A couple of weeks ago we featured a post from Kate. Today Valeska, the other side of that dynamic duo, shares her story, and talks about what you should expect when you #justshowup for the first time:
“– #JustShowUp at 6:29 at the Baldwin Steps on Wednesday mornings
My first time at NP I was a little nervous. It had taken me a while to actually go. I followed them on Instagram, but was always a little too intimidated to attend the workout. Thinking back on this it was really kind of silly, but everyone gets a little nervous sometimes and NP gets that, and that brings us to the next point.
– Hugs from Strangers
Once I arrived, everyone seemed to know each other already and catch up and hug each other. I felt a little out of place, but not for very long. Sam and Michelle, our wonderful co-leaders, and a lot of other members quickly came up to me and hugged and made me feel welcome.
– Bounce
The bounce. For someone who has never been to a November Project workout, this seems a little bit strange, but it will soon be one of your favourite parts! I live for this now. It is motivating and energizing and gets you ready to conquer that workout. It takes you from sleepy and missing your warm bed to excited to be there.
– Enjoy a challenging workout with lots of new friends (and burpees).
The workouts are different every week and you never know what it will be before you get there. This is part of the fun! We also don’t just run up and down the stairs the entire time (although it sometimes feels like it 😛 ). Some workouts have you run around the Castle, while other have you doing some stairs, mountain climbers, burpees, partner workouts, card games, etc.! Honestly, it is a lot of fun, and afterwards you really just feel great that you had an awesome workout with a bunch of your new friends!
– More hugs, this time sweaty! And group photo (to prove that you were there).
Post workout sweaty hugs, self-explanatory.
– Verbal for next week.
A verbal is verbal commitment to come back the next week. And really why wouldn’t you want to come back? You just made a bunch of new friends and got in an awesome workout before most people are even awake.
After my first workout, I “verballed” and I am so glad that I did. For those of you that show up week after week, you understand what this movement is about. It’s about more than getting your workout in, it makes you feel like you’re part of something. For me, November Project is always the highlight of my week. Yes, I’m going to say that Wednesday is my favourite day of the week. I always leave with a smile on my face and ready to handle whatever the day has to throw at me. November Project has become part of my family. The friendships I’ve built there have their own special type of bond that you really can’t explain. While I’ve only known most of these people for just over a year, I can count on them to be there week after week, support me, encourage me, and push me to do new things that challenge me, things that I never thought I could do. I could go into specifics about how much NP means to me, but I might start crying. To quote the November Project Movie Showing Up ‘these people show up for the workouts and then they show up for you in life’ (shoutout to Maya, who lead a mini bounce, with positivity award in hand, for me and Kate before we ran ESCON, the day after the rest of our NP fam. And to everyone that showed up to cheer us on at the start line. You all mean the world to me). Over the last year I’ve learned a lot about myself, about what I am capable of, both in physically and mentally, and I have November Project to thank for that.
So as I tear up about writing this, just go watch Movie and then show up on Wednesday mornings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwofbcpEUgw“
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