 Dear Friends. Six years ago I sent an email out to my friends and neighbors in my neighborhood inviting them to workout with me Monday morning at 6am at the basketball court. My hope was to offer free and easily accessible fitness opportunities for as many interested people as possible. About 10 people showed up that day and then again on Wednesday...and then again the following week. Over the years, our group has grown in size and our venues have changed from the court, to the field, to my street, garage, the clubhouse parking lot, Snap Fitness and now ITS Baseball. While I had been a part time fitness instructor prior to offering these classes, this was really the starting point for my own fitness business and over the past 6 years, “Maria Finnegan Fitness” has grown to include more group classes, personal training, yoga parties, Pints and Poses and SUP. As with any business, MFF continues to evolve with the ever-changing needs of my clients, the growing fitness industry and the “always-in-a-state-of-flux” Finnegan-family schedule. In order to grow and move forward with new ideas and ventures, I am writing to share that I am going to take a break from teaching my morning classes. My last group morning class will be Friday, September 15th, Power Hour. I LOVE teaching and am proud of the community we have built over these years. I am beyond grateful to all of you who have committed to your workouts with me whether it was at the beginning, for a little while a few years ago, or just recently. My heart is heavy because I know I will be disappointing many of you who have relied on the consistency, challenge and quality of our classes. Please know that I am considering this a “sabbatical.” Not necessarily a good-bye....just a break from teaching my morning classes for now. I will still be out and about in the community offering Pints and Poses, SUP Fitness, SUP Yoga, instructor workshops, private training, and retreats as well as coaching youth sports, teaching my four courses at Duke and planning other fitness-related events. I hope to continue to see many of you at these events and I hope you will please stay in touch through email, Facebook and Instagram and watch my website for updates. Thank you for your dedication, commitment and friendship. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you. With gratitude, Maria
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I recently sat down with a friend who is writing a blog series on women-owned businesses. She asked me a lot of questions about how I started this fitness adventure and what caused or ushered along the transitions I have made over the years. We spent a few hours together talking about everything from how our families have grown and what the kids are doing, to how I have weaved my fitness classes and business around this busy life of being a mom, wife, friend, daughter, and sister.
I reflected on what I really enjoy about fitness, owning a business, and how I try and balance that with my family, friendships, and personal time. Talking through the history of how I started was incredibly insightful. I remembered what inspired me in the beginning and realized what has changed as I have matured, my kids have gotten older, and new fitness opportunities opened up, like teaching at Duke University and my interest in standup paddleboarding yoga (SUP Yoga). We talked about my next steps and where I want to take Maria Finnegan Fitness. She asked a lot of questions that I might have been thinking myself, but had not taken the time to consider nor been ready to answer before the interview. Our conversation confirmed a few ideas I had been thinking about and dreaming about. Like any small business owner however, ideas often have a way of getting sidelined. One moment I can really see how to develop a part of my business that would be useful to my clients and open up a new market, but then I can easily get sidetracked by the everyday routine and responsibilities and those ideas take a backseat. One of the best parts of the discussion was resurrecting some of those ideas that have been patiently waiting in the wings. I want to strengthen the areas that I really enjoy about Maria Finnegan Fitness and start developing new aspects to my business that I have wanted to bring to fruition. The core of my business will always remain the joy, fun, and motivation I see in my clients and students. My enthusiasm for fitness has always been about the people and confidence that evolves from discovering our inner strength. Take a moment and read the interview on 3bossybees.com and you will get a glimpse of how my fitness business started in Hillsborough and how I have expanded into the Triangle offering SUP Yoga to clients and businesses. You will learn what some of my challenges are as a small business owner and also, more importantly, the successes.
Last day!!! Synthesis Saturday!!! Congrats team for making it to our last day!! Huge accomplishment. It has been a pleasure working with everyone over these past few weeks. Thank you for participating, reading, sharing and trying. Remember that we began our challenge with " I CAN" statements that guided us through our daily routine and activities . Whether you stuck with it the whole way or waxed and waned with your intentions, the cumulative effort matters. Little changes each day. As you continue on after this challenge, recall those good "CAN" questions we talked about a week ago. Start with how or what....include an I....and an action. By reframing our mindset, we can make our goals so much more doable and attainable. Let's finish out the day/weekend strong and focused. I will continue to post workouts, motivation and wellness suggestions on my Maria Finnegan Fitness Facebook page and Instagram so please continue to follow, participate and stay in touch!! 💕maria #wecandothis #youcandothis #STYT #springtraining2017  Day 26. Fantastic YOU Friday! We have one day left in this challenge and I am so proud of all of you for your efforts, contributions, intentions and positive energy. Thank you for being a part of this team. Today we celebrate you. We have two tasks..... 30 minutes of something indulgent..... AND.... 5 positive words that describe YOU! I hope these are two very doable tasks for your Friday. I am especially interested in your five words about you. From personal and professional experience, I have observed how difficult it can be at times to talk positively about ourselves. Please try this today. Just five words. Write them here or somewhere you can see them. Thank you all for allowing me to share my thoughts and ideas about wellness over the past few weeks. We have one more day together . Let's stay present and aware of our I CAN statements. You got this. You Can do this. Happy Friday! #STYT #dayoneonedayatatime #fantasticyou 
In an effort to show that exercise CAN be fun, I'm sharing one of my favorite workouts that I occasionally offer my classes -- "CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE WORKOUT!" Like those fun books we read when we were kids, this workout offers you the choice to create your own unique workout. The workout posted here requires free weights. Feel free to use this workout as a guide and substitute in your own exercises. Grab a friend, give yourself 30 minutes and see how many adventures you can go on!! Have a fabulous day. #styt #youCANdothis #smallchanges  Day 24. Holy moly. The day has totally gotten away from me. Haven't had a moment to post today. I apologize for the late afternoon post. Today is strength day and 5 fruits and veggies. Here is my proposal......please get in some type of exercise today....strength, cardio, yoga, swimming, biking, etc.....and I will share a video tomorrow that you can use for tomorrow's workout. Deal? Deal. :-) We are in this together until Friday friends. Whether you are rocking it all week long or taking it day by day or hour by hour, I thank you for your efforts and your participation. Keep your intentions in mind today as you continue into your afternoon and evening. Do what you can to make little changes happen. I am happily on my 3rd bottle of water, but haven't had many fruits and veggies. I will keep that in mind as I choose a snack later and then prepare dinner to include fruits and vegetables. Remember your good questions and your I CAN statements. You totally CAN do this and you have the support of this entire team right here with you!  Day 23! How about that basketball game? Actually the game was pretty awful but we sure did like the outcome! Happy that my mantra "Cmon Heels, Cmon boys!" was so effective!!! :-) I hope you are having a great day. Sharing a total body workout here for you to add in to your day if you haven't exercised yet. Exercises are basic and effective. Add intensity to any of these by adding speed or impact....or try going really slow and see what happens. Challenging! Also...today is "clean meals." Do your best with this friends. Remember it's a process and if you can take small steps towards a cleaner diet, that's better than no steps. Drink your water. Eat a piece of fruit. Try for one less processed food. Small healthy changes will lead to bigger changes and healthier habits. #youCANdothis #styt  Day 22....or your 22nd "Day One"... Happy Monday Mash up. Simple tasks today: "I can get 30 minutes of movement." "I can find 10 minutes in my day for meditation." "I can keep working towards my 10 glasses of water." You got this.  Day 21. Good morning team. Well I totally blew off one of my goals from yesterday. -- "Distraction-free meals" -- because of the basketball games. Full disclosure...we watched the end of the Gonzaga game during dinner so we could see who Carolina would be playing Monday night! I also probably got way more meditation than 10 minutes, as I repeated the mantra over and over again.... "Cmon Heels!" Soooo....how are YOU doing? Today is a rest/reset day. This is our final week of Spring Training 2017. Let's make this the best week so far. Carve out some time to plan your week. Schedule your workouts, your quiet time, create a feasible menu. Reflect on the intentions you set 3 weeks ago. What CAN you do now/today/this week to continue to work on them? It's a process. Each day we put the work in and we try and we tweak and we continue to move forward. While we all have separate and unique goals, we share a common thread of seeking growth, change and a shift...whether it's physical, mental, emotional or a combination of all three.
These three guidelines reminded me of our "I CAN" statements. Here are some examples... Instead of asking ourselves "Who's going to help me exercise?" We can ask "How can I get some movement in my day today?" Instead of "When will I start eating healthier?" We can ask "What healthy foods can I add to my grocery list this week?" Instead of "Why don't I get more sleep?" We can ask "What time do I need to go to bed tonight to get enough rest for my body?" With a simple reframing of the question, thought, or intention, we can empower ourselves to take action and ownership of our goals. We can create our own personal accountability just by asking a better question. See if you can try this today friends. Draw strength, inspiration, motivation from this group...and then ask yourself "What CAN I do?" "How CAN I do it?" Have an awesome Sunday.  |
Maria FinneganWelcome and thank you for visiting this site. I'm happy and grateful to have a place where I can write about fitness and wellness. In addition to blogging about exercise and sharing workouts, I also use this space to tell 200-word stories about the inspiring and amazing people I encounter in this career. I look forward to sharing as many of these journeys as possible, and would love to hear from you if you would like me to tell your story. You can contact me anytime. Thank you so much for your interest and your effort. Think fit...be fit...stay fit! You are stronger than you think. #STYT Archives
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