With what’s going on in the world and this resurgence of COVID cases – exhibit A over here – why is the mind body connection and our mental health so incredibly important?
It’s all connected. The truth is that we have a primal right to move. And if people can start to realize that and explore and discover, they’ll find this out themselves. I have this whole language that I’ve created from my research. I’ve done the largest study in fitness on women. I’ve studied things that no one’s getting a grant to study. Can you take any woman from any genetic background and turn them into their most balanced self, time and time again, year after year? Both of my children lost their biological fathers at 48 years old. One from a heart attack and one from a glioblastoma. So, I’m all about being preventative. I actually did this extensive physical today and I asked the doctor, “Can I have some wine tonight? Because I have a date with a friend.” And they were like, “Yes.” But I have – knock on wood it stays this way – I have the health of a 20-year-old. I’m 46. And you don’t get that going through the life events that I’ve gone through, going through working out as long as I have with mistreating your body or not communicating and processing through your physical self in a really honest way.
Somewhere in our history someone told us that we couldn’t move. We didn’t make a cheerleading team, we got made fun of at soccer, someone said we couldn’t dance, we wanted to play tennis, we were told we didn’t have the body.
We are born into this world being physical beings that are driven by adrenaline and curiosity … And then when you become an adult and you hire a trainer, or you go to a training program you say, “That girl’s cute. She can move. I want to look like her.” Or even worse, “That celebrity does that. I want to look like that celebrity, so I’m going to do what they’re doing.” You’re just back in the same bad pattern of not communicating with yourself, not empowering yourself and denying your primal right to move.
You know how to move. You don’t really need anyone to teach you how to move. My work is solely focused on how if you can make yourself look like a bodybuilder… Why can’t you make yourself completely balanced without doing any damage to your joints, without doing any damage to anything else, without causing accelerated aging? Why can’t there be a conversation that can consistently create balance where there’s imbalance? That’s what I’ve dedicated my entire study and practice to.
You continue to adapt, pivot and develop all of the time. When do you feel your strongest? What makes you feel strong?
For so many years, I denied myself this strength. I only just got this strength recently as a matter of fact. I [used to not speak up] when I felt like someone was doing me wrong. I didn’t stand up for myself. I didn’t vocalize it. I’d take it and I’d go, “I have empathy for the person.” I’d make excuses for other people. I let people come into my world and make whatever mess they want, and think, “I can process it and I can clean it up.” And it’s only recently that I’m like, “No, actually you can’t come in here. And no, actually you can’t make this mess here. And actually, this is the way this is going to go.” That’s only recent and I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt because of that. I have felt physically very strong in my life, but I’ve sort of taken that strength for granted where I haven’t made myself become emotionally as strong as I was physically strong.
You were this pioneer and created a new method. What have you learned along the way that has allowed you to not just be in the game after 20 years, but to be at the top of the game?
I’ll say it. It comes from a radical honesty. I did not set out to be an entrepreneur. I did not set out to make one dime off of this. I truly had personal pain from gaining so much weight at school for dance on a scholarship. I had actually caught my dad cheating on my mom when I was younger, but my point is that my mom’s world fell apart when I was 17 and she worked three jobs to put me through school and I gained 40 pounds at school for dance. They were just like, “Make weight. Just make weight.” I’m like, “What do you mean ‘make weight?’ No tools?” You know Eric, Sam’s dad, who’s just the most amazing, incredible human being ever. He was so generous to me and supportive of me. It is because the way that I birthed this line of energy, the way that I created this was so true to just thinking, “How can I help? How can I take this information, this ‘aha’ moment or whatever, and help people?” I want to help people. It’s only ever been that. I think that the problem is, in my industry or in the beauty industry or in so many industries, it becomes, “How can I do something great that people might want that I can make a ton of money off of?” To me that just falls flat. That’s a moment in time. I have stood by this when there’s been no money in it for me. I have stood by my studios and my staff when I had to go train tons of celebrities and put the money into the payroll. I’ve never, ever, ever turned my back on my purpose, on my mission or on my audience.
I feel like you’re the same, Catt. I don’t think you ever got into communications or broadcasting or anything for fame or anything else. Everything that I’ve ever seen or known of you is that you want to communicate. You want to make connections with people. You want to inform people and inspire people. That’s why you’ve been able to break boundaries as a woman in a really perverted industry. It comes from that place of real truth and real authenticity. You’re not trying to make a buck off of anybody. You’re not trying to get another follower or anything like that. You’re really trying to serve, and it comes from that. People who are really trying to serve, I just believe, don’t get discarded.
My heart breaks that both of the fathers of your children have passed away. You’re out there and you found love again. I’m so happy for you.
He’s the sweetest ever. To be able to be a parent on the earth to two children … Well, Sam’s an adult now…but even to Sam, Sam lost his dad, who was the most incredible father ever, far too young. And Chris is just … he’s incredible. I’m lucky.
[Audience Q/A – Mel]
Sometimes I can forget how good it feels to feel good. How do I invite myself back to my body and remember those routines, methods and the consistency that you preach so much? How, with all of these distractions, do we stay consistent?
I think it’s very important to recognize how this lockdown of life affects people differently, depending on where they are in their life. We are naturally people that crave connections, right? It’s an incredible shift. I think that when you are able to not think about the future and not think about what the past was, but to truly, … it’s going to sound so like “The Power of Now,” but really the power of now, go. Right now, how can I honor my life and be resilient and make sure that I do my part? Because we’re all programmed to want to live. On one level or another, no matter what we’re going through. Whatever we’re feeling, that’s what we are. I think it is not about worrying about how many days you haven’t moved or how many leg lifts you can do … You’ve got to be gentle with yourself. You’ve got to nurture yourself and be mindful of the day, right? You’ve got to just dive in with no judgment, no criticism of yourself while you’re doing it. Just start moving. It doesn’t even need to be perfect. Set no expectations. Just do it.
[Audience Q/A – Clare]
I was a Division 1 field hockey player, and post graduating I really struggled with finding a fitness method that got me out of where I had to perform, because a lot of my muscle memory was very bulky. I’ve never felt more confident in my feminine body since doing your method. How do you refuel? How do you have good things in moderation?
Yes. That’s so great. Also, thank you for saying that. I have had a lot to deconstruct and rearrange with muscle that has previously been built in people for a purpose. How amazing that you played at that level and that intensity. You refer to it as bulk now, but it needed that to do what you were calling and asking it to do. And the willpower of an athlete is so powerful. It’s great you can think, “Okay, that was a moment.” And that moment has passed. And now what do I want to do with my incredible body? That’s amazing. You didn’t need that muscle mass there anymore. But to redesign muscle mass, that has been a huge part of my research.
For me in my life, I do enjoy a glass or two of wine. Do I need to get drunk? No. You’ve got to look at your body and give it the things that it needs and it deserves, especially in our very fast-paced, high-stress, manufactured world. Making sure that you do that in moderation is being nurturing to yourself.
There are a few things that I definitely subscribe to. I’m very plant-based. Genetically in my body, we’ve got high cholesterol in my family and so for me, as soon my bad cholesterol started to creep up, I was like, “There goes my milk chocolate. I love it, but there it goes.” Now I have to learn to like veggie cheese. Do I love it? No, I don’t love it. But you find other things that you love. People are not willing to break their habits for the greater good of their health. They just wait until it’s just too far gone or too late. And then it seeps into all kinds of lost opportunities for cancer prevention. Even somebody with the healthiest markers, if they’re not managing their stress or they’re not moving their body processes properly, or they’re not actually facing different stressors in their life in the right way, it can end up like that too.
But for my diet, I don’t eat breakfast. I let go of breakfast. I have coffee with very foamy oat milk every morning. I do my workout and then I make sure that I’m ready for lunch. I’m chopping the kale and I’m chopping the cabbage. If you go to work, you do actually have a choice. If there’s a lunch break, that’s an hour lunch break, you do actually have a choice in the evening or in the morning to chop a salad for yourself, put it in a thing and take it to work. So, I’ll make a big salad. The only meat that I eat is fish, even after “Seaspiracy,” I still eat some fish. I’ll eat wild salmon or flounder. I’ll even eat a safe-catch canned salmon sometimes, too. Sardines, they’re disgusting. I’ve found out different ways to make them not as disgusting, I guess. And then for dinner, I’ll do fish and vegetables, but I will have some kind of chocolate in the afternoon. And my biggest weakness that I have is, I love bread dipped in olive oil and salt. I love it. I love sourdough. And then I’ll have a couple of glasses of wine at night. But if I’m home with just Penny, I think, “Well, why do you need to have a glass of wine tonight?” So, I won’t do it. It’s about having that conversation with yourself all the time.
