How "Live it Fitness" came about

The other day I got asked why I started working for myself in this industry and this is my story and explains my ‘why’.

First a brief intro: My name is Mireille, I’m Dutch but moved to Canada in 2004. My husband is Canadian and we met while both backpacking in Australia in 1999.

We have 3 kiddo’s. Two girls (10 and 9) and a boy (7).

I’m 42, hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and started taking fitness certifications and building my own business (read: working with a handful of clients in my basement and out on fields) in 2015 while I was still working in the Social Work field.

After my first child was born, I struggled badly with Postpartum Anxiety. I later realized that I always had low grade anxiety but it came out on a whole new level postpartum. Raging hormones, being sleep deprived to the max, taking on a new role and losing my other roles and with that part of my identity…I struggled. Hard and silently.

Even my husband didn’t know. He knew I struggled with being tired but didn’t know about my deepest, darkest fears of how incapable and unlovable I felt as a mom.

I basically didn’t believe that my kids could see me as a loving mother, because I had nervous energy raging through my body and I was constantly looking for signs that would perpetuate that belief (were they fussy? did they look more comfortable being held by somebody else?).

It had me caught in a vicious cycle of limiting beliefs and I was too (physically and mentally) exhausted to see how warped my thinking was.

I finally reached out to ‘Family Matters’ after my second daughter was born and about 3 months old; because I realized I couldn't do this alone. Attending support group meetings, hearing from other moms who struggled as well…digging deeper into some core beliefs and how I’ve talked to and treated myself for years…it helped so much.

I started taking up running and it helped me move that nervous energy through my body. It would help me get mental clarity and work through some of those limiting beliefs. I had major “aha” moments on some of those runs. About some of my core beliefs around self-worth, motherhood, body-image...

I saw a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist for several sessions and started taking medication to help me sleep at night.

I started treating my body and mind better with nutrition, self-talk, taking time for me, asking for help; and realized sooner and faster when I fell back into old patterns and limiting beliefs.

I slowly but surely started to feel like I had a better grip on my anxiety.

After my son was born I added a gym membership and started going to some group exercise classes.

But I missed certain things there. There was not a lot of personal attention to form, they didn’t know where I was at in life (exhausted, postpartum) and I got caught up in pushing myself harder than I should (which seemed to be the main message: 'push hard').

Because of the big group-size, I didn’t feel part of a group. People seemed to be going in- and out without a lot of connecting (besides a clique of regulars).

It wasn’t appealing to me and instead I started crafting my own workouts on my kitchen floor.

My journey with anxiety and self-love, the wide spectrum of (mental and physical) benefits I experienced because of exercising, discovering the importance of community, opening up and self-awareness…it all made me pull towards wanting to start my own classes.

My way.

Where women feel supported and seen, where you get to show up as you are that day, where you are reminded to honour where you’re at, to challenge your inner-critic and respect what your body is telling you and where form and programming is key.

Where the main focus isn’t aesthetics, but rather how you want to FEEL. Stronger, capable -in your day to day life and long term-, fit, centred, recharged, confident.

I have canvases on the wall in my studio that read “Self-love”, “Self-worth”, “Self-care”, “How do you want to feel”, “What’s your why” and “Goals beyond aesthetics”.

And that is basically how my business came about.

Me being on a journey with each and everyone of those words and taking those as pillars of what my business and approach is built on.