At Ola Ka Ola, we celebrate women every day of the year. Read about the achievements and victories of our members
By Cheryl Coppa
International Women’s Day - a global day for us to join and celebrate women's social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. This is also a day to strive for greater momentum towards gender equality worldwide.
As a company founded by, run by, and serving women - we celebrate women every day. I really mean every day! It’s a celebration of what our bodies and minds achieve once we let go of false beliefs. Once we take the blinders off and are surrounded by others telling us and showing us we CAN! If you were to follow our Facebook page or even the social media pages of our trainers, you would see that every single day, women come together, internationally, and celebrate life through movement. You will see smiles every day! Follow here for your daily smiles! Most of them are sparkling! It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of.
I can understand how one might think this is superficial or just don't get it. Why are movement and fitness so celebrated? Why are you flaunting this? And what does this have to do with International Women’s Day? I guess it really is something you need to experience yourself. Besides all the basic reasons that we all know, exercise is good for your health on all levels physically and mentally. Every doctor across the globe recommends it.
But what really fires us and keeps us going is the power that this movement/exercise creates. It’s what gives all these women across the country and even across the world a reason to celebrate every day. When you push your body a little bit here and a little bit there, you start to create this pattern of thinking in your mind. You start to experience that you are capable of more. You prove it to yourself! And if you can do this physically and mentally, something you did not think you could do, then what else are you capable of? The possibilities expand, the blinders come off, and the false beliefs are replaced with empowered thoughts. The positive effects roll over into so many different areas of your life. it’s not just fitness and the benefits are not just in your training. It opens up doors you did not even see. I could give you so many examples. But I will keep it to just a few.
“The positive effects roll over into so many different areas of your life! It’s not just fitness. It opens up doors you did not even see. I would be in a completely different place if I didn't find fitness. I can say 100% fitness has changed the course of my life and my family’s life.” Cheryl Coppa
Imagine you are so crippled with anxiety. Your face turns red so easily. Your heart is pounding out of your chest - you are in constant flight mode. Your voice trembles and your lips shake when you have to address all the professionals at your child’s IEP meeting. You attend your group fitness class in the very back corner, not only so no one else can see you, but so you can’t see yourself in the fitness mirror. You wear layers of clothes in your fitness classes because you have zero confidence in your body. Then, invested in movement, doing it scared but doing it anyway, this woman now leads fitness classes all day long. Gives presentations, and workshops, and posts on social media like it is her job. The only prescription there was movement! This is me. I would be in a completely different place if I didn't find fitness. I can say 100% fitness has changed the course of my life and my family’s life.
One of our longtime members Christine shares the impact fitness had on her life:
“Then confidence came back, that was lost. Little by little I kept doing it, I just kept showing up every day. It was physical at first, totally physical but then mental too! I was fighting for myself, I was fighting for my life, I was fighting for my freedom, I was fighting for my peace. It was through this program, it was incredible. I was telling Aggy (Ola Ka Ola trainer) the other day, you don’t even know, you have given me my life back, thank you very much. “
Maybe not everyone has this drastic experience, but there is an uplifting, empowering experience to be had either way.
It is always exciting and worth celebrating when I hear from one of our members about something they try new because they feel capable and empowered to do so because of their fitness deposits.
Kara joined Ola Ka Ola a little over a year ago. When she joined she had a shoulder injury. I asked her what caused her injury and she said she did not know. Her doctor said she just had a frozen shoulder and that is just a common thing to happen to middle-aged women. So when she joined classes, it was not something we worked around, it was something we worked on. She would do what she could and modify for as long as she needed, and little by little her movement in her shoulder came back. She is now using heavier weights! When she started, she would just go through the motions, building little by little, meeting her body where it was at during that time. There were times she used water bottles or whatever she had. So seeing her use heavier weights this year was amazing, and I love to celebrate that. She also shared that just last week she completed a 5k run. Feeling empowered she is now signed up for a 10k run!
“I’ve always wanted to be fit but don't consider myself athletic. Then after feeling so much better after the injury recovery I thought, hey I can do more! I thought I’d do a 10k for my 50th birthday next year then thought, hey, why wait a year? Your morning classes are really a fun way to start and end the week and add in more strength training.” - Kara Ola Ka Ola member
Just the other day, Maura, another member, reached out to me, sharing her plans for a high-altitude hike to Machu Picchu in Peru to celebrate her milestone 60th birthday.
She has never dared such a feat but told me that with her ongoing Ola Ka Ola training and a focused walking plan, we came up with, she’ll be ready to make the trip in early August. How incredible it is that you can celebrate milestone birthdays doing physically demanding adventures!
Movement is a celebration, and as you can see in small ways and life-changing ways it can empower you, the women in your life, and your community.
Empower your body and mind, and celebrate your strength. On International Women’s Day, let’s lift each other, break barriers and conquer new heights.
Here’s to strong women: may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.
Join the movement.
Yours,
Cheryl
About Cheryl Coppa