93. So Much Good Stuff

"Decide to be happy and the world will beat a path to your door." - Mike Dooley, Tut's Universe

Okay, so I'm going a little bit crazy with all the awesomeness that's been coming my way lately. I feel like the Universe is listening to me and bringing me EXACTLY who I need into my life right and left. It's uncanny!

The only thing I can think to explain it...is that when you're super clear about what you want and you keep putting it out there...that that's what you want...well, eventually it comes to you... it walks through the door and says hello...and more than that...hugs you and makes you feel like you're reuniting with an old friend...when you've only just met.

...So that's THAT awesomeness.

Annnnd there's THIS awesomeness that Juilliard just uploaded to their YouTube channel...

I love modern technology. When I was graduating high school, I didn't have access to stuff like this video. I feel like it demystifies the whole "Juilliard" fortress and makes the school seem HUMAN and accessible...which it IS! Soooo coool! And very well-done as well. Love the music and the editing. They really did an awesome job with it. They definitely succeed in making me want to apply...which, HOORAY...I am.

(My audition for Julliard will be January 28, 2012, by the way...So you can mark your calendars to PRAY for me that day or send me GOOD-VIBES or send me your love, luck, support, whatever...I will take it all! It's alllllll much appreciated!)

Another awesome thing...

Anyone remember Jack Plotnick from waaaaaaay back when in post number 42? Wellllll, he was in New York this week doing some acting workshops. I was LUCKY enough to get a spot and had a freakin' amazing experience. I was AGAIN reminded that I am a terrible judge of my own work. It seems that when I am at my most UNCOMFORTABLE and UNCERTAIN...that's when I am doing my best work.

So my question is...How can I get more comfortable with being uncomfortable and more certain that uncertainty leads to brilliance?

Ha ha ha! That's how my brain works...MUST BE COMFORTABLE...MUST BE CERTAIN...But for acting that also means...MUST BE BORING. So... gotta let go of the need to be comfortable.

Jack's got some amazing tools for doing just that and sooooo much more in his book New Thoughts For Actors. Check it out. It's FREE. And he's on YouTube toooooo!!!

Exciting!!!!

Let's see... What else?

Had a motivating lunch with MyBodyTutor, Adam Gilbert and two other MBT clients...the talented and wonderful Nick Dothee and Abby Burke. In November, I practically fell completely off the MBT radar...Got sooooo overwhelmed with work. But now I'm back...and ready to increase my fitness for 2012 and beyond! Yay! It helps to hear how many great things Nick and Abby have to say about the way they feel from eating healthy and exercising. It seriously changes your brain chemistry and makes the world seem like a better place. True story.

OHHHHH! And... memorization...remember how freaked-out I was about getting those monologues in my brain...all FOUR of them. Well, this is my new favorite memorization secret...I currently learn lines best on the elliptical machine. I did three consecutive days of 30 minutes on the elliptical...reading a monologue out loud...over...and over...and over...and...by the third day...I was completely off book! I mean, WOW!!!! I learned that monologue in an-hour-and-a-half over three days. I think that's pretty freakin' fast.

Yes... I did look like a crazy person talking to myself. Did I care? NOOOO! If it'll help get me into grad school...I'm happy to look like a crazy person at the gym any day.

I was AMAZED at how fast the memorization happened with this concentrated method...no music...no tv...just my script, my breath and my heart beat. Yes! It's incredible how the body and the mind are connected. I don't know why I'm so surprised by that...but it's just crazy to think that the best way to remember words (which I think of as an intellectual thing) is to move the body (a physical thing). So I will continue with this mind/body technique until all four monologues are second-nature to me.

Still gotta submit my online applications for NYU and Yale...hoping to get to that this weekend.

But everything's in the works and movin' and I am excited by all the support the Universe brings when you initiate some forward motion.

So keep on keepin' on, people!

Loves,
Virginia

"The fat lady hasn't started singing yet, but she's holding the mike and the band is about to play." - Craig Moffett, Investment Analyst

50. My Ideal Body

“Shift your focus from what works in a controlled, “test tube” environment to what works in the real world. If you’re one of the small percentage of people who are genuinely drawn to lifting weights and using machines based on repetition and distraction, by all means have at it. You’re one of the lucky few. If not, cast a wider net to explore not only what, on paper, burns the most calories or builds the most muscle, but what makes exercise so enjoyable, engaging, and fulfilling that you will do whatever it takes to add more to your life every day. You need to find a way to feel good about exercising and to feel good while exercising.” – Jonathan Fields, Uncertainty: Turning Fear And Doubt Into Fuel For Brilliance

Everybody knows they should exercise and that the benefits are a healthier body and a longer life-span.  Duh! But I have found those to be not-so-motivating motivations when it comes to actually taking ACTION and exercising consistently. And I suspect I'm not the only one. 

Getting back into my ideal body, a.k.a… how I looked/felt when I was 19… has been a huge part of my creative process this year. Yes… CREATIVE… because with all my daily choices, I realize that I am slowly creating the body that I am living in! 

So I might as well make some good choices to feel good in the body that I've got, right? 

Simple. Logical. 

But how to motivate myself to not just talk about doing it, but to actually DO IT?  

Since May 2011, I have been committed myself to re-learning how I think about my relationship with food and my relationship with various kinds of physical activities… and all of this with the assistance, guidance, care and sometimes annoying enthusiasm of My Body Tutor, Adam Gilbert.

Actually, I feel like I haven’t been completely transparent with you guys by not writing about him more on the blog… because he’s such a HUGE part of my life every single day and a major champion of mine in ALL things. And, seriously, I have lost 20 lbs since May and I feel wonderful… and during that time I had two surgeries and still lost weight and he’s helped me to overcome my fear of getting back into dance class again and incorporating pilates and yoga and even some weight-lifting into my weekly routine… which I NEVER thought I would feel comfortable doing. I am in the best shape of my life as I sit and write these words. True story.

I will never regret my investment of time and money and energy working with Adam. I am a much more fearless and waaaay happier individual because of the personal growth I have experienced as a result of my daily commitment to my body and my time with MBT.

I found Adam, by chance, reading a blog post that he had written about consistency being the key to success in fitness. His philosophy about sustainable lifestyle change that works for YOU and gets you the results that YOU want… made me so excited to work with him! I had been hoping to find something like his program for a while and it came across my computer screen at just the right time for me. 

I was sick of feeling crappy in my body. I was ready to make a change. NO MORE EXCUSES!!! What was I so afraid of? Failing? I was already failing every single day to support my body in being the healthiest it could be. Now is the time for ACTION!

I knew what I needed to do (exercise & eat more nutritious foods) and I knew how I wanted to feel (SEXY/ENERGETIC/YOUNG) and how I wanted to look (HOT), I just didn’t know HOW I would motivate myself to be consistent enough to make those things happen or if the things I thought might work would actually yield the results that I was hoping for.

And I was scared. I'm no fitness expert! I needed SUPPORT!!! 

I knew I would need someone to tell me to stick with it when I didn't feel like sticking with it anymore and someone would be there to applaud me when I chose to have frozen yogurt instead of donuts!!! And from reading Adam's blog and alll about his fitness philosophy, he seemed like the right guy for the job!

I knew that if I committed to working with MBT, that he would be my resource for all fitness/nutrition related knowledge and that if I had a question he didn’t already know the answer to… that he’d find out for me. AND he'd totally be my champion, my cheerleader through the tough parts of the journey. Because, let me tell you, this guy is MOTIVATED. He LOOOOOVES his job… helping people change their own lives and find long-term, happy, sustainable ways to eat healthy and exercise in ways that his clients will be able to ENJOY and therefore CONTINUE and feel AMAZING in their bodies and EMPOWERED to take control of the one thing that many people feel like they can’t control… their own body.

I can honestly say that I would not be writing this blog, if it wasn’t for Adam. (He has his own awesome blog too at Guru Gilbert.) And was generous enough to be my blog mentor also! Waaaaay above and beyond his duties as my body tutor.

I could seriously write a novel about all of the ways that MyBodyTutor has helped me to grow as a human being, both physically and psychologically. But most importantly, it has shown me what awesome outcomes can happen by committing to doing something consistently, a little bit at a time, every single day.

Baby steps get big things done… It's not overwhelming if you just take it from moment to moment... One meal, one workout at a time…

All these same transformational skills I’ve learned from doing MBT can lead to success in any goal or whatever kind of life you might want to create for yourself.

One blog post… one monologue… one audition at a time… Adam and I joke that when I get accepted to grad school I can write a testimonial for him called “How MBT got me into Graduate School.” Ha!!! Wouldn’t that be awesome!?! Hope I actually get to write that.

Get the support you need in order to help yourself succeed, I say! And though Adam has HELPED me to make things happen… I know that it was actually ME that did the work… myself. And that makes me feel sooooo great. I CAN CHANGE and it doesn’t have to be HARD and I don’t have to do it someone else’s way. It can be FUN and EASY and SLOW and SUSTAINABLE and I can do it MY way and be successful at reaching my goals. That’s what works for me and the kind of life experience I want to have. And I FEEEEL wonderful… mind and body… for giving myself the gift of a commitment to a healthier me!

Anyhoo, I love MBT. Had to share.

If you have any questions about My Body Tutor, please feel free to email me at viavirginiawilcox at gmail dot com or you can email Adam Gilbert directly at adam at my body tutor dot com. It’s an online program. So he can help you get into your ideal body from ANYWHERE!

You can do it. No joke.

And when you do get into your ideal body and you feel F#*ING AMAZING... I do also accept "thank you" notes at the above email address as well. 

:-)

Be well,

Virginia

Photo by Dylan Patrick Photography

“My idea of hell would be seeing what you could have accomplished if only you had tried your hardest.” – Adam Gilbert, My Body Tutor

  

12. Five Daily Practices That Lead to Happiness

“I don’t have enough life left to waste doing stuff I hate.” 

(Leo Babauta, ZenHabits)

What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.

Cumulatively, over a long period of time, those little moments and daily choices add up to a big chunk of your life. 

It’s your routine daily habits that have the biggest impact in shaping who you are becoming.

Adam Gilbert, My Body Tutor, gave me a brilliant assignment one day that has changed my life.

I was feeling crappy and unmotivated and generally negative about life. To help me find actionable tools to be able to change my mind-set, he asked me to come up with MY five daily practices that lead to happiness.

He explained that these practices are unique to each individual human being, because what makes him happy may not make me happy and vice versa.

Then he shared with me his five daily practices. They were all fantastic!  

I stole a couple of his and added a couple of my own. This is what I came up with…

Virginia’s 5 Daily Practices That Lead to Happiness

1. Sleep: Get 8 hours every night
2. Brain Drain: Write 3 stream-of-consciousness pages in my journal every day
3. Exercise: Get my heart-rate up for at least 15 minutes every day
4. Consciously Eat Healthy Food Every 3-4 Hours: never feel hungry, never feel stuffed
5. Be Present: listen and be loving toward all people that I come in contact with daily

So, now… when I feel like life is totally sucking, all I have to do is ask myself if I’ve done my five things today.

And I know that taking action to do one or more of them will surely make me feel better about life… like magic!

I love the way I feel when I do these five things. 

And doing more of what I love inevitably leads to happiness.

Yup, even happiness takes practice.

Why wait? Practice. Be happy now.

Love,

Virginia

“You know what you need to do, so do it.”

(Lena Stevens, The Power Path)