Goddesses Share Their Secrets

What is success to you?

Success to me is finding peace within yourself and being grateful for everything you have in life. Constantly trying to “fix” something about yourself and seeking external validation from others leaves a sense of emptiness within yourself. It leaves you desperately reaching for compliments, praise, and attention from others. When you fall head over heels in love with yourself and find inner peace, you stop caring about how others perceive you and you can channel your energy and utilize your strengths to contribute your family, community, and environment. Success is being kind to yourself. When you are kind to yourself so many amazing things will open up for you.

What is magic to you?

Kindness is so magical. When you do something for someone else without expecting anything in return you feed your spirit and it feels so amazing that you’ll want to do it again and again. Kindness is so powerful. We can change the world if we can speak with kind words and act from a kind heart more often. Those who are kind with their actions and their words tend to be very confident and grounded who have succeed in finding inner peace and can now channel their energy to help make our world a more magical place to live.

What is love for you?

Love is the most powerful emotion we feel. True love starts with loving something greater than yourself. This can be the Great Source, God, Energy, Nature, etc. You know that there is something bigger than you and bigger than all of us. You understand the life/death/life cycle and you love still. Love is nurturing and kind. We treat those whom we love with a tender heart but with a firm touch. We fiercely protect those who we love but also teach our children through loving discipline. Love is respecting Mother Earth and everything she provides us. Love is respecting our bodies and nourishing it with movement and real food. We love ourselves and then we share our love with others.

What is your health/beauty practice?

Movement is my main health and beauty practice. The more I move especially out in nature the happier I am as a person. Movement provides me with energy to keep up with the daily “grind” of work, chores, and my very mobile toddler. Movement keeps my body youthful and injury free. It is the best anti-aging tool out there and it’s free! I also drink lots of water and use a dry brush to stimulate my lymphatic system.

My daily beauty practice is pretty simple. I have to keep it simple because I am a mother to a very busy toddler, running a personal training business with my husband, and a natural movement activist with Movnat. But I refuse to neglect my self-care ritual because by taking care of myself I am able to do all these tasks better.

I wash my face with EvanHealy’s Blue face cream for sensitive skin. It is amazing! I then spray my face with a special hydro-toner from Jessika that has immortelle. I then use her Beauty Face Oil. It smells heavenly so part of my morning ritual is rubbing it into my hands then taking a few deep breaths before applying to my face. Amazing! I then put on a little lip gloss and use an eyelash curler to curl my eyelashes. At night time I wash and apply Jessika’s chamomile and lavender oil to my face and 1-2x per week do an Aztec clay mask with Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar. That’s it! I used to use all kinds of make-up and my morning routine took way too much time. Now that I have worked self-love I don’t need all the make-up to feel beautiful. In fact, I get way more compliments now than when I did wear makeup and my skin feels and looks so much healthier. When you love yourself your inner beauty shines through and you glow!

What makes your spirit glow?

Honestly, taking time for myself makes my spirit glow. Going one solo hikes, sitting by water, soaking in hot springs, mediating, or even taking a nap brings me to life! During these times I am able to connect to my inner spirit and intuition and listen to her voice of wisdom. After I take time just being with myself I feel recharged and ready to take on anything life throws my way. I have more energy for my son, I feel more creative, I am more productive at work, and I have more love to share.

How do you stay centered in the middle of chaos?

This is a challenging question for me because it is hard for me to stay centered in the middle of chaos. The only way I have been able to ground myself in high stress situations is to reconnect to my breath and close my eyes. Just taking a few moments to listen and feel the inhale and exhale of my breath normally helps to calm my nerves. It is also helpful to pay attention to the space between each breath. The space between each breath is where I find peace and stillness. Everything stops. So it’s normally there that I find myself again. But again, this is something that is in a work in progress for me.

When I am stressed I normally find a place outside to sit and just be still. I breathe in the fresh air, listen to the organic music that natures plays for us, and dig my feet and hands into the earth to soak up Mother Nature’s love.

What causes/organizations are you passionate about?

I am extremely passionate about educating women and empowering women through movement. I feel in love with the philosophy and methodologies of MovNat and now consider myself a MovNat activist whose mission is to bring natural movement to women, especially mothers. Right now I am running a non-profit movement challenge on Instagram with fellow MovNat instructor and mother, Chloe Parsons. Our goal is to spread the movement of well, movement  We do plan on doing more challenges in the future.

The reason why I believe so much in MovNat is because it’s comprehensive method provides a greater purpose to why one should train. It is our biological duty to be fit and capable in order to help others in need. It is also such a great example for your children. Children are so observant and they will move the way their parents move. I already see it in my 1 ½ year old son. He already tries to balance on beams and climb trees. He is exploring his environment through movement. And children these days don’t move as often as they should and they certainly don’t connect to nature as much as they should. They are our future and their habits and mindset are being formed right now and as the parent you are the greatest influence. So for me, being a part of the movement of natural movement makes complete sense. Being a mother, gym owner, and personal trainer, it is my responsibility to share this with everyone around me.

If you could say one thing to the world what would you say?

I would tell the world to be kind. Be kind to yourself, be kind to the Earth, and be kind to others. You can fight kindness. If someone attacks you with harsh words and you say something kind back, how can they retaliate? How can you fight kindness? When you love yourself you will act more kindly to the world. You will treat Mother Earth with respect, you will help those in need, and you will empower others to be their best selves as well. We can be the change we want to see. Remember kindness is magical.

What advice would you give a new mother?

Let your baby explore. Let him/her play barefoot, eat dirt, splash in wild water, and pick up sticks. Let them fall a couple of times and watch them get back up. And let them see you do it too! Show them that growing up isn’t just about work, chores, and stress. Show them that you never grow too old to play and explore.

ABBY CLARK
Rebar Personal Trainer Westport CT
www.rebarfitness.com