643. Pilates Body Was Never About Being Skinny

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In this special episode, Lesley Logan sits down with Pilates icons Brooke Siler and Maria Earle for a deeply personal conversation that goes far beyond the reformer. As they celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Pilates Body, they reflect on career evolution, friendships formed during lockdown, and the courage it takes to become more embodied as our bodies change. From life as expats to the intentional decision to redefine a global Pilates classic, this episode is a reminder that strength, trust, and confidence are built from the inside out.

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In this episode you will learn about:

  • How Maria and Brooke’s friendship deepened during global lockdown.
  • Why the Pilates Body aesthetic needed to be questioned and reframed.
  • What a Pilates body truly means beyond appearance and performance.
  • Rediscovering Joe Pilates’ original archival work to guide embodied movement.
  • Owning grit and sustained effort instead of attributing success to luck.


Episode References/Links:


Guest Bio:

Brooke Siler began her Pilates training in 1994 under Joseph Pilates’ protégée Romana Kryzanowska at Drago’s Gym in New York City where she spent a decade studying under Romana’s masterful tutelage. She opened her award-winning Manhattan studio, re:AB Pilates, in 1997 and was quickly embraced by Hollywood’s A-list from Madonna to Dustin Hoffman, but Brooke is probably best known for penning the New York Times’ best-seller The Pilates Body. The Pilates Body has become the highest grossing Pilates book of all time and she has followed it with titles: Your Ultimate Pilates. Body Challenge, The Pilates Body Kit, The Women’s Health Big Book of Pilates and the Pilates Weight Loss for Beginners dvd. In 2021 Brooke launched her long-awaited, passion-product, The Tensatoner™! Brooke has studied anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, fascial networks and cadaver dissection with teachers: Tom Myers (Anatomy Trains), chiropractic physician Dr. Joe Muscolino (Know The Body), Leslie Kaminoff & Amy Matthews (Yoga Anatomy) and podiatrist


Maria Earle is an internationally recognized Pilates educator known for her warm, charismatic teaching style and deeply embodied approach to movement. With more than 27 years of experience in Pilates and wellness, she draws from decades of hands-on teaching, studio ownership, and advanced education to guide practitioners toward sensation-led, authentic practice. Based in Barcelona, Maria leads postgraduate teacher trainings and online education through her Digital Studio, supporting movers at every stage of life.

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Episode Transcript:

Maria Earle 0:00  

It feels great to be a part of something that is, it's bigger than me, it's bigger than the book, it's bigger than us together, it's bigger than all of it. It's about this reframing what it is to be in our bodies and to embodied and to celebrate all the different phases. I mean, my size has never defined me.


Lesley Logan 0:27  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.


Lesley Logan 1:10  

All right, Be It babe, this is magical. If you had told me when I saw this podcast, I would have in this conversation, I would have like, no, what are you talking about? So while we normally don't talk a lot about Pilates on this podcast, everything is kind of Pilates to me. I have two incredible, humongously wonderful, brilliant, the biggest hearts of the entire world teachers on today's podcast, and we are going to talk about friendships and life and having brave conversations and and how do you accept an invitation to make an impact about something that is bigger than you? And this is really wonderful conversation. And so Maria Earle and Brooke Siler are our guests today, and we were talking about The Pilates Body book. And I'm honored. I can't believe I'm pinching myself that just fucking happened. I can't believe it. I can't believe I just got off like, two-hour chat with these wonderful women. What is my life? So anyways, I can't wait for you to hear this, and I do think it is a honest conversation about bodies and women and the things we go through. And I hope you love it and that you send it to a friend who needs to hear it, and you know, you tell us all about your favorite parts of it. Here they are. 


Lesley Logan 2:23  

All right, Be It babe, we have like a dynamic duo. I'm not gonna lie, I also totally screwed something up when hitting getting everything ready, because I was so nervous and so excited, because I'm obsessed with both these women, I get to fan girl over them to their faces, which is very fun for me. So Maria and I got to officially meet in in Seoul Korea, but I had been following Maria Earle for a long time, and just watching she's just like, so graceful and so amazing and just wonderful everything she does. And I'm just like, I'm not graceful at all, but I just absolutely adored her. And I love like, I've spent time with her in Seoul, Korea, and so I feel like we'll always have a night in Seoul together. And then Brooke Siler, okay, so I went to, and you might not know this about me, Brooke, but I actually went to Pilates class, kind of kicking and screaming. I thought of that class was like a bunch of BS workout. I told the girl, it's an infomercial workout. It can't do what it claims, but I needed a friend. So I went to the class. And I was obsessed. Became obsessed with this class. I was like, oh, it was the most amazing thing I've ever done in my entire life. And I worked at South Coast Plaza, and I went to the bookstore, and I went to the fitness section, and I bought the Pilates book that was there, it was your book, I took it home, and I did every exercise like in the book. I started going to Pilates every single day. And you had a second book, and I bought that one. I was on the treadmill, like walking, like I was lifted, like I was obsessed. And then some, I moved to L.A., and someone's, like, can you be my Pilates instructor and like, kind of, you know, the internet and social media wasn't really a thing then. And then, fast forward to, I believe it was January of 2020, you were in L.A., and I was like, I have to go to this workshop. She doesn't know I'm so obsessed with her. And I went to the workshop and you taught an exercise a certain way that I had been teaching it that way, and I had no one had taught it to me like that, but I had just figured out like, and I pull straps I want my inner thighs up because it helps me get my butt on, helps me all these things. And you said it, and I was like, oh my God, I'm so validated right now. So anyways, I just had to tell you that, because, like, I you, like, even though I knew it was great, I just, like, needed someone like you to say it. I was like, this is amazing. So. 


Brooke Siler 4:31  

Your little backup. 


Lesley Logan 4:32  

Yeah, a little backup. So anyways, you've been part of my, like, be it till I see it as a Pilates person my whole life, and you and, like, for at least 20 years, and you didn't know it. But now I get to have the two of you on the Be It Till You See It podcast. So we'll start with Brooke. Brooke, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at? 


Brooke Siler 4:48  

Yes. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having us. Me, us both. I, yeah, really excited to even have a conversation. I love being in a room with smart women. There's nothing better, really. So my name is Brooke Siler, as Lesley has already told you, I am an author. I'm a teacher. I started teaching in 1994 and then in 2000 I wrote the Pilates body, and it's been that fantastic 15 minutes of fame that has just gone on and on and on for me. I just am super blessed, super grateful. And yeah, I think that's who I am.


Lesley Logan 5:25  

Oh, my God, yeah, yeah. Then there's, I mean, like, when you have to, like, distill yourself down into a nutshell life, but it is, absolutely, we'll have to get into the 15 minutes of fame that keeps on giving you know for decades. Maria Earle, what do you rock at babe? 


Maria Earle 5:40  

Hi. Also, thank you for putting this together. It's fun to be here with you two. So my name is Maria Earle, and I am a Pilates educator, and have been teaching Pilates since 1997 walked into the first Pilates studio a few years before that, and just never stopped. Anyway, I I'm based in Barcelona, Spain, and prior to that, I lived in New York City and had a Pilates studio for about eight years on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and took a big leap of faith and moved abroad about 15 years ago, which it's funny when you put a number to it, but, yeah.


Lesley Logan 6:29  

I know, I know I feel really young until I realize how long I've been doing something. I'm like, oh, I mean, I'm still young, but also we aged in there.


Maria Earle 6:38  

So yeah, I have a Pilates studio here, and I run post graduate teacher training courses and online things. And, you know, trying to live my best life, basically.


Lesley Logan 6:52  

Yeah, do the best you can. Like, do the whole balance thing they all tell us to do. You're like, balance gotta work, the balance of work and life. And, you know, you have kids too, right, Maria? 


Maria Earle 7:01  

I have one, though it feels like multiples, but there is only one. I'm like, yeah, yeah, there's one. 


Lesley Logan 7:10  

Yeah, oh my gosh, okay, well, so I guess we can go, you know, we can go anywhere we want, but I actually would love to hear how the two of you got connected, because part of me goes like, did you know each other in New York? And the other part of me is like, so jealous when I hear that you've been doing Pilates since the 90s, like, I would wonder what my life would have been like had I learned it sooner. I'm always so jealous of people who did it in the 90s.


Maria Earle 7:36  

Yeah. You call that Golden Age.


Brooke Siler 7:38  

It really was. It really was a golden, I feel like it was, yeah, it was a Golden Age. Pilates. (inaudible) I feel like Maria and I maybe have orbited each other, because we seem to have been in a lot of the same places at the same times, but we didn't actually meet each other, until just 20, what did we determine it was? 2018?


Maria Earle 8:01  

2019


Brooke Siler 8:02  

2019 in Barcelona. I came over to teach a workshop at a studio there, and Maria was there, and she was Maria (inaudible) and it was her birthday, and I was like, oh, loud American, oh my gosh, in Spain, in this little studio. And, yeah, we, I, we just kind of got to chatting, but we didn't do much after that, did we? For a while.


Maria Earle 8:28  

We talked, I think we talked a few times, because we know are we allowed to say this about you living abroad already. 


Brooke Siler 8:36  

I mean, I live abroad. 


Maria Earle 8:37  

That's not a that's not a .


Brooke Siler 8:39  

No, it's not a secret. No, I live in the U.K.


Maria Earle 8:42  

So yeah, I think. 


Lesley Logan 8:44  

What if Brooke is like, don't tell anyone I live in the U.K.


Brooke Siler 8:50  

I'm the witness protection program. But other than that.


Maria Earle 8:53  

Witness protection program, I was like, I don't know. You know, I'm not gonna. Anyway, so yeah, (inaudible) exactly. I think we connected. I mean, not only do we connect over, you know, Pilates or whatnot, but I think there was, like a real like, wait, you live in the U.K.? And you were like, wait, you live here now? We were both kind of like, well, what are you doing? What? And so there was, I think, you know, I remember a number of phone calls where we were talking about, you know, the, the challenge of, you know, uprooting your life. And in later years, you know, I mean, I didn't move here with children, but Brooke moved with children, and basically. 


Brooke Siler 9:41  

Yeah, mine were nine and 11 when we moved. 


Maria Earle 9:43  

You know, she needed to start running, like, from the get go. She needed to have all the things together, right? I, I moved here as a single person going, lalala. This is great. This is fun. And then, you know, sort of built my life deciding like, oh, I'm really going to stop. Here, and I'm going to make a life here for myself. And, you know, I've never looked back.


Lesley Logan 10:07  

Yeah, I think that's so I think this is so interesting, like, because we have a lot of people write in, like, how do you make friends when you're older? Like, I've moved and I think, like, that was obviously shared experiences. Like, you go somewhere, like everyone did you hear they went to a thing that they both are interested in, but then you you connect on another level. Like, I think that's the important part of like, having a friendship. Like, you have to, can't just be like, oh, we just go to Pilates class together. Like, there has to be this other shared thing. And it's like, oh, we're both expats, and we both had to, like, start a whole new life somewhere. And I'd imagine Brooke that it's quite challenging to do that with two kids, like, I imagine, like, because you had already written the book by then, the original Pilates Body Book, and then you move. And so then you're like, you have a whole life. You're a best selling author, and then you're like, a mom trying to get two kids into school.


Brooke Siler 10:54  

Actually, that was the whole point was I had been kind of this, the Pilates Body author, since 29 years old, 30 years old, right? So I was like, Who? And I started Pilates at 26 years old. So here I was 46 or something. I was like, who am I without this? Like, half my life has been this. Can I just be a mom? So when I moved here, I came with my husband's name, like, I was like, I'm not gonna say Siler, I'm not going to tell anyone I do Pilates. My stuff was in the garage. Like I am to be mom, and that's what I can't or mom, my kids totally do not have English accents, but so, yeah, that's what I was going to do. So I joined the PTA because I'm that person, and I, yeah, I made like, you know, we went to the pub and did the pub quizzes and did all that stuff while the kids were in school. I was mama, and of course, then what did I end up doing, teaching the teachers Pilates for free. I was like, hey, let me come and give you guys Pilates because you I like, how do you do this with kids that's so challenging. Let me do something for you. So I came and started teaching every Friday, giving them Pilates session, you, I can't get away. You can't get away from it like it's who you are. If you're a teacher, you're a teacher, and if your art is is Pilates. Like, you know, I feel like my, my vocation is teacher, and my, my medium is Pilates, you know.


Lesley Logan 12:15  

I understand that. I think like I, you were all going to teach something that happened, that we, you know, someone probably told all of us that we should become a teacher, and we're like, okay, I'll do that thing. Yeah, yeah.


Brooke Siler 12:29  

Pulled me back in. And it wasn't till lockdown. That's when Maria and I really came together, and that's when, yeah, my whole Pilates World opened right back up again.


Lesley Logan 12:40  

Interesting. So, like, did you guys? Because, I mean, obviously we've heard, like, I think it was Esther Peral was, like, the Covid was, like, the great accelerator, like, if you were gonna do something, it was gonna, you were gonna do it, and it's gonna do it faster. So you're either gonna, like, if you're gonna break up with someone, you broke up with them faster. If you were, like, Brad and I, we picked up our life and moved as well, and I did it three years earlier than we thought we ever could. And, and, and so, like, was that the great accelerator for your friendship? Was it a way that you guys got deeper because there was not as many distractions? How did that go?


Brooke Siler 13:09  

Yeah, what do you think Maria?


Maria Earle 13:11  

I think so. I mean, I so agree with the great accelerator. I mean, I always think about, I mean, for our friendship, for sure, but also, you know, stepping into, stepping into newness, in terms of professionally, stepping into things that, otherwise, you know, it was the kind of the kick in the ass that I needed for a number of things that I'm totally happy to talk about. 


Lesley Logan 13:36  

Yeah.


Brooke Siler 13:38  

(inaudible) About it because we were, like a little women's group. There was four of us.


Lesley Logan 13:42  

Yeah, okay, if I obviously, what happens in a women's group stays in women's group. But like, if there's something we can talk about from women's group, I would love to because I think this is where, this is where a lot of women I find our listeners are, they can get really lonely, or they they want community, and they seek community, but then, you know, someone doesn't show up to something, and it gets easy to take it personally. Like, how did you guys have a women's group, and what did you just talk about?


Brooke Siler 14:07  

It was, it was a movement. I mean, we were working out together, is what it was. So, like, two, three times a week, we were working out together and.


Maria Earle 14:15  

And then doing a lot of chatting afterwards. (inaudible) Talk about, like, set your morning aside. I mean, like, don't book any clients until after 12. There is just, there's just too much that needs to pass.


Brooke Siler 14:33  

Everything, you know, everything that was happening in Covid that was so amplified was happening around us. And so we would sometimes, you know, we'd get on the we'd go to work out, but someone had had a morning, something had happened, someone had seen something and and we would, you know, tears and sharing, and yeah, we yeah, all the things happened, yeah, yeah. But it was an unlikely like, none of us really knew each other knew each other before. And, yeah, we're an interesting foursome, actually.


Lesley Logan 15:03  

I love but I love it because it's like, I think, you know, you said side of the time, and it just evolved naturally. But also, like, when women do get together and they're and they share that, and they can be vulnerable, you know, they say, like, you know, movement is how, like, we like, trauma can leave the body. We can heal the body. Like, it's so important. I have a yoga class that I go to, and the first few minutes are kind of somebody bitching about something, and then we get into the yoga and then by the time the yoga is over, whatever that was like, moved out of all of us. And then, and then you can wrap up the conversation, if somebody needs to. And I sometimes kind of wish it went an hour longer, you know, I can imagine what a wonderful way to, like, very therapeutic.


Brooke Siler 15:44  

There's the physical workout and the emotional workout. They both kind of conjoined. 


Maria Earle 15:50  

Yeah and when you just, when you just commit to it, you just lock into it, and that just becomes your non negotiable. Like, that's just, that's just what I do on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings, like, you know, sometimes things would come up, but we.


Brooke Siler 16:07  

We're committed to one another, to ourselves and to one another. 


Lesley Logan 16:10  

Yeah. And that's like, so, okay, this is the hard part, right? Because, like, we're all teachers here. And like, we have the clients who, like, you know, they want to come three times a week, and then they and then they book, you know, this coffee date and this thing. And then we have the teachers who also say they want these things, or the women who are like, not necessarily teachers, because this is not most of the people don't even do Pilates listeners. But like the people, like they're they want this, but it is a commitment, like it is an actual like, you are not just coming Tuesdays and Thursday mornings until noon, but you're making sure everyone in your life knows about it so that it's things do come up, but they're kind of rare, because there's rarely, like, an actual emergency that can't be done on another day, like, there's, you know. So how did you guys, like, how did did you tell, like, Maria you have a kid, did you tell your one kid and Brooke, I'm assuming your kids are a little older now, but like, were they aware that, like, hey, leave me alone. This is my private time. How did you get the commitment to be something you could come to without the pressures of, like, all the guilt of all being a mom?


Maria Earle 17:07  

I don't know. I blocked it out. 


Brooke Siler 17:09  

Yeah, me too. What guilt? That was our time?


Maria Earle 17:15  

No, I don't know. It's funny because I actually, I.


Brooke Siler 17:20  

Also we have boys, I feel like that needs to be said (inaudible).


Maria Earle 17:25  

Yeah, maybe, I mean, you know, it could have been messy, like, I don't know, but I know that it was time, not only well spent, obviously, But it was time that was so important to me that I just, I figured out how to make it work. And, you know, maybe sometimes I could only log in for a little while, or, you know, sometimes I'd say, like, I gotta, I gotta go. I gotta go, you know, I I just, I want to, I want to check in. I want to say that I love you, and like, hi, but like, I have all this going on. I, that's it. That's all I got for you. They'd be like, you know, bye, we need just that little bit of like, you got this, you know. 


Lesley Logan 18:16  

Well and it also it sounds so it sounds a little bit like one, you know, you needed it for yourselves, and like, you did that, and they were, like, unapologetic about that. And then two, you found the right people that would understand if you couldn't, and they wouldn't take it personally, and they wouldn't hold it against you. And I think that's where a lot of people have screwed up in their groups, of their friendships. It's like they kind of have kept people from a long time, and you know, like, aren't good at voicing what they need or or even knowing what they need. So then it, it gets muddled, and it becomes an uncomfortable situation.


Brooke Siler 18:48  

I'm I'm wondering now if maybe what worked in our favor was that we weren't friends beforehand, really. We kind of we, we solidified the friendship, but actually we grew the friendship in lockdown. So we were learning about each other. So it was not only the interest in showing up to move, but we were also interested, I think, you know, in each other and one another, and each one of us had so many amazing things happen to us. You know, Alicia started a podcast, and Karen, like, set up her studio. And, you know.


Brooke Siler 19:18  

Maria bought. 


Maria Earle 19:20  

Oh yeah, I bought my studio (inaudible). 


Brooke Siler 19:23  

We were there for for all these things, you know. And we could share, like, hey, what do you guys think? And each one of us so has a different kind of forte, and we just feel like the universe just kind of made that all happen. So, without too esoteric, it really was yeah meant to be we and we yeah I think it became that, like.


Maria Earle 19:45  

It became a rock.


Brooke Siler 19:46  

You do, yeah.


Lesley Logan 19:48  

Yeah, and then and, I mean, like, life the world is open. Have you been able to keep the Tuesday and Thursdays together, like you guys still hanging out? 


Brooke Siler 19:57  

It became different. It's shape shifted. It's. Not the same. It's more like, you know, yes, the world is open. There's so many other things going on. I mean, listen, I had to write a book just to see Maria again. I mean, that there was that moment of like, yeah, after having written the book, I was then like, oh, someone actually has to be the model in this. Who and I just, it was immediate. It wasn't even, like, a second I didn't even have a second choice. Like, had she said, no, I was screwed.


Lesley Logan 20:31  

So, so, so we're, I mean, of course, everyone's like, hold on. We have so many questions about this. Like, women's group, but we're gonna move on, guys, because we only have so much time. But like, if you, if you Brooke Siler's name does not ring a bell from The Pilates Body book, but, but that we, you know, I've literally moved with every apartment. It ever moved with me and into this house, and it didn't even go into a closet, like it's on the shelf. You know, because I think it represents, like the time when I was, like, I was, I believe so much that people can have an independent Pilates practice. And because I was like, but this book gave me that, like, I was able to have an independent Pilates practice. And I I think that, like, that's so necessary for the world we all live in today, to have, you know, to have enough Pilates in our life, whether you're a teacher or not, you need to have some way of doing it. So I was trying to look it up before we started talking, when did you write this book the first time?


Brooke Siler 21:24  

I started writing it in 1999 and it was published in 2000. 


Lesley Logan 21:28  

Okay, so that's wow, so it's been 25 years. So then you had so then you're like, I'm gonna write it again. I guess.


Brooke Siler 21:36  

I was like, we should celebrate. It's 25 years, and I still have people coming and saying, oh, my God, my career started because of Pilates, because of The Pilates Body, and that was the first book I ever had, and I've heard that for 25 years, and it felt like, definitely, you know, the, Pilates is bigger now than ever. And I was like, how amazing would it be if we if we did a 25th anniversary, and I brought my literary agent, and she was like, yes, love the idea. And then we brought it to an editor, and they were like, yes, love the idea. And they were like, but, and I just thought, actually, I could, you know, there's that one copy of the Joe Pilates book where it's two of his books together. I thought it was going to get off really easy and just combine the first two books. And so I said to the editor, can't we just put the two together and make it.


Lesley Logan 22:21  

This one too. 


Brooke Siler 22:22  

Yes, exactly. Wouldn't that be perfect? And then I don't have to do anything. And they were like, No, you have to put new material in there. And I was like, oh, okay. So I hear the things that are of interest to me at this time, like I'm doing a lot of deep work on breathing. I'm doing a lot of deep work on this (inaudible) and that's a whole nother topic, but they chose one, and that was what I went with. And so when I started doing the deep digging, it was, I mean, I had already done the deep digging, I should say, but then starting to try to put it into terms that could be easily understood, and how to make it blend deeper with Pilates. And it was stuff that I was doing that we were doing in our Tuesdays, Thursdays, you know, I always come with ideas. I'm like, hey guys, let's try this thing I've been playing with. And there they were just always game. They were very generous with me and allowing me to test out all of my crazy ideas on them. And yeah, so this one just kept sticking. And then I was teaching online classes, and people were like, writing me afterwards, going, Oh my God, I feel amazing. I can't believe, like, what this feels like. And I was like, okay, cool. So I not only wrote it, but I was like, listen, it's 25 years. I'm going to rewrite all the they didn't give me a budget to do all the photos again. So the photos are the same as they were, and the layout is the same, but I pretty much rewrote everything, like, I updated the language and put in new variations and a lot of archival, you know, just bringing Joe into it, because lockdown, I dug deep, deep in Joe's, you know, treasure trove, and put, like, instead of looking outside of Pilates, I just went back in. I feel like it's that when you go to the dentist, and they used to have the treasure chest and you could pick a toy, it's like, I just went, I did a deep dive into the, Maria, I did a deep dive in and found all. 


Lesley Logan 24:11  

Maria, your dentist didn't have a treasure chest because mine did. And an aquarium, okay? And I would watch the rocket fish go across like I was my favorite.


Brooke Siler 24:20  

Yes, exactly, yes. So I just yeah, I think, you know, I was pulling stuff out and trying stuff, and they were loving it. And that's the way my mind works. I feel like lockdown for me was an incredible like, everything shut down, out, out, and my brain just went absolutely mad creative. Like I just couldn't stop creating. It was, it was amazing. 


Lesley Logan 24:44  

So you're listening to this everyone. The book is already out, like we're talking about this before I've had my hands on a copy. And of course, I'm like, now (inaudible) even more than I was when you first told me about it, but like I do so and I'm excited to hear what Maria's response was like. Like to also You were telling her, I'm gonna redo this. Like, there is something about, like, Okay, I think we should celebrate. It's gonna be easy. But then it's like, okay, great. Now I've get to redo it. The in the redoing, it's like, you there's things that you can change, because you've had 25 years of teaching on top of it, 25 years of testimonial, 25 years of hearing people say they love this, or have questions about this, like, not many people get a redo and in life, you know, so. So Maria, when she came to you and said she was redoing this, is there anything that like you were the most excited about, that you were like, like, what? What part did you get to explore with her, that you were excited to be in the book?


Maria Earle 25:38  

Well, my, my role is a very tiny, tiny little role.


Lesley Logan 25:43  

No way, no way, no.


Brooke Siler 25:47  

Let's just call bullshit on that. I mean, it's not.


Maria Earle 25:50  

That is not true. What I mean to say is that, basically, as Brooke said, right, she had been developing these ideas and had an opportunity to basically add a new section to the book. And needed, and needed wanted to have somebody to to be the model for that new chapter. And I got to be someone who sort of got to be in the behind the scenes, like I got to sort of be in her brain a little bit while she was, you know, having this explosive sort of creativity moment, you know, I got to, I got to experience firsthand, you know, her process. And that was amazing. And, you know, I mean, I guess we could joke a little bit about this Brooke, because she she said she sort of hinted to it earlier when she said that, you know, she wanted me to do the book, but you know, she was like, if she said, no, you know, what was I going to do, right? You know, so I think so it took her a little while because she knew that I might like run for the hills when she's asking me to be the, you know, the model.


Brooke Siler 27:05  

The Pilates Body to be out there. Yeah. 


Maria Earle 27:08  

I was like, Brooke, are you crazy? You know, is like my first reaction, you know. So, you know, do you want to do this? You know, before I'm 50 or after I'm 50, you know, I do you? You know who you're talking to, right? You know I was like, so is this, like a wedding boot camp kind of thing that I need to, like, get myself, like, totally, like, in shape or whatever.


Lesley Logan 27:49  

Whatever that means, yeah, yeah, yeah.


Maria Earle 27:51  

And she was like, No, I want you to just be you and talk about leap of faith. Talk about, like, stepping into, like, the scary bits and saying, Okay, I I trust you, yeah, and I believe in your vision, and I want to step into that space 100% because it is what I believe. Like, let's celebrate, let's celebrate the body as it is, like, let's, let's give it a whole another dimension here, you know, let's cut through the bullshit of what it means to have a Pilates body, and let's reframe that dialog. And no, I'm not going to get photoshopped as much as I, you know that little my head is like, well, could. 


Brooke Siler 29:04  

We had a lot of conversations. 


Maria Earle 29:05  

Couldn't they just a little, no, right? So it's like this, like inner dialog of over months and months, you know? And that is powerful and beautiful. And I, I could not have asked for am better partner to to do that with, and, you know, a safe space to like, be, no, I'm going to step into this, and I'm going to do it big, and it's going to be, it's going to be yeah and and, yeah. It feels great to be a part of something that is, it's bigger than me. It's bigger it's bigger than the book. It's bigger than us together. It's bigger than all of it. It's, it's, it's, it's about this reframing what what it is to be in our bodies. And to embodied and to and to celebrate all the different phases. I mean, my size has never defined me, and I have been, you know, I am not the size I was when I was 25.


Lesley Logan 30:18  

Nor I and probably not, right? I I love that we're going here, because I just have to say, like, we're recording this two weeks after so my youtube channel hit 40,000 subscribers, which I'm at the time, this is where, and I was so freaking stoked, because, like, I did it without, like, putting I did it without, like, doing a, you know, tits and ass workout, without, like, you know, the fake Pilates, like, we'll call it Pilates, but it's just, mostly just sit ups, like, I did it without, like, put on, I did it with, like, just educational support. And I'm so proud of what we did. And on the day that we hit 40,000 somebody wrote, your stuff is really great, but you used to be thinner, and it was really, the videos are really great when you were thinner. What happened? Of course, other subscribers are like, this is not helpful. This is why teachers and trainers are afraid to gain weight. Like, wonderful, supportive stuff and to and like, my response to this per and the person doubled down. So in case we're wondering, like, maybe it's a cultural thing, like, we have a house in Cambodia, and people will inquire, like, oh, you're bigger. Why? Because maybe you're rich. They want it like, like, you know, like, that's kind of different cultures. Have different experiences. So, so I was trying to like, so in case we thought maybe it's a cultural translation thing. No, they doubled down. They said it's a calories in, calories out. She could have better discipline. Oh, and to which I got pissed off, because I don't, I don't have the body I had at you know, when I discovered, when I when Pilates discovered me at 22 like I am, first of all, I am no longer sick. I no longer have digestive issues. I now absorb nutrition. I also like happen to look a lot better with curves. Thank you very much. But I, for the record, like I told I went online and told people, yeah, I've gained 40 pounds. I am the most disciplined person I know. I probably do Pilates more than people other people do who have different bodies than me. You cannot have fat phobic comments on my channel. This is wrong for so many reasons. I hope you have space and grace for yourself and others when your body's changed, because they will and it's and I really appreciate you sharing that journey, Maria, about your body too. It's like, I think so many teachers and so many women are afraid to put themselves out there, whatever their thing is. We can even switch Pilates to being an author, being a speaker or being a doctor, like every woman is so afraid. Well, I don't look like whatever x is supposed to look like. And so people are going to judge me. And then, because they don't put themselves out there, because they're afraid they'll be judged, then the only people that are out there are 22 year olds in their super cute outfits that have never looked good on me. And so, of course, like so then people think that's what it is. And so then we have this whole misunderstanding. 


Brooke Siler 33:05  

It's really, it's a, it's, yeah, it is dysmorphia, and it's a really sad commentary, and it's, and, you know, I'm, don't let me get started on a patriarchy, because I will. 


Lesley Logan 33:16  

We can, but yeah. 


Brooke Siler 33:19  

You know, it's, it's this. It's not only an unrealistic ideal, but like, who's even the one coming up with that shit? It's just ridiculous. And the thing is, we've all bought into it at some stage in our lives. And certainly it's something that, you know, it can be on so many different levels. But Maria and I were talking about this too. There was plenty of times, like, even, you know, you'd want to Photoshop this, or there's the cellulite there, and there's the whole thing, and in the end of the day, we're wiser than we've ever been in our lives. We are more powerful in our own ways than we've ever been in our lives. We can move beautifully in at our this age in our lives. I started taking tennis last year. I go three times a week. One, I've never in my life played tennis. I started at 56 you have to love that and like, fuck it. I don't care if my thighs are thicker. I'm like, really enjoying what I can do in this body. And that's what a Pilates body always was. I did even look back in 2000 when I wrote the book, the if you go through the three models at the beginning, there is a passage at the Afterword that says, I chose these three models because of their they were teaching because they're teachers. Their ability to do the actual movements and endure the long photo shoots of the day, they happen to work for me. So that was very easy. They were there. I didn't do like a whatever they call that, a model call, you know, they they worked for me, so it was perfect. They were amazing teachers who were had modern dance backgrounds, so they were strong as shit, and they were beautiful. And I wrote, I hope in earnest, that they that they inspire and don't intimidate. And I wrote that in 2000 because for me, I already knew it's not about having a skinny you know, body, a particular type of body. It was just they were there to model the work, and I knew they could do it. And these are longer days of shooting. So with Maria, I knew her. I knew her work, because we've been working out together for years, and I could see her power and what she could do with her body. And I thought actually in the way she moved, coming from Kathy Grant, but she has this beautiful way of moving different than what I experienced from Ramana. So I loved it, and I thought it fit so perfectly. And it was very much about, you know, it's got a lot of Maria in it too, which is this beautiful, you know, soul. It's about sensing internally. And so it's, it's a kind of, it's a really nice, I think, flip. It's not that the work. I mean, she killed it, I will say, and I'm just going to admit this, I knew she was going to do an amazing job. I really, I can't actually believe how incredible she was, really. And she knows I say this all the time to her, because she, she killed it. She was a superstar rock star, like, if she couldn't get the thing, she was like, save it. We'll do it again at the end. Like she just, there was determination, like, nothing I've ever seen. It was a very long day of shooting, and I it was like, yeah. I was like, wow, that was really the right choice. I mean, I knew it was the right choice from the beginning. It was, it was a no choice choice. She was a no choice choice. It was just gonna be Maria or it was gonna be no one, and thank God, she took a day, I think, like a day, right when I asked you, and then, like, the next day, she was like, right, I'm good. Because I remember saying to my husband, like, what if she didn't do it? Like, I needed to be her. It's just her. It just was her. It was like, meant to be you. So. 


Lesley Logan 36:40  

Oh yeah, but I, and I, Maria, first of all, like, I don't, I you, there's something about you that's just so magical that you could even, I don't even know, I don't know if I could take the day, I probably would have been like, I'm fucking scared. And, you know, but you know, like, I don't what, what did you think about? What did you? Did you journal? Like, what did you, what? How did you how did you contemplate the decision? Because you're correct, it's hard to find the words for it. It is going to be bigger than this book is any bigger because, because the book was already bigger than Brooke already, and so and so. And also I just want to say, like, I love that there. I love that the height of Pilates being so popular. This book is coming out again, because I do think it brings some authenticity to the work that we're doing. So what did you do during the day to, like, come to the decision we all want to know how you contemplated?


Maria Earle 37:30  

Well, I think, I think definitely it was a process. It was a number of conversations, you know, and and I knew in my heart that I that I had to say yes, I knew that it would be a major regret if I let fear and you know, like the little the little naysayers, you know you shouldn't be doing that, or what business do you have? You know nobody wants to see you know you. I knew that all those little voices that I ultimately would regret letting them win. So I knew that I had to say yes, and then basically I had to work backwards from the yes to convince myself that I was okay and that, that, you know, and luckily, luckily, I got good people on my corner, so, so whenever I felt like I needed to, oh God, oh God, what have I done? I'm not ready for that. Wait. I need that boot camp, you know, I maybe, if I did lose, you know, the 20 pounds that I've gained, you know, in the past 10 years, perimenopause is kicking my ass, you know, what if I, maybe I could, oh, God, like whenever I would sort of hit those high rev panic moments, you know, I just have to go to Brooke and whoever else was, were my rocks, you know. And you know, while I'm like, circling and, you know, and I can't land right, and they would be like, it's okay, we got you. This is going to be amazing. This is this and that, and.


Brooke Siler 39:20  

(inaudible) believing the people that see you like you almost have to see yourself through others' eyes like it was no doubt in my mind that you were perfect, perfect, but I just that's you know, you had to go through your process to get there, and I had to respect that. But yes, I was going to tell you how amazing and beautiful and stay as you are and like, think about how many people get to look and say, Oh, I feel that's me. I'm there. I'm being represented. It's, yeah.


Maria Earle 39:52  

I mean, because it's important. It's about, it's about really stepping into, stepping into that space, and that stepping into that space is really scary, but I show up that way from my clients every day, yeah, but I don't necessarily show up for myself in that way, and that is something that I don't like to admit. So I am admitting it here, and I'm admitting it now, but you won't ever hear me say it again. No, I'm joking. (inaudible) Maybe now I'll be able to say it more often, which is, like, I, you know, I fall into the same body traps, you know, even though I, I will with my clients and with the teachers who I work with, and, you know, my friends, I like show up with body positivity, and you are beautiful and you are powerful. And I don't, let's not worry about the, you know, the extra little curvy there, like, let's get strong. Let's get moving. Because it's about the moving, and it's about feeling strong, feeling great in your body. It's not about how your body looks. I do that for people all day long. And then when it comes to myself, it's like, right? Until it's like eating you up inside. And so and so the process, the process is not overnight. It's like a long term, term thing. And you know, the book's gonna come out, and I'm probably gonna hide under my covers for every day. 


Lesley Logan 41:17  

For a few minutes, and then we're all gonna drag you out.


Brooke Siler 41:21  

We're coming in after you for sure (inaudible0.


Lesley Logan 41:25  

I'm gonna text you the day after it comes out to make sure that you're like, I I appreciate and that you said those things, because it's true. Like, I think we all hear like we're all that for our clients, like they body shame themselves, like, hold on, we're reframing that. And in the process of loving the body that I'm growing into. And, you know, there is all the things, because we were raised in, as our brain was developing, we were raised with the five minutes of tone here, the this here, like I was in modeling, and, of course, like I was like, working out all the time. And you guys went at a commercial agent and a modeling agent, and on the same day, the modeling agent said you're not thin enough, and my commercial agent said you're getting too skinny. And I was like, oh, I don't actually know what to do today. Like, I don't know what to do today because I'm now not hireable in commercials, according to you, but I'm not hireable enough because the modeling agency want to be a fitness model, but I wasn't toned enough to be a fitness model, but I wasn't skinny enough to be a model, model, and so, like you so and so here's, here's what I did. You guys, my agents were across the street from a fonuts, which is, if you've ever been to L.A., it's a non fried, gluten free donut shop. Okay, so the donuts are not fried. It's only gonna happen in L.A. and I I fucking went to the donut shop. I was like, fuck it. I don't even know what to do, and I consciously eating my feelings. Right now, I am an adult enough to understand. I do not, I have a therapy session around this, but I was just like, no one is going to be happy. And that is what I like sat on this bus stop with my donut, and I remember, like, no one's happy, and I told my husband, I said, I think I'm gonna let go of the agents. And I don't know what that means, because I don't I wasn't like wasn't like, wasn't like, I was I wasn't a dream of mine, but I was also like, I can't like, I can't handle these people and my own thoughts, like my own reaction, like, I can't my own thoughts of like my body changing and who I'm becoming, and trying to get healthier and absorb B vitamins, you know, anything to live on this planet like, and also have outside people tell me things like, so I that was, that was when I actually let go of but I will say, like, because we all go through that we can be very body positive and still have these things about ourselves. And I, I think it's hard to admit, but it's also like, it's, it's just honest, and it's a process, because I do think that in people falling in love with their bodies and seeing different bodies doing these strong exercises, they're still going to have their own thoughts to themselves. I can't do that. That's not what my body like all the and we have to go, you're going to have all those thoughts, and you're still invited to this party, because, like, we should have always been moving for the health of it and not for the shape of it. And I don't know when we stop working out for the shape. I don't know when that stops, but I do appreciate your honesty there, Maria. And I think it's I'm excited for what people are going to say and see and do.


Maria Earle 44:37  

Yeah, and also I would say, I would say something about to sort of bring a couple threads through that in that deep dive that Brooke did, like really looking into the archival work and looking at, you know, the pictures that Joe took doing his mat work, like we we sat with the book, you know, during the photo shoot, like we sat with the book and we were like, how is he doing this? As opposed to, and no, no zero shade, but different than looking at a manual or the gorgeous models that were in book one, right, that were all contemporary or ballet dancers who were making shapes, beautiful shapes, that were in very much influenced by the an esthetic that comes from dance. So you know, Mr. Pilates' swan is not a full extension with fingertips facing the ceiling, right? But we have that in our manual as like, that's what the swan dive is supposed to look like, right? And so we bought into an esthetic that doesn't necessarily, really, it's not, it's an it's an it's just that, it's just the esthetic, period, right.


Brooke Siler 46:09  

It doesn't even serve the body in the same way that when you realize what Joe was asking, and I always kind of joke about this, how many times I looked at those pictures in the book before lockdown, you know, for years before, because Romana had them on her walls and all of that. And in my mind, he was not in great form, not matching what I was being told. So, like, he needs to do this, he needs to soften his knees. He needs to and then when I started, really, and I've read those books a lot of times. I mean, honestly, before lockdown, I had already they were dog eared and highlighted in every color anyway. But then I went back in and, you know, every time you reread something, you read it with new eyes you because it's where you are. You need it. It meets you where you are in that moment, and it met in this place that was so perfect, because I really read it, I really I heard it, I saw it, and I thought, let me try what he's actually saying, because I had not, not done that. I just, blind faith, went with what I knew from my teacher, of course, who you know again, no shade there, either. Like, fantastic. It got me so far. But then being able to take Joe's words and his vision and his you know, he wanted to help us really be in our bodies and move better during the day. So when we did it that way, when we really got into the nitty gritty of what he was asking, and then the feeling like Maria was saying after the photo shoot, that she was like, Oh my God, I feel incredible. Like, not exhausted, and, I mean, maybe exhausted from the energy of it, but like, the feeling in the body is a good feeling, as opposed to.


Maria Earle 47:53  

Not fighting the body I was not, I was not fighting myself doing the exercises. I think that's, I think that's really, I think there's really something to that, you know, that you're not in a battle against you and the exercise, or you and the shape, and you trying to get into the shape, be the shape and and, you know, you'll see, you'll see the pictures. It's, it's not rocket science. It's not anything incredibly incredible. It's actually pared down. It's actually not performative, and therefore it's, it's, it's gonna resonate at a different level. And for some people, they're gonna be, like, it's just that.


Brooke Siler 48:42  

I said there's gonna be people who just rip the new chapter off and throw it away.


Maria Earle 48:46  

Like, well, what is this? You know. But if you're ready for it and you're in, you're willing to, like, excavate, and do the, do the work, as they say, right, then you're going to be like, Oh, this is this. This there. This is different. This feels different. This is, this is me being in my body in a different way. It's in my body in my way, as opposed to in somebody else's way, where I'm trying to, you know, do that, yeah, that what's happening down there at the end of the line.


Brooke Siler 49:34  

Very internal chapter in its own way. You can, you can enjoy it for the beautiful photos. But really, what's happening inside Maria in it is what's really, it's about and, and it's, you know, it will, it will be a new thing that people can take or leave. But it's really, I dug deep, and then I combined it with this natural thing called pandiculation. Which is what dogs, our pets, do all the time. You know, this, this lengthening and it's and then when I looked at the archival footage, pictures of Joe and the videos, I was like, Wait, that's what he's doing. And that's what he was saying, natural law of nature, how we move. Watch the animals. I was like, you know it was. And so, yeah.


Lesley Logan 50:23  

Yeah, yeah. I, I'm, thank you for saying what pandiculation was because I was like, I'm gonna have to look that up.


Brooke Siler 50:28  

And by the time you're, you know, this comes out, you will.


Lesley Logan 50:32  

but I can't wait for that. But I it's true. Like, my, my dog gets out of bed every morning, and he does both stretches, right? And I like, look at that. I'm like, I don't, I don't get out of bed and go. 


Lesley Logan 50:41  

But he, you know when he does it 30 or 40 times a day. And they do it every time they move, because we don't like if you try to stretch your dog, they don't like stretch. If you try to pull your dog's leg, they don't like that. What dogs are doing? Pandiculation was fascinating. And when we do it, when we it's basically the word for yawn and stretch. It was developed in the 70s, whatever. Anyway, when you yawn and stretch, we think we're stretching, but we're actually contracting. So when you do this, you're not actually stretching the front. You're contracting the back of you and then releasing. And it becomes a signal that's sent to the brain so you actually learn how to regulate your muscle tension. It's phenomenal. Joe didn't say the word pandiculation, but he absolutely asked us to do what the animals do, and that's what the animals do, because it circulates your blood. It's so freaking cool. I just can't wait. I honestly, you know. 


Lesley Logan 51:37  

I keep watching. I sent Brooke a little gif of, like, someone like, watching the mailbox. I'm watching the mailbox. I'm like, she's like, Lesley, I don't have my copy yet. And I'm like. 


Brooke Siler 51:47  

My copy, yeah, no, I can't wait. 


Lesley Logan 51:49  

I I'm really, I'm really stoked for this. I think, I think also, we're ready. I think there's a huge part of the community that's ready for our conversation about this. I think women who are, like, seeking actual Pilates class, are seeking this conversation, and I think you're giving people permission to do it at home, which has always been something that, like, I'm a huge fan of like, I just think that, like, we keep saying we want Pilates to be accessible, but it's not necessarily like about the price of classes, y'all. It's like making sure they have the ability to do it independently, on their own, because I truly believe that that is where confidence is built. It's like creating this agency within themselves. Like, I can do this, you know, I can look at me, I can do these. I can do this move. I can I can feel this in my body, and then go on the day. Like, I think women especially need that internal strength and agency that, yes, it's great to have a teacher like any one of us, to have eyes on you and like to give you some actual corrections. But also, I think sometimes we are always outsourcing. People are like, what are we? Am I good enough to somebody else's opinion and and really, I just want women to have that. So when you Brooke told me about this, I was like, fuck yeah, I'm in whatever it is you're doing I'm in,


Brooke Siler 53:06  

Developing that sense of internal trust, instead of always asking for the approval to come from the outside. Way to get to start approving of ourselves, feeling that we can trust what we feel, what we know. I don't care if you're I always tell my class it doesn't matter what I say. Literally, if I come over and I'm in your face saying, lift your leg. Lift your if it is not right for you, do not do it. Do not listen to me. Please. You have full permission not to listen to me. Listen to you. Only you are in your body. Only you know what you're feeling. So it has to be a joint you know, conversation that's happening, it can't just come from one side, so I am also really here for the conversations that will come from this and, yeah.


Lesley Logan 53:53  

Okay, we, I think the three of us could talk for hours, and we're, I'm already, I sorry, I looked at the clock. Hope you have a few more minutes. We're gonna take a brief break, and then find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you and your Be It Action Items. 


Lesley Logan 54:08  

All right, ladies, we'll go. So what Maria? Where do you hang out? Where's your favorite place? She's gonna drink her tea. Where's your favorite place for people to connect with you? How can they work with you? What do you got?


Maria Earle 54:23  

So people can look me up, find me, contact me through my website mariaearle.com I also have an IG handle that is my name, Maria Earle, and yeah, I would say those are the two best ways to connect with me.


Lesley Logan 54:41  

Perfect, Brooke, what about you? And where can they buy this book? If they haven't gotten it already?


Brooke Siler 54:47  

It will be at all your favorite booksellers. I hope, I mean it's, you know, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, all those kinds of great places. And hopefully we'll get it into, you know, small bookstores too. I love the old (inaudible) bookshops.


Lesley Logan 54:59  

But also, they don't sponsor the show, but I heard, I heard it's bookshop.org, y'all, if you want to support small business, small bookstops, you can look there and see if it's there. When you buy it there, then they send money to a local bookstore. I don't know how that works, but that's what the commercials say. And do you do you hang on Instagram? What's your website? Where can they find you for more?


Brooke Siler 55:17  

I think it's pretty simple. So it's BrookeSilerPilates, all one word, and that's the website. That's my Instagram handle, that's my Gmail account, BrookeSilerPilates@Gmail. (inaudible) It's a one-stop shop. Yeah, so you can and I'm very I do like, I am social. I do like sharing and hearing back from people. I feel like it's really funny on Instagram. I'll put something up and be like, tell me what you think. And everyone's like, this is great, but nobody answers like, the question, yeah. I'm like, no, no. I really mean it, like I actually want to be in a conversation with you, but.


Lesley Logan 55:52  

Yeah, no, I feel the same. Brooke, they don't, they don't do it for this year. 


Brooke Siler 55:55  

Yeah. I don't need the flattery, like, thank you, but I don't need that. I just really, actually want to know what do you think and what do you what are you doing? And, yeah.


Lesley Logan 56:04  

Yeah, yeah. Well, you know what, that'll be our next that'll be our next thing is like, how do we get women to share what they're actually thinking without thinking what they're thinking is wrong, you know? But that's, that's another in the next 25 years. Okay, I feel like I have tons of takeaways, but I still we have to in the show how we always end it with our Be It Action Items, so bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted, steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? Well, whoever wants to go first?


Brooke Siler 56:34  

I mean, yeah. I mean, so, you know, I listened to another podcast you did where that came up, and I realized that it was the orthodontist. She was wonderful, and yeah, and I was thinking I felt quite similarly. I just kind of never believed that I couldn't, that I can't. I just do I don't, I don't sit. And there are things that I sit in question for sure, I think I have, like many women, you know, the fear of being judged. Who the hell wants that? There's nothing nice about that. So there are times that, like putting myself out there can definitely, I can feel stopped, but I'm, I believe very much in pushing through that. And I, I have had a Buddhist mentor since for like, 18 years now and so. And she's always like, you know, the only way out is through. So you just, you push through. You go through that. So I push through fear. Like, if I see fear, I'm gonna head toward it. It may take me a while, but I'm going toward that number one and number two. I don't know if it's just some innate sense of confidence. I just when I have an idea, I want to share it. And when you, when I think of it as being something that I'm sharing, it doesn't feel like it's a scary thing. I'm like, I love it. You said you love it. Let's just do it, it. It's just like that. So I think, for me, when I think of it as sharing, rather than me doing something for you, then to react to it's much it just makes it much more palatable to move forward, because I love sharing. I'm a group, I'm a group, I'm a, I'm a. I like my independence. I like to be on my own. I do a lot of stuff on my own, but I really do love, as I said, you know, groups, intelligent conversation and being with other people and sharing. I love learning. I can't learn enough. So, yeah.


Lesley Logan 58:25  

I think, I think there's some good ones. Yeah, okay, Maria, anything. What do you got? 


Maria Earle 58:31  

Okay, well, I'm, I'm thinking of a couple things. My mom always said, fake it till you make it. So a lot of times I think about that when I'm like, when I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, but I I believe I know that there's something that's going to happen if I just kind of keep at it and that I don't have to have it always super clear before I get started, so that sort of paralysis of starting sort of gets mitigated a little bit because I am like, okay, well, I'm just gonna fake it till I make it and then, you know, things start rolling. So I've often, I've often started things, not 100% sure where they're going, how they're going to turn out, with just this little, like, little piece of faith that that's gonna, you know, I'm gonna land on my feet somehow. And I would also say, you know, to make sure you have people in your corner, like that it's, it's really important that we nurture those relationships and that we we build and it doesn't have to be big. It's not a it's not a big thing. It's a little thing. Like, you need a nice like something you can hold in terms of, you know the people in your corner that that show up for you and that that see you for who you are and how you are, and can reflect back to you in your darkest moments of you know insecurity and you know not being sure about something, and they can reflect back to you all, all the good stuff that you are in and yeah, so there's that, go back and build that base, though, having said that, I also went to a talk a number of years ago, and the guy said the most interesting thing, which is that there also comes times in your life when you have to do some pruning. It's difficult, right? So that you you need to, you need to understand that not everyone is there for you as you need them to be or whatnot, and that sometimes you have to let that go, and that is sometimes a sour pill to swallow, and but that that's also okay, it's okay. Like, it doesn't always have to work out right. And I would say my last thing. I got distracted by my other last thing, but now I have to figure out what my other last thing was. Oh, I know. Yeah, that's like the perimenopause brain. 


Lesley Logan 1:01:31  

I understand. We all understand. 


Maria Earle 1:01:33  

I just walked into a room and didn't remember why I walked into that room.


Lesley Logan 1:01:37  

Yeah, I have ADHD, so that's my whole life, but it's more now.


Maria Earle 1:01:42  

Okay, so my last, my last little nugget, is also a personal story. It's, it's for years I, I spun this narrative about that I was just in the right place, the right time, that I saw an opportunity, and I just took it and it just, you know, things worked out, and that's how I am where I am today. I, I spun this narrative that I didn't realize kept me small and that I needed to change that narrative to actually own the work that I did to get to where that I was because otherwise, because otherwise I that narrative is what people hear, and then they just think that, oh, you were kind of lucky. And I'm like, no, the work that I did was because, yeah, I saw an opportunity, and I worked my little butt off to, like, make that work. Or, you know, I saw that there was an opening, and I went in and I made that opening bigger so I can get my whole ass through, and I'm pulling the rest with me. Or, you know, like, there is something to be said about, you know, grit, persistence, tenacity, and those are all good things, and those are not things to downplay. 


Lesley Logan 1:03:05  

Yeah, oh, I'm obsessed with that. Thank goodness you remembered it, because I think it is so true. How many women go, oh, it just happened to be, I moved there. No, you fucking did something like you did like it, there, there, I don't, I don't believe in luck. I believe in like, you prepared yourself, and when you're aware and you see an opportunity, then, like, yeah, but I so thank you for sharing that. Because I I'm so glad you see that about yourself, but also I think that we all need to see that in ourselves. Like, you know, ladies, I'm kind of up and obsessed with you guys. I'm like, we'll have to do I did not find excuses to hang out with you more. I do stalk a little in a good way.


Maria Earle 1:03:44  

We're stalkable. 


Lesley Logan 1:03:45  

And so you guys get the new Pilates Body book. Please make sure that Maria and Brooke hear from you about what your takeaways are from this episode, from the book, and share it with a friend who needs to hear it. Share it with a person you want to become a friend. And you guys can talk about your favorite takeaways and look, all of a sudden, things bloom. So I just adore you. Thank you so much for taking the time and everyone, until next time, Be It Till You See It. 


Lesley Logan 1:04:11  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.


Brad Crowell 1:04:53  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.


Lesley Logan 1:04:58  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.


Brad Crowell 1:05:02  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.


Lesley Logan 1:05:09  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.


Brad Crowell 1:05:13  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.



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