Alive Times July 2017 by Alive Fitness & Wellness

alive times JULY 2017

ALIVE AMBASSADOR

MOM LIFE

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Welcoming our first Alive Ambassador, Rhiannon Harrison. Her words, her determination gives you inspiration!

Can balance really happen in a Mom Life? Tammy Tkachuk from Transition Wellness shares the answer, "YES!"

Jennifer Jayde shares with you her powerful steps into discovering how you can move forward with the universe listening to you.

FEMALE FOOTPRINT

EATS

WELLNESS REAL-TALK

Highlighting Sarah Cormier, of Quinn's Legacy Run Society, her wave and how she is making an impact for Canadian Families.

Learning 4 ways to boost your metablosim with Stephanie Warner from An Infinite Heart.

Exploring the idea of connecting with nature to further enhance your wellness routine, by Kelsey Davidson.

Kelsey Davidson, Owner of Alive Fitness and Wellness with Kelsey.

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ALIVE AMBASSADOR Meet the first Alive Ambassador, Rhiannon Harrison as she inspires other girls to play harder and compete higher.

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FEMALE FOOTPRINT

MOM LIFE

Does finding and maintaining balance as a mom always happen!? NoBut, Tammy at Transition Wellness is sharing with us how its possible and how you can achieve your own!

Editor Brooke Cupelli

Learn from Sarah Cormier that no wave is too small or idea it too big with a dream in mind; she honours her daughter with Quinn's Legacy Society.

EATS You've heard it lots, now Stephanie with, An Infinite Heart is showing you how to boost your metabolism!

WOMEN IN BUSINESS Jennifer Jayde, Women's Business and Dreams Coach shares her top 3 tips on finding your purposeful life.

14 WELLNESS REAL-TALK Connecting with nature can further enhance your wellness routine and Kelsey Davidson wants to show you how.

ALIVE AMBASSADOR

Rhiannon Harrison I started skating when I was only three years old with skates that were too big because my feet were so small. I played ringette for 4 years before I moved over to play hockey like my brother Liam. I was nervous going over not because I thought I couldn’t keep up, I just wasn’t sure of the rules and if they would look at me different because I was a girl even though some of my best girl friends already played. I wanted to show them I could be just as good as the boys. I knew as soon as I got through the first couple drills I would be fine. I could keep up, I was comfortable with skating and I was able to pass the puck up to my friend to score a few goals during the assessment camps. My first two years of hockey I played mixed and made some great friends on my team. My favourite part about it was not once did anyone ever say anything about girls being on the team. The girls were included as athletes and included equally during the hockey season. We were a true team with great coaches. When my hand was broken during a game I decided to move to all girls hockey. I thought maybe the girls wouldn’t be as rough and if I’m honest I was nervous to get hurt by a boy again. It turns out moving to girls hockey was a great decision but for different reasons. I was wrong about girls not being as rough. Honestly, I think I was faced with more competitiveness and tougher players. I fit right in because I like to be challenged. I made new friends with similar goals. I became more focused as I moved from playing forward to defence. I learned how my individual efforts contributed to the success of the team.

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I found my place in hockey and confidence in not just my abilities but also what I didn’t know I was capable of. I tested my own boundaries and won. I was awarded the warrior award on my team and I feel it is a word that best describes me. When I was battling for the puck I would tell myself different things to keep me motivated to win, “keep going even if you’re tired, find a little bit extra strength,” or “I’ll win this battle,” or “I may be short but I’m going to leave a big impression on this girl.” What I hope to leave with the girls that are staying in Atom as I move up to Pee Wee is to be confident, encourage your team mates no matter if you win or lose, be a leader in attitude and play, but finally to be confident and courageous because girls really can accomplish anything. It’s important to me to stay active in the off season. I plan to do this by riding my bike, visiting the park or continuing my warm-up routine. I’ll be running in two Spartan races and the 5K Foam Fest. I will be doing a Ninja Warrior camp where I plan to take on more advanced courses, be faster, and conquer the 12 foot warped wall. I’m going to push myself to be a better athlete because I’m fierce and confident and know I can do anything I want.

Remember you can do anything you put your mind and heart into. Rhiannon Harrison

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FEMALE FOOTPRINT

Sarah Cormier The course of our life took a drastic turn on December 28,2014 when we found our daughter Quinn unresponsive in her bassinette. 14 months later we found out she passed away from Undetermined causes, formerly labelled SIDS. She was the picture of perfection for the 4 months and 10 days we had here in our arms. She came out ready to eat, she laughed early, sat up early, loved laying in the sun and was the easiest baby. We hit the jackpot when she joined our family. Quinn was destined for great things, to share her joy with the world was destined from the beginning, and now we share her story in a very different way than we originally planned. We continue to share her story and her legacy for her, to honour her and never let her be forgotten.

Quinn, 4 Months

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In February 2015, after an incredibly hard night of grief and sadness, my "sister" said, "we need to share her story, your story and never let her be forgotten". I had told a few people that when Quinn passed, we had gone down to Service Canada( only after hours of waiting on the phone, people calling for us) that we were informed I would no longer be receiving maternity benefits and we were lucky that our payment date was a Tuesday and we wouldn't have to pay any of the benefits back. Quinn passed on a Sunday and the benefits stopped that Tuesday. It made us think that this has to be happening to others. As we ventured further into our journey and began meeting others in person and online, it became apparent that we weren't alone. Other bereaved parents were being asked to pay back months worth of payments. It was decided, Quinn's Legacy would be to support others financially after the loss of an infant and to change the policy so that parents could grief without financial stress and worry about repayment. We decided that a run/walk in our hometown would be there best way to raise funds.

So began the campaigning and designing of a run/walk and rallying our local PC Member of Parliament. We hit the jackpot when our MP Blke Richards asked us to a face to face meeting in June 2015. He heard our story and said he was on board to make changes. Without his support I truly don't know where we would be. In November 2016 Quinn's name and her legacy were shared in the House of Commons bringing light to the issue of SIDS and the loss of maternity benefits for app. 1000 Canadian families each year. So began the flurry of interviews, national news stories, live air interviews, and an article in the Globe and Mail. Our sweet girls name was being said over and over again. She was creating waves. Our first run event was on a cold and miserable day on August 16,2015 in Airdrie with 200 people in the sleet and rain, red balloons being released and only 7 volunteers. At this point in the game we were a 4 member board, Kelsey, Ashley, my husband and myself. There we were crying in the rain as we cheered those participants on in the freezing rain. What a sight. When it was all said and done, our first year we raised over $20,000 to start the Legacy fund and we truly shocked ourselves with what we had accomplished.

With lots of tweaking, redesigning, adding more members to our board and increasing our volunteers, in 2016 we again raised just about $20,000 and had just over 200 participants with 40 volunteers, a beer garden, food truck, live radio and a kids play area. It truly felt like we had arrived when those 200 red balloons and 40 odd different coloured balloons were released into the sky last year. We had met so many bereaved parents these past 2 years, it was amazing to see their children's coloured balloons released alongside all those red ones. We were making waves and creating a community of support. Since the bursary's inception in August 2015 we have supported 3 Alberta families and have over $30,000 in trust with SIDS Calgary society. I have gone on to become the chair of the SIDS board, support other families through a grief group at the children's hospital with my husband as my team mate and gone head to head with the Ontario coroners office live on CTV national news. We have fought to change the legislation through Quinn's Legacy and there is currently a report awaiting a review from the Standing Committe in the House of Commons, to change the maternity benefits for bereaved parents. Also with my work with SIDS Calgary Society we are working to change the name of undetermined deaths back to SIDS to better support parents and further research into the mystery we once called SIDS. I believe great things are happening in our daughters name, but not only for her legacy for all those babies gone too soon and for the babies that will also be taken too soon by this mystery.

"We are truly making waves everyday." This year we are in full run planning mode and have held numerous fundraising events during the year which raises money. We have also gone on to create a clothing line with support from a local business Bunky and Marie's boutique. We are truly making waves everyday and Quinn will forever be remembered for her beautiful smile, Joy spreading and her legacy. We always knew she would do great things, just now we do them for her as she's not physically present to do them herself. I am forever grateful for the love and support from our community and our board.

www.quinnslegacy.com

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MOM LIFE

Tammy Tkachuk Hi! My name is Tammy Tkachuk, I am a certified mental health therapist and life coach in Alberta, Canada. I am also the owner of Transition Life Wellness. As a new mom, I have seen first-hand the struggle of balancing work, family and friendship. I have experienced marriage, divorce, a second marriage and motherhood. These life experiences have inspired me to focus my business towards helping women, mothers and young families to reach personal goals, achieve balance and reduce stress. We all talk about being balanced, and the desire to have more life balance, but HOW do we achieve that? I once read a quote that said “You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.” It really stuck with me and I think this is exactly what balance is all about. We cannot change the waves that life throws at us but we can ride them, work with them and come out on top!

Be aware of where you are at in life… what is out of balance, what areas need reworking, what areas in life do you spend too much energy and what areas do you spend not enough?

Look at what your life priorities are – often the feeling of being out of balance comes from the fact that we are over prioritizing the things that aren’t really important and under prioritizing the things that are important.

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Living a life of balance is not the same for everyone, which I know can be frustrating and challenging at times. If life was only that easy we could just read a book or follow a guideline, and be able to have balance as long as we followed that checklist. You cannot be prescribed a perfect list of things to do, but what you can do is follow a few tips that are workable for everyone.

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Re-evaluate these things and determine what is important today, and what can be left until tomorrow. Make the decision to become more balanced – create goals in all areas of your life to attain balance in those areas (relationships, finance, physical, mental spiritual, and career).

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Be sure to stop and take a breather – we often all have ongoing “to do” lists that really never get completed. This is completely normal, however having said that be mindful of the fact that you still need to stop, take a deep breath once in a while and enjoy the moment.

Realize that your sense of balance may be different than someone else’s and that is completely okay. You have to do what works best for you!

Lastly, your sense of life balance can and will change – this is also normal. The balance of life changes as we change, as our priorities change and as our life circumstances change. It is better for you to flex with these changes than to resist them. Resisting only creates increased feelings of being out of balance and overwhelmed.

Living a balanced life can have both short term and long term effects on a individual. In the short term you should feel more relaxed, less over whelmed, and greater sense of productivity. In the long term these effects will help you to decrease your levels of stress, which in turn can also decrease both mental and physical illness. Finding balance in our daily routine is something we all want to have in life. It is my hope that by following these tips, making small changes in your day, and becoming more aware about where you are at in your life, you will achieve the balance that you strive for. If you want to get in touch with me feel free to contact me, I would love to hear from you!

www.transitionwellness.com

EATS

Stephanie Warner

Making changes is a big thing, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming! You can start with some of the simpler things, like boosting your natural metabolism! I know, I know, we talk so much about metabolism, and you're like, but what is it - really? Metabolism is the word used to describe all of the chemical reactions and processes involved in keeping us alive. Essentially, a metabolism is what differentiates us from many other organisms. Metabolism is divided into 2 categories 1) Catabolism - the break down of molecules and resources to create energy and 2) Anabolism - the synthesis of compounds needed by the cells. Metabolism relies heavily on nutrients from our diet to carry out the functions that allow us to live, therefore what we eat is critical. You can imagine our bodies to be like a river. If you dump nasty stuff into it the ecology and will die and the natural habitat will fade away. The environment will become spoiled, and you certainly wouldn't want to drink that! But, if you allow it to be healthy and encourage a natural balance your spring water will be the best you've ever tasted! So think of the nutrients we put into our body - do they help us, or do they hurt us? Will they encourage a natural balance, or will they make us sluggish and tired? We want our metabolisms fired up so we can burn those calories, and turn them into energy in an ongoing and efficient way, so we need to fuel them properly! So how you ask!? 1) Never ever skip your breakfast! In fact, you could start the day with a glass of lemon water to ramp up your digestion and then follow it with a balanced breakfast! We need to eat after our bodies have been asleep and fasting. They may look at rest, but our bodies work hard while we sleep to repair the damage and help us grow! You need breakfast to kick start your day and your mood! I hear so many people say, I just don't eat breakfast, I am just not hungry. I can't. I am going to tell you, that after fasting through the night you NEED breakfast to get going, wake your body, and wake your metabolism! Not feeling hungry is a sign that you have become complicate in the demands of daily life and have forgotten to take care of you! 2) Keep HYDRATED! Yes,you've heard it before, and you'll hear it again. Our hydration is so important! How can any system function if it is all dried up? Like a car with out oil or grass without rain, our bodies cannot function effectively when they are under-hydrated! I know they say the standard, drink 8 glasses of water per day, but take into account your activity level, your climate, your body weight, your coffee consumption, and so many other things contribute to our hydration!

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3) Eat smaller meals more often: Yep, that's right. Most people are in a diet mentality, and they starve themselves of nutrients, and this completely throws the metabolism out of balance. Try eating smaller well balanced meals more often and you'll find it will help keep your blood sugars stable for a slower release of energy throughout the day! This will in turn keep your metabolism high!

4) Eat a variety of healthy fats: Your body needs fat to burn fat! I am not talking about chocolate bars and twinkies, I am talking about healthy fats like avocados, and salmon, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Those beautiful fats that sustain your body and support your inner systems, helps balance your blood sugars,and helps to reduce inflammation (not to mention make your skin, hair, and nails amazing) they also supports a boost in your metabolism.

"What we eat is CRITICAL." So, there you have it. A few simple things you can do right away to help kick start your metabolism! Like i said, it doesn't have to be hard, scary, or take 97 years. You just have to be consistent and keep on going! So, I leave it there, and if you have any questions, always ask!

Love & Light

https://www.aninfiniteheart.com/

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Jennifer Jayde So often I get asked from women all over the globe, from every walk of life, “how can I find my purpose? I feel like there’s something missing, and yet I can’t place exactly what it might be…” The answer is, you don’t find it. It finds you. It finds you when you’re soul is ready for it. When you’re prepared, life experience trained, and spiritually, mentally and emotionally equipped to step forward in offering it to others. It finds you when you’re open to it being something other than what you thought it to be. It finds you when you least expect it. But I do know what it’s like to feel lost, depleted, and off-path. It’s the worst. I remember just 2 years ago feeling tired no matter how much sleep I got, how well I ate, or how much I journaled and practiced self care. I was exhausted and there was no physical reason for it. I started working with a life coach, because after feeling this way for 18 months, I realized I needed to step outside the box and try something new if I wanted things to change. I realized I was mentally exhausting myself, almost drowning in self pity, confusion, frustration, and self doubt. I was lost, and I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of it. I’d already been a mortgage broker for most of my 20’s, then a destination wedding photographer - was I seriously unhappy with my once dream-life? What the heck was wrong with me? And what on earth would I possibly do next?? Looking back from where I am today just 2 years later, an international business coach for soulful entrepreneurs (and aspiring entrepreneurs), that somehow created a multi 6 figure business in less than 1 year, has a co-authored book launching later this month and two tv appearances so far, I am thankful for my (not so) patient process of making myself open and available to the answers when the Universe deemed I was ready for them. I realize now that I could have very easily stayed stuck on my hamster wheel, if I hadn’t reached out for someone to disrupt my old thought patterns, self-defeating habits, and old ways of being. So if you’re interested in speeding up the process as much as the Universe will allow, here are a few of the top tips I’ve learned, that I now give my clients.

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Look back on your life and everything you’ve been through. Your biggest struggles, learning curves, and triumphs. If your life has been your training wheels for your purpose (which it has) what has life been preparing you for? What do you now know that you didn’t before? What have you done, created, accomplished, achieved, discovered, learned or overcome that other people in the world are still struggling with?

If you never ever ever had to worry about money again, how would you spend your time? What EXCITES you most to do beyond the confines of time and money, if ANYTHING were possible and if fear didn’t exist? If you were limitless, who would you be? What would you say? What would your life be a message or example of?

What is the highest compliment someone could ever pay you? What is the one thing someone could thank you for helping them with, and it would make you feel COMPLETE knowing you had a hand in this?

Here’s another little bonus I heard recently… If you were going to write a book, what would it be about? What would the message be inside that you’d want to live on after you’re gone? Beauty - a highly intuitive friend once told me that we are actually never off-path. So trust that everything you’re going through right now is building you, teaching you, refining you and preparing you for when the clarity does come. This phase IS serving you, in a way that only hindsight can answer. In the meantime, the very best thing you could be doing, is taking action on behalf of your soul. Follow even the smallest hints of what excites you, what brings joy to your soul, and I promise you if you’ll keep moving forward in faith, you will walk beyond the fog, into the exhilaration of clarity. It is in taking the action BEFORE the clarity, that the clarity will come… I hope this serves you, my beautiful soul sisters <3 Follow Your Heart Always.

http://jenniferjayde.com/

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WELLNESS REAL-TALK

Kelsey Davidson How are you connecting to Mother Nature? In Spring 2016, I was shown that I was missing a part of my fitness, by my spiritual coach Brandy Corcoran. I thought, “How could I be missing a part of my fitness? I run, I strength train, I do kickboxing and yoga, how am I missing something?” Then she shined a light on a part that I wasn’t exercising very often and that was my spiritual connection. For me, my spiritual connection is rooted with Mother Nature and writing. When I started to do more spiritual fitness and wellness, life started to alignment better. In early November, I attended a retreat in the mountains of Costa Rica and really learned, like deep down learned, what it means to connect to Mother Nature. Growing up on Vancouver Island, I will admit it, I took the ocean and the large trees for granted. After living in Alberta and staying in the Calgary area, I never realized how much of a connection I had lost to Mother Nature. Then here I was smack dab in the middle of the mountains of Costa Rica, miles away from power, wifi or cell phone reception! Here I got to witness her movement and sounds. I woke up to hearing the rain or the birds chirping. I watched as the clouds weaved in and out of the mountain ranges as quickly as I could make a sandwich. I watched with love in my eyes and a connection in my heart that I had been missing. After 5 days fully engulfed in Pachemama (Mother Nature in Spanish) I had changed. I don’t know how and can’t really explain it, but I had changed. The next 6 months living by the beach in Costa Rica and living a full life down there, I slowly let loose of what fitness should look like and what life should look like. I started to create my own visions. I started to honour my heart's voice. As I was there I created a program called the HIIT@HOME program, I created it because, here I was in Costa Rica, with limited to no equipment but desiring a good sweat session. One day teaching a LIVE class I had this voice pop into my head saying “Fitness doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to get done!” YES!!!!! This is exactly it. Fitness doesn’t have to be fancy. This has been my mantra for over 3 years yet I never said it aloud. For my first 2 years of Alive, I didn’t have walls in the studio because myself and the Alive family decided on more equipment and more training services. Walls or no walls, it didn’t matter. Inches were lost, laughs were made, muscles were screaming and the Alive family grew stronger. The HIIT@HOME program is one I poured my heart into because I passionately knew it was going to serve and support women everywhere. I created each and every workout with that voice in my head saying “Fitness doesn’t need to be fancy”. As I sweated along, creating the HIIT@HOME full length videos I saw results. I saw my body change in less than 3 weeks, I saw my mind change and I felt lighter in my spirit. Each one of my workout was done outside in my backyard, allowing the sun to warm me, the grass to ground me and the breeze to cool me down. I was connecting to mother nature in each and every sweat session.

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Now, I know that can’t happen in other parts of the world every day, and it couldn’t in the rainy season of Costa Rica. I also realized that when I worked out with windows and drapes open, I also received the zest of life from Mother Nature too. I also realized that when I went for hikes or adventures, I was also working my muscles in an unconventional fitness way. I would be sore the next day thinking, “oh that was just a hike” but that “just a hike” challenged my muscles in new ways and GAVE to my whole body, mind and spirit. I learned to appreciate the unconventional fitness too. Over the next couple months I invite you to get outside, feel Mother Nature, experience her as she gives to your body, mind and spirit.

Getting outside of an unconventional I also welcome you to journal about the workout is a gift. Here are a couple connection and sweat session you had easy swap outs: with Mother Nature and touch on each Swap out the leg press or the squats one of your senses. For example: for climbing up a cliff. What did you hear, animal sounds, Swap out the treadmill for a walk people laughter, ocean waves, heavy around the lake or seawall. wind ..etc Swap out the plank in the gym to What did you feel, warm and fuzzy planking in your backyard on grass. inside or pondering life more Head outside for the HIIT@HOME What did you see, animal interactions, workout people watching, birding flying, branches swaying and more If you were to wrap up the experience in one word, what would it be? How does that one word make you feel towards your connection to Mother Nature. You, me, your next door neighbour, we are all connected to Mother Nature but do each one of us see it the same? No. That is what’s simply amazing thing about it! Each one of us will have a completely different experience and will grow in different ways from it. The key to experiencing it all, is to open your heart and allow yourself to be vulnerable, raw and grounded with it.

Remember to train as a wholeyour body, mind and spirit. http://www.alivefitnessandwellness.com/

Alive Times

"It's time to remember what it's like to be Alive."