No one can be myself like I can

Hey all, 

Sam here, we hope you are having a successful week so far and keeping warm and safe!

I wanted to take a moment to welcome all of the new email subscribers that we have had this month and send a massive thank you to all the love we have been receiving in various ways. Many people are joining our classes for the first time because of you guys and we cannot say enough how thankful we are to have the best community in the world!

Exactly a year ago I wrote an email about how amazing and unique we each are by channeling the lyrics from Chesney Hawkes and although our January this year is very different to last year, there are still comparisons that we make with others even if we are not exposed to them as much as we usually would be. For me I have certainly found that my mental health and my relationship with my own body confidence has gotten so much stronger since leaving the gym as my 7 days a week work environment.

So here is your email from January 2020.

"I am the one and only, nobody I’d rather be!"

– Chesney Hawkes 

Sam here and yes, I did just quote a Chesney song, one of my favourite empowering songs!

As we mentioned last week, January can be overwhelming for some of us. Even if we have not set ourselves any major goals for the year we may still feel the pressure from those around us that have. Working in the gym environment, one of the things that we find with new joiners especially, is the habit of comparison. We compare ourselves to each other, to a previous version of ourselves, to celebrities or social media influencers, wanting to be more like somebody else. 

But actually.... we are amazing as we are! 

“Because you'll find out that we come, In different shapes and sizes”

We are each unique, amazing and inspirational in our own way. Even if we cant see it in ourselves, believe me when I say that there will be something about you that somebody will aspire to have in themselves and more often than not, we never know just how many people we are inspiring without even trying!

Using fitness as an example, somebody that regularly practices HIIT or spin may find it difficult to lift super heavy weights, meanwhile a bodybuilder may never attend a high-energy cardio class. We each have our strengths and weaknesses which we can choose to work on depending on individual goals, but it is very rare to be able to do everything! I may be running down the canal and somebody passes me at a higher speed. It might be that I'm part way through a 15 mile run while the speedy person is starting a 3 miler. I may look at them and wish I was a faster runner, meanwhile they may wish they had the endurance to be able to run longer distances. 

How often do we wish we had a smaller waist/toned arms/fuller lips/a smaller head?! I remember a year or so ago I was introducing a lady to spin. She questioned if spin would make her any bigger, telling me that she didn’t want big legs, after which she pointedly looked at mine!! There was a time where I may have wished for slimmer legs, but these days I know how strong my legs are and I am very proud of them!

“I am the one and only, You can't take that away from me”

It is always good to have your own goals, it is common to aspire to look a certain way, but please don’t forget along the way that who you are right now is everything you need. How our body is shaped and how strong or fit we are is not a reflection on our personality. No matter what our relationship to our body is, it is our beliefs and values that make us more who we are than any part of our bodies. So don’t forget…

“No one can be myself like I can, For this job I'm the best (wo)man, And while this may be true, You are the one and only you”

Since the pandemic hit us just a few weeks after this original email so many more people have turned to home workouts, changing their usual fitness routine into something different and possibly for the better. Because we are surrounded by our awesome SMASH community we like to hope that around the world more and more people are working out more for their mental health and seeing it as a way to boost their energy and mood.
Together we are stronger when we celebrate every body!

And remember, if you need an extra boost... you know what song to turn to!

💙

Sam and Ash
(She/Her and He/Him)