S.H.E Summit 2016 Recap Featuring Fitness Tips
S.H.E Summit 2016 Day 1 Recap to Kickoff Inspirational Role Models Month
S.H.E. Summit, Claudia Chan's 2-day program created to empower women to rise to their fullest potential while lifting others, wrapped us this Saturday and featured one inspirational role model after another.
As one of the 100,000 global livestream viewers of S.H.E. Summit, I took a TON of notes. While I'd love to share all of them here, I decided to focus my summary on health and wellness related advice from the many female thought leaders I learned from this year.
I'm especially excited to be sharing my first set of tips today, the first day of Inspirational Role Models Month! Yes, there were way too many awesome tips for one blog post even when I narrowed them down to those with a fitness focus. Today, I'm sharing my insights from Day 1. Next week, I'll share a recap from Day 2 of S.H.E. Summit 2016.
Day 1 Fitness Tips from S.H.E. Summit Inspirational Role Models:
How to Amplify Your Leadership through Radical Self-Love:
S.H.E. Summit 2016 kicked off with Gala Darling's keynote speech, How to Amplify Your Leadership through Radical Self-Love. Gala's talk focused on her 10 Commandments of Radical Self-Love. Radical Self-Love Commandment #5 was all about fitness.
How do you follow Radical Self-Love Commandment #5? This commandment is all about challenging yourself to Reframe How You See Fitness.
Are you practicing @GalaDarling's Radical #SelfLove Commandment #5?It'll help you find your #FitnessMotivation
Gala explained that this commandment can be used before we even start our workouts. Instead of seeing fitness as another item on our to-do lists, it should be something we spend time on because we love ourselves.
Want to practice this commandment during your next workout as well? The key is to monitoring your thoughts.
If you're trying to hit 10 repetitions of a certain exercise and hit rep #7 thinking about how you're dying and want to give up, stop yourself! Instead of choosing the thought that you're dying and can't make it, choose the thought that says, "I've got this!" This shift in how you're thinking about your literal strength can make all the difference (of course, follow this tip after checking with your doctor and trainer to see what an appropriate weight would be for your current fitness level!).
Gala's recap of the importance of this commandment was something I had to write down:
"Reframing fitness is super important not just for the health reasons! It's because it proves to you the power of your own mind and your own strength."
Reframe fitness to prove to yourself the power of your own mind & strength ~ @GalaDarling @SHESummit more: http://FitArmadillo.com/SS2016
I couldn't have said this better myself! By the way, Gala and I aren't alone in our belief that the lessons you learn during your workouts can be used to improve your life as a whole. Interviewees from our upcoming book (learn how you can get an advance copy HERE) as well as our Fitting in Fitness video interview series have said the same thing!
How to Maximize Your Career Success as Your Whole Self:
S.H.E. Summit speaker, Carla Harris, the star of this session, was one of my favorites. While she didn't give fitness-specific advice, I think you'll find this quote applicable to any of your goals:
"Fear has no place in your success equation!"@carlaannharris @shesummit more #FitTips #LifeTips: http://FitArmadillo.com/SS2016 #SHEDECIDES
Invest Your Time in "What Matters" Over "Having it All:"
This was a powerhouse panel! Moderated by Claudia Chan, it included Citizen Watch Ambassador and three-time grammy winner Kelly Clarkson, Citizen Watch Ambassador and vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli, and Ellen Seckler, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Citizen Watch.
One of the most common reasons I hear women say they can't fit in fitness is because they feel they don't have the time. The truth is that making the time for fitness will actually bring you more focus and energy to your life.
How do you make time for fitness or anything that's important to you? Here are some nuggets of wisdom from the panel:
"Believe in yourself and how you want to spend your time and don't let other people make that calendar/schedule for you. You know what's important. You know it in your gut. How you spend your time is everything." ~Chloe Coscarelli
"How you spend your time is everything" @ChloeCoscarelli #WordsofWisdom @SHESummit #SHEDECIDES #TimeManagement
"There's no time like the present to be yourself. It sounds cliche, but many people don't do it. Just be you. Don't let somebody project something that you should do because that's what is accepted or that's what people are accustomed to...this is your moment...enjoy what you're doing." ~Kelly Clarkson
"There's no time like the present to #BeYourself" @kelly_clarkson @SHESummit #SHEDECIDES #WordsofWisdom
#WomanInProgress: Transforming Pain to Progress:
Yoga Teacher Jessamyn Stanley, one of this session's panelists, started off by sharing a story I could relate to! She'd tried yoga in high school and HATED it. Several years later, one of her classmates in graduate school urged her to try again saying, "Oh my god, you'll love it, it will change your life!" What happened?
She went and she loved it! She describes the experience:
"I went and I loved it. It was SO hard! Everything about it was so dreadfully difficult...I was trying hot yoga and it was just so intense and I'd wondered if I would even be able to survive, but I didn't realize that I'd never given myself the chance to try outside of my comfort zones. That I'd never given myself the space to expand or to even try to see what I could be and what I could do and ever since I've turned that corner so much has evolved and so much has changed."
Tried yoga-hated it?We+Yoga Teacher @JessNotJazz relate!Motivation to try again #OntheBlog http://FitArmadillo.com/SS16 #FitTips #SHEdecides
Another nugget of wisdom from Jessamyn that I'm obsessed with? The idea that it's way more informative to ask ourselves how we feel instead of how we look!
Ask "How do I FEEL?" vs."How do I look?" #WordsofWisdom @SHESummit @JessNotJazz More #FitTips #LifeTips
Fellow panelist, Elayna Fernandez of The Positive MOM, had lots of great advice as well. My favorite that can easily be related to your fitness journey was her personal mantra: "Progress is success."
I'm a #WomanInProgress #GratefulFor @thePositiveMOM_'s #WordsofWisdom "Progress is success" @SHESummit
The Imperative for Women to Own Their Financial Security:
While this panel focused on tips to help us own our financial security, there was an awesome story from Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest that I'm sure the moms can relate to:
"For many years I told my kids to exercise - 'y'all need to exercise!' I did not. I sorta figured that's what Spanx were for, to just keep it all in. And they wouldn't exercise. They wouldn't do it. And then I realized, if I wasn't doing it, they wouldn't. And now we are a family that all exercises...If we want to change things, that's how we're going to do it, it's what they see."
Trying to get ur kids to exercise? @salliekrawcheck shared advice @shesummit:http://FitArmadillo.com/SS16 #HealthyMom #HealthyKids #FitTips
Breaking Barriers in Male-Dominated Fields:
First, I have a confession: I didn't realize that there was Olympic level wrestling for women! This panel was amazing, but my favorite speaker was definitely three-time world champion wrester, Adeline Gray.
While Adeline and the entire panel were beyond inspiring, my favorite message that you could apply to your fitness goals was the following from Adeline:
"Dream bigger, soon" #WordsofWisdom from #Olympian @adelinegray @SHESummit #SHEDECIDES http://FitArmadillo.com/SS16 #FitTips #LifeTips
The Pie Life: A New Guilt-free Paradigm Shift for Thinking About Work-Life Balance:
Struggling to find a work-life balance? Samantha Ettus explains that this is common now that our jobs don't help us create that boundary.
Additionally, the term balance in itself is problematic. If we were really going to have a balance between work and life, we'd have to spend equal time in these two areas. This and other frameworks (read: juggling or having it all) just don't work.
What does?
After looking at the most successful people and seeing what they had in common, Samantha found a few patterns to help us. First, these individuals did not have guilt and they were not aiming to be perfect or like someone other than themselves.
Instead, they were all involved in 6 to 7 areas of their life:
1. Health
2. Career
3. Relationships
4. Community
5. Friends
6. Hobbies
7. Kids (if you have them 😉 )
Instead of thinking of your life as something you're balancing, think of how you can involve all 6-7 items in your pie (even if one or two are there in a limited amount). The idea is to allow yourself permission to be involved in all of these slices.
Tired of hearing about #WorkLifeBalance? Check out @samanthaettus's framework The #PieLife @SHESummit More: http://FitArmadillo.com/SS16
It's OK to ebb and flow the sizes of these slices each day, week, and year. Instead of making crazy goals for each slice(read: a huge, unspecific fitness goal like many do come New Year's), create something specific you can commit to (i.e. walking for 20 mins 3 times a week).
Another piece of advice I loved:
"Anytime we're making a decision based on guilt, it's probably the wrong decision"@samanthaettus's @SHESummit: http://FitArmadillo.com/SS16
Yes, these tips only cover Day 1 of S.H.E. Summit's best fitness-focused nuggets!
Now that you've read them, I'd love to know which one was your favorite and which you'll use to start or jumpstart your fitness routine. Share your thoughts or other insights from this event, if you attended, with a comment below:
