Philosophitness with Shirlene Quigley

Meet Shirlene Quigley - Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher, Actress, Believer, Ground Breaker. This girl has got an impressive resume! For starters she's danced with everyone from Missy Elliot to Beyonce. Additionally, she has travelled the world choreographing and teaching dance.  

Shirlene and I first met on instagram, believe it or not, and she invited me to come take one of her heels classes in NYC. Me dancing in heels for the first time, is a whole hilarious blog to itself, but I digress. During the class I was struck by how welcoming, funny and honest Shirlene was with all of her students. Subsequently, we all put our awkward shyness aside and leaned into the experience.

Fun Fact: She is on tour with Lizzo right now! So, I feel lucky she carved out a little time to talk about her health and fitness philosophy while she’s on the road. Enjoy!

1. What is your personal philosophy around health and fitness?

Fitness is not for how you look, it’s how you feel from the inside out. I workout and keep an active lifestyle to stay healthy and have a healthy future for years and years ahead. 

2. When it comes to staying healthy, what comes naturally to you and what things require more effort?

Dance and cardio sport come natural. Anything like a fitness class or group activities is so fun and easy.
But taking time to lift weight and set gym time aside can be hard with my schedule since my daily lifestyle includes so much cardio activity. 

3. I know you bounce back and forth between east coast and west coast, does your self-care routine change from coast to coast? How do you stay in your flow?

Yes it is harder for me set gym time when I am in NYC, because NYC can be so busy. But i set time to do at least 15-20 min of small workouts I can do on a mat, like leg lifts squats, push ups etc. 

4. How has life as a dancer and teacher influenced your mindset?

I want to be healthy not just for myself, but for the team I am working with and the dancers I do my best to inspire.

5. What are your fitness/wellness essentials?

Water! Lots and lots of water. Vitamins. A mat and rolling out those muscles. 
Also I spoil myself with a once a week message to get that blood flowing. 

6. How do you stay motivated through the ups and downs of life? 

My relationship with God has helped me in all areas. Especially loving myself and all life’s challenges. 

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Follow Shirlene:

@shirlenequigley

shirlenequigley.com

Philosophitness with Shona Vertue

Meet Shona Vertue - Fitness Guru, Author, Comedian, Feminist, Creator, Badass. I met this hilarious fitness phenom on a photoshoot a couple years ago. When you meet people who are as talented and generous as Vertue, it's hard not to become a super fan.

I really love how she mixes humor and education into fitness on her feed. Also, she touches on everything from hip hop to curly hair care to feminism which makes you want to just sit down for a coffee with her.

Her knowledge, honesty and hilarity are undeniable. So, sit down and take a minute to get to know her in this brief interview. And if you are not following her yet, you know what to do. 

1. What is your health and fitness philosophy?

I created the Vertue Method which is the culmination of my experience as a gymnast, dancer, yoga teacher and personal trainer. I truly believe that a healthy body is one that is both strong, agile and mobile.

I also passionaly believe that we should be aiming to exercise for reasons that go far beyond just the way we look (aesthetics) and that it’s so much more motivating and empowering to exercise for skill development. There are a 99 reasons to exercise and fatloss DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ONE OF THEM.

2. Is there a book, article, lecture, experience that has had a profound influence in shaping your life in some way?

OH EM GEE SO MANY (sorry for yelling). To me books are LIFE - I love to read, everything from relationship psychology to anatomy and physiology. I love to binge watch TED talks as well, and often the books I’ve read have come off the back of awesome lectures I’ve watched over time.

At the risk of sounding like a total hippie, I do feel like books find us at the time we need them the most. Here are top 5 books that have/are in the process of changing my life (in no particular order):

1. Atomic Habits (James Clear) 

2. Ego is the Enemy (Ryan Halliday)

3. Strong Curves (Bret Contreras)

4. Yoga Body, Mind and Spirit (Donna Farhi)

5. Love Factually (Laura Mucha) 

3. What have been your biggest challenge when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle? How have you tackled it?

I am lucky to enough to be able to say that these healthy habits were instilled in me from a very young age. Both my parents helped me to understand that Health and Fitness should (and is) an expression of self-respect. If I lose my health practices, I feel as though I am letting myself down. To me, nothing is more important than keeping my body and mind healthy because without those things I am going to struggle with everything else. 

4. Outside of fitness, what are some other things you are passionate about?

Psychology, Feminism and Racial Equality (and pizza and coffee). 

5. How do you take care of your mental health?

I think that exercise and living a healthy lifestyle helps, but not in all cases. Its for this reason that I make a conscious effort to set aside time for sessions with a qualified therapist. I also spend a lot of time reading psychological principles and theories and see how I may be reflecting/acting on them in my own life. Self development and self-awareness, I believe, are crutial for mental health.

6. What are your fitness and/or wellness essentials that you can not live without?

Honestly, I don’t have any. Obviously I love to have my apple watch and my comfy activewear - but I feel proud to say that I don’t NEED any of them and that fitness and health doesn’t take much to obtain and maintain. 

In saying that, I do love a heavy kettle bell and glute band for Vertue Method workouts. 

7. Tell me something surprising about your story …

You and I met on a photoshoot and it was love at first sight (well, at least for me, I’m not sure it was reciprocated). Because we live too far away from each other, I sadly can only get my Lauren Williams fix through the gram (sigh).

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Follow Shona:

@shona_vertue

www.shonavertue.com