A reflection on Find Your Why July

This month our studio focus wasn’t its typical self. Instead of a physical challenge like booty gains or toe point perfection, the challenge was to our mindsets. It can be easy to get lost in the day to day hustle and bustle of life, or bogged down because of what’s not working or what’s challenging us. We lose sight of our ‘why’. Why we are awesome, why we love life, what is good about today, what we are grateful for, what inspires us, makes us smile – all of these things are important for reorienting us, pulling us up and helping us to remember: it’s all good.

Over the month of July we shared some posts on our social media about how we might find our 'why'. Reminders on being kind to ourselves, finding time to smile, taking time to enjoy the small things, smiling at strangers, not sweating the small stuff, celebrating successes of all kind and practicing gratitude. All things that are easy to forget, easy to scoff at, easy to ignore the goodness in, when really if we just broke some habits and invested in a few of these kinds of things we’d probably be a bit happier and more balanced for it. 

During July we also challenged our Altitude members to find their why by asking them a selection of questions - to think of things they were looking forward to, things they were grateful for, what their five year ago selves would be impressed with today, and, what they can do, or do better than last month. It was refreshing. It was inspiring. It was a small ask - to comment on posts, but reading back on some of the things that were said, it was big. 

I wanted to on-share a few comments made by our Altitudians on these posts. Please go ahead and enjoy some warm fuzzies, or a smile or two because we're all about the smiles!

What are you looking forward to this week?

• I've got so much to look forward to this week! I'm literally still on a happy buzz after Friday's dinner with all the amazing pole peeps. I'm looking forward to pole styles later today, pole flow and level 4 with Zoe on Wednesday (she is so amazing!!). Going to Sun & Sound on Thursday with some awesome friends. And celebrating two birthdays this weekend! Ooh and it's payday tomorrow. It’s a good day to be me!

• I'm looking forward to my Mum booking her flights to come to New Zealand! This will be her first ever trip overseas and the first time we have seen each other since Feb 2015 when I surprised her with a visit after 5 years of not seeing each other. Annnddd..... She's going to be here to watch me in September's Showcase

• And to add to my week thanks to this feed I now know Sarah has a day off tomorrow so we are meeting for coffee!!! Woot woot!!! :D

What are you grateful for?

• lI’m grateful for my sweet jacket made of teddy bears keeping me warm on this horrible cold day. after a back injury nearly 4 years ago and then shoulder injuries 1 year ago, chronic pain has been my life for years and I've had to keep taking breaks from the aerial sports I love. I often look longingly at people doing tricks that many years ago I too could do but now can't. However, now back at pole albeit level 1, I no longer take for granted what my body can do and am so grateful for what it can do. I may never be able to do the moves again that I could 5 years ago but I'm so happy to be back at the studio. It's the main reason I'm doing the photo shoot despite not being capable of doing fancy tricks: I'm just so grateful that I can do pole at all

• I’m grateful for my sweet jacket made of teddy bears keeping me warm on this horrible cold day.

• At the risk of sounding obnoxious, I am most grateful to have such a killer partner in life. No offense other men, but all you do is remind me how much I love this one ;) I'm also insanely grateful to have found aerial arts at a time in my life when I really needed proof that my body still had value.

• Game of Thrones

What would the you of five years ago be stoked about the you of today?

• She’d be mindblown that I can do the splits, and that I’m enjoying the fit life. She’d also be totally stoked that I have a good job, am engaged to her boyfriend and have a house with some pretty cute fur babies.

• I have a way better day job than I ever imagined after graduating, and I became a fricken pole instructor (which I secretly hoped I would become one day, but it took me a while to believe in myself). I would *never* have thought I’d get on stage in a tiny costume and huge heels, but I learned to love my body (slowly) through pole, and now you’d have a hard time telling me to put pants on. I’m so stoked I have good people around me – I love my friends and my life is pretty awesome.

• I’d just be stoked about all the rad tattoos I have now tbh. I had none five years ago and now I’m pretty covered in them.

What can you do, or do better this month compared to last?

• Stuck up for myself when someone was talking down to me at work

• I think this month I have definitely nailed my front splits - I got them last month but this month I feel the pain / discomfort is decreasing and I feel like I can hold them for longer which makes me so happy and my side splits are getting there too! I'm also loving how I've had a lot more confidence with pole and am a lot more determined to give new moves and tricks a go, and how determined I am to be successful with them and my classes, rather than just being a participant! Outside of pole, I'm really happy / proud of myself for going back to uni this semester and resitting the paper that I failed last year. I was super embarrassed about failing and did not want to go back to uni to re do it all but I'm so happy to be back and I'm really enjoying it

• I have become a f*cking epic Jenga player, look out world championships

To all our students, you rock, thank you for taking part in Find your Why July and sharing your whys with us. We should do this more often!