NuriaLolita.com

Change, and Compassion.

 

Change, I think, is good for the soul.  A friend recently sent me a photo quote thing on facebook during a conversation about the world and travelling that said "If we were meant to stay in one place, we'd have roots not feet".

A Nomadic Life... for the last 6 months or so I have not been in any one place longer than 3 weeks at a time.  I'm both ready to feel a little more settled, and a little sad to be giving up the semi nomadic lifestyle I've recently embraced.  Since I moved to Auckland earlier in 2011 my life has largely since been lived out of suitcases due to numerous visits home for work and visiting a sick friend so much during 2013, and my trips to the States every 5-6 months.  

Experience... I have lost a lot of money, but I have also gained the kind of memories, friendships and life lessons that money could never buy.  I've done what I wanted to tick off, seen more in my 29 years than many people get to experience in their lifetime.  I have learnt to not just accept myself, but to love who I am.  I have become increasingly compassionate I think seeing more places and people and hearing their stories, to the point it can be embarassing (I've cried while doing cardio in peak hour at the gym watching videos on youtube about homelessness or animal shelters). The last few years have been interesting, I've had no money, lived in a relative's garage for 11 months, been isolated, injured (again), faced numerous challenges, given up all the little things I was used to make my dream of using my Pro Card happen, been misunderstood and judged and wondered what the hell I was doing with my life.  Looking back, I have no regrets only gratitude for all of life's experiences to date even the shitty ones because they really do teach you a lot and for me this has been discovering what's REALLY important to me...

COMPASSION!  Life is hard.  People can be hard work.  We all have bad days, we all go through painful life events and have to suffer the emotions that go with them.  Training for me has always been my therapy.  On and off medication since 15, the one thing that has ALWAYS made me feel better, more positive and hopeful, is my training or my training others.  I don't believe it fixes underlying problems but it helps you cope with them.  A large percentage of my clientele have always been people who relate to depression, anxiety, substance abuse or body image issues.  I love using health and fitness to empower others and show them what is possible.  Physical training is also one of the best ways to release stress.

WHOLE HEALTH.  I focus for both myself and my clients on the big picture.  I don't want to charge $70 an hour to tell people to eat healthy do cardio and lose weight.  I want to pick up on and help my clients with the reasons why they haven't achieved goals, especially if they've struggled silently or for a long time.  If you look at everything including emotional state, mindset, lifestyle, living and food sharing situations etc.,  you can see why and how things fall apart and effectively work round these obstacles putting steps in place to help so you get past the things that usually trip you up.  

"He who has health, has hope, and he who has hope, has everything"

While in the USA (Aug 2012, Oct/Nov 2013, May 2014, Nov/Dec 2014), I have trained at Gold's Gym in Venice & Vegas, at Destination Dallas, & The City Athletic Club in Vegas which is the training ground to famous IFBB Pro's like Jay Cutler & Iris Kyle.  I trained a couple of times during my most recent trip with Eric DiLauro, a well known Trainer of amateur and pro body building athletes and I LOVED it, his approach was excellent and was great to interact with someone higher up in the industry and see how they work in person.

Christchurch will always be home in a way, but I have fallen in love with Venice, California, and more recently with San Diego/ Tijuana - I could easily call those places home, while part of me wants "no home".  Home is where the heart is though as the saying goes, and I have missed Christchurch, old school friends, familiar faces & gyms, so for 2015 anyway Christchurch will be home.

EXCITED... about all the things that will be happening this year.  I have a small group of women I'll be prepping for their shows and can't wait to work with some competitors but not too many so I can give them my best and spread my time between other passions too.  

POWERLIFTING!  Excited pretty much covers this, for myself and for all of you awesome Chch women who are going to join me in getting into lifting comps and kick butt with Barbells this year, some wee ladies with some big lifts out there can't wait to see them on the platform!  

SEE YOU LATER AUCKLAND... SEE YOU SOON CHCH x