STREEEETTTCCHHHH your limits! Reach your dreams :)
STREEEETTTCCHHHH your limits! Reach your dreams 🙂
Hey POPsters!
Last night for the first time in my life I was able to nearly straighten my leg into a standing split!
It’s been a personal goal of mine to be able to do this for a while. This past week, I’ve been practicing, practicing, practicing after every workout – just stretching my hamstrings and pulling my leg up into the air in a yoga dancer’s pose (knee bent). Yea it hurt, but I found comfort in the discomfort (Thank you to my good friend Jemie for this one). I held myself together, and eased into the pain. After about 10 seconds I’d switch legs and keep going and going until I was too tired to pull my leg anymore.
It’s not perfect and my legs could definitely be straighter, but I was so shocked to look into the side mirror and see this image. I had my friend snap a shot for me to share with you all! I never ever thought I’d see the day where my leg could come up like that but, it just comes to show ya that when you genuinely work towards a goal…every bit of work results in progression.
Lessons…
- Don’t let dreams be dreams – turn them into reality
- Dreams don’t happen overnight – you gotta work towards them
- Don’t cheat – honest work gets honest rewards
- Find your comfort zone, then surpass it – this is how you grow as a person
- Find comfort in discomfort – new experiences are never easy, but you can tell yourself to be calm and make the most out of it
- If you want something bad enough, you will figure out a way to make it happen <– my favorite!!!
The only thing standing between you and your goal is…your mind. Your mind is a funny thing. On good days, you feel like you can conquer the world. On bad days, you can’t even look at yourself in the mirror. Your mind ultimately determines your thoughts, emotions, and actions. That’s a lot huh? That’s why we need to think as positively as possible…in order to let our mind feel good…in order to feel like you’re unstoppable. That drive is priceless.
This blog post was inspired by a few human interactions that have happened over the past week that have kept me thinking a lot about human beings…how we choose to interact with each other…and how we can push each other. I feel so fortunate to be currently surrounded by inspiring and genuinely caring friends, family, and students…but do you know that that is a choice I make?
The more happy interactions that you can have with people, the more inspired you’ll be to do greater things. I’m serious.
I once heard that the 5 people that are closest to you are a direct reflection of you. Think about it. Who are you always talking to, hanging out with? Do you guys have similar habits, interests, and qualities? I bet you do. You know why? Equilibrium. Hang out with a group of mean girls? You’re probably going to be making fun of people whether you like it or not. If you’re around it, you get used to it. Soon enough, it’ll become “normal”. On the other end of the spectrum…hang out with a bunch of super successful entrepreneurs? You’ll probably be inspired to invent, create, and design the next big thing. I mean, naturally, you will want to be successful too! Just makes sense. Again, it’s balance…you feed off of their energy and they feed off of yours.
So guess what I do to people who are negative? I literally delete them out of my life. Yes that means unfollow off of all social media too. I don’t want to waste my thoughts and energy thinking about them. No one has the time anyway right?
This deletion creates space in your brain and your heart to love others who show you love back.
If the deletion seems harsh, trust me, you’ve got to find comfort in the discomfort. For your own good!
Like how my standing spits hurt. They do. But if I wanna achieve a certain goal, I will do what I can to get there. I will accept the pain and the hurt in exchange for progression on my flexibility.
Oh wow! Where did the time go! It’s 6am now!!! Oh my…I seriously need to stop being so excited about writing to you guys in the wee hours of the morning!!
Have a fabulous day. See you all soon!
<3 Cassey
59 thoughts on “STREEEETTTCCHHHH your limits! Reach your dreams :)”
There are Array59 comments posted by our users.
I tend to group with unpopular kids , and it becomes a pattern until now. It feels more comforting to hang out with them, the bad thing is most of them negative people, and it affecting my life too. I become moody and sometime I cant even get out of the bed. we could talk hours complain about everything and I feel exhausted afterward. it’s not healthy . So then I decided to make distance and now I do a lot of stuff that I never think I will do. I start diet , do Marathon, Join Bicycle club, teaching short course elementary, meeting new people ,Once a week I cook for homeless people and going to party… I feel great now and more embracing life
Thank you !
I am actually practicing to get more and more flexible. After few years of dreaming about taking ballet course, after few years of dreaming about be able to split , after many years of wanted a tone body… well i think i finally got my butt off the couch… and be able to reach american blog, with such inspirationnal way of seeing life than yours is one of the key to my actual success…
Thank you…
<3
Charlotte from France
I want to be able to do that! Better get practicing.
Hey girly, I know this is an old post…but I’ve literaly been reading it every morning for the last 3 days! I haven’t made a ton of friends since moving to southern California a few years ago (I work A LOT, I’m sure you know the drill) so I basically just go with spending all my free time with the small group of people I have gotten to know. After reading that the 5 people in your inner circle are a reflection of you I had um…second thoughts haha. It’s so HARD to delete negative people from your life, but so HEALTHY for both parties! I’m now focusing on deleting the negative and not feeling bad about it, and trying to spend more time with people I admire who are positive and have similar goals + passions. For some reason, so effing hard, but such a great thing!
Thanks for the inspiration <3
Cassie, thank you so much for your helpful advice. Your right that in spring we should shed our winter blues and become a new, happier person. Your advice has really changed my outlook on life and has made me a happier, more beautiful person. Not to mention how your amazing videos have changed my body for the best. I am currently a senior in high school and I have a lot of anxiety and stress from college decisions. The stress all really escaped my mind after your workouts. they cleared my mind, reduced my stress, and made me happier from the inside out. All I can say is thank you. Thank you for everything you have done for me.
P.S. I live in L.A. and can’t wait to see you in Runyon Park and actually meet you!!!!! So excited!! 😉
thank you Cassey, nice body ,nice soul, nice mind, it all about you, thank you for your work, you change and so many people change with you, they work to, so nice energy!!
Hi Cassey,
I started following you a year and a half ago when I had a stress fracture in my femur and had to stop running (I have run multiple marathons and have always used running as a way to relieve stress). Your videos helped me stay in shape and stay as positive as possible during this difficult time. Thank you.
I have gone through a lot of personal growth in the past few years and understand how difficult it can be to willfully inflict pain on yourself as you try to achieve positive goals. I recently had to delete a very good friend from my life because she tinged every generous act with a large dose of negative spirit and she had begun impacting my own ability to succeed. As hard as this was, I am much happier now and am using my new freedom to achieve things I had previously thought impossible.
Thank you for always being positive in your videos and blog posts; I know that I can always lift my mood by doing a blogilates workout, no matter how crappy I’m feeling.
sięgał, że jak Namówię ego tobie z Poniekąd parobka, właśnie
zjawiał się Phillipp w podległej pułkownikowi osobie,
duszmeni jako na zamówienie
rozpoczynali nocny ogień. W wyższym stopniu wprowadzeni w interesy
Rościsławskiego,
w takim razie obecnie pułkownika, dyskretnie uśmiechali się, słuchając fraza
„na
zamówienie”.
Wypada dostarczyć pułkownikowi praworządność – był potężnym
patriotą, rządzącym
jakieś pod adresem chwale ojcz.
Hi Cassey! What you said about literally “deleting” negative people out of your life reminded me of something I did! I literally deleted my old negative friends out of my life, and have been so much happier since. However, my friend told me the other day they have been making rude subtweets about me and so forth, but I didn’t let it get to me. I’m being the bigger person. Thank you so much for being such an inspiration and overall good person!
Sorry this is so late, but I love reading your blog. It’s so inspiring! This post was especially inspiring and you make me want to work toward being able to do a perfect standing split.
Jamie
Well done Cassey! I had a flexibility goal once but I havn’t reached it or worked on it for a long time, sad but true. But I’m thankful for you and for you writing this post. I think you turn many faces into smiles.
This is so cool! Love the way you bring your passion to others! <3 Can you make some videos how to do and learn these tricks? I want to learn this! I'm nearly there, but still not where I have to be… Hopefully you can upload some stretching videos because I love them! 🙂 Keep it up!
'xo
Wonderful words of wisdom from a very inspiring woman! Thank you, Cassey!
Hello Cassey, my name is Phil. I’ve been following your blog for a long time now, and it’s after this post that I’ve mustered the courage to post something here. Let me start by saying that your post has hit home. Hard. I’m going through a very difficult situation right now and I noticed that I’m being extremely negative with my thoughts, actions and it’s ruining everything.
This part of your post sums up what really caught my attention: Every single one makes absolute sense:
“Don’t let dreams be dreams – turn them into reality
Dreams don’t happen overnight – you gotta work towards them
Don’t cheat – honest work gets honest rewards
Find your comfort zone, then surpass it – this is how you grow as a person
Find comfort in discomfort – new experiences are never easy, but you can tell yourself to be calm and make the most out of it
If you want something bad enough, you will figure out a way to make it happen <– my favorite!!!"
The last one is certainly the one I believe in the most. Finding comfort in discomfort is certainly the one that's the biggest challenge for me. You're absolutely right when you say you should surround yourself with positive people. It makes even horrible moments manageable.
I don't know if you're going to read this, but I'd like to say: Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for your videos, your energy and your enthusiasm. And finally, thank you for your words. You've made a fan out of me.
What a beautiful, inspiring post! You are a wonderful example of following your dreams and how the universe opens up and to leads the way to fulfilling your dreams in ways that are even bigger than you actually dreamed of. Keep inspiring us and allowing us to share your journey with you. Thank you.
Cassey, I LOVE YOU!! You rock! Thank you so much for making heartfelt connections with your audience. Your positive ways really strike a cord with me. Can’t thank you enough!
Wow!it’s my dream to do this:)which exercises did you practice? 🙂
Every post written by you is so motivating! Thanks! <3
That’s awesome Cassey, so happy for you! Read through this post and it was just what I needed for a pick me up 🙂
And my own personal goals would be to do a complete leg split and a handstand! Going to use your video for slowly stretching into a split!
You really inspired me !!! Thanx, love you 🙂
I love this post. I was kicking myself over not pushing myself as hard as I could with your treadmill shredmill workout this past Friday, but two days prior I finished your sweat sexy treadmill workout strong. I didn’t allow myself to feel the burn and ease into it because my mind was so focused on negative thoughts. After reading this post, I know that when I try the treadmill shredmill this Monday I will remember your post to find comfort in my discomfort. I’ll let you know how it goes Monday:)
Thank Cassey!!! Love you!!
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Hi Cassey!
First off, we LOVE YOU!! Your workouts are amazing and make us feel great and we’ve seen results. So THANK YOU! We also love how you talk to us during them…it helps distract us from the pain! We wanted to leave you a comment because we think it would be awesome if you did a workout video where you discuss a topic of substance be it — politics, international affairs, education reform, anything really…
This way we can work out our minds and bodies at the same time! AND, for those of us who work out early in the morning, it’s like the morning news and our workout ALL IN ONE!
Thank you so much, we love you! Looking forward to the next vid!
Love,
Sandy and Nicole
Cassey,
OMG I think I feel another shirt idea coming on! I loved the quote you wrote “find comfort in discomfort”. It completely describes the outlook you should take on working out to achieve a certain goal, it was very motivational.
Great post as a self taught Yogi I agree 100% about challenging yourself and dedicating yourself to hard work.
This was a really inspiring post. Thank you!
I am less than an inch away from side splits myself and I can’t wait to go further.I love the end of the day after finishing the calander commands and think oh yeah I just did that I rock lol. Thanks caddy. Being a new mom is tough and being motivated enough to focus on me is even harder but you help me stay with the workouts. I usually get bored after two or three weeks of the same routine but you have managed to keep me going since day one of 2013 thank you thank you
*cassy sorry about that lol darn spell correction;)
Wow, great post! I really enjoy reading it! It is so motivational!
You really motivate me! And I am so grateful because you train my body, but you train my mind too! Thank you for both!
<3
Thanks for the post. Nice picture. It’s nice to have you as our workout instructor/motivator. We are 60 years old and you wear us out but we do better every day – we are living proof that it can be done! Again, Thanks!
Could you post a stretching video soon =)
I was about to write the same thing! To achieve what Cassey has achieved in the photo is also a dream of mine and I am almost there with the splits on the ground. Hopefully, I can achieve this too! ^^
I’d like to third this request. The stretching video you posted in London a while back is one of my favorites.
I love your workout and blog, but this is my favorite post so far. I’ve been working on removing negative people from my life, however where I get stuck is when it comes to family. I always feel guilty cutting them out. I started limiting my exposure to my mother. When I do talk to her negative emotions start to bubble up and when the conversation is over I feel bad for not wanting her in my life. It’s difficult to juggle trying to positively change and grow while she’s holding tight to my past self. Anyways, you’re awesome, I love your energy and attitude. You make working out, although painful, super fun! 🙂
Needed this today. Thank you so so much! It definitely applies to so many different aspects of my life right now. Going for a run now 🙂
oh wow you look great!! Do you do a lot of yoga or dance? How can one get their body to become more flexible?
-.- She does Pilates.
Cassey this is just what I needed to read right now! You inspire me to be better everyday and then when I don’t think that I can accomplish something you somehow find a way to motivate me! Thank you for everything you do 🙂 Lots of love Cassey <3
Yay Good job Cassey! I’m proud of you. Thanks for the awesome post. I agree with you on cutting negative people out of your life. Because of this, I don’t have very many friends but it’s definitely quality over quantity! And I love the people that I do have in my life.
Congratulations Cassey!!! I’ve never been able to do splits on the ground much less in the air but I saw your post and I am definently motivated to stretch more daily! Thank you!!!
I really liked your life lessons and the purgin of all that is negative. I have been deleting people out of my life for the past six months! I’m close but still not completely clear of negative influences… One being my boyfriend… Ugh. But I’m staying strong, keeping up with the march makeover calendar and I know I will delete all the negative out of my life soon! Thank you for all of the inspiration, motivation and workout videos! They always make my day so much better and make me feel better!
Have a fabulous day! <3
Hi Cassey! I have a problem. I found Blogilates about 6 months ago. I have been following your workout calendar and I have become so much stronger and I love the way my body looks like now. A month ago I was hospitalized, because I didn’t eat enough and my bloodpulse was too low. They said I’m underweight and I have to gain some weight. They gave me a meal plan that I have to follow now. My mom is making sure I follow it. They also said that I can’t work out until I’ve gained some weight.
Now I’ve been working out in my room secretly, because I don’t want to look fat and I think that working out balances it a bit and the weight comes as muscle. But today, my mom caught me working out in my room and she was really mad. Now I don’t know should I work out or not. What would you do if you were me?
Your health comes first, and working out at the moment doesnt sound like it is healthy for you! Listen to your doctors, you can start exercising again when you are well. 🙂
Congrats Cassey! You look so graceful posed like that like a ballerina!
Beautiful post. Congrats on being able to do that standing split!
Blogilates is one of the things that keeps me going on my toughest, most blah days. “Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.”
WOW! that’s so awesome! Can you do a video on stretches to help you get that? Sorta like the splits video, that really helped me 🙂
Thanks for so much inspiration. I don’t have anyone in my life as positive as you… you’re in my circle of 5 LOL! Your split is effing fabulous. Around here the bar is so low that I forget to keep working on more amazing satisfying fitness goals. That also translates into my career, I know exactly what you mean about stepping out of your comfort zone and just going for it… I’m trying!!! Thanks again for sticking with all of your POPsters. <3
Seriously Cassey, you hit it right on the spot. I feel the same way about cutting negative people out of your life. They bring you down and hurt you for things that they are jealous of (success, boyfriends or whatsoever) and make you feel bad instead of supporting you and being happy for you. I have lost one of my former best friends over this and struggled with that for a while. But Reading your post showed me once again that sometimes we need to make decisions like that to move forward. Thanks for always motivating me, you are one of the most inspiring People I know. <3
Beautiful!
you are one of my biggest inspirations! you’re awesome, and you always make me feel better. LOVE YOU CASSEY!! and keep doing!!
Cassey, thank you so much for being a wonderful person and so inspirational! <3
Hey Cassey, loved your post and the beautiful picture! And I definitely agree with working for your goals and make your dreams come true and so on but we should always keep in mind that we have to be patient and forgiving with ourselves. Though it’s surely a great thing to find “comfort in the discomfort” you have to remind yourself not to push yourself until you get injured or whatever just because you have this crazy idea of yourself as somebody who’s “not good enough” or “not skinny enough” or whatever. I konw that YOU know that Cassey, but for lots of young girls it’s very hard to ignore the pressure of a society that suggests you can only be happy if you are super skinny and buy sh**loads of stuff to create a “better you”! Love you Cassey, your a great inspiration <3
Great post Cassie ; this is the positive content I like to read 🙂
That’s an AWESOME picture, Cassey, and an awesome accomplishment! Really love the idea about finding comfort in the discomfort (was always one of my favorite parts of yoga, and kind of a personal mantra of sorts) but I’ve always used it for a workout and never thought that the same idea coud apply to uncomfortable social situations – like saying adios to those negative influences in your life. I’ve recently had to do a bit of this, and I think your post will help me to come to a place of “comfort in the uncomfortable”!
Hi Cassey! Congratulations! Too right about the hard work paying off – I have been following your calendar workout and already seeing muscle tone changes…seeing these changes just drives me harder; and then your possitive attitude during the workout keeps my mind possitive and pushes me to think ‘I Can Do This’! Thank YOU! Something I was thinking yesterday after the killer tricep workout was stretching…and then you had this blog post. Do you have a stretching video? Or would you consider doing one….with some minor and major stretching moves for all over body? I’ve noticed that my muscles are becoming rather tight and I really need to start doing more stretches…if there was an all over body stretch video – I’d do it after every workout! Thanks again Cassey!
Cassey you make perfect sense!! Your post today left me feeling very inspired to do some ‘deleting’ of negativity myself! x
Great post, Cassey, and great message. I’ve unfollowed people on social media as well, and it’s amazing what a difference that can make. It seems silly, but it’s amazing how negativity can be so powerful, even virtually! Congrats on your split…very cool picture!
That’s awesome!!! 🙂 Nice!!! 🙂
I ordered your popilates dvd! Can’t wait for it to arrive. I should be able to do that soon with your DVD LOL!
Congrats Cassey, that’s awesome! I’ve just started practicing yoga seriously and I’ve got a few poses in mind that are goals of mine. A head stand is one of them. Right now my husband has to hold me up, but one day I will gain the strength to do it on my own. You’re so beautiful posed like that….the human body is truly amazing!