Manduka has launched a campaign of the heart, #NowStartsNow, to inspire us to motivate what’s bourgeoning within us. There is no time like now to take flight, embrace discovery, unlock our dreams and soar into the wind. What’s tickling your insides to get out? Post your unique embracement of #NowStartsNow on your social media outlets and tag @MandukaYoga #NowStartsNow and you just might be 1 of 10 people to receive special gifts from the Manduka spring collection. Tag @LaLaScoop too, so we can see what’s been stirring inside of you for a long time and where you go when your heart does the driving.

The water has always been my sanctuary – either by sitting at the edge of it or diving down deep within it. It’s calming, nourishing inspires reflection and the ability to let go, so that I can reinvigorate my senses and motivate the next adventure. It’s where I find my source for embracing Manduka’s spring campaign adage, #NowStartsNow. #NowStartsNow has been flowing through me over this past week with my yoga certification graduation with Tamal Yoga School at Yoga Salt coming to a close and culminating with tying up the legal pieces for officially establishing my fitness biz, Andiamo Body. But the gestation of this wave started about a year and a half ago after taking a run on the beach. I realized something incredibly profound that has been lying before my eyes since I was a kid. Ironically, profundity seems to always teeter upon the obvious. It is the new-found perspective that enables the awe.

I’ve always been active, even a competitive athlete on state and national levels in my early years. And, I’ve been teaching kids for nearly 20 years as an elementary and high school classroom teacher and librarian. But, increasingly, over the last couple of years I have been approached by people asking me if I was a personal trainer – to the point that it was beginning to become a crazy pattern. So, as I took my final leap off the sandy shoreline and began my walk back home upon the pavement last winter, I realized that whenever I have a day to myself, I’m always physically active. I’m quick to jump on my bike for a ride, book a kayak or paddle board to cruise around on with a friend, take a run on the beach, head to the gym, catch a yoga class, hit the tennis ball and of course soak up the rays of California sunshine at the water’s edge. It dawned on me that what really makes me happy is being physically active and that there was a presumption that I was a trainer already out in the universe tapping me on the head. The question was being begged of me; “Why don’t I just make it happen – become a personal trainer?” Why not go for doing what really makes me happy from the inside out all the time? I can be physically active all day long, spend a lot of time outside, and continue to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. In essence, I could be free!

So, within a year and half’s time I’ve become a NASM certified personal trainer, earned my Jillian Michael’s Body Shred certification, Schwinn Cycling certification, 200hr Yoga Teacher certification and registered with Yoga Alliance, and am on the last leg of earning my 200hr Children’s Yoga Teacher certification. Towards the end of last summer my very first client came out of the blue, approaching me at the pool. She simply asked me if I was a personal trainer, and this time I was able to answer back, “Yes!” We began working together that very week and my clientele has continued to grow. I’ve also taught multiple yoga classes and bootcamps at my elementary school, which brings me nothing but pure joy. I have loved every single minute. After graduating from my yoga certification program last weekend, I got the #NowStartsNow bug to make my biz completely official. So, I fully legalized it, have my place of business set at Burton Chace Park, and of course started my Instagram account thanks to the brilliance of LaLaScoop’s Melissa Curtin, all in a day’s time. The next step is to get a gig at boutique fitness yoga and spinning studios, and to get ready to officially launch Andiamo Body this spring with a boot camp/yoga adventure in the sunshine, surrounded by water at the park. Keep your eyes on the look out for an invitation. I’m coming to get you LA! #NowStartsNow!

Thanks for that kick of inspiration, @MandukaYoga! As Sean Gray brilliantly relayed to us while guest teaching about inversions at Yoga Salt, “If you’re afraid to fall, you’ll never fly.” Now tell us: What’s giving you the itch? And, go ahead! Turn that inspiration into action! Spread your wings and take flight! #NowStartsNow!