Hello and Welcome!
For anyone who doesn’t know me personally (yet), my name is Laura.
At age 3, I convinced my parents to enroll me in dance classes (this is actually a great story but I’m going to be a tease and save it for another post! lol). Shortly thereafter, dance became the focus of my life. My rational brain told me to have a back-up plan, but after one year of a double major in dance and Spanish, the Spanish dropped to a minor and I found myself with a Bachelor’s degree in modern dance performance. As you might imagine, modern dance did not immediately pay the bills in NYC — go figure! So I needed a secondary plan.
The fall after graduation, I started my first fitness training — yoga. I’ve always loved anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology — in other words, studying the body and how it moves. So fitness made a lot of sense. And bonus! It kept my body strong for dance!
Initially, I also worked a variety of odd jobs — babysitting, arts administration, front desk for a yoga studio, writer/editor, tech support for rich people on the Upper East Side (this was wild — I am not tech savvy AT ALL, but turns out people often just don’t know how to google). While I got a lot of great stories out of these experiences, none of the jobs felt sustainable or fulfilling. So a 200 hour yoga program turned into a 500 hour yoga program and Pilates, and restorative yoga, and bodywork, and Barre and spin…you get the idea. 5 years later and I found myself in Austin, TX, a professional dancer, choreographer, and fitness instructor, teaching a wide variety of classes and private sessions.
I can’t quite express how much joy I get from helping people find strength and balance. In recent years, I particularly enjoy working with prenatal and postpartum clients, as well as women preparing for pregnancy, to help them connect with their changing bodies. The pelvic floor is shrouded in mystery and it doesn’t have to be!!
When Covid-19 hit the US, the scale of suffering was horrifically, and in large part avoidably, far reaching. Among other things, the fitness industry was completely disrupted. Amid the stress and anxiety (of which there was A LOT), I used my involuntary “break” from work as a chance to reassess how I reach clients. I realized a studio setting no longer served me in my quest to make fitness accessible to all. Now that people were working out from home, I found short form classes (~30 minutes long) were easier to fit in everyone’s hectic schedules. And with so many of my friends in the entertainment industry (and beyond!) suddenly working severely reduced hours, traditional payment structures were unrealistic and insensitive. So, I left the studios I worked at and started my own online training business where I offer classes and private sessions to folks near and far at a sliding scale rate. I must say, this new method of delivering fitness is rejuvenating!
In hindsight, it’s a no-brainer to start a blog and share my insights regarding health and fitness. But to be honest, I’ve been avoiding writing a blog for years. For one, there was a point in my life where I was working as a writer and editor for a wellness site. After writing day and night for so long, I needed a break. I wanted to step away from the laptop and into my body. Plus, I didn’t want to just have a blog to have a blog. Ya know? I wanted to ensure that I had something to say that was worth saying.
Ultimately, I realized everyone has something worth saying. There was never going to be a magical moment where I would feel like an ultimate authority on anything since I am constantly learning and growing. Enough time has passed since I worked as a writer, and I wanted a new way to connect with past, present, and future friends and clients. So, here we are, and I am really excited to dig into some of my favorite topics with you!
Transparency is always a priority for me, so below are some promises I will make to you regarding the type of content I create.
1. I will write content that is true to my personal experience.
This blog will focus on health, fitness, and movement as it relates to my life — my experience as a teacher, trainer, professional dancer, and fellow human being.
I have no intention of creating an illusion of myself living an enviable lifestyle that is impossible to replicate. In fact, I will only write about my lifestyle in the context of the topic for each blog. These blogs may cover tips or techniques I love, my experience with different types of exercise, profiling different movement modalities, my relationship to my moving body, and more.
2. I will only write within my scope of practice.
This is important!!!* One of my biggest pet peeves in the fitness and dance worlds is when people give advice on topics in which they lack training. For example, I am a fitness instructor. I am not a physical therapist, or a dietician, or a psychotherapist, etc. If you ask me why an exercise is not feeling quite right, I am happy to help. But if you ask me about a random pain in your leg when you are sitting at your desk outside of class, I will refer you to someone who is qualified to answer your question safely. In the context of this blog, I will never claim to be able to diagnose or give advice on topics outside of my scope of practice.
*see…three exclamation points — I mean business!
3. If there is an important topic outside of my scope of practice, I’ll reference an expert!
There are a lot of health and fitness topics outside of my scope of practice that are important and can elevate your fitness routine. When I want to dive into one of these topics I’ll do one of three things, a) link out to a pre-existing article/video by an expert in the field, b) interview an expert, or c) commission a blog post by an expert and share it here.
4. Continuing to deepen my education and sharing newfound knowledge will be a cornerstone of my business.
I LOVE learning! So much! If I didn’t need to make money to pay for things like food, shelter, and more classes, I would never have left school. The good news is, school is not the only way to fill the gaps in my knowledge. I am constantly learning from teachers I respect, clients, friends, and my experiences. And as I learn new things about the human body and how it moves, I will share my findings with you so we can grow together!
Looking forward to sharing all sorts of goodies with y’all! Let’s get after it!
-Laura
