I almost don’t know where to start with this event. From start to finish it was just what I needed and super refreshing. Let’s start with the basics, Indulge is a wellness event based in Kansas City held at Freighthouse Fitness. The event was founded by MOJO cycling instructor Sarah Buchanan. All proceeds from the event were donated to REbel, a student driven, peer education and prevention program that addresses body image issues.
Indulge is an all day event for women to put themselves first, define their own balance and feel like badass babe warriors. The goal was to workout, fuel our body with good foods and chat about hard hitting issues like body image, self love, confidence, balance and nutrition.
“Let’s be Badass Babe Warriors”
First up was Kirsten Webster. She’s a life and well being coach. Her workshop was about cultivating our best self and learning how to be confidence warriors. In todays society it is the norm for people to be super critical of themselves. A common thought between teens and the elderly is that they all have something about themselves they don’t like or they would change (That’s really sad!).
Some of us have been there. I’ve stood in the mirror before and told myself that I don’t like xyz, which is not healthy. Holding myself to such high (unrealistic) standards rather than loving the skin I’m in is so important. Kristen urged us all to live an intentional life. To be beautifully unique in our own skin and to love ourselves dearly. Society can strive on negativity and insecurities and as women, we should feel empowered to not let that rule our thoughts and lives.
We did a quick exercise to help us get on the right path. HOLD YOURSELF D-E-A-R.
D: DISCOVER YOU
E: EMBRACE YOU
A: APPRECIATE YOU
R: ROCK YOU
To discover yourself, imagine the wisest version of YOU. Who is she: body, mind and soul? Hang on to that, hold yourself to those standards and embrace them. If you find yourself being judgmental of yourself or others or if you find yourself comparing, it is a sure sign you have not discovered yourself and you need to do more self reflection. She also mentioned that if you find yourself in a place of judgment, shift to a place of compassion or praise. Celebrate instead of being so critical.
Under embracement, we identified three of our strengths. Women often have a super easy time telling people what they are bad at but get really shy or quiet when it comes to speaking up about what they are good at. She encouraged us to be proud of our strengths.
For appreciate you, we came up with a personal one-of-a-kind “confidence you” mantra statement that she encouraged us to say to ourselves. Then we also wrote down three things that we do, wear or say that fuel our confidence. She urged us to do more of that!
Lastly, for rock you, she showed us a straight standing posture that generates a feeling of confidence. She called this her “power pose” and urged us to do it daily for at least 2 minutes.
“How we carry ourselves matters”
Next up we heard from Abbi Miller. She’s a holistic nutritionist and yoga instructor. She taught us about nutrition and gave us 10 tips to fuel our fab lives. Her first tip was to not skip meals, which is super basic but shockingly I know a lot of people who skip meals. They legit don’t eat breakfast — mind blown. Skipping breakfast automatically slows metabolism and induces afternoon and evening food cravings. She also mentioned to eat at least 25% of the day’s calories at breakfast because breakfast is the only meal that speeds up calorie burning. She also emphasized eating lots of protein and leafy vegetables as they keep you feeling full and satisfied.
Near the end, we heard from Jenne Fromm. Her topic was death by comparison. She’s freaking hilarious by the way! Her main point was that when we compare ourselves to others or try to be like others, we’re killing the best unique parts of ourselves, which the world wants and needs to see. Her three tips were to have realistic goals and expectations for ourselves, embrace our weaknesses and celebrate one another. She also encouraged us to not always be so self absorbed that we never know what the person next to us is going through. We should be more kind and compassionate + lift each other up.
What else was on the agenda? We mixed in cycling, HIIT class and finished with a little Vinyasa + stretching. The Indulge tribe reached out to all our emergency contacts and asked them to say what they admire about us. During Shavasana, the team read allowed (anonymously) all the responses. It was insane. Not a dry eye in the building. It was extremely moving to hear such kind words and appreciation. It really hammered home that each of us are individually extraordinary.
From top to bottom the day was incredible. So many valuable lessons and actionable nuggets to work on to better ourselves. Self love is always a work in progress and no matter how confident you are, there is something each of us can work on. The day was filled with laughter, sweat, tears and joy. The energy was contagious.
Big shout to Unbakery & Juicery + Rawxies for fueling us all day with delicious healthy eats and Trader Joe’s for supplying us with wine and beer for post workout happy hour. There were also giveaways from lululemon athletic Country Club Plaza, Garmin and some of the other sponsors.
Stay tuned for the next INDULGE event happening spring 2017!
PC: Me (@kgrade) & The Empowerment Photographer
Sweat Adventures 