374: Move Joy Activation to Change Your Body and Your Mood! with Equinox co founder Lavinia Errico

Hi.

I want to welcome you to Midlife Conversations. I'm Natalie Jill, your host and I help midlife women redefine and rebrand aging. On this podcast, I do what I do best, taking complicated information and conversations around aging that are relevant to us now and breaking it all down simply with actionable steps that you can implement to level up your life, because your best years are yet to come. I also regularly interview some of the most inspiring people living in their best midlife years. On this show, I cover topics about our health, hormones, navigating, getting weight, blood sugars, our mood, focus changes, even our relationships, career changes, beauty, and more. Today on Midlife Conversations, I've got my friend Lavinia Erico. She is the co founder of Equinox and we're going to talk a little bit about how that came about. But even more importantly, not only is she my friend, but she is the founder, the creator of Move Joy, which is a fascinating concept when I say you feel good, like you feel really, really, really good after you do this. And it's so funny because when I did this with her, I said that, and she said, that's so funny that you just said that. That's my tagline. And I thought that's, that's amazing. So I wanted to unwind this because you're going to get a lot of great information on this episode today. The way I describe what Lavinia stands for, teaches, thrives with, is a concept that all of us in midlife should be embracing. It's kind of like your morning routine, your lymphatic, your creativity, you're moving your body, all the things rolled into one fascinating hour. It's amazing. So, Lavinia, thank you so much for being here today.

Thank you.

Let's back up a minute because a lot of them don't know you, but they've heard of Equinox. Can you tell us a little bit about that, where that came from and how you even co founded that? Where that came from?

Sure. So first of all, I co founded that with my two brothers. I have a twin brother who is obviously the same age, and then I have a brother one year younger and I have three sisters as well. But my mom said that we all came out of the womb running. We're just very physical, loved movement. I started dancing at five years old and that became my very happy place. And my brothers played sports and my sisters played sports, and that was just kind of our life. And I went off to go to college at usc and I actually started a program There, that was my little entrepreneur hat. I guess I was about 19 years old and I made flyers and passed them out to all the sorority girls. I got one of the maintenance men and there was a little atrium at sc and I started, I asked the maintenance man, can I teach here? And he's like. And I literally brought my little boom box and gave out flyers and wow. Started teaching.

And talk about grassroots, like full grassroots. Like, you didn't start from like this big vision, you just liked doing something and wanted to share it.

Exactly. You know, I always say that from a very young age I had this little obsession with. Because I loved moving so much and it was so my happy place that I wanted everyone to move, even as a little girl. Like, I remember pretending I was the teacher and getting my three younger sisters and, and come on, we're going to do this exercise class. You know, I, I don't know what that's about. I think you still do that.

Lavinia, when I was just visiting her recently and she, we, she enrolled me in going line dancing past my bedtime. Now, I had never line dance. She had never line dance. And we get there with her friends and we're all intimidated. Not her, we're all intimidated because people, like, know what they're doing and LA just gets right out there, she's moving and going, she's like, let's go. It's fun.

I don't know, I have this saying, as long as I'm moving, I know I'm alive. Yeah, you know, so anyway, so then I started teaching a little more seriously. And then when I moved back to New York, I realized that at that time, the fitness world was really nothing nearly compared to la. At least in LA we had options. In New York, it was horrific. I mean, just, I mean, there were some studios that were good, but that was really about it. And, and I actually wanted to open up a workout studio. And we were negotiating the lease for that. And the truth of it was, in those days, real estate developers or landlords, they did not want gym or fitness in their properties. They did not view that as an A tenant.

That's so funny because that's so changed,

you know, so changed. And I really like to believe that Equinox created that change because prior to that, nobody wanted. It was like, you know, they kept waiting for the restaurant, they kept waiting for the store. Anything like a gym was like a gym. And then my brothers and I kind of all were complaining a lot. We lived on the Upper west side of Manhattan and they were Developers and kind of very entrepreneurial. I was working for a cosmetic. I was working for Longcomb in their executive program, and we were just constantly complaining, somebody needs to open a great jam. Somebody needs to open a great gym. Somebody needs to open a great gym. And then finally, we just, like, we did it.

Somebody was you. Somebody was you.

It was us, you know, and. And we. I felt like we already did the market to see what the market wanted, because all of our friends felt the same way.

Yeah.

So all of our peers and people we would talk to. Like somebody. You still have a great job. Anyway, that was really it. I mean, obviously, I simplified it a lot.

No, but I. But I love that because what you. That always reminds me. And I wanted you to tell that story again for people that don't know you yet, because it's. You look at Equinox as one of the biggest success stories in fitness and gyms. Like, really. And, you know, we're also trained that you got to have this. This crazy vision detailed out and your full business plan and all the investors and all the things, and you really bring it back to. No. You do something you love, you share it, it adds value to others, and it can turn into something am. Which is. I know that we've simplified it. You simplified it. There's a lot more steps in between. But that's really how you started it. Which is why I wanted to start that story before we shared this, because once again, you've done this. You have figured out something that was missing from the marketplace, and we're going to get into that in a minute. Something that is very needed, especially for midlife women. And we, Lavinia and I, are recently having this conversation that it can feel very frustrating at a gym sometimes. A lot of midlife women are into the gym. Got it. I am. I'm personally into it. A lot are, but a lot of them are really not. And the reason is they don't feel good when they're there. They don't feel good about themselves. They get there. They're looking at everybody else filming themselves from social media wearing their little outfits and whatever it is, and they. It makes them feel bad. And that is not the goal of movement.

No. Yeah.

So tell us what you figured out so.

At that time.

Well, both times.

But, I mean, you know, again. And I think what you said, you were right on point is, I mean, I think that the gift with us was that there were three of us, so we each had, like, a super power. Right. Like, even though we crossed over. But you know, my one brother was, like, amazing at the real estate, and that's really hard in New York. Like, I mean, it's hard enough to rent an apartment in New York, rent a space. Right. So he was amazing at that and raising the money, and I could have never done that. Like, I was.

Stayed in your genius.

Yeah, we like. Yeah, I was like, more the customer service and the sales and the marketing, and I love the fitness end of it. So creating really innovative programming. And then my other brother, I mean, his superpower, he still is like a huge developer now. It's like he knows how to build the most beautiful spaces. Like, amazing. And he was also very much. He picked out every single equipment that we had. And. Yeah, so we just kind of kept crossing over. So I do think that that was other huge benefit, that it wasn't one founder trying totally brain. Right, Brain. Create content. Like, we each had our genius.

Yes.

I. That's why to this day, I very rarely ever invest in a company that has one founder.

Wow, that's a really. That's a good point, actually. Yeah. Because, you know, you need all those different areas because you need it.

Right? Like, so. Yeah. And then we were on our roll, and we kept opening up one club and not cover the next club. And then through our own life. That's how we created the wellness center. It's like I literally jumped out of bed one day and landed flat on my face about two and a half years into the opening of Equinox and was like, wait a minute. Like, how could this be? I was literally 33 years old, and I was in great shape. I mean, physical shape. I mean, in those days, if you were fit, you were healthy. So we thought. And that the exploration of, okay, wait a minute, like, I am, like, fit. I am. You know, I have a resting heart rate of 58. My body fat is 16%. My resting, you know, my resting heart rate was low. My cholesterol was 148. With the HDL of very high. Like, I did. My blood pressure was 110 over 70. Like, I was just peak athlete. And how is it that you're peak athlete and you're falling flat on your face? And that began the journey of, okay, what does it really mean to be healthy? Like, if I am this fit and I'm not healthy, what does that look like? And after a couple years of really exploring that, we created the Equinox Wellness Center. And that was really about that. You have to be spiritually fit, mentally fit, emotionally fit, and physically fit. And today I would add two other things. I would add financially fit and sexually fit. But we didn't think in those ways, you know, years ago. So we created programming and created a whole wellness center around that. And honestly, Natalie, like, we got, I'm not going to say it, hate mail, but I got people putting in the, in the suggestion box. I can't believe you're involved in this quackery. What? Because, you know, people, they hear things like acupuncture and meditation and, you know, hypnotherapy, which is so common now.

But I guess at the time it was days.

It was, oh my God, that was like 1996.

Okay.

We're like, this is crazy. Stick to the gym business. However, a lot of the consumer, they were scared. They didn't know. Right? Didn't know. It sounded, you know, however, the media was writing about us like crazy. So that kind of.

Yeah, so. And we all know, like, you all have seen any now, even though she had. They have sold it. And it's not that they found, they co founded it and they've sold it. You all have seen the signature that it became. I mean, it became a really a look up to thing. So, Lavinia, take us into this next chapter because what you've created now is so. I mean, this is. I had to have you on this show. I had to have you on the podcast because I need women to know about this because truth of the matter is, I was staying at your house and I knew you were doing this thing. Right. You had invited me when you first started. I knew she did this thing. I called it like Lavinia's workout thing. That's what I was calling it. She's like, come, come take my move Joy class. Come take it. I was like, well, I've seen it. She's like, no, no, no, you have not seen it now. And I did this thing and it is so good. I have not stopped telling my friends about it. I've told people on my team about it. So I need to understand, like, where did this come from? And let's talk about this because I think midlife women need to know about this.

Yeah. So I will say that first of all, everything that's in it is already out there. You know, there's breath work and there's movement and there's, you know, somatic release and there's visualization and visualization and all of this stuff. Right. However, the secret sauce is the sequencing of this because breath work, we all know it's a buzzword right now. Everybody knows we need to do breath work. I have done numerous breathwork workshops. I have an amazing breathwork teacher. But the truth of is, I wasn't doing breath work every day. You know, there's just not enough time to do that. So when I went about two, three years ago, I went through a really challenging time. Like many women do. I. I literally went through a divorce that I didn't see happening in the middle of COVID And, you know, and then unfortunately, I had some financial issues with my financial advisor who decided him making more money was more important than me making money. And I lost all this money. And, you know, and then I had another personal situation that happened. And honestly, Natalie, I was at the. I. I just. Every day, and I'm a happy person. Like, I usually wake up ready to go, loving.

Yeah, you are a happy person. So.

And I was waking up, like, just feeling a bit hopeless. I was just like. Like my heart was just so broken. It was just broken. So I started, you know, talking to a couple different people, talking to my doctor. And of course, you know, western medicine loves. I mean, western medicine loves to offer medicine. And maybe you need a little anti anxiety or you need a little antidepressant stuff. And energetically, when I tuned in, I was like, no, I don't. And not that I. It's great. People that take medicine, no problem. I just felt like I needed that there was going to be something else away.

Yeah.

And literally the first thing I started doing, probably being a good, you know, good Christian girl, is I started praying. So I started praying, and then I literally hear one day at the end of a prayer, I hear the word move, and I'm like, move. And I hear move. And I'm like, am I supposed to move out of my house anyway? Like, but that kept coming in my head. Move. And then one day, I have this amazing tree outside my house, and I love to hug it and be around it. And I just stood up and I just started moving. But I started adding the breath work into the movement, and I added the breath work into the movement. And then I was like doing some affirmations, or I would call them prayers, and putting that into it and then moving and then moving. And then what I'm noticing is that, oh, I feel good. Like, first of all, when you start doing the movement, the oxygen. The oxygen goes to the brain and you're like. So I kept coming back there every day and I was doing it until finally I was like. And I had already been teaching an exercise class online, so I Started incorporating this into my class, and all the girls are like, I love all the new stuff with video. Oh, my God. Like, so you were doing, like, a

standard workout, and you were discovering this workout. Okay. But you started introducing some of these things that you're figuring out.

Yeah. And, like, when I was doing the standard workout, it was like, sometimes they come, sometimes they wouldn't. Like, people would have excuses. Oh, I had an early meeting, whatever. All of a sudden, I notice as I'm doing this, everybody's coming, nobody's missing. The consistencies went from like, being, you know, like this to all of a sudden, every week, people are showing up every three days. Like, it. It shifted dramatically.

Do you think that's because, like, so what do you attribute that to? Because if I rewind, I think I hear so many women say things like, I have to work out. Like, they're making themselves do it. But I feel like when you do this, it's like, you feel so good that it's like. It's like the going back for sugar. Like, you want more.

No. I've had a husband say to me, oh, my God, My. It's like, this is like crack for my wife. Like, she just, like, has to get in.

Yeah.

And the thing that's so amazing is a lot of these women are not movers. Like, are women that would work out for a week and then wouldn't work out for three weeks. And then we're like, I got to get back to the gym. And then they'd work out, and then they wouldn't work out. And now they are literally so consistent. And the thing that's amazing is every one of them, when they go for their annual checkups now, the doctors are like, oh, my God, your blood work has never looked like this. Your inflammation is down. You're collect. Like, what are you doing? And then they say, I'm doing this thing called Move Joy. And. And so that's how I've gotten. Actually, even a lot of doctors starting to recommend people because it's just. It's just it. You do feel so good. The sequencing of the way it's been built, because it's really built that the first 12 minutes, first, where we're just releasing the energy. So we wanted. Like, it's as if somebody's coming and putting acupuncture needles all over you to just release it. To release it. And we release. We let it go. It's like primal therapy. Letting it go. We're inhaling love. We're exhaling fear. Inhaling love. Exhaling energy. Like, we let it go. We're opening up the cervical spine. Like, all of a sudden, you. I mean, since I've been doing this for a year and a half, I haven't needed to go to the chiropractor. And I'm usually the woman that was at least once a month girl, probably twice.

Oh, wow.

Now, like, because normally when you would work out, it's like you're working out. Like, oh, I got to do this.

Yeah.

And you make your body even tighter. Like, you don't realize. It's, like, energetically, it's like you got to do it. Makes you tense. But this one, we're loosening, we're opening, we're breathing, we're releasing. And then. Then we start building. Once we've had this release, now we start doing more of, like, traditional.

Okay.

But we've already gotten the body to feel so good, and it's kind of

like, okay, you know? Do you know how when you go to church, how they do is like worship music first to get you to open up, and then you. Are you ready for the sermon? It's kind of like that feeling, but for the workout, if that makes sense. Like, you're. You're opening up first, and now you're really ready.

I have to tell you something really funny, because a girlfriend of mine who takes this, and her husband doesn't really know me that well, but he keeps walking in and out of the room while she's doing it. And he said to her at the end of one class, he goes, you know, that's like a ministry.

Yeah, but I can see why he said that.

He said, you'd like that because it's. It feels like that. He said, because this is his wife who just never liked working out. Like, working out was, like, horrible. And she comes running every morning. So I do think, unconsciously, I didn't build it to be like that, but it feels like that. It feels like first we're filling ourselves up with love, with joy, with God, with universe, with higher being, higher presence. Right. And then when you're moving from that place and you're feeling so good, and then you're just. It's. You know, so it's an activation. It's literally. It's a mind activation. It's an energy activation. It's a spirit activation.

Lauren on my team called it a glow flow. She did it. She's like, it's like a glow flow.

Yeah. Yeah.

That's kind of funny. I love that. Yeah, it is.

So.

So what? I When I would rewind it as is. We all hear that we should be doing these morning routine things. Like I, I mean, let's just be real, like who. Some of my friends actually really do morning routines. And a lot of them, they keep saying they're going to, but it's, it's hard to do what I, for me, for that person that is working, working out, that's active. What I like about this, it, it kind of, it habits, it's habit stacks. It basically takes something you want to do and it puts it with other things that maybe you haven't been doing or been meaning to do. Because, like you mentioned, like the breath work, the, the, the prayer, the, the movement, the lymphatic. Like there's so many. It's like a big morning routine in one thing, right?

Yeah, well, that's what it is. It's literally, I've taken all the things that we know. These modalities have been around for hundreds of years. They, they're proven. They are proven. The science can prove that you, it will benefit. So I've taken all of that and I've put it into a 45 to an hour movement and you get it all.

By the way, I have a lot more questions for Lavinia, so don't, so don't jump off this podcast yet. But, but what I wanted to stay say for those of you that are like, oh, I need to learn what this is, or do more Lavinia has offered, which I'm really about on May 18th. So depending on when you're listening to this, on May 18th, we're going to do. She's going to do a live class, a live activation session where she not only does this whole thing where you could do the whole process for free with her, you can like check this out, but she's going to also be on and answer like all kinds of questions about how you can incorporate this in and things like that. So we'll, I'll share this more again at the end of the episode and it'll be in the show notes. But if you go to midlife conversations.com forward/move joy. So midlifeconversations.com forward/movejoy. You can sign up for this free class and you can be on with us. I'm going to be doing it live with her. It'll be fun. Sorry, but I want it. So Lavinia, what are, what are some of the results you're seeing from this from women?

Well, like I said, first of all, I would say number one, the Consistency. And as we know, consistency is the way to success. Right. If we. So because of that, I've had. I don't even love to talk about the weight, because that I feel like is just a byproduct. But I've had women, you know, in the last year and a half lose up to £40. And the truth is, they really haven't changed the food drastically.

Wow. Just moving their body and doing these things.

Yeah. But what I notice is, you know, when you start your day in. In discipline, when you start your day in intention, the way you start is very often you're setting the tone for the rest of the day.

Okay, that is gold right there. Because this is something that I feel like everyone listening innately knows, but we're not all doing it. I'm guilty of it, too. I did it this morning. I'm like. I'm like, I'm gonna do my routine and I. And I said, grab my phone and I get distracted and then I'm in a bad mood and the whole thing.

Yeah. I mean, look, the way I say it, if you start your day with bagels and cream cheese, you're gonna probably end your day with cake. But it's just the way it is. And nobody loves a bagel more than. But I only let myself have it on Sundays because I know the chances are if I start my day like that, the rest of the day is going to be the same. Same. So when you start your day, like, you really start your day. And first of all, in self love. Because when you're moving, you are. You are basically saying I'm important.

Yeah.

In this hour, I am putting myself on the radar to say this is important. My health, my well being, my vitality, you know, all of it. You know.

Yeah.

If you don't have your health, you have. You have. You know, you have nothing.

True.

So it's really about, like, saying, like, I'm showing up for me. So.

Yeah.

So fun. I'm doing this class. And then you do it and you walk out of there and like, like I said, I have people losing, you know, who's lost from 25 pounds to wow, you know, oh, no, we've really had some.

Without changing all the other things. I believe that's true, too, because I

will say, like, what they. What they've said to me was you, Lavinia. Since I'm. I used to be the person that would go to the mall and would circle and circle and circle just to get a parking spot closest to the elevator. And, you know, now that they're doing it, they say, I don't do that anymore. I actually park in the back, and I. I enjoy. I. Now I walk. So, you know, it shifts everything. Like, this thing helps you break patterns. We have physical patterns. We have emotional patterns. We have mental patterns. You know, when you start moving in a different way and you move breath and you get the neurons in the brain to start firing up a little differently, all of a sudden, it makes other patterns change, too. Yeah, it's built on so much of that. So. So many of the women are like, I used to never do that. You know, it used to be so much harder for me not to eat that burger or not to get the French fries and get the salad on the side. And they're like, it's so much easier now because you're breaking some patterns when you're doing this with the breath work with the movement you're releasing. We release traumas. We're releasing emotional blockages, a lot of those traumas. And emotional blockages are what's making us actually want to go for the sugar or the salt. It's those things that we're getting triggered through the course of the day, which makes you want to eat right? Those. Those.

So the other thing that I realize is, so when I teach. When I teach fat loss or when I teach pretty like this, the signature part of anything I teach is that you have to start with decision and vision. So, like, you decide what you want, and then you get very clear on your vision. What I experienced doing this with you was that you're reminded of your decision and vision intentionally during that session. So you said, like, it's the 45 minutes of the whole flow and the whole movement. But, like, that whole 45 minutes, you're so connected to that decision and vision, and you're moving your body, so it's kind of like. It's just, like, sealing it in. So I feel like that's how. Because when we operate from that place, everything turns out better. Where I think a lot of times women, I hear this all the time. They're not operating from that place. And now they're making themselves go to the gym, and they're in this bad mood, and they're like, oh, I'm just gonna go through the motions. And then they're like, oh, I was supposed to journal today. I was supposed to do breath. It's like it becomes this, like, chore of a thing.

Then you start doing a whole shame bath on everything you didn't do. Yeah. And I think you know, for me, and I was a bit of a gym rat, obviously, but it, it's actually so nice to be able to do it at home. And that was another thing that women said. They're like, I'm so much more consistent. Because before, by the time I, you know, you can't go to the gym looking. You have to put some makeup on and you have to look, feel like

you don't have to. But we all want to walk into

the gym especially they have those horrible fluorescent lights.

No, when we were 20, we could do that. But now it doesn't feel good.

We have to like, so by the time, you know, it's 45 minutes, by the time you get yourself together and then you drive to the gym and then you go to, you know, whatever you get in there and then it's another, you know, half an hour. If you don't have two hours minimum, you're not getting that workout in. And now they can do it and they're doing it. I have women doing it in their pajamas.

I know, I saw that because I was on with you.

Yeah, go on. Their pajamas, their sneakers and they go. And so that's like, another thing is that you're getting it. And the other thing is years ago, when I look back at Equinox and we used to have like our 10:30 or 11:00 clock class, those women were all middle aged women, you know, so they'd be in there together and everybody was kind of, you could feel good because everybody was middle aged. You were from, you know, 50 up to whatever and even beyond. It's not like that today. I went and took a class a couple weeks ago at 10:30 in Brentwood. They were all. Because everybody's working remotely. They were all 25 year olds.

Oh, yeah. So you kind of lose that whole

fitting feeling walking in. Everybody's ripped and got this, you know, these sexy little bodies and you're just, you know, like, you're just remembering. It's not like, oh God, I used to be able to do that.

Yeah. Oh, that's another thing you and I were talking about. I forgot about that. So that's a very real thing too, is that comparison of like, I used to, I used to.

And you know, at the end of the day, like, I, I want to, I celebrate who I am today. Like, I, I, that's what this movement does. It makes you love you. Yeah. All of you, the messy you, the organized you, the train wreck you, the godlike you, the, the perfect you. Like all of it. Like we just have to learn to love ourselves. All of it. It. The whole part of who we are,

which is really easy to say, and I think it's hard for women to hear. And I get. But that's what I loved about this whole experiment, doing this with you, because you can't help but to feel that that's why they. That's why when I said, oh, I feel good, I feel really, really good, and you said, that's my tagline. I get why that happens.

Yeah. Yeah. Because we're letting the judgment go. You know, we're letting the criticism go. Like, we're letting. We're, you know, we're really getting that monkey off of our back. We're getting that old story out. You know, we're. We're really releasing that. And I really believe that when we do release some of these emotional traumas, you know, and when we release that, we do feel better. Like, I just feel for myself, you know. You know, my thing is when I get down or I get depressed, I don't eat. Like, I lose my appetite. And that's why, you know, like, when I went through that, I was 20 pounds thinner. I was very. I mean, whenever I would grab food, I just couldn't. It couldn't. So for me, once I started doing this, I started feeling good again. So I could actually look at food and. And say, okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna nourish myself today. I'm gonna nourish myself. I'm gonna give myself what it needs. Right? So. Yeah, and. Yeah, and I've seen a lot of the women say that they don't have, like, that. The binge eating that they had before. They don't have that. Like, they've created some new patterns have come out of it. So.

So, Lavinia, how important is doing this in the morning? Because I know, like, for example, we're going to do the session that we do for everyone listening that wants to join. I hope you'll join us. But we're gonna do it in the morning. Well, it'll be morning Pacific time, so it'll be kind of midday, east coast time. But do you. Do you think it's important to do in the morning? Is it more. Or is it more important just to do when people like that ideal time for them. Have you ever done it at night? Like, what's your.

I. I am. I do do one. An evening one. I mean, I just happen to, like, because for me, it's the way I start my day. Like, when I start my Day in discipline, when I start my day in self love, when I start my day in self respect and even in community, because we are in community when we do it. And people can go into breakout rooms and chat afterwards. But. And you're in that community and you're moving like you just, you feel good. It's a great way to start the day. So my preference would be for people to do it now, you know, at the end of the day when people, you know, for years, people say to me, lavinia, what's the best workout? What's the best workout? And I'm thinking, look, look, I could design you the best workout, but at the end of the day, it's the one that you're going to do.

You know what? You just gave me a complete aha moment because I get that same question with nutrition.

Yeah.

And I've had that with workout too. And I always want to say, like, I have that similar answer. Like, it doesn't matter what process I give them, if they're not doing it from the right mindset, place the right this, like all those other things have to be in place or it's not going to matter. The right intention, the right, all of that. So that it's also giving me an epiphany of why this whole system works.

Yeah. And also because you have to, if you have to get it in. So if it's something designed. Oh, I have this A plus thing design. But you don't do it. It's a waste. So whatever movement, I mean, at the end of the day, if you want to stop the aging or you want to slow the aging process down, you've got to move. And at our ages, and I'm a bit older than you, we have to realize that we're only as strong as our weakest ligament, our weakest tendon, our weakest muscle. And very often women are running into these classes that aren't really designed for us. They're not designed.

That's true. And I'm guilty of doing it too. Living. I still might. Yeah. And that's what happens to me. So I'm guilty of it too, because that's like you. I. Because we go back to what we did at 20 or whatever it is,

and at the end we can still get those great results, but doing things in a way that is really safe for our ligaments, for our tendons and for our weakest muscles.

Right.

And yeah. So the classes, most of the classes are live, but we on the, with the membership they do have, we'll have. Actually, we're creating something this week because I have this woman here whose specialty is the feet, and she really builds the feed. And I. Now that I'm working with her, I realize, wow, My.

Oh, wow. See, this is what I love about. You're always adding in, like, what you're personally walking through, what you're personally experiencing. And you're. You truly are. This is why you were so cutting edge with Equinox. This is why you're so cutting edge right now with Move Joy, is because you're walking the walk and you're going, how do I make this better? What I also want to share about Lavinia, this is kind of cool, but when she first started practicing this, we were at an event. It must have been, like, two years ago when you started really diving into this. And she said, I have to go lead it, or I'm. I'm. She didn't use the word I have to, but said, I've got to go lead a zoom for my women. She said, I have a group of about five women. And we were at this. This, like, this whole event. I was like, why are you gonna go do it for five women? And she's like, well, because I need to show up for them. This is. And I really loved that about you. And I watched that. You saw something that worked for you, and you said, I'm gonna show up for these women. You didn't care if it was one woman, five women, or 5,000 women. You're like, I will show up for them because this is important. And you consistently did this habit, not only for yourself, but for these women. And now it's been built and. And turned into this whole movement.

You know, I think when you do something, like, pure from the heart, and you believe in it, and, like, you do. Like, you do show up, I think that's where the magic is. When I see people, they're only going to show up for when it's, like, the main stage or big thing. I don't know. I think there's something energetically. There's something energetically that's a little bit off, that just never really. And again, I don't. I. I'm with you. That move, Joy, it helps me. And I don't think at that time, I was completely articulating that, but I feel better when I do it, so I want to feel the. I mean, I'm 64 years old.

Like, if you're watching this on video, by the way, you all. If you're not, you gotta look at the YouTube and see, she's 64. Lavinia is. Is killing the game like you. Amazing.

And I want to, you know, I. I know I have a contract to live to at least 105.

All right.

Be moving. And yes, I want my brain to be active and I want my heart to be open, and I want to say yes. And, you know, we went on that. That line dancing, and I brought in the instructor.

I saw that on your Instagram. I love that about you.

And now we're going to do it every week. We're going to do a line dancing with a bunch of women, and we're going to do it, you know, over here.

Oh, my gosh. Can we do it when I'm out there?

Absolutely. Okay. And that's what life is about. Like, that's when you stay young. Like when people say to me, the video. How do you stay so young? And trust me, you know, I'm not a. I haven't really done cosmetic surgery. I. You know, it's nothing major. And I really feel like it's because I just keep learning and growing and I get excited, I get curious, I get excited about life. You know, that's an attitude. You know, we say your thoughts, your words, your feelings. Your attitude is what creates your life. Right? So it's like. And sometimes I have to fake it. Like, sometimes I'm. I'm like, want to be in a bad mood or I'm a little. That is not gonna. That's gonna be a setback. Come on, Lavinia. And for me, I was just going to my gratitude, as soon as I connect into, like, oh, my God, I'm so grateful. I'm grateful for my life. I'm grateful for my health. I'm grateful. Then I can shift out of that, and then I can play with life again. And we have to play. And laughter and joy is. It keeps us young. Like, it's so young. It really is so good. Even when I'm reading a lot about brain health and they are really talking a lot about when you do things, and that's what move Joy is about.

Like, oh, I forgot you even do that in there, too. She. You do. Like a few little fun little. I don't want to ruin it for you guys when you do it with us, but she does these few little tricks. That's for your brain health, too, in there.

But it's also that you do it with thinking about it, with the. With play and fun and excitement. Because they say that when you move like that and the Brain is feeling play and joy and it actually gets the neurons and the brain fired up quicker, whereas it normally takes about 400 repetitions. But when you do it with joy and play in, in 20 to 30 repetitions, you're actually creating so good. So I mean there, all of that stuff is what I believe keeps me alive and, and like, and ready because we have to be ready for life. Like, you know, if you are not spiritually ready, mentally ready, emotionally ready and physically ready, when life comes at you, man, your nervous system, you're like, but yeah, when your body's strong, your mind strong, your, your energy, your energy is strong, you can, we can handle so much more and we feel so much better. I mean, you could see I'm so passionate about.

Oh, I know. And you fully get it. And this is why I'm so grateful that you even offered to do this for my community. You all, you have, you know, you guys, if you've been listening to my podcast for some time or you know me, you know, like anytime I learn something new, especially in midlife, that's going to level us up, I'm bringing it to you and showing it to you. This is cutting edge. This is, this is going to blow up in a good way. And I want to give you all an opportunity to, to experience this before you find out about it like some too late. I want you to jump in and do this now. So here's the thing. We're going to do a free class, totally free, just for my community on May 18th. All you have to do to sign up. We'll have this all in the show notes where if you're watching this on YouTube, it's below. If you're listening to this on podcast, it's in the show notes, but you also can go to midlife conversations.com forward/movejoy. This is a one time session that we are doing totally free. I'll be on there with you doing it it. I'll introduce her. She's going to lead this session with you and then she's going to stay on and answer questions and help you so you can incorporate this into your life if you love it and you will. So I hope you'll join us. Lavinia, what are some final things you want people to know? You're talking to a bunch of midlife women right now and can men do it? They want to know, can I, can a guy come do it if they hear this?

Yes, everybody can do it for sure. Yeah. I just want you to know that it's Designed for you. You like. Yes. If you may have to modify depending on any injury you have, but is that. It's designed for you to. Yeah, just.

And she'll help you modify, by the way, so you don't have to worry about that.

If you're worried about that, you feel good. And. Yeah, I'm like, I just want, you know, like, I'm obsessed.

I know you are.

And I love this with helping this demographic that I'm in, just stay healthy, like, stay alive, stay inspired, you know, like, it's an. It's an obsession of mine in the best way, in a good way. And so.

And you're the literally the girlfriend that you all listening, didn't even know you needed and you need her. She's like, she's that. She's that girl that we need in midlife. That is what is. She's your. She's your cheer girl. She's the one that's going to keep us going. She levels it up for us. So thank you for all you stand for and for being so passionate and for creating this. I'm a new fan. Love it, love it, love it. And I can't wait for those of you listening to, hopefully come experience it with us. I don't know if we'll have 10 of you on or a thousand of you on. It doesn't matter. Show up. We want to. We want to help do this. You'll have so much fun doing this with us. Thank you so much, Lavinia. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

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Sam.