Last week, on one of my walks I saw a praying mantis.

I usually see roadkill on my walks; squirrels that couldn't make up their mind and so a car made up their mind for them...so seeing the praying mantis was a nice break.

I googled the symbolism of the praying mantis and it turns out, it's a sign of good luck.

Which I'll take any old time, but especially now when I'm less than two weeks removed from my first stand up comedy performance.

I know I mentioned taking a stand up class a few weeks ago, but the truth is, I've wanted to try stand up comedy from the time I was 12 years old.

Once I learned that playing professional baseball was out.

My brothers and I had a VHS of stand up comedians that we'd ordered with Pop Tart box tops. Given that we didn't have cable, we had a short rotation of VHS tapes to watch, and this was in the mix.

I was absolutely enamored with the comedy, especially Paula Poundstone. So I memorized her routine, and started writing my own jokes.

Then one day in my seventh grade science class, I let it be known to my teacher that I wanted to try stand up comedy. He invited me to tell a joke, and I did.

It went over the way you think a 13 year old's joke might go over and I'll never forget what he said.

"It's all in the delivery. I could have told that joke and had everyone rolling on the floor."

His comment, and the tone that he used, made me feel so stupid. So stupid. I was full of regret for having said anything. Though it took me years to realize it, his response to my enthusiasm that day wounded me on multiple levels.

I completely abandoned any ideas about trying comedy after that.

I didn't realize just how much I'd taken that comment to heart until last year. Well over 30 years later.

If you've ever endeavored to write or create art and found yourself with a block, you may have come across the book "The Artist's Way." In it, she talks about the artistic wounds many artists have that they don't realize they have.

Maybe someone told you that you couldn't make a living with your music. Or that drawing was fine, but you should pursue graphic design instead of being an artist.

I'm going to make another clumsy segue here, but a relevant one nonetheless; those same kind of comments around fitness, nutrition and movement are what many of my clients carry.

Sometimes they don't even know that these comments have stuck with them.

Being told they were too slow, too uncoordinated, getting picked last for kickball; I have seen all of these wounds show up for people when it comes to trying new things.

Like strength training.

You might know that we feel hesitant or resistant to trying it, but you might not know why.

I have a client who was a Division I athlete who told a story about being shamed regarding her swimsuit and told to lose weight.

And many clients who endured side-ways comments and glances from well intending parents regarding food choices and their clothing choices.

A lot of these comments were made in passing, but the impact can last a lifetime.

We all carry emotional scars. But sometimes we don't recognize the ways these scars and experiences still affect us as adults.

The first step in making any kind of change is awareness. Which is why I mention this story at all - when we are aware of something and how we've been affected by it, we can learn to address it.

Once I remembered this comment from a teacher (I'd forgotten about it for a long time - but I lived with its effects nonetheless), I could take a look at my limiting beliefs about taking a class or trying an open mic night.

The process of change is awareness, unwinding (the belief or the habit), and then capacity building.

Is there something that you've always wanted to do or try but you think you never could do that? If so, do you know why?

I've heard some doozies from clients when I ask them about whether or not they did they're warm up.

One of my all-time favorites was a client who said, and I quote, "No, but I just had to chase my dog through the neighborhood, does that count?"

And...this one...

"Um...I mean I had my seat warmer on driving over here..."

The bulk of the clients I'm working with have busy lives and often very, very busy heads.

Let's start with the busy life, and then we'll get to the busy head...

When it's taking everything you have in you to get a workout in, taking the time to warm up can feel pointless. Especially if you hate the experience of warming up.

1. It's okay to skip warm up exercises sometimes.

This isn't going to be a popular opinion (with trainers, I'm sure clients won't mind), but if you hate using the foam roller, then take foam rolling out of your workout. Yes it's good for you, but if you dread it so much that you won't do anything then there's no point in having it in your workout.

If the thought of doing a warm up prevents you from doing your work out, then skip it.

Something is ALWAYS better than nothing.

But.....

2. There is a cost to always skipping your stretches and warm ups.

While you might have heard about osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis) and sarcopenia (the loss of muscle mass), something that isn't talked about as much is losing our range of motion in our joints as we age.

I'm not just talking about losing our flexibility - my Dad often talks about how much further his feet have gotten from him as he ages. I'm also talking about losing the ability to raise your arms over your head.

Go ahead and raise your arms over your head right now. I'll wait.

What do you notice when you try? Do you feel tight? Is your arm straight above your head (next to your ear) or in front of you? If you try to reach directly overhead do you arch your back?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, here is an exercise for you:

Ankle mobility is another area that's very important. If you've ever seen an elderly person shuffling along behind a walker, look at their feet - they very likely don't have much ankle mobility (often losing the ability to press off of the balls of their feet). This is one of the reasons that it's easier to trip as we age.

Here's an exercise for ankle mobility:

3. You don't have to do these exercises all at one time.

Ideally you do all of these in a warm up (or in a regular yoga routine. Check out Yoga with Adrienne on Youtube if you're looking to get started). AND, it's also good to mix these types of stretches into your day, especially if you do a lot of sitting.

4. Last point here - can you get up and down off of the floor?

This is key - getting up and down off of the floor is super important, especially as we age. I had one trainer at a conference suggest that this is a great warm up - get up and down off of the floor three times. If possible, do so without using your hands.

You incorporate all of your joints as well as upper body, lower body, and core strength into just getting up and down off of the floor.

Happy Tuesday,

Kim

P.S. If you have a busy head, I'm a fan of grabbing a sheet of paper and doing a five minute brain dump. There's no wrong way to do this. You just grab a piece of paper and write everything that comes to mind.

Then throw it away. Or, sometimes I use mine to make a list.

Do something everyday that scares you.

I don't recall exactly where I read that advice; probably in some personal development book.

I would argue that living in the country, where I have seen both an actual rat and Bernie Sanders (my cat, not the human) walk into my house with AN ACTUAL LIVING SNAKE, delivers on that intention daily, but I don't think that's what the author had in mind.

I think the premise was more along the lines of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone because growth happens when we're uncomfortable.

I can't say that I was actively looking for ways to make myself suffer challenge myself when I signed up for a stand up comedy class a few weeks back, but nonetheless, here we are.

On the first night, the teacher asked a student who had been in his class before to stand up and do a mini set. We all settled in with our notebooks to take notes while she performed.

Then, the teacher asked the next person to stand up and do the same.

By the time he got to the third person, terror was setting in. I leaned to the person next to me, asking if we were all going to have to get up and talk.

"I think so," she said, then looked at me. "Just lead with that look on your face and you'll be fine."

Here's the thing: I thought I was going to go to this class and just take notes and learn about stand up comedy. Sure there might be a performance at some point, but I thought that would come later.

My clumsy segue here is that I think that's how we approach not just new things, but change in general. In the model of change, this is considered the preparation phase.

I'm a huge fan of acquiring knowledge. Taking classes, reading books, listening to podcasts - I'm constantly interested in knowing more.

But I struggle sometimes with actually taking action with some of that knowledge because it requires me to make a change - and change is uncomfortable.

Yet when I think about some of the greatest breakthroughs I've had in my life, they have happened as a result of surviving discomfort. Going away for college, traveling the country with my softball team...

Heck, I even turned down the coaching job that changed my life initially, because I was so uncomfortable with the idea of teaching a large group fitness class.

I can't imagine what my life would look like today if I hadn't taken that risk.

Don't get me wrong - it took months before I started to feel more comfortable teaching those classes. And it was also the best thing that ever happened to me (I know most of you on this list as a direct result of accepting that job...)

When it was my turn to stand up at that first comedy class, I told the story of the rat in my house. Which was funnier when the rat was no longer in my house.

I've been terrified each time I've had to stand up in my first three classes, and I've survived each time.

The blessing, and growth, happens outside of your comfort zone.