Hey Hey Barrebabe,

Greetings from newborn land! I hope this finds your 100th-ish day of pandemic life treating you well.

I'm writing you in one of the rare moments when both children are asleep (and I'm not a total zombie nap fiend - yet) just to check in with you. I miss you, babes! I've been stoked to see you're staying moving with your wonderful subs, and am especially glad to see my community standing up and supporting Black LivesMatter by taking donation classes, marching, and being loud about what's right. Keep it up, babes!

Sounding Board

I'd love to hear your responses, however brief, to the following questions (I'm including my responses up front, just in case I don't have time to type for another couple weeks):

Are you moving?
I am, just gently and a little bit each day. Right now it's a combo of a renegade glute bridge session on the floor while the baby naps, doing pliés and tucks while rocking her to sleep, and practicing pelvic floor lifts while breathing "shhhhhhh" to calm her down. Taking a few minutes at the end of the day when Papa is at the helm to foam roll, work with a band, or just wiggle and stretch. Every little bit counts. It's not for long, most of the time I'm not wearing workout clothes, and sometimes I can't do the other side until hours later, but if I waited until conditions were perfect to move, I'd always be waiting and never moving.

If so, when are you working out? When would you like to work out?
I grab 5 minutes whenever I can. In a perfect world I could wake up & workout for about an hour around 8 or 9 every. damn. day. What's your ideal workout length, time of day, day of the week?

How do feel after your class/work out?
Whole and energized. Happy in my own skin. When I move, I love what I see in the mirror and how it feels to live in my skin. The days when I don't move are when the stressy/negative/judgy thoughts creep in.

How do you want to feel after your work out?
You tell me. Sweaty and breathless and exhilarated? Energized and toned? Calm and refreshed and rejuvenated? Hungry? All of the above?

Please also feel free to share any feedback you have re: subs/playlists/props/videos. I'm all ears.

Get Up Stand Up

Being actively anti-racist is always important, but it's particularly urgent right now. I humbly offer two ways to do this:

1) Vote. The NYC Democratic Primary is tomorrow 6/23. My ballot's in. Make sure yours is, too. It's becoming literally a life or death situation.

2) Support Black and Brown causes, organizations and businesses. One very near to my heart is Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance in Brooklyn. Donate or take online class with them. I do.

Baby pics!

We are all in love with sweet baby Ramona :)

Stay well, stay safe, and until we get to move together again, stay in touch!

All the best,
Annie