comfort zone – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Chakra Dance

Our team at Personal Euphoria gets together quarterly to do an activity. Most recently we tried Chakra Dancing with Anne Stamatakis from Circle of Life Holistic Health. I’m familiar with Chakras in that I would have told you they are different colored balls of energy relating to different parts of the body. So, I guess, on second thought, I would say I’m not at all familiar with Chakras, which is part of what intrigued me.

I’ve known Anne for years. She has taken our group classes and private lessons and for years I’ve been meaning to try one of her classes. Lack of time made me hesitate. But, if I’m being honest, I presumed Chakra Dance was a little out of my comfort zone.

Clearly, I know myself well. This turned out to be way out of my comfort zone. Anne is a fantastic guide on the journey, but how uncomfortable I felt made me additionally uncomfortable. I could not believe how hard it was for me to let go. Letting go required work, which seems like a contradiction. I often found myself […]

Chakra DanceMaggie Downie2018-12-14T09:45:11-05:00

Comic-Con Comfort Zone

Going to Comic-Con wasn’t exactly outside my comfort zone, but it wasn’t on my list of things to do, and certainly wasn’t something I’d normally be interested in attending. I’ll plan a hike, a fire walk, a giant slip and slide and build an igloo, but I wouldn’t suggest a day at a comic convention. The only reason I wanted to go was to spend time with my brother and Matt and to watch them enjoy it. That was the only reason until I discovered John Cusack was going to be there. I’m still not sure why Cusack was at Comic-Con, but I’ve been a fan before I even knew who he was as a child watching Natty Gann.

The awkward, though understandable, thing about Comic-Con is that you basically have to pay for any interactions with “the talent.” If you want an autograph, you pay. If you want a photo-op, you pay. If you are someone who collects signatures that makes sense to me. If, like my brother and Matt, you know Stan Lee is 93 and you probably won’t get another chance in life to interact with […]

Comic-Con Comfort ZoneMaggie Downie2017-12-29T20:19:54-05:00

Ashtanga Yoga: More Like Pilates than I Expected

Slowly perfecting my headstand.

After agreeing to attend an Ashtanga yoga class for the first time, I recieved an email of the movements we’d be doing. When the attachment opened, I started laughing. Half the starting positions looked impossible. I had visions of the teacher helping me into a headstand and walking away as I toppled over taking out the other participants in a domino effect. Sometimes I worry when people presume I’ll be good or like a certain type of movement. I think because I’m good at Pilates people think I’ll be good at yoga, kick-boxing—all of it, but I’m not. When I was younger and was good at field hockey people presumed I’d be good at other sports, but I wasn’t. It requires a lot of practice to get good at anything.

I went into the class with all sorts of preconceived notions and misconceptions. Chanting turns me off because I can’t carry a tune. I’m worried about over-stretching, and I presumed the class would have a lot of over-stretching. I was wrong. The client who told me about the class mentioned that the instructor […]

Ashtanga Yoga: More Like Pilates than I ExpectedMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:37:10-05:00