Best Mode.

 I know you've heard the phrase "Beast Mode." You don't have to be a fitness guru to have heard it. I think we all have our own picture in our minds of what "Beast Mode" really looks like. Maybe it's some roided up juice monkey in a workout outfit making some crazy full-toothed smile and flexing his muscles. Or maybe it's some wonder mom with a kid on each hip in a perfectly ironed outfit with great hair, perfect abs and a sweet smile as she talks on her cell phone and vacuums all at the same time.

Regardless of what this image brings to your mind, I think it might also bring a subconscious feeling of stress and anxiety also- or at least it does for me.

This week I went to a Refit class where the instructor brought up this topic at the end for a quick discussion and it really hit home with me. She asked us to search our minds and think of what our "best mode" is instead of our beast mode. Take away all the pressure of doing everything at once.. being perfect, basically.. and think of that time in your daily life when you are truly your best.

One girl spoke up that her "Best Mode" was when she had her kids bathed and they were snuggling in bed talking about their days. Another mentioned that her best mode was when she was aimlessly walking through Sephora with a Starbucks in her hand.

I took these thoughts with me and thought about this concept several times throughout the week but harshly revisited it when I went to another fitness class at my local athletic club. I've been to this class several times, but not recently and there was new teacher. Bless his little heart. I thought multiple times he was going to stroke out and fall off of the bike at any moment. The sheer amount of yelling and screaming was just too much to take. (Not to mention his counts were VERY off beat with the music which is an OCD persons nightmare. I couldn't focus the entire time and pretty much made my own workout to the actual beat of the music instead of his.) I'm certain his intentions were pure, but it really pushed me away. It certainly made me realize that we do not have to be so "beastly" and "vicious" to be in our "Best Mode." We can still work hard to be the best versions of ourselves without experiencing so much intensity.

The beauty of this is that everyones "Best Mode" looks different. It does not have to be fitness related. It does not have to be work related. It just has to be YOU related. What are YOU doing when you feel like you are the best version of yourself?

This week let's take away the struggle of being in "Beast" mode and instead focusing on being in our "Best Mode"- the best versions of ourselves.