be upset about
- 13:10Speaker 1: it either, right, Like, either you lean in and you
- 13:12Speaker 1: say something, or you can be offended, but then keep
- 13:15Speaker 1: that to yourself. I'm very much over people pontificating about
- 13:18Speaker 1: their about what they They're like, I'm so offended. I'm like, okay,
- 13:21Speaker 1: but what are you doing about it?
- 13:23Speaker 2: Like, come on, you said the phrase before foreshadowing what's
- 13:26Speaker 2: to come, So what's to come after? Kendall at eleven
- 13:31Speaker 2: years old, starts to speak to someone about her OCD tendencies.
- 13:36Speaker 1: Yeah. So that was a great process, and I'm grateful
- 13:39Speaker 1: for the therapist that I had then. And what I
- 13:42Speaker 1: didn't know was down the pipeline was that this I
- 13:45Speaker 1: thought I had handled. You know, Okay, check Mark handled
- 13:48Speaker 1: the mental health thing that very much, don't we all
- 13:52Speaker 1: In the beginning, we all do. At the beginning, we're like, oh,
- 13:55Speaker 1: I did it. Yeah, I'm fixed, And then down the
- 13:58Speaker 1: line it gets to about It's hard to say when
- 14:03Speaker 1: it really began, but it came to a very large
- 14:07Speaker 1: breaking point, inflection point my senior year of college. So
- 14:10Speaker 1: I had been so focused. I grew up as a
- 14:13Speaker 1: kid actor and was doing that very consistently in my
- 14:17Speaker 1: teen years. I graduated high school early so that I
- 14:20Speaker 1: could focus on acting. I was going to USC and
- 14:23Speaker 1: then what I thought would be the career that i'd
- 14:25Speaker 1: worked so hard for, right because in my mind, oh,
- 14:28Speaker 1: if you work hard. You get the things you want
- 14:30Speaker 1: not always the same way in certain industries and certain situations, right,
- 14:33Speaker 1: And that came to an inflection point my senior year
- 14:36Speaker 1: of college, and I was in a very dark place,
- 14:40Speaker 1: but I hid it from everybody. I mean nobody in
- 14:43Speaker 1: the world and none of my best friends I had
- 14:45Speaker 1: people from college. When I shared my story more openly
- 14:48Speaker 1: on my Instagram reach out of the blue and say
- 14:51Speaker 1: I had no idea, I wish you would have told me.
- 14:54Speaker 1: And that was a watershed moment. But I got to
- 14:56Speaker 1: a point my senior year of college where I was
- 14:59Speaker 1: suicidal and deeply, deeply, deeply depressed and anxious. And so
- 15:03Speaker 1: that's where I was diagnosed after that experience with anxiety
- 15:07Speaker 1: and depression, and really doubled down into therapy and double
- 15:11Speaker 1: down into treatment and what I needed to do to
- 15:13Speaker 1: get myself back on the road.
- 15:16Speaker 2: When you started first experiencing suicidal thoughts, did you have
- 15:23Speaker 2: one person that you finally told helped you, that helped
- 15:27Speaker 2: pull you out of let's call it this darkness, or
- 15:31Speaker 2: how did that unfold for you?
- 15:33Speaker 1: So for me, it was I kept operating off of this.
- 15:36Speaker 1: If I put on the happy face, if I play
- 15:38Speaker 1: the game, maybe something will get rid of the numbness.
- 15:42Speaker 1: What was odd about the experience, and what I really
- 15:44Speaker 1: want to talk to people about being in this mental
- 15:46Speaker 1: space is that it's a slow burn. It's a slow process.
- 15:51Speaker 1: It wasn't just one day I'm super depressed and it
- 15:53Speaker 1: was this dramatic feeling. It wasn't actually an overwhelm of emotions.
- 15:57Speaker 1: It was the absence of emotions time and time again.
- 16:00Speaker 1: So over the years, especially in college, I would I
- 16:04Speaker 1: was a college cheerleader, and so I'm a little miss
- 16:06Speaker 1: peppy and deep down there's something else going on. Right
- 16:08Speaker 1: I'm in this great film program that I'm in love
- 16:10Speaker 1: with and I'm passionate about storytelling and cinema. But that
- 16:13Speaker 1: didn't do it, And so I was trying to plug
- 16:16Speaker 1: these holes that were really there was a gaping wound
- 16:20Speaker 1: that I kept avoiding. It's like trying to put a
- 16:21Speaker 1: band aid on a deep flesh wound. It's like, no, no,
- 16:24Speaker 1: we need stitches and surgery. We don't need something to
- 16:26Speaker 1: play kate. So when I got to that point in
- 16:31Speaker 1: my senior year of college, I had hit it from everybody.
- 16:33Speaker 1: And one thing I look back on is the pain
- 16:38Speaker 1: that I you know you can't regret your experience. I
- 16:41Speaker 1: believe everything happens for a reason. I deeply believe this
- 16:43Speaker 1: is part of my purpose. But I didn't share it
- 16:46Speaker 1: with my family, who I'm closest with. So it came
- 16:49Speaker 1: to a moment just before I was close to completing
- 16:54Speaker 1: the act, and I had this flash of what my
- 16:59Speaker 1: family's life. I tell you, it's out of body experience.
- 17:01Speaker 1: It's a feeling of feeling so numb. It was an
- 17:05Speaker 1: emotional clarity and a very turbulent moment, and I almost
- 17:10Speaker 1: felt like I could see into the future for like
- 17:11Speaker 1: what would occur, Like what my parents' lives would be
- 17:15Speaker 1: like had I gone through with it, how the circles
- 17:17Speaker 1: around me would be affected. It was kind of like,
- 17:20Speaker 1: I hate to make light of this, but it's almost
- 17:21Speaker 1: like in a Christmas Carol.
- 17:23Speaker 2: It's like the ghost of Christmas future type of thing.
- 17:25Speaker 2: Like it's kind of ironic.
- 17:27Speaker 1: But I had this vision and I all of a
- 17:32Speaker 1: sudden just took this breath and I was like I
- 17:34Speaker 1: had someone shake me and wake me up, and it
- 17:36Speaker 1: was like, oh my god, what the hell am I doing?
- 17:38Speaker 1: And I look at my phone and crazily enough, my
- 17:42Speaker 1: mom had been calling me fifteen times. There were fifteen miscalls.
- 17:46Speaker 1: We hadn't talked since probably earlier in the day, like
- 17:48Speaker 1: around noon, and so she had an instinct something was deeply, deeply,
- 17:52Speaker 1: deeply wrong, which that is incredible, And they say there's
- 17:55Speaker 1: that mother's instinct, and I think that's very true. And
- 17:58Speaker 1: I picked up the phone and I said, I need
- 18:00Speaker 1: you to come pick me up. And that's where it
- 18:02Speaker 1: all began. So I didn't leverage the connections that I had.
- 18:07Speaker 1: And I have a wonderful connection to my family and
- 18:10Speaker 1: my parents. I have a wonderful connection to my friends.
- 18:12Speaker 1: But I think there was so much internalized shame that
- 18:15Speaker 1: I felt because I didn't want to be a burden.
- 18:18Speaker 1: I didn't want people to have to worry about me.
- 18:22Speaker 1: But the irony was I wasn't worried about myself because
- 18:25Speaker 1: my self help and myself being wasn't number one.
- 18:28Speaker 2: Thank you for sharing that, and it's so interesting hearing
- 18:32Speaker 2: what your experience was like. I truly feel that it's
- 18:36Speaker 2: so important for us to talk about this because the
- 18:39Speaker 2: more that we talk about mental health, and the more
- 18:44Speaker 2: that we open up using certain buzzwords, even it can
- 18:48Speaker 2: shed light on the struggles or the situation that someone
- 18:53Speaker 2: else is going through and doesn't know how to label
- 18:58Speaker 2: or articulate. The more that we have these open dialogues,
- 19:02Speaker 2: the better that we can all be about not making
- 19:06Speaker 2: it taboo to open up about our mental health. No
- 19:10Speaker 2: one should be made to feel as though something is
- 19:13Speaker 2: wrong with them because they are struggling, or that something
- 19:18Speaker 2: is wrong with them because they're questioning a feeling.
- 19:21Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Yes, And it's the listening
- 19:24Speaker 1: to oneself. And that's really where I talk about it
- 19:27Speaker 1: so much because I understand it so much more now.
- 19:30Speaker 1: Is that it truly is getting to know yourself. But
- 19:32Speaker 1: getting to know yourself means accepting all of the pieces
- 19:35Speaker 1: of us, accepting the fact that there are days when
- 19:37Speaker 1: you wake up you could have everything in the world,
- 19:40Speaker 1: it could be a beautiful day, and just you're a
- 19:43Speaker 1: little off. There's just something something shifted. You don't know
- 19:47Speaker 1: what's going on. You don't have to know the why.
- 19:49Speaker 1: You just have to acknowledge that it's okay to feel
- 19:51Speaker 1: that way. But it is. And that's why we have
- 19:53Speaker 1: to have these conversations and these stories, because everyone experiences
- 19:58Speaker 1: it differently and it's not this DSM. Here's my symptoms.
- 20:03Speaker 1: I know I'm depressed or suicidal when X, Y, and
- 20:05Speaker 1: Z happen. It's not linear or kind of granular like that.
- 20:09Speaker 1: It's not easily packageable. Mental health is this very amorphous
- 20:14Speaker 1: concept that means different things to us at different times
- 20:16Speaker 1: in our lives. But it is get checking the pulse,
- 20:21Speaker 1: like checking where like and asking how how am I today?
- 20:24Speaker 1: How am I feeling today? Am I emotionally here? Or
- 20:27Speaker 1: if something really throws you off, I love like maybe
- 20:29Speaker 1: you get cut off in traffic, or maybe you know.
- 20:32Speaker 1: I know in my world like social media, I could
- 20:34Speaker 1: get a wonderful comment and then I could get this berating, nasty,
- 20:38Speaker 1: awful DM and sometimes I have to check in with
- 20:40Speaker 1: myself and be like, oh, I've allowed that to hold
- 20:44Speaker 1: energy in space after that I received that comment, let
- 20:48Speaker 1: me check in and say how am I feeling? And
- 20:49Speaker 1: then I can acknowledge what I'm going to do about it.
- 20:52Speaker 1: But you can't go mindlessly.
- 20:54Speaker 2: Someone asked me this question the other day, and I
- 20:57Speaker 2: feel like it's relevant here taking into consideration what you've
- 21:01Speaker 2: been through on your mental health journey. When you first
- 21:05Speaker 2: got the call from Peloton, were you in the space
- 21:09Speaker 2: that you were more scared of failure or more scared
- 21:15Speaker 2: of success because of what you just referenced, that exposure
- 21:20Speaker 2: point or those millions of exposure points and given opinions.
- 21:26Speaker 1: It's so funny. I used to think that failure is
- 21:29Speaker 1: what scared me. But failure is very comfortable because you
- 21:34Speaker 1: know that failure means that you've you're pretty much where
- 21:38Speaker 1: you're at now in a sense, because you haven't taken
- 21:41Speaker 1: on that next energy or that next responsibility or you know,
- 21:44Speaker 1: joyful obligation if we want to call it. That. Success
- 21:48Speaker 1: is probably the scariest thing, and people don't talk about that.
- 21:51Speaker 1: They don't talk about the fact that they're like, oh,
- 21:53Speaker 1: just do it and get up and go. I'm not
- 21:55Speaker 1: going to placate somebody, especially as a fitness instructor and
- 21:58Speaker 1: someone who's in the space and a mental health advocate,
- 22:00Speaker 1: that oh, you just change your mind and you go.
- 22:02Speaker 1: It's very challenging because success means there's a different level
- 22:05Speaker 1: of responsibility that you don't know how you're going to handle.
- 22:08Speaker 1: Success means that your world is going to completely shift
- 22:10Speaker 1: and change and the way that you relate to it
- 22:11Speaker 1: and what you provide to it, and it's an massive
- 22:15Speaker 1: unknown so for me, when I got the offer at Peloton,
- 22:19Speaker 1: I was so immediately excited and the move was exciting,
- 22:22Speaker 1: and I'll say, like the fear of success really permeated
- 22:26Speaker 1: when I was training up for my premiere ride. I
- 22:29Speaker 1: really struggled in that training process. I had so much
- 22:32Speaker 1: of this imposter syndrome, like how am I here? Why me?
- 22:36Speaker 1: What is this? Let me try to be what I
- 22:39Speaker 1: thought a Peloton instructor was supposed to be, because I
- 22:41Speaker 1: had this perception of like these like superhumans, and I
- 22:45Speaker 1: felt like there was a dissonance there and I was
- 22:47Speaker 1: younger and less experienced in certain ways and experience in others.
- 22:50Speaker 1: And it was funny. I remember I had a conversation
- 22:53Speaker 1: with Cody like about two weeks before my premiere ride,
- 22:57Speaker 1: and he just looked at me and he's like, Oh,
- 22:58Speaker 1: you've got to get it together, like you got this,
- 23:02Speaker 1: but you are here for a reason, like we chose
- 23:05Speaker 1: you for you. We didn't choose you to be somebody
- 23:08Speaker 1: else or something else. And that was a really awesome
- 23:12Speaker 1: moment because I think it was the first time someone
- 23:14Speaker 1: said I want you to be here for you, and
- 23:17Speaker 1: then I realized, oh, I need to be here for
- 23:18Speaker 1: myself too, like myself needs to be enough for me
- 23:22Speaker 1: that premier ride, I don't know what happened, something clicked
- 23:25Speaker 1: in that room. I think maybe it was the build
- 23:26Speaker 1: up and the anxiety and then it was like the exhale.
- 23:29Speaker 1: But yeah, it's fear. It's fear of being exposed. It's
- 23:32Speaker 1: fear of also being vulnerable. Success is very vulnerable.
- 23:35Speaker 2: There's a lot of vulnerability that comes with that, and
- 23:37Speaker 2: also a wisdom of the greater understanding that what success
- 23:41Speaker 2: means day in and day out can change.
- 23:44Speaker 1: Right.
- 23:44Speaker 2: So, just because at one point you've accomplished the version
- 23:48Speaker 2: of success that you thought was like the tippity top
- 23:50Speaker 2: of the mountaintop, then the next day you wake up
- 23:53Speaker 2: and you set new goals and you go after new challenges,
- 23:56Speaker 2: and then that definition of success shifts again. And also,
- 24:00Speaker 2: what I think is so interesting and hearing you talk
- 24:02Speaker 2: about your experience and you know, wondering who is it
- 24:05Speaker 2: that I should be.
- 24:07Speaker 1: Any One of the.
- 24:09Speaker 2: Instructors that I've had on the show literally had that
- 24:12Speaker 2: same you know, come to Jesus moment if you will,
- 24:16Speaker 2: where every single person was like I was worried that
- 24:19Speaker 2: I needed to be X and they were reassured, but
- 24:23Speaker 2: we just want you to be you.
- 24:24Speaker 1: Yes, And that's the probably the most beautiful thing. And
- 24:27Speaker 1: I'm so proud to be at Peloton because of that,
- 24:31Speaker 1: because the ethos behind it is like the sum is
- 24:34Speaker 1: really greater than its individual parts. But damn the individual
- 24:36Speaker 1: parts on this team, we're all very different. We all
- 24:39Speaker 1: have different energies, we have different experiences, But what makes
- 24:42Speaker 1: it work is that we're ourselves. You know, we were
- 24:45Speaker 1: all selected to fill a certain role that somehow, with
- 24:50Speaker 1: all these other incredible energies, it just adds more to
- 24:53Speaker 1: the pot. It doesn't subtract like it's And that's the
- 24:56Speaker 1: funny part is that the goal isn't to be more
- 25:00Speaker 1: than what you are. The goal is to just be
- 25:02Speaker 1: more of who you are. And that's what I'm reminded
- 25:05Speaker 1: of every day, especially when I and I still do
- 25:08Speaker 1: shoot like I have. I'm an ambitious person, I'm fiery.
- 25:11Speaker 1: I want to do everything and live full, especially because
- 25:15Speaker 1: I've experienced not wanting to live at all. But I
- 25:18Speaker 1: know that both of those energies I have to keep
- 25:20Speaker 1: them in check because sometimes like you can get ahead
- 25:23Speaker 1: of yourself, you can get at a little two forward
- 25:26Speaker 1: thinking and not be grounded and not be like rooted
- 25:28Speaker 1: in your purpose, and you just have to remember, like, oh,
- 25:31Speaker 1: I just want to become more of myself. I just
- 25:33Speaker 1: want to reveal more of myself. I want to peel
- 25:35Speaker 1: another layer back. I want to be more vulnerable with
- 25:37Speaker 1: more people. I want to be more acknowledging of the
- 25:40Speaker 1: fact that I'm shifting and changing and growing, especially as
- 25:42Speaker 1: a woman, and that I'm going to have chapters and
- 25:45Speaker 1: seasons of my life that are going to be incredibly challenging.
- 25:48Speaker 1: But I don't want to hide that. I want to
- 25:50Speaker 1: understand that my success is in living as fully and
- 25:54Speaker 1: as authentically and as as much and full of myself,
- 25:58Speaker 1: full of me as I can be.
- 26:01Speaker 2: So I won't pretend that I don't know what happens
- 26:04Speaker 2: next in your story, but I do think that it's
- 26:06Speaker 2: critical for our conversation as we go forward. So once
- 26:09Speaker 2: you do go back home with your mom when she
- 26:13Speaker 2: picks you up after this hurdle moment, talk to us
- 26:17Speaker 2: about what happens for you and what the next few
- 26:19Speaker 2: months look like.
- 26:22Speaker 1: I will say there is a concept that I've understood
- 26:26Speaker 1: in personal experience where when you go through something very traumatic,
- 26:30Speaker 1: your brain protects yourself and you forget. I can tell
- 26:35Speaker 1: you definitively from that was right around just before Thanksgiving,
- 26:39Speaker 1: it is right around midterms. From that Thanksgiving to about
- 26:45Speaker 1: beginning of February, I don't remember any of those months.
- 26:48Speaker 1: I don't remember Christmas, and I'm a I love Christmas.
- 26:51Speaker 1: Christmas is it. I'm Italian, we eat all the food.
- 26:54Speaker 1: Don't remember Christmas, don't remember New Year's. I don't remember
- 26:57Speaker 1: ringing in the New Year that year, Yeah, twenty fifteen.
- 27:01Speaker 1: New Year's twenty fifteen. I don't remember at all. And
- 27:05Speaker 1: from It's Piecemeil what I was told, so I know
- 27:08Speaker 1: my mom and dad mentioned that I was really struggling
- 27:10Speaker 1: getting out of bed. The irony is that I was
- 27:14Speaker 1: the OCD child who had to have clean feet, who
- 27:18Speaker 1: had to wear socks, and I got to a point
- 27:20Speaker 1: where I couldn't shower. So it showed you the range
- 27:24Speaker 1: and the depth of where we were at. And I
- 27:25Speaker 1: remember my dad coming into my room. This is what's funny.
- 27:29Speaker 1: This is why I say this at the end of
- 27:30Speaker 1: the class, and it means so much. He came into
- 27:32Speaker 1: my room and I couldn't get out of bed, and
- 27:34Speaker 1: my mom was trying and he just leveled with me
- 27:37Speaker 1: and he said, honey, I need you to do this,
- 27:42Speaker 1: and I'm going to ask you to do it for me.
- 27:45Speaker 1: I really want you to do it for yourself, but
- 27:47Speaker 1: I know that's not possible right now. And he said,
- 27:50Speaker 1: if if you don't take these steps, you know, I
- 27:55Speaker 1: think we need to put you in in patient. Which
- 27:58Speaker 1: is fine. I think that program would have been great,
- 28:00Speaker 1: but I really didn't want to do that because I
- 28:02Speaker 1: didn't want to miss the opportunity to graduate on time.
- 28:05Speaker 1: I really wanted to graduate when I was supposed to
- 28:08Speaker 1: or when the kind of what I had worked so
- 28:10Speaker 1: hard for. I didn't want school to fall behind. And
- 28:13Speaker 1: he said, I know you want that, and he said,
- 28:16Speaker 1: I've said that since day one. They can knock us down,
- 28:19Speaker 1: but we will never let it knock us out. You
- 28:22Speaker 1: are not knocked out. Get up, Get up.
- 28:24Speaker 2: Ooh, I'm gonna cry. So the beautiful thing about that
- 28:34Speaker 2: is that was what stuck. I don't remember much.
- 28:37Speaker 1: I remember that and being able to have that be
- 28:42Speaker 1: a motto that I've brought into fitness Glasses before I
- 28:46Speaker 1: was at Peloton, but even just into life really change
- 28:53Speaker 1: the game. And so that was what got me back.
- 28:56Speaker 1: Oh that's what got me over that hurdle. I had
- 28:58Speaker 1: that hurdle moment kept me moving forward inch by inch.
- 29:03Speaker 1: It was a slow process, let me tell you. It
- 29:05Speaker 1: was three days of therapy a week. It was having
- 29:08Speaker 1: conversations and not wanting to talk at all. It was
- 29:11Speaker 1: completely isolating myself for my friends. I didn't go back,
- 29:14Speaker 1: really didn't go back to school. God blessed the professors
- 29:17Speaker 1: and the team at USC where I went to college.
- 29:19Speaker 1: My grades were so high. They were like, she's fine, Like, which,
- 29:23Speaker 1: go figure? I mean, I had straight fricking a's like
- 29:26Speaker 1: you would have not nobody would have known. And I
- 29:28Speaker 1: just kind of dealt with this in kind of this
- 29:30Speaker 1: solitude and got back on track, moved into a new
- 29:35Speaker 1: kind of living situation, which is going to be even
- 29:37Speaker 1: better for me, more isolated. I had this lovely little
- 29:40Speaker 1: studio that I called the Chateau because remind me of
- 29:42Speaker 1: chateau my mom, where I loved going to go and
- 29:45Speaker 1: write my papers before they got snooty and wouldn't let
- 29:47Speaker 1: people in. But no shade to them, kind of shade
- 29:50Speaker 1: actually because no, actually, because I loved getting French fries
- 29:53Speaker 1: and sitting with my laptop and writing papers and looking
- 29:55Speaker 1: at like Patti Smith across the way. I was like,
- 29:58Speaker 1: this is dope. So dope anyway, had my little, my
- 30:02Speaker 1: little studio and made it through that second semester senior year.
- 30:08Speaker 1: And the funny part is, and it's a good gut
- 30:10Speaker 1: check for me is today, almost a decade later, is
- 30:16Speaker 1: being able to know whenever I get really stressed out
- 30:18Speaker 1: by something in life, I will have a stress dream
- 30:22Speaker 1: that I am not going to graduate from college and
- 30:24Speaker 1: that I can't make it to my last final, which
- 30:26Speaker 1: is so interesting to show. That was the motivator of
- 30:30Speaker 1: not I didn't want to fall behind. But what I
- 30:32Speaker 1: didn't recognize was that this process was actually what was
- 30:34Speaker 1: going to shoot me forward. It would take many chapters
- 30:37Speaker 1: to get to that understanding, but I know that's why.
- 30:41Speaker 1: That's why I get to say what I get to
- 30:43Speaker 1: say and do what I get to do.
- 30:44Speaker 2: Now. Taking a break from today's episode to give some
- 30:51Speaker 2: love to my sponsors. First up, Whoop, a digital fitness
- 30:56Speaker 2: and health coach that tracks key physiological metrics and provides detailed,
- 31:00Speaker 2: actionable feedback to optimize your performance via a monthly membership.
- 31:05Speaker 1: I have been wearing my Whoop. I actually looked at
- 31:07Speaker 1: this today.
- 31:08Speaker 2: Since April of twenty nineteen, so over two years now,
- 31:13Speaker 2: and but it's simply it makes me want to be
- 31:16Speaker 2: a better me and focus on healthier habits. Among my
- 31:19Speaker 2: favorite features is the sleep Coach, which analyzes sleep duration,
- 31:24Speaker 2: sleep quality, efficiency and consistency every single night. Then the
- 31:30Speaker 2: Woopstrap provides ideal, a bet and wait times to help
- 31:33Speaker 2: improve my sleep routine and performance the next day. Thanks
- 31:37Speaker 2: to the Whoop Journal feature, I also know what habits
- 31:39Speaker 2: like eating too close to bedtime or slacking out my
- 31:42Speaker 2: daily water in date can really impact my overall recoveries
- 31:46Speaker 2: for and honestly, the gamification is fun and it keeps
- 31:51Speaker 2: me honest.
- 31:52Speaker 1: I am hooked on my Woop data. That is an understatement,
- 31:54Speaker 1: and I know you will be.
- 31:56Speaker 2: To get in on Woop today with this exclusive offer
- 31:59Speaker 2: for her listeners, head on over to whoop dot com.
- 32:03Speaker 2: That's Whoop dot com and use the code Hurdle one
- 32:07Speaker 2: five to a mock fifteen percent off any Whoop membership,
- 32:11Speaker 2: Plus get the Whoop four point oh device for free
- 32:15Speaker 2: again that.
- 32:16Speaker 1: Is Whoop dot com.
- 32:17Speaker 2: Use Hurdle one five at checkout to get fifteen percent.
- 32:20Speaker 1: Off any membership today.
- 32:23Speaker 2: Also got to give some love to my friends at
- 32:26Speaker 2: AG one from Athletic Greens.
- 32:28Speaker 1: You know it. I love it. They're the token sponsor
- 32:31Speaker 1: of the show. With good reason.
- 32:34Speaker 2: Drinking AG one every single morning, it just makes me
- 32:38Speaker 2: feel whole. Honestly, there was one day earlier last week
- 32:42Speaker 2: where I forgot to shake it up.
- 32:44Speaker 1: Like I was actually leaving my place for an early meeting.
- 32:48Speaker 2: I was in a rush after my workout, showering, getting dressed,
- 32:51Speaker 2: and I was sitting in my meeting about thirty minutes
- 32:54Speaker 2: in and being.
- 32:55Speaker 1: Like, why do I feel so foggy in this moment?
- 32:58Speaker 2: And immediately like I knew exactly why I came home.
- 33:02Speaker 2: The first thing I did was shake it up. And
- 33:05Speaker 2: I not only do I love that it has so
- 33:08Speaker 2: much good stuff for me in the mix. Literally, I'm
- 33:11Speaker 2: talking adaptogens, prebiotics, probiotics, superfoods, the antix, and an equivalent
- 33:17Speaker 2: of twelve servings of fruits and vegetables, but.
- 33:20Speaker 1: I also love the way it tastes.
- 33:22Speaker 2: Another new AG one user reached out to me the
- 33:25Speaker 2: other day and they said to me that they get
- 33:28Speaker 2: hints of pineapple, which tells you if you're wondering if
- 33:32Speaker 2: this is a grassy thing. The answer is absolutely not.
- 33:35Speaker 2: It is Greens with a hint of sweetness, and I
- 33:39Speaker 2: crave it now.
- 33:41Speaker 1: Literally all the time.
- 33:43Speaker 2: You too, I can get in on this deliciousness and
- 33:48Speaker 2: snacks of ag one for yourself today. Head on over
- 33:50Speaker 2: to athletics Greens dot com slash hurdle and get a
- 33:54Speaker 2: bunch of freeviewes with your first purchase. I'm talking a
- 33:57Speaker 2: year's supply of Vitamin D as well as five free
- 34:01Speaker 2: travel packs.
- 34:01Speaker 1: Again, that is Athleticgreens.
- 34:04Speaker 2: Dot com slash hurdle to get a year's supply Vitamin
- 34:07Speaker 2: D and five free travel packs with your first purchase today,
- 34:11Speaker 2: no code necessary. It's so interesting that conversation around your
- 34:23Speaker 2: mind protecting you and blacking out certain memories, because I
- 34:27Speaker 2: also certainly experienced that at a couple different points in
- 34:31Speaker 2: my life, specifically when I was the most unhappy in
- 34:36Speaker 2: my body back in my freshman year of college. And
- 34:39Speaker 2: I think about a lot of my memories in between
- 34:42Speaker 2: ages sixteen and eighteen, when I was coming into my
- 34:45Speaker 2: own and dealing with bullying and just feeling really self conscious,
- 34:49Speaker 2: and the dialogue that was happening up in my mind
- 34:52Speaker 2: was just so toxic and negative, and I remember just
- 34:57Speaker 2: little blips and pieces of literally years of my life.
- 35:01Speaker 2: And then even I mean we were talking about you
- 35:04Speaker 2: going through a tough time recently myself as well, like
- 35:07Speaker 2: at the at the front end of this year, just
- 35:08Speaker 2: navigating some personal stuff. There are conversations that friends reference
- 35:13Speaker 2: that we had that I don't even remember. It's the
- 35:17Speaker 2: most like concerning moment to be like, where where were you?
- 35:22Speaker 2: You know, like and ask yourself like what was happening here?
- 35:24Speaker 2: We're we're like what was happening in my mind? But
- 35:27Speaker 2: being able to then sit down, reflect, gain an understanding,
- 35:31Speaker 2: and instead of feeling angry about the things that we
- 35:33Speaker 2: cannot control, focus on what you can do with what
- 35:37Speaker 2: you have right now to move forward in a more
- 35:39Speaker 2: positive and beneficial direction. Yes, and it is, and it's
- 35:43Speaker 2: giving yourself the grace and the understanding Like.
- 35:47Speaker 1: That will happen. There will be there will be time
- 35:50Speaker 1: periods or there will be those shift points. They'll get
- 35:52Speaker 1: to you. They will have that effect like I hear you,
- 35:55Speaker 1: I'm same thing you know. Beginning of the year, I
- 35:58Speaker 1: think collectively a glow energy. We've all been going through
- 36:02Speaker 1: so much, this languishing through a pandemic, but on top
- 36:05Speaker 1: of it. You know, it's heavy out there. There's a
- 36:07Speaker 1: lot of very heavy energy, and we're all affected by it.
- 36:11Speaker 1: We're all affected by each other much more than we recognize.
- 36:14Speaker 1: And I think you know that's where that compassion and
- 36:16Speaker 1: that kind of empathy comes in. But I'm with you.
- 36:19Speaker 1: It is those little winds. It's those little things that
- 36:23Speaker 1: you can do to ground yourself back. It's acknowledging the
- 36:25Speaker 1: asshole in your head. I mean, I get it. I like,
- 36:29Speaker 1: she's terrible. I would never be friends with that be
- 36:32Speaker 1: She's awful, like the worst person. And it's funny when
- 36:36Speaker 1: you kind of get down that spiral for a little
- 36:38Speaker 1: bit and you allow yourself to ruminate in that negative
- 36:41Speaker 1: headspace and you recognize you're like, hold on, is that me?
- 36:46Speaker 1: Or is that something else? And a really a big
- 36:49Speaker 1: turning point for me was understanding that I didn't have
- 36:51Speaker 1: to believe everything that I thought. The thoughts that happen
- 36:53Speaker 1: in my brain are not me, They're a byproduct of
- 36:57Speaker 1: what's happening in my brain. And understanding that there's a
- 37:01Speaker 1: difference between and this is where spirituality comes in for me,
- 37:04Speaker 1: but between like my soul and my deeper purpose and
- 37:07Speaker 1: the why that I'm here and operating in this little
- 37:10Speaker 1: vessel for the time I get to be in it
- 37:11Speaker 1: and whatnot. There's a difference between that and my head,
- 37:16Speaker 1: which is the humanity and the ego, and that's important
- 37:19Speaker 1: to have that it's self protective. But oftentimes the ego
- 37:24Speaker 1: and that negative voice is the loudest in the room,
- 37:27Speaker 1: but it's not the truest. So it's learning to listen
- 37:29Speaker 1: for that truer voice. It's learning to practice opening that
- 37:33Speaker 1: space for it. So that's where you know, therapy has
- 37:36Speaker 1: been helpful and acknowledging and separating what's that negative headspace,
- 37:40Speaker 1: that negative voice, and what's my real self as well
- 37:43Speaker 1: as you know, the little things during the day. The
- 37:45Speaker 1: more the rituals, the Okay, let me do some somatic
- 37:48Speaker 1: breath work, let me make sure I'm moving my body,
- 37:51Speaker 1: let me you know, you're drinking a bunch of water.
- 37:53Speaker 1: You're like, yes, I'm going to take care of it.
- 37:55Speaker 1: You know, keeping everything in balance. That's important. It is important.
- 37:58Speaker 2: And you mentioned tools or small tools when for someone
- 38:02Speaker 2: who may be struggling navigating that be of a voice
- 38:07Speaker 2: that is inside of their head, do you have any
- 38:11Speaker 2: practices or go tos that you use personally to help
- 38:15Speaker 2: you get through some of the really difficult echoe moments.
- 38:20Speaker 1: Yes, I will say I ask first and foremost, is
- 38:25Speaker 1: this fact like the second that I hear? And it
- 38:29Speaker 1: could be I could see something on my body, It
- 38:31Speaker 1: could be like that around that time of the month,
- 38:33Speaker 1: and you know everything, the way our hormones work, everything,
- 38:35Speaker 1: you just feel disgusting and awful and terrible and lah,
- 38:39Speaker 1: and I'm like, wait is this fact? Where's the fact
- 38:42Speaker 1: in the statement? And trying to pull out the emotion
- 38:46Speaker 1: and acknowledge the logic or the lack thereof, because usually
- 38:50Speaker 1: the bee in the head she is just responsive and
- 38:53Speaker 1: or she's reactive and she's just terrible and there's no
- 38:56Speaker 1: fact there, or it's a fear. It's always rooted back
- 38:59Speaker 1: in and then it goes back to control. So once
- 39:02Speaker 1: I acknowledge that's happening, I'm like, Okay, what am I
- 39:05Speaker 1: either afraid of doing and allowing fear to come in?
- 39:09Speaker 1: Or what do I need to take control over my life?
- 39:12Speaker 1: What do I have control over? And control is a
- 39:14Speaker 1: wonderful thing, but also allowance and acceptances simultaneously. Right, there's
- 39:18Speaker 1: a lot we can't control. It's almost frightening when you
- 39:21Speaker 1: think about it sometimes, but it's also beautiful because somehow
- 39:24Speaker 1: we operate and we evolve into the people we're meant
- 39:27Speaker 1: to be if we, you know, kind of stay on
- 39:29Speaker 1: the course. So first thing when that happens, I would say, acknowledge,
- 39:33Speaker 1: what is fact? What is not? I write? I like
- 39:36Speaker 1: to write it down, getting it out of my head
- 39:38Speaker 1: and onto paper. Journaling's really been great for me lately.
- 39:41Speaker 1: I stepped away from it for a while, but recently
- 39:43Speaker 1: I'm just like, let me just write it out. Let
- 39:45Speaker 1: me just get it out of me, like word vomit.
- 39:47Speaker 1: Just you're not going to exist in me anymore if
- 39:49Speaker 1: I get it out of my space, and then from
- 39:51Speaker 1: there I go back to my breath. Breathing and breath
- 39:54Speaker 1: work has been just a game changer for me in
- 39:59Speaker 1: a time of need. I love my therapist. We have
- 40:02Speaker 1: that four or five seven breath or sorry four seven
- 40:05Speaker 1: five breath or you inhale for four or you hold
- 40:07Speaker 1: for seven. I'm messing it up. It's one of the other.
- 40:09Speaker 1: It's something like that, but it's an inhale, a hold
- 40:12Speaker 1: and a longer exhale. There's great work. Like I did
- 40:16Speaker 1: a TikTok about it, but it's you tap your shoulders.
- 40:18Speaker 1: It's kind of like butterfly taps, and you keep your
- 40:21Speaker 1: breath through it, and you just ground yourself back in
- 40:23Speaker 1: your body and take a moment to allow the head
- 40:26Speaker 1: not to operate and just get back into the space
- 40:29Speaker 1: you're in present. It's tough though. It's tough too because
- 40:33Speaker 1: I felt myself being having more of a challenge with
- 40:35Speaker 1: it lately. With you know, you turn on the news
- 40:37Speaker 1: and you want to be informed about what's happening in
- 40:39Speaker 1: the world. You get a constant set of stimulus from
- 40:42Speaker 1: like text messages and social media feeds, and we're so
- 40:46Speaker 1: plugged in that were turned off to us. So really
- 40:51Speaker 1: making sure it's like it's like spiritual emotional mental hygiene
- 40:54Speaker 1: to take take time to do nothing like and not
- 40:58Speaker 1: even TV, or just sit on your couch for five
- 41:00Speaker 1: minutes and just scan the room, be present for a second,
- 41:04Speaker 1: or like now that the weather's getting beautiful, like sit
- 41:06Speaker 1: in the sun. Those things. It's the simple acknowledgments that
- 41:09Speaker 1: bring us back and it's okay, Shoot, you need a day,
- 41:13Speaker 1: take a mental health day. Your work doesn't like it,
- 41:15Speaker 1: you're sick, It's fine. You have a sick day, use
- 41:18Speaker 1: it encouraging. You know, I'd love to see this in
- 41:21Speaker 1: more workplaces, and I'm happy that Peloton does this. I
- 41:24Speaker 1: want to see it happen everywhere. I want it to
- 41:26Speaker 1: be normalized. But taking care of your mental health is
- 41:29Speaker 1: just as important as taking care of your body when
- 41:31Speaker 1: you have a clold or a flu. And I will say,
- 41:33Speaker 1: negative mental health does affect the mental health of others.
- 41:36Speaker 1: So just like you wouldn't want your coworker coughing up
- 41:40Speaker 1: along at the desk or the shared office space next
- 41:42Speaker 1: to you, you also don't want your coworker in a
- 41:45Speaker 1: really challenging, dark, negative place and bringing that there either
- 41:49Speaker 1: if they could be taking care of themselves and there's
- 41:51Speaker 1: access for them to be better for sure.
- 41:53Speaker 2: And you know, recently on the show, I had a
- 41:56Speaker 2: woman on her name's Melissa Doman who talks all about
- 42:00Speaker 2: out well being shaming and how to navigate that in
- 42:02Speaker 2: the office. So I really value and appreciate your point,
- 42:06Speaker 2: noting that if someone is in that bad headspace, then
- 42:09Speaker 2: it can permeate into everything else that all the other
- 42:12Speaker 2: individuals in your space are navigating on their own, and
- 42:16Speaker 2: then it can just become like a bigger problem. So
- 42:18Speaker 2: prioritizing yourself, prioritizing your own mental well being, it's so important.
- 42:23Speaker 2: And I loved those actionable tips that you gave, including
- 42:27Speaker 2: journaling when it comes to addressing how you're feeling and
- 42:31Speaker 2: how to.
- 42:32Speaker 1: Get out of that negative headspace.
- 42:34Speaker 2: I think that it's just so important to recognize that,
- 42:37Speaker 2: like little steps in the right direction are big steps
- 42:40Speaker 2: in that if you are someone who maybe has never
- 42:43Speaker 2: done breathwork before, or you've never journaled before, like start small,
- 42:48Speaker 2: and don't judge that start because starting is really really
- 42:52Speaker 2: intimidating and it's really really challenging. So being proud of
- 42:57Speaker 2: yourself for being willing to go there like that, that's
- 43:01Speaker 2: huge completely. And look, when you start anything, you suck
- 43:05Speaker 2: at it. Honestly, I'm so tempted to pull out. I
- 43:08Speaker 2: don't think they would let me do it.
- 43:09Speaker 1: But I have a video of my first ever recorded
- 43:12Speaker 1: Peloton class day one of when I tell you this
- 43:17Speaker 1: is a dumpster fire train wreck. It was rough, It
- 43:22Speaker 1: was really rough. It was a lot. I couldn't find
- 43:25Speaker 1: the cameras I was babbling. I was like, wait, what
- 43:28Speaker 1: is cadence versus resistant? Like we were? It was bad.
- 43:31Speaker 1: It was real bad. But the coolest part is like
- 43:34Speaker 1: it's just like anything. It's it's a movement pattern, it's practice,
- 43:38Speaker 1: it's understanding that it's it is little winds. So if
- 43:42Speaker 1: you're suck at it, be a sucker, like I want
- 43:46Speaker 1: you to suck because if you're not sucking, you're not
- 43:49Speaker 1: doing anything. Like no, you know it is is that,
- 43:52Speaker 1: you know, opening yourself to that beginner's mindset. And it's funny,
- 43:55Speaker 1: the more we age, the more we feel like we
- 43:57Speaker 1: have to be pros and experts and you know, who
- 44:00Speaker 1: am I to step into the space and give a
- 44:02Speaker 1: talk or give a speech? I had that happen recently.
- 44:04Speaker 1: I have this great opportunity upcoming.
- 44:05Speaker 2: And I'm like, oh god, why would they want to
- 44:07Speaker 2: listen to me?
- 44:08Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm not even thirty yet, Like ah, I
- 44:11Speaker 1: feel like what can I tell these people?
- 44:12Speaker 2: You know?
- 44:13Speaker 1: And then you recognize, hold on, there's value everywhere. There's
- 44:16Speaker 1: value from sitting down with your four year old niece
- 44:19Speaker 1: who can talk about unicorns and butterflies and rainbows, and
- 44:22Speaker 1: when you talk to her, you're like, oh my gosh,
- 44:24Speaker 1: I just feel like my imagination's back. Everybody, every person,
- 44:29Speaker 1: every being has value to provide. There is not one
- 44:32Speaker 1: person on this planet that doesn't have value. So add
- 44:36Speaker 1: to your value by sucking at everything for a little
- 44:39Speaker 1: bit and have fun with it, Like you want to
- 44:41Speaker 1: go through pottery and learn how to you know, have
- 44:44Speaker 1: a ghost moment. I can't guarantee Patrick Swayzey will show up,
- 44:46Speaker 1: but go do it. Go suck at it, make a
- 44:49Speaker 1: little like mound and be like that was my first
- 44:51Speaker 1: piece of pottery. It is hideous, and I am so
- 44:53Speaker 1: damn proud of how much I sucked at that. I
- 44:56Speaker 1: love that.
- 44:57Speaker 2: I'm so damn proud of how much I sucked at that. Right,
- 45:02Speaker 2: so terrible that it was so awesome. Well, you mentioned
- 45:05Speaker 2: the buzzword movement again. I do know that you really
- 45:09Speaker 2: got introduced to movement beyond your days of cheerleading at USC.
- 45:14Speaker 2: You started boxing when you were navigating a lot of
- 45:19Speaker 2: the trials and tribulations that came with confronting a lot
- 45:22Speaker 2: of those mental health demons.
- 45:23Speaker 1: So talk us through what that looked like for you.
- 45:26Speaker 1: I will say thank God for the mentor that I
- 45:29Speaker 1: have had. He just acknowledged like, ooh, you're a lot.
- 45:33Speaker 1: I've heard that a lot in my life that I'm
- 45:36Speaker 1: a lot. It used to bother me. It's my favorite
- 45:38Speaker 1: compliment someone can give me now is that I'm a lot. Yes,
- 45:41Speaker 1: I'm very full of a lot of experiences and emotions,
- 45:44Speaker 1: and a lot is better than a little, so I'm
- 45:47Speaker 1: good with it. But he recognized there was something going
- 45:51Speaker 1: on deeper, and so he happened to own a boxing
- 45:54Speaker 1: gym in the West side of LA and he's like,
- 45:57Speaker 1: come through. I'm like, okay, fine, And this is somebody that, like,
- 46:00Speaker 1: you know, I look up to this person. I want
- 46:02Speaker 1: to impress them. There's like this like paternal type of
- 46:05Speaker 1: energy where you're like, I want to make them proud.
- 46:07Speaker 1: So I roll into this boxing gym. First things first,
- 46:11Speaker 1: I am the only chick. I am proud. I'm a
- 46:14Speaker 1: lot shorter than people think. I'm grateful that they think
- 46:17Speaker 1: i'm taller. I'm probably like five to four on a
- 46:19Speaker 1: good day. And so I walk in. There's these like
- 46:22Speaker 1: six foot four, beastly sweaty men. There's blood on the floor,
- 46:25Speaker 1: there's sweat, and everyone's just going at it. There's two
- 46:28Speaker 1: guys sparring in the middle of the ring. There's people
- 46:30Speaker 1: working out on the heavy bags. There's people lifting these
- 46:33Speaker 1: weights and hitting tires with sledgehammers, and I'm like, where're
- 46:36Speaker 1: the FM I okay, okay, but they were playing heavy
- 46:40Speaker 1: hip hop, so I was like, I'm into that I
- 46:41Speaker 1: can buy. So sure enough, I put gloves on for
- 46:45Speaker 1: the first time and talking about sucking and the joy
- 46:49Speaker 1: of sucking. The only gloves that they had, mind you,
- 46:51Speaker 1: that were available were pink, which pissed me off because
- 46:54Speaker 1: I was like, I don't want to wear pink gloves
- 46:55Speaker 1: and be the new chick in the gym. And everyone's
- 46:56Speaker 1: already looking at me, and I was so in my head,
- 46:59Speaker 1: and I was embarrassed, embarrassed, and then bless the trainer
- 47:03Speaker 1: that I had who trained me up on everything boxing
- 47:05Speaker 1: at the beginning. We finally he's like focus, focus, He's like, here,
- 47:10Speaker 1: look at the mint. Look at the mint. And then
- 47:11Speaker 1: I remember, I will never forget you know it when
- 47:13Speaker 1: you do it, that first crack of the mit, when
- 47:16Speaker 1: that glove hits that mint perfect and it makes this
- 47:18Speaker 1: like actually it kind of sounds like a lightning strike.
- 47:21Speaker 1: Go figure, and it says crack and you and me,
- 47:24Speaker 1: I was like, I'm addicted. Oh, I could create that
- 47:27Speaker 1: power that could come from my body that could sound
- 47:30Speaker 1: like that, and it sounds similar when that six foot
- 47:33Speaker 1: four guy is doing the same thing. But I made
- 47:35Speaker 1: that sound oh okay, And then it became an addiction
- 47:39Speaker 1: because it was the only place at that point because
- 47:42Speaker 1: I didn't know breath work. I didn't acknowledge what was
- 47:45Speaker 1: the separation between what was my thoughts and my person.
- 47:48Speaker 1: I just wanted to unscrew my brain, my head from
- 47:51Speaker 1: my body and put it over in like another room.
- 47:54Speaker 1: And I would say that ironically. I said that to
- 47:56Speaker 1: my mom a lot growing up, which if any parents
- 47:59Speaker 1: out there have children that are like my brain's just
- 48:01Speaker 1: too busy or too much or too chaotic, I would
- 48:04Speaker 1: say that's a bit of a sign because I still
- 48:06Speaker 1: feel that way at times. That's when I know, okay,
- 48:08Speaker 1: it's time to tap back in and you know, take
- 48:11Speaker 1: that breath and take that moment. But I got into boxing.
- 48:14Speaker 1: I would train three times a week, and it just
- 48:16Speaker 1: became both an empowering moment because I could take the
- 48:21Speaker 1: turmoil that was in my body. I could take the
- 48:24Speaker 1: chaos and the crazy. And I mean, I don't really
- 48:26Speaker 1: like the word crazy, but I like I've kind of
- 48:28Speaker 1: reframed it where it's this almost like a collage, is
- 48:31Speaker 1: how I look at it. It's like visually what crazy
- 48:33Speaker 1: looks like to me. And it's beautiful because it's all
- 48:35Speaker 1: these different pieces. But I could take it all and
- 48:38Speaker 1: center that energy into one space, and that's when I
- 48:41Speaker 1: was throwing a punch, and then I fell in love
- 48:43Speaker 1: with the sport and all of the messaging behind it,
- 48:46Speaker 1: the metaphor, the metaphor of not draining your energy anticipating
- 48:50Speaker 1: someone punching you, just staying present, ready, not being in
- 48:54Speaker 1: your head, allowing and trusting in your body, trusting in
- 48:57Speaker 1: your training that when someone does hit you, you move
- 49:01Speaker 1: through it. When you get knocked right, you counter, or
- 49:04Speaker 1: you have defense, or you know it's coming so you evade.
- 49:07Speaker 1: There's so many life lessons in mental health metaphors that
- 49:11Speaker 1: come with that sport, and the most beautiful thing is
- 49:14Speaker 1: the community that you get with it. You meet people
- 49:16Speaker 1: from all walks of life who've been through all kinds
- 49:18Speaker 1: of hell literally hell fire and a hand basket, and
- 49:21Speaker 1: some of them are the funniest, strangest humans you're ever
- 49:25Speaker 1: going to come across. It's like a circus troop, right,
- 49:27Speaker 1: It's kind of feels like the greatest Showman where it's
- 49:29Speaker 1: like everyone's got these different experiences and you're like, Okay,
- 49:32Speaker 1: somehow we're all fam and we all work because we
- 49:34Speaker 1: love the same thing. And truly, boxing was the physical
- 49:40Speaker 1: embodiment of the therapy that I needed for myself mentally.
- 49:43Speaker 1: So it's a joy to get to bring that passion
- 49:46Speaker 1: and that love to people at Peloton now and have
- 49:50Speaker 1: them even though they're not hitting anything yet, they're punching air,
- 49:53Speaker 1: they're understanding that they can move their body in a
- 49:55Speaker 1: way that they created that power, They created that energy,
- 49:59Speaker 1: and they didn't need anything else. We all have that
- 50:01Speaker 1: energy sometimes we just need someone to help us understand
- 50:03Speaker 1: how to harness it. You mentioned the word lightning.
- 50:08Speaker 2: Talk to us about why the lightning and the lightning
- 50:12Speaker 2: bolt are so significant for you in your life for sure.
- 50:16Speaker 1: So just before I had that suicidal moment, and that
- 50:21Speaker 1: moment in my senior year, that summer before, I was
- 50:23Speaker 1: traveling in Italy for college, and that was the first
- 50:28Speaker 1: time I thought I was in love with somebody. And
- 50:31Speaker 1: you know, I was in Italy, he was back in
- 50:33Speaker 1: the States and we were going through a lot. But
- 50:36Speaker 1: I had kind of a gnarly weekend gnarly week weekend
- 50:39Speaker 1: he broke up with me over text message, and I
- 50:42Speaker 1: was in the Tinkwitarta with my two girlfriends and we
- 50:45Speaker 1: would travel every weekend. I lived in Rome at the
- 50:47Speaker 1: time for school, but we would travel, so we were
- 50:49Speaker 1: up there, beautiful area. But as those texts were coming through,
- 50:55Speaker 1: all of a sudden this I'm not joking, this storm
- 50:58Speaker 1: came out of nowhere and that area is kind of
- 51:01Speaker 1: known for it in the Mediterranean. But it was beautiful,
- 51:03Speaker 1: blue day, blue water, and I felt like storm. I
- 51:07Speaker 1: thought I controlled the weather because the more anxious I
- 51:09Speaker 1: was getting, the more I was wanting to talk to him,
- 51:11Speaker 1: but he wouldn't pick up the phone. And then all
- 51:13Speaker 1: these swelling emotions and probably years of what had been
- 51:17Speaker 1: building up, of the anxiety of where's my life going.
- 51:19Speaker 1: I'm about to go into senior year. My career didn't
- 51:21Speaker 1: happen the way that I thought it would. You know,
- 51:23Speaker 1: I've been hiding who I am from everybody, and I'm
- 51:26Speaker 1: not one hundred percent happy. But I'm going to try
- 51:27Speaker 1: and go to Italy and make and have fun and
- 51:29Speaker 1: maybe this will help, you know, trying to put band
- 51:32Speaker 1: aids on a deep wound. It all came to a hat.
- 51:36Speaker 1: All was just it was like everything piled up, and
- 51:40Speaker 1: I remember there was a cute man that worked at
- 51:43Speaker 1: the hotel that we were saying, and he runs into
- 51:45Speaker 1: the room and he's like, oh, I had to take
- 51:46Speaker 1: the umbrella because he's like like he was like freaking
- 51:49Speaker 1: out that the umbrella was going to break the window
- 51:51Speaker 1: because the winds were so bad. So he pulls the
- 51:53Speaker 1: umbrella in and as he does, I just escape out
- 51:55Speaker 1: of the room. I'm like, I need to get out
- 51:56Speaker 1: of here. And I don't know what. I was like,
- 51:59Speaker 1: I just need to be in it. I need It's
- 52:01Speaker 1: crazily enough. I wanted to be in that storm. So
- 52:03Speaker 1: I went up. There was like a roof deck on
- 52:05Speaker 1: the hotel. This hotel was like on a cliff in Monterroso,
- 52:08Speaker 1: and I just stood out in the storm and then
- 52:11Speaker 1: I look across and there was a lightning strike. Every
- 52:15Speaker 1: hair on my body stood up and it was just
- 52:18Speaker 1: this flash moment where I felt completely free of all
- 52:23Speaker 1: of the stress and anxiety, the overwhelm in my head
- 52:26Speaker 1: and my body. I was so present in myself. It
- 52:29Speaker 1: felt like it just was this hopeful moment that I
- 52:34Speaker 1: was like, oh, there's more. And then I pulled out
- 52:37Speaker 1: my phone and I'd still have a photo. It's blurry
- 52:39Speaker 1: and terrible, but there was one more lightning strike. And
- 52:42Speaker 1: I'm so happy I have that photo, and I go
- 52:44Speaker 1: back to it whenever I need to, because in lightning,
- 52:48Speaker 1: in this storm and chaos, in darkness, there's always the ability,
- 52:53Speaker 1: because of the high and the low, because of the
- 52:57Speaker 1: hot air and the cold air, because of all the
- 52:59Speaker 1: contract and the duality and the pain and the purpose
- 53:02Speaker 1: and the joy, something is created. And I didn't recognize
- 53:07Speaker 1: it until later. This moment was definitely kind of the
- 53:10Speaker 1: precursor and I think was kind of the omen or
- 53:13Speaker 1: alarm to what was about to come down the pipeline
- 53:15Speaker 1: in my personal life and in my mental health journey.
- 53:18Speaker 1: But it was ironic lightning I was always drawn to
- 53:22Speaker 1: after that point because it reminded me that was there's
- 53:24Speaker 1: light and such chaos and in such a storm. And
- 53:27Speaker 1: so whenever I see a storm where I see lightning,
- 53:31Speaker 1: and I love wearing it on my body to remind
- 53:33Speaker 1: me like, Okay, even if you're in a bit of
- 53:35Speaker 1: a season or a bit of a moment of that
- 53:38Speaker 1: darkness or that storm, there's always opportunity. There's always something excitable,
- 53:44Speaker 1: and I mean.
- 53:44Speaker 2: For electricity to come from rain and wind and water,
- 53:47Speaker 2: for something else to create, it is like alchemy. And
- 53:51Speaker 2: I think that's kind of the purpose that I remind
- 53:53Speaker 2: myself of, especially in those tough times, is like, Okay,
- 53:57Speaker 2: this is just a sign that there's clarity coming, there's
- 54:00Speaker 2: alignment coming, there's good that can come from such deep,
- 54:05Speaker 2: deep feelings and deep sorrow and deep chaos. For sure,
- 54:09Speaker 2: you at the top of our conversation mentioned recently going
- 54:13Speaker 2: through a breakup, and I know that on your Instagram
- 54:17Speaker 2: last month you put up some sort of a reel
- 54:20Speaker 2: or something that had some sentiment along the lines of
- 54:22Speaker 2: my teenage self would be shocked that I'm so happy single,
- 54:26Speaker 2: even through a lot of heartbreak, and as a fellow single,
- 54:32Speaker 2: proud woman, and.
- 54:34Speaker 1: We'll go get dinner. We'll go ahead, girl, we will
- 54:36Speaker 1: go get dinner.
- 54:37Speaker 2: It's so interesting and I'm sure this happens to you
- 54:40Speaker 2: as well, to get outreach and messages from women who
- 54:43Speaker 2: maybe are not yet and I'll use the word yet
- 54:46Speaker 2: very purposefully, the same amount of secure and content with
- 54:52Speaker 2: their single season and with spending time on their own.
- 54:58Speaker 2: For someone who hears that and there's taking their head
- 55:00Speaker 2: and they're like, yep, this is me, this is me.
- 55:02Speaker 2: I'm working on it, but I'm not quite yet there.
- 55:05Speaker 2: What do you say to them to maybe encourage them
- 55:08Speaker 2: to find that level of comfort standing on their own
- 55:11Speaker 2: two feet.
- 55:13Speaker 1: I will say this, it is no one and no
- 55:16Speaker 1: things job to give you your happiness but yourself. And
- 55:20Speaker 1: it was a very I love the snap. It was
- 55:22Speaker 1: a very interesting moment for me to understand that. I
- 55:25Speaker 1: think as women and in the world and the society
- 55:28Speaker 1: we've been raised in, we're in this shift moment where
- 55:31Speaker 1: traditionally we look at generations past. I look at you know,
- 55:35Speaker 1: so much of it was about finding your partner and
- 55:37Speaker 1: you'll be happy when and you watch the Disney movies
- 55:40Speaker 1: and it's I found Prince Charming and then they ride
- 55:42Speaker 1: off from the sunset f that number one. Hold on,
- 55:46Speaker 1: you're riding on a horse next to me. I'm not
- 55:48Speaker 1: on your horse, okay, Like we're partners in this in
- 55:51Speaker 1: this game called life. But even before that gets to happen,
- 55:56Speaker 1: you have to know your value. You have to know
- 55:59Speaker 1: who you are, you have to know what makes you
- 56:00Speaker 1: happy and understand that, like you're growing on your own.
- 56:04Speaker 1: A partner will be a wonderful thing to have, but
- 56:08Speaker 1: it's not a necessity. It's not going to fill the
- 56:11Speaker 1: gap like the whole bs. I hate that you complete me, No,
- 56:16Speaker 1: you complete to damn self. We are here to complete ourselves.
- 56:19Speaker 1: And when you are a complete, whole, imperfect, flawed but
- 56:23Speaker 1: human person, then that energy of the person that is
- 56:28Speaker 1: meant to be with you will arrive because that's when
- 56:31Speaker 1: those two whole people come together and then they create
- 56:34Speaker 1: something greater than their individual parts. That's what I look
- 56:37Speaker 1: for in whatever the next relationship will be is that.
- 56:40Speaker 1: But even before then, it's enjoying where I'm at right now.
- 56:44Speaker 1: You know, what do I want to do? What new
- 56:45Speaker 1: hobby do I want? Let me go travel solo, do
- 56:48Speaker 1: it smartly, but shoot like I love hopping on a
- 56:51Speaker 1: plan by myself and bringing books and just like all right,
- 56:53Speaker 1: I'll figure it out. There's something so beautiful about really
- 56:57Speaker 1: taking the time, and you know it can be played
- 56:59Speaker 1: out and cheesy like fall in love with yourself first,
- 57:02Speaker 1: but it's very accurate. How do you know what you
- 57:06Speaker 1: want or what would compliment the incredible being that is
- 57:10Speaker 1: you until you've spent time with yourself, you know. I
- 57:14Speaker 1: think we're always looking for oh, this seems like the
- 57:16Speaker 1: right fit, or like you know, you can see like,
- 57:18Speaker 1: oh this person seems great, and then we find ourselves
- 57:23Speaker 1: changing to fit what this person's energy is. Right. I
- 57:27Speaker 1: think what's key is that we hold our own energy,
- 57:31Speaker 1: we hold their own space. They hold their own energy,
- 57:33Speaker 1: they hold their own space, and they compliment each other
- 57:35Speaker 1: in a really beautiful way. That can work for a partnership.
- 57:38Speaker 1: But you don't change your energy because they're there. It's
- 57:42Speaker 1: not You're not the moon and they're not the Earth,
- 57:45Speaker 1: like you're not here to orbit around them. So I say,
- 57:47Speaker 1: hold yourself or your own damp planet, like, get to
- 57:50Speaker 1: know it, make it beautiful, Explore all of the things
- 57:52Speaker 1: you want to do, Suck at things, start new hobbies,
- 57:56Speaker 1: Spend good quality time with the girlfriends or the friends
- 57:59Speaker 1: that just fill you.
- 58:01Speaker 2: Dig into your spirituality, dig into exploring other parts that
- 58:04Speaker 2: you didn't think mattered. I think there's so much more
- 58:07Speaker 2: to do on your own that frankly, it's helpful because
- 58:11Speaker 2: when you're really in love with yourself and where you're
- 58:12Speaker 2: at and who you are, flaws and all, you don't
- 58:16Speaker 2: f around with people who don't deserve your energy.
- 58:19Speaker 1: Amen. When that right person comes along, you can acknowledge them. Like,
- 58:23Speaker 1: if you don't know who you are, you're not gonna
- 58:24Speaker 1: know who your person is. You know, We're just gonna
- 58:27Speaker 1: keep kind of playing the game.
- 58:29Speaker 2: So I'm gonna pull up my horse, and you're gonna
- 58:31Speaker 2: pull up your horse, and we're gonna go to a
- 58:33Speaker 2: pottery studio and make some crappy, sucky pottery.
- 58:37Speaker 1: I'm down. It's funny.
- 58:39Speaker 2: I don't know where the pottery thing's coming from. I
- 58:40Speaker 2: probably should do it. Let's find a spot. There's got
- 58:43Speaker 2: to be a place between you and I, like in
- 58:45Speaker 2: the city.
- 58:45Speaker 1: We'll find it.
- 58:46Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I mean I'm in I don't think I've
- 58:48Speaker 2: ever Actually, that's like one of the few activities I
- 58:50Speaker 2: don't think I've done in Manhattan. There's gonna be like
- 58:53Speaker 2: a hurdler that walks by and like we're just like
- 58:55Speaker 2: in the window making pottery, and they're gonna.
- 58:57Speaker 1: Be like, I get it. Good for that.
- 59:02Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, here we are starting to wind down here
- 59:05Speaker 2: in doing that, Kendall. I want to know what excites
- 59:08Speaker 2: you right now.
- 59:10Speaker 1: I mean, off the top of my head, the fact
- 59:12Speaker 1: it's you know, a bit of a lighter topic, but
- 59:14Speaker 1: the fact the weather is getting warmer, my tropical plant self,
- 59:17Speaker 1: I'm like, ooh, she's opening, she's alive. I have like
- 59:21Speaker 1: a playlist for tomorrow's glass. I'm like, this is very summary.
- 59:24Speaker 1: I'm excited. I'm not wearing like twelve layers of clothing.
- 59:27Speaker 1: So the hopefulness of spring I'm very excited for. I
- 59:31Speaker 1: think this is going to be the hot girl summer
- 59:32Speaker 1: that we all thought was going to be last summer. No,
- 59:35Speaker 1: now we're good, like the you know, there's certain things
- 59:37Speaker 1: that have been handled, so that's exciting. I am single now,
- 59:41Speaker 1: so that definitely tracks. But you know, even beyond what
- 59:44Speaker 1: I'm most excited for, I haven't tied it to outcomes anymore.
- 59:48Speaker 1: I've learned not to. It's not about the attaining of
- 59:51Speaker 1: one goal. It's not about that. I'll be happy when
- 59:55Speaker 1: I'm excited for who I'm evolving into as a woman
- 59:59Speaker 1: and for how that's changing as I get into you know,
- 1:00:02Speaker 1: almost thirty and looking at that time in my life,
- 1:00:04Speaker 1: and I'm excited for the way that the world is
- 1:00:07Speaker 1: unfolding before me.
- 1:00:09Speaker 2: So I hate to say it. I used to be
- 1:00:12Speaker 2: the girl with a five year plan and the two
- 1:00:14Speaker 2: year plan and the ten year plan. All that is
- 1:00:17Speaker 2: out the window at this point. I'm excited to continue
- 1:00:21Speaker 2: to be in existence and be of service to other
- 1:00:23Speaker 2: people and have these conversations and continue to talk about
- 1:00:27Speaker 2: mental health.
- 1:00:28Speaker 1: And I'm excited to live my damn life. If that
- 1:00:31Speaker 1: makes that.
- 1:00:31Speaker 2: Makes you a little bit anxious at all to kind
- 1:00:33Speaker 2: of throw all that out the window.
- 1:00:36Speaker 1: Yes, And hence you could probably tell by the like
- 1:00:38Speaker 1: word babble that happens when I say it, Yes, because
- 1:00:41Speaker 1: I really am working on getting rid of the constraints,
- 1:00:46Speaker 1: and to me, having too much of a plan it
- 1:00:49Speaker 1: limits the possibility and opportunity for what else is to come.
- 1:00:52Speaker 1: And I know I would love to tell you, okay
- 1:00:55Speaker 1: in two months or I'm excited for this project or
- 1:00:58Speaker 1: this that I'm excited for all of it and I'm
- 1:01:01Speaker 1: excited for the parts that are going to suck about
- 1:01:03Speaker 1: it because I know either I'm growing, I'm learning, I'm
- 1:01:06Speaker 1: throwing pottery for the first time, or when we're doing
- 1:01:09Speaker 1: it together, or it just means I'm further in that
- 1:01:14Speaker 1: evolution towards becoming even more of myself.
- 1:01:17Speaker 2: I'm typically big on goal setting, but for some reason
- 1:01:21Speaker 2: this year, what felt like a lot more purposeful for
- 1:01:24Speaker 2: me was just to write down things that I want
- 1:01:26Speaker 2: in my life, like period not tied to I want
- 1:01:30Speaker 2: this by the end of twenty twenty two. I want
- 1:01:32Speaker 2: this by the end of twenty twenty four, Like, yes,
- 1:01:34Speaker 2: there are certain things that I hope to happen this year.
- 1:01:37Speaker 2: But it was so much less rigid and so much
- 1:01:40Speaker 2: more like an affirmation moment that I was like, this
- 1:01:46Speaker 2: is it, Like this is where we're going, this is
- 1:01:48Speaker 2: the territory that we're looking to traverse, and we'll figure
- 1:01:51Speaker 2: it out from there.
- 1:01:52Speaker 1: Yes, it's the removal of the concept of control. And
- 1:01:56Speaker 1: it's so funny. I had New Year's affirmations. I didn't
- 1:01:58Speaker 1: have goals and resolutions, and I'm usually way too And
- 1:02:01Speaker 1: maybe that's one of the beautiful outcomes from a pandemic
- 1:02:04Speaker 1: and from this very odd time that we've lived in,
- 1:02:08Speaker 1: is that we know we don't know what's next. Like
- 1:02:12Speaker 1: I think we're coming to terms with the fact, Oh God,
- 1:02:14Speaker 1: what now, Like someone's going to tell me there's a
- 1:02:16Speaker 1: planet that they discovered and now there's alien life. Don't
- 1:02:19Speaker 1: you know what? Be my guest, I wouldn't be surprised.
- 1:02:22Speaker 2: At I'm open to it all right, but it's just like, well,
- 1:02:26Speaker 2: it's the idea of like just stop being so like,
- 1:02:31Speaker 2: don't worry so much about planning down to a tee
- 1:02:34Speaker 2: and more so, just be open to the fact that
- 1:02:37Speaker 2: again to your point, we can't control everything and we
- 1:02:39Speaker 2: just can do the.
- 1:02:40Speaker 1: Best with what it is that we have right now,
- 1:02:44Speaker 1: and that that energy is what will bring those affirmations,
- 1:02:47Speaker 1: those all of that towards you. It's the little wins.
- 1:02:50Speaker 2: Every day someone comes to your Instagram page, they see
- 1:02:54Speaker 2: a proud Peloton instructor, a strong woman with something like
- 1:03:01Speaker 2: more than six hundred and fifty thousand followers. When you
- 1:03:04Speaker 2: look in the mirror, what is it that you see
- 1:03:06Speaker 2: looking back at you?
- 1:03:09Speaker 1: Ooh, I see a girl that chose to live her life.
- 1:03:15Speaker 1: And I will say, I think that's probably one of
- 1:03:19Speaker 1: the things I will be most proud of, because when
- 1:03:23Speaker 1: you know what it's like to be in a place
- 1:03:25Speaker 1: where you don't and to acknowledge, oh my gosh, I
- 1:03:30Speaker 1: get to do this now and I'm actively choosing her
- 1:03:33Speaker 1: every day. It just it's powerful, it's overwhelming. So all
- 1:03:38Speaker 1: of that is wonderful and I enjoy all of the
- 1:03:40Speaker 1: I'm honored by all of the connection and the outreach
- 1:03:43Speaker 1: and the way I get to be a part of
- 1:03:44Speaker 1: people's special moments in their lives and their growth. But
- 1:03:48Speaker 1: I always have to remember, like I almost didn't have this.
- 1:03:53Speaker 1: I'm just grateful that I get to. So Yep, living big,
- 1:03:58Speaker 1: Living big.
- 1:04:00Speaker 2: Right now, you have the opportunity to offer the young
- 1:04:05Speaker 2: woman who is wondering if this life is worth living
- 1:04:10Speaker 2: any more a piece of advice from where you stand
- 1:04:13Speaker 2: now looking back on that hurdle moment, What do you
- 1:04:17Speaker 2: tell her?
- 1:04:20Speaker 1: You know what, my bee cliche, But I tell her
- 1:04:24Speaker 1: what my dad told me from day one, before I
- 1:04:27Speaker 1: even really knew I needed to hear it. I tell her, girl,
- 1:04:31Speaker 1: it can knock you down, but it can never knock
- 1:04:33Speaker 1: you out. Keep going, Just keep going, keep going.
- 1:04:38Speaker 2: Kendall toool, so grateful for you, So grateful for your
- 1:04:41Speaker 2: time and your conversation. How do the hurdlers follow along
- 1:04:44Speaker 2: with you? How do they keep up with you? Give
- 1:04:46Speaker 2: us all the details?
- 1:04:48Speaker 1: Yes, so they can follow me on Instagram. My handle
- 1:04:51Speaker 1: is fit ex Kendall. My TikTok is the same one.
- 1:04:55Speaker 1: We have lots of silly fun over there. So if
- 1:04:57Speaker 1: you need a good laugh. There's lots of fun content
- 1:04:59Speaker 1: there and then as well, same thing on Twitter too,
- 1:05:02Speaker 1: So hit me up. Let me know, throw pottery with us.
- 1:05:05Speaker 1: Whatever we're gonna do. I want to be in it.
- 1:05:07Speaker 1: Let's live.
- 1:05:08Speaker 2: We're gonna make the pottery and then we're gonna throw
- 1:05:10Speaker 2: the pottery at the wall like some Greek stuff.
- 1:05:12Speaker 1: Oh oh, I can't wait to make pottery with you.
- 1:05:15Speaker 2: I'm over at Hurdle Podcast and at Emily a Body
- 1:05:18Speaker 2: another hurdle conquered.
- 1:05:20Speaker 1: Catch you guys next time.