Core: Word of the Year Check in

Do you play along with choosing a word for the year? This is my 8th year, and I love the perspective a word adds. My word for 2019 is Core. In January I made jokes about not doing ab exercises. I knew from the start that Core felt like coming to center — being the hub at the center of the wheel. Feeling strong there, and then sending spokes out into various experimental directions.

Now that we're 6 months in to 2019, I'm loving my word. Discovering and working with Core Values has been a big new path for me this year. I'm learning to lean into Freedom, Bravery, Vision and Beauty. Connecting with them is helping light my fire from within.

I also came to realize that not only do I need some support and structure this year, but that I also needed to see this as investing in myself. In my Core self of who I am and want to be. I've invested in my own growth and development by adding a life coach and a personal trainer to my team as well as some other support groups to keep me aligned and moving forward between sessions.

With my personal trainer I'm still not doing ab exercises! This time around, I decided to approach training by building up my strengths — which for me is strength. My body develops muscle very quickly. So rather than focusing on weight loss, cardio or endurance, I decided to go with weight lifting. Eric Kenyon with Form is Function is my trainer. His approach focuses on proper form and movement. He helps remind me of my goals of improved/consistent energy and a consistent level of recharge (ie, sleep). He has a mindful approach and can discuss the spiritual side of exercise as much as the physical dynamics.

My physical core is getting stronger. Interestingly, this approach of the physical body has been making great strides with my emotional body as well. I feel more confident. I'm standing taller. I'm learning new forms of patience. I'm also practicing both heavy, slow lifting (my body's natural style) and balancing it with fast lifting to develop those fast-twitch muscles and response systems.

Through this work with my personal trainer and the higher-level perspective of my life coach and her style of questioning, I'm more rapidly getting in touch with my Core in a focused way. In the process, my level of self love has both deepened and expanded.

Now I'm starting to feel at the Core of my life, surrounded by an exceptionally supportive team that includes these new additions along with my fiancée and other cherished members. Little did I know in January that Core would come to mean also putting my whole, full self at the center of the altar of my life. I feel primed and supported for stepping into a larger space of service.