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wellesleyunderground · 6 years

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A New Years Self-Love Re[v]olution

The start of a new year is often a time in which people reflect on the previous year but also make resolutions for the 365 days that lie ahead. Here WU editors and contributors reflect on where they are in terms of their own self-esteem and self care and state their personal intentions for 2018.

At this juncture, how do you feel about yourself (honestly)?

Proud. When I look back on 2017, I finally worked up the courage to do a lot of things I had been putting off for my entire life. None of it was easy and 2018 looks to be even harder, but still. I gave this year all I had. - Shloka Ananthanarayanan ‘08

Unhappy. I feel like there’s a lot of choices I wish I did or did not make and it’s for some reason easier to continue to examine those choices as the source of all that’s wrong and as a result beat myself as opposed to making a solid plan to course correct. Further, I’m at a point where those around me are settling down and while I am not looking to be coupled/married anytime soon (or perhaps ever), it’s hard not to feel lonely or that I am lacking. Not having a person who is consistently there for me to rely on, even a family member, makes me feel adrift which in turn makes me question my self-worth. -Anon ‘09

Finally feeling like I have direction. When I finished my MFA in 2014, I wasn’t sure how to go about structuring my life around my writing. I’ve had a bunch of different jobs the past three years, from nannying to teaching high school English full-time, and finally this fall I feel like I figured out what jobs allow me the most time/headspace to write. I also finally feel like I know exactly what steps I need to take next to complete my book project… now it’s just a matter of actually doing them in 2018. - E.B. Bartels ‘10

Frustrated. I’ve discovered some of my limits this year and have been trying to streamline my life and commit to less. But I feel professionally and personally frustrated. And it’s difficult to be okay with my life as it is because I experience extreme isolation and am not progressing professionally as I would like. The more I try different things and don’t give up trying to feel better, the more frustrated I feel. And it’s particularly exasperating because I can imagine other people looking at my life and judging how privileged and fortunate I am, which I realize is true at some level but doesn’t help in the daily struggle. -Anon ‘98

Hard to say one word, so I’m going with “Work in progress”. I’m happy with where I am with my work (both paid and unpaid) and feel like I am in a field that matches my passions and challenges me. But I’ve definitely hit a wall this year in terms of my capacity and it’s been hard figuring out how to set up systems to scale back without totally disengaging with my work, communities, and friends. - Fei ‘10

Overall, really good. I feel really thankful for many things that happened in 2017: I met a lot of really amazing, wonderful people; I traveled to many new countries (and even rode a camel!); I tried new foods… I also learned a lot about myself and grew as a person, which is especially important to me. I started a journey I’ve been thinking about for a long time—the journey to become a doctor—and while it’s a hard one, it makes me happy to know that, whatever comes ahead, I will try my hardest to be kind to myself throughout the process. -May Sifuentes ‘09

Unsure. I came into 2017 feeling like I knew what I wanted, what I stood for and where I was going. I feel none of those things anymore. Professionally, I felt like I had to learn to be more guarded, less compassionate, and less empathetic just to survive the environment I was in. But now that I left that place...I always wonder ‘am I just an asshole now?’ 2017 was a big financial adulting year and as I moved into the world from graduate school, I found myself pleasantly surprised that I too could figure things out (be it finding an apartment, building furniture, figuring out how the heck credit cards work, or international travel to somewhere I don’t speak the language). On paper, where I am currently is not bad by any stretch of the imagination-and for now, it’s comfy. But it’s also not where I want my final destination to be and I don’t want to get complacent and stuck. Figuring out how to get where I want to go is daunting. -Anon ‘15

What self-care related commitments did you keep in the last year that you feel particularly good about?

Talking to my friends and going out (even when I didn’t feel like it). My friends were the most important thing about 2017. They gave me great advice, a shoulder to cry on, and helped to celebrate my successes and brush aside my failures. Also, I stayed in more than I went out, and read hundreds of books and watched hundreds of movies and TV shows. And that was pretty damn great too. - Shloka Ananthanarayanan ‘08

Doing more dancing and practice of an art I’ve always wanted to commit more to. -Anon ‘98

I set up a tally system for myself for saying “no” to events/commitments (and rewarded myself when I finally got a whole weekend day without anything scheduled!) and found accountability buddies to keep on track. Making time for rest was hard, but I made sure to get at least one night at home a week. - Fei ‘10

Learning a new skill I wanted to learn for awhile. Also, giving value to my time because it makes it easier for me to prioritize what I really should be doing instead of doing things because I have to. -Anon ‘15

I have gotten better at saying no to things. For so long, I would always say yes to everything everyone asked of me, even if it was something I didn’t really want to do. I’ve gotten better at protecting my time, because I realized that if I don’t make time for my own writing/reading/alone time, I will never recharge and will always feel low-grade lousy about myself and my choices. - E.B. Bartels ‘10

I committed to exercising regularly for my physical and mental health. I started walking several times a week at lunch and going to Pilates classes two times a week. I love it, and it makes me feel so good! Carving out that time is hard with two young kids, but my husband has been really supportive. -Yael D Sherman ‘00

In an effort to avoid burnout in any one thing, I decided last January that I would feel successful if I had done at least one artistic, athletic, or adult thing each day. So I made a Google spreadsheet for each month, and it wound up being a little bullet journal of sorts. Sometimes at 11:30 I would notice I hadn’t done anything that day, so I would hurriedly write a thank-you note or crank out ten push-ups. But hey, all 365 days have at least something! -Jessica Sirizzotti ‘10

I feel especially good about never passing on an opportunity to try new foods, especially tacos, whenever there is a chance. I’m very glad my friends like food as much as I do. -May Sifuentes ‘09

What plans do you have to feel better about or treat yourself better in 2018?

Keep repeating to myself “one day at a time.” I spent all of 2017 stressing about the future (my future, the country’s future, the entire universe’s future). In 2018, I’m going to take each day as it comes and try to remember that things constantly change and evolve, so there’s no sense in pretending I can prepare for every eventuality. - Shloka Ananthanarayanan ‘08

Stop beating myself up so much, to try less hard and just accept myself. To focus more on my needs and my immediate family’s needs instead of depleting my limited resources by putting everyone else first. And to throw all the bad juju in the ocean. -Anon ‘98

I’ve been thinking a lot about self worth and internalizing that I am worthy of love. I don’t know how that will look just yet, but it will probably involve a lot of rereading Brene Brown. - Fei ‘10

“Follow the happy”- do things and be with people that make me happy and (try to) cut the rest out. My foray into adulthood has felt like spending lots of time doing things I don’t want to do around people I don’t actually want to be around. And from 9-5, I can’t really change things, that’s true. But outside of that, I do still have choices about what to do. -Anon ‘15

I want to say yes only to things that I really want to do, stop beating myself up for and feeling guilty about things that no one remembers or thinks about except for me, and try to make more realistic goals for myself. I often set myself up for failure by telling myself I am going to accomplish an unrealistic number of things on my daily to do list, and then, even if I get a bunch of stuff done, I still feel like a failure because I didn’t do everything on my list. I need to stop doing that. - E.B. Bartels ‘10

Let go of my “family peacekeeper” role, especially in non-family dynamics like work. Not everyone has to be friends, and I definitely don’t need to make everyone friends. Also, checklists to help manage ADD “oh no I’m forgetting something” panic. - Jessica Sirizzotti ‘10

I lobbied my mom to gift me a membership to Healthworks in Boston, so I’m super excited about working out as much as I can in 2018. I’ve always wondered if it’s physically possible for me to get a six-pack—because, while I love to work out and playing sports, I also love food, so I guess 2018 is the year we’ll find out. -May Sifuentes ‘09

Have personal goals for 2018 that you’d like to share? Send them to us at [email protected].

#self-care series #self care #self love #wellesley underground

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bigyack-com · 4 years

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How SoulCycle Got Stuck Spinning Its Wheels

It could have been the battle of the bikes.If only SoulCycle had been able to get its highly anticipated exercise bike to market in time to meet the demand of its enthusiastic (bordering on obsessive) riders, who because of the coronavirus pandemic have been unable to go to any of the company’s 99 studios, closed since March.Instead, many turned to Peloton, the at-home cycling company, for their fitness fix. Even the most “ride or die” SoulCycle goers who took hundreds of classes per year, paying $36 (sometimes $72 for a double) to bop up and down on a stationary bike in a dark, candlelit room while an instructor bellowed positive affirmations.“SoulCycle is now late to the market,” said Winnie Clark, 33, an advertising creative director quarantining with her family in West Palm Beach, Fla. Last year, Ms. Clark spent more than $5,000 on SoulCycle classes.She got hooked on her father’s $2,245 Peloton bike two months ago and now takes four on-demand classes per week. “I love the community Peloton has already built. I have a lot of friends on there,” Ms. Clark said. “I am a Peloton convert that may possibly go visit SoulCycle after.”There are many other converts out there. Peloton is seeing record growth, with revenues up 66 percent compared to last year during its fiscal third quarter that ended March 31.But for SoulCycle, part of the Equinox Group, the ride has gotten a little bumpy — and not just because Peloton is stealing its riders.Stephen Ross, the billionaire real-estate developer and chairman of the Related Companies, principals of which have majority stakes in Equinox and SoulCycle, held a fund-raiser for President Trump last August. This news was not well-received by many riders; some threatened to boycott.Around the same time, SoulCycle announced it was coming out with a $2,500 bike for home use, partnering with Variis, a digital platform that would stream spin classes and many other Equinox workouts. The first bikes shipped the week of May 4, and only in select markets like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City — about six months later than initially planned. Variis’s virtual workouts are already available for Equinox members.“I was waiting, waiting, waiting because I wanted the SoulCycle bike to come out. They released the pre-order, and I realized they didn’t service the area that I’m in,” said Erica Baddley, 26, who used to routinely drive 45 minutes from her home to the nearest studio, in Denver. “I would have been first in line.”Four weeks ago, Ms. Baddley ordered a Peloton.“While the original intent was to launch in Fall 2019, the Equinox Media team was focused on perfecting the experience while in a beta phase, which provided valuable insights on ways to improve the product before launching to members and riders this spring,” a spokeswoman for Equinox Media wrote in an email.Michael Sonnenshein, 34, a managing director at a cryptocurrency asset manager, was one of the loyalists who received his at-home SoulCycle bike last week. Previously, he rode regularly with his fiancé in Manhattan and the Hamptons.“You’re going to get that same experience from home, other than being densely packed next to other people in the dark having the heat turned up,” said Mr. Sonnenshein. He doesn’t know if he’ll be back to a studio anytime soon. In the meantime, he plans to ride from his Upper East Side living room every morning.But there were not enough customers like him to prevent what Harvey Spevak, Equinox Group’s executive chairman, called “modest head count reductions” of the SoulCycle staff last week, following a more significant furlough in March. (The company last year lost three key executives: Melanie Whelan, chief executive; Taryn Jones Laeben, chief operating officer; and Mayssa Chehata, director of business development.)This week, however SoulCycle will reopen in Dallas, which has two studios. The company has sent an email to riders with an extensive list of new safety measures: no more showers or “high-touch amenities” like gum, razors or Q-tips. Staff will get temperature checks before shifts. There will be fewer people in classes and more classes added to the schedule. But even with stringent protocols in place, many may be scared to go back to sweaty studios.Mr. Spevak is confident SoulCycle’s loyalists will come back to the group experience. “Some people are going to be there day one, some people it’s going to take a little bit of time and other people it’s going to take longer,” he said.SoulCycle was a giant of the industry, but smaller cycling studios also have had to scramble to get online.Ride Society, which has one location in Pensacola, Fla., rented bikes to clients after closing in March. “It killed me to think these bikes would sit in the studio not used,” said Claire Campbell, Ride Society’s founder and owner.In April, Ms. Campbell rented all 30 of her studio’s bikes for $250 each, including shoes, weights and yoga mats. She created a digital portal where members could stream daily prerecorded classes and one live class per week for $50 a month.“We borrowed a truck and packed up our bikes and dropped them off to everyone,” Ms. Campbell said.Such measures will not be enough to make up for studio closures. The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association estimated that the U.S. fitness club industry lost $3.5 billion in revenue between March 26 and May 1. If most fitness clubs remain closed through June 1, this amount could reach $6 billion.“No business has been insulated from disruption,” said William Lynch, Peloton’s president.Instead of shooting content from a state-of-the-art New York City studio, Peloton instructors are filming classes from their homes. There’s also been a delay in delivery times because of increased demand. Many are on weekslong wait-lists to get a bike, despite Peloton more than doubling production since early March. Mr. Lynch said bikes normally arrive within five to 10 days.There are plenty of other choices. The number of global fitness clubs and studios using digital content has increased nearly 15 times since last fall, according to research from Club Intel, a data firm that tracks the fitness industry. By the third week of April, 74 percent of clubs and studios offered group on-demand or live classes, up from 5 percent last October.Joey Gonzalez, the Barry’s Bootcamp founder and chief executive, said at least half of the studio’s signature workout can be replicated online. Before the coronavirus, hourlong classes alternated between treadmill run and floor (strength training) intervals.“Barry’s at Home,” a digital platform that offers about 80 classes per day, went live in April. Some sessions require props and others don’t, and a few are tailored for treadmill owners. For everyone else, Mr. Gonzalez suggests running (safely) outside.“It’s a little less random than a cycling studio saying ‘Let’s do push-ups.’ It’s still in line with what we do, there’s just a component that you have to take outside,” Mr. Gonzalez said.Virtual workouts that require little to no equipment (dance) or that can be easily adapted for the home (Pilates) are also a hit with “quaran-toners.” So are the trainers that were early to bring their workouts to social media.In fact some might come to prefer the choice and convenience of working out at home to visiting gyms, and therefore there’s still opportunity to sell plenty of bikes (to those who don’t already own a Peloton). “SoulCycle’s window may not be gone,” said Andy Mantis, the head of data insights at 1010 Data, an analytics firm.Ms. Baddley, the Peloton convert, she said she’s open to returning to SoulCycle when possible in her area, as long as bikes are spaced out. But she’ll “definitely be going a lot less.” Read the full article

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