Women In Wellness: Tara Riley On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be yourself. Actually, I was told this one a lot, but when you’re first starting out it’s hard not to compare yourself to others, to those more experienced and successful. Heck — this is still hard sometimes! Everyone is unique, be you and your people will find you.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tara Riley.
Tara is a health and fitness instructor, teaching: Barre, Pilates, Cardio, pre/postnatal. Her goal and passion are to help people gain confidence and reduce stress and pain through positive and mindful movement that keeps you active and happy for life.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I was a competitive gymnast growing up and during college, so fitness has been part of my life for a long time. However, when I retired from gymnastics, I had an identity crisis and I left health and fitness completely for advertising and commercial production. Fast paced, long hours, boozy lunches and evenings replaced my formerly healthy diet and lifestyle. I was a successful (and stressed out and unhealthy) commercials producer for 10 years. A diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis at 27 years old brought me back to my healthy roots. And I’ve spent the past 15+ years trying different alternative ways to manage my RA, researching methods others have had positive results in, elimination diets to determine triggers and various forms of exercise to see what helps and what hurts. The method of fitness I teach incorporates the pillars of strength and resistance-based exercises with cardio and flexibility and its this combination that has helped me sustain mobility and strength in my muscles and joints and continue to move with agility and less pain. I teach with empathy and understanding what it feels like to move with pain — but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, or you can’t. The right types of movement do and can heal, and I do my best to share that belief with others.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I would have to say this Pandemic is the most interesting things that has happened to me. Of course, it happened to literally everyone all over the world and our normal lives flipped on their heads, but the lesson I learned from it cemented my true purpose and mission as a movement instructor — and that is to lead and teach with positivity, compassion and energy. It’s infections, its inspiring and it does help others. Here are a few snips of the feedback I received in the midst of the pandemic
“Thank you for keeping up my resilience during COVID with your fantastic classes. You’re a complete star with your energy and positivity”
“I wanted to say thank you — your weekly classes have been a very big part of 2020 and in what has been a very challenging year, they have done so much for both my physical and mental health”
“I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed class today and how it put me in a good mood for the rest of the day”
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My biggest mistake was initially trying to correct every little thing on every single client. Yes, technique and positioning is important, but doing every exercise perfectly is not the point, it’s not possible and it’s not an encouraging or positive way to teach.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Grandma — change something in your life every ten years.
I wouldn’t say there is just one person, but my husband and family have been huge supporters since day one. Switching careers with 2 children under the age of 5 isn’t easy — it wouldn’t have been possible without my husband who has remained unwavering and steadfast in keeping us going.
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
I believe health and wellness is about so much more than how you look in your skinny jeans or graceful you look (or don’t) in a Barre class or the number of press ups you can do. It’s about finding movement that makes your body feel good, not moving as a punishment for something you ate. Finding and doing that type of positive movement for your body will seep into all areas — into your mind and your happiness in life. Let’s take it off the to do list of endless musts or chores and start having fun with it. I’d like see the dialogue shift from fitting into a certain body type or exercising to look a certain way into appreciating and celebrating what our amazing bodies can do for us. This will become especially important as we age — if we are confident and enjoying our exercise routines, we can a lot easier maintain that active lifestyle as we age. I’m passionate about inspiring and educating people to get active, stay active and build strong muscles and bones that will support throughout life.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
Schedule some form of movement into your life. Literally put it on the calendar and consider it non-negotiable. It can be anything, a walk whilst on a work call, a fitness classes a couple of times a week, or an online short class every morning, a scheduled strip to the gym or swimming pool. Put in in the diary and treat is exactly as you do client meetings, business opportunities, collecting the kids from school.
Eat the rainbow. Processed foods and refined sugars and grains tend to be beige. Add colour to your plate with fruit and vegetables at each meal and you’ll automatically be eating healthier.
Sleep — it’s the one many (myself included) tends to take advantage of. Your body and brain will function better on a good night’s sleep not to mention your patience and mood exponentially improved on a great night’s sleep. Aim for 7–8 each night between the hours of 10pm and 8am.
Intention setting and Morning mood. Set your intention and your mood for the day. A positive outlook can change so many things for the better and I think we forget this is actually something we have control over! Sure, everyone wakes up in a mood now and again and it can be tough to pull yourself out of it. Top tip — When my kids wake up on the wrong side of the bed, I tell them to get back in bed, smile to yourself and think about something that makes you happy and start again.
Move more. You may hit the gym 3 times a week or head to a barre class twice a week, which is great, but I’m talking about moving more in your everyday life. Take the stairs, step away from your desk, take a quick lunchtime walk,
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Are we talking cultural movement or physical?
Physical I would introduce Anti-Desk workouts. Our modern world sees many of us sat in front of a computer screen every single day and often without the incentive to even get up out of your chair unless needing the toilet. Creating a program which allows for timed intervals where you could be taken through a 5–10 minute stretch and activation exercises to keep hips healthy, glutes from becoming inactive, eyes focusing on something further than 30 centimeters from your face and neck, shoulders back getting movement and tension release it so desperately needs.
If we’re talking about a Cultural movement, I would like to see more companies incentivizing their employees to actively engage in wellness. This could be a monetary amount offered to employees to used specifically on their own wellbeing or it could be subsidized activities. I believe wellness should include exercise of course, but also taking part in the arts — music, theatre, exhibitions, even travel. Offering free matcha green tea and granola in the office canteen isn’t doing enough to make positive behavior changes.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Ask for help. You can’t do everything, at least not well. Outsource what you can or ask for help from friends when first starting out
Ask more questions- even the ones that you feel are stupid and you should know
Take messy action. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect
Make time for yourself to recharge. As an instructor you will give and give and give and teach and pour yourself into helping your clients. Make the time to replenish and refill your own cup before hitting burnout mode.
Be yourself. Actually, I was told this one a lot, but when you’re first starting out it’s hard not to compare yourself to others, to those more experienced and successful. Heck — this is still hard sometimes! Everyone is unique, be you and your people will find you.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Wow, all important topics and all ones I pay attention to, but I would have to say Mental health is dearest to me. Our mental health affects how we feel, how we think and how we act — so essentially everything! It can also determine how we relate to others, the choices we make and how we react to stress.
After the past 18 months we’ve just endured worldwide, its more evident than ever that our mental health matters! It’s ok to not be ok! This conversation is finally getting more visibility and it is helping people. Mental health isn’t something to be ashamed of — though many still are, but that is slowly changing and there are many more options and ways to get help. Our minds matter as much as our bodies do!
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
@pilatesandtara
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Tara Riley On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.