Leslie Logan is a second generation certified Pilates teacher and breathwork expert

Wendy Valentine: Welcome back to the midlife makeover show. Get ready for a dose of inspiration and empowerment, because today’s guest is nothing short of amazing. Leslie Logan is a second generation certified Pilates teacher, breathwork expert, and mindset coach who’s on a mission to help people feel their absolute best. She’s the founder of Online Pilates Classes.com, the first ever free online catalog of, Pilates exercise tutorials, where you can also find weekly classes and workshops to transform your body and mind. When Leslie isn’t teaching from her studio in the lovely Las Vegas, she’s busy hosting her podcast, be it till you see it or traveling the globe leading incredible Pilates retreats. Today, she’s here to share her wisdom on creating habits that stay stick, breaking the ones that no longer serve you, and why self care isn’t selfish care.

Leslie: Maybe I could do custom intros for people

Let’s give a warm welcome to the fabulous Leslie.

Lesley Logan: Oh, my gosh, Wendy, you’re the. You’re the best I can. I wake up with you every day.

Wendy Valentine: You may. You may.

Lesley Logan: I’m actually. When this is out every morning when I’m doing my cold plunge, I’m just going to play the intro.

Wendy Valentine: You know, so many people have said that. I was like, that’s actually a really good idea. Maybe I could do like, custom intros for people and they just, like, set it on their phone as their alarm clock.

Lesley Logan: I think that’s what cameo is, right? Like, isn’t that what, hey, people on cameo to say happy birthday. But you could just, like, you could let people pay you to, like, be their. Their hype woman and then you. And then I’m just going to play that every morning when I’m in the.

Wendy Valentine: I’m going to buy that URL when we hang up. It’s good. Which is hype woman.com.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, that’s right.

Wendy Valentine: Get your customized wakeup call. I actually was the, interesting fact about me. I was the hostess of shark Tank Virginia, and I had so much fun. But although everyone’s names were so complicated that I butchered everybody’s names. I was just like, John, I don’t know what your last name is. Just get out on the stage. Like, come on, sell us your idea.

Lesley Logan: You have to Google. There was a this in the 2024 graduation seasons. Somebody was doing the names of, like, the people walking. Did you see this? And it was the raw Christ, like, Christoph. And it’s like Sarah Christopher. Like, it’s. What is she saying? It was so funny. She made every name sound exotic and wonderful. And I. I died. I love It.

Wendy Valentine: That’s what I should do. I know it be so much fun. Oh, my gosh.

You can do Pilates from anywhere, anytime, because. You pretty much can

Well, welcome. So good to have you here. I’ve been excited to have you on here because I’m thinking Pilates from anywhere, anytime, because. Okay, I. I shared with you I have an rv, and one of my requirements was, is to be able to do yoga in the rv. So, I could even do Pilates in the rv.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, you. You pretty much can. You have to. You might have to change, like, the circle of the arms. Just arms go straight up and down. But, like, that’s fine. You can figure that out. Right? and also, the archival version of Joseph’s exercises often didn’t have the circling of the arms. So, like, you, there’s. There’s ways to do it. so, yeah, it’s, I love flies. Because you could do it anywhere that you can lay on the ground, and sometimes you don’t want to get out of bed. So you’re like, how do I motivate myself to move without making it too difficult?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly. Well, so I always thought you had to have. What is it called? A reformer.

Lesley Logan: Yeah. Isn’t it great how marketing works? I think you should do reformer Pilates. And I. If you do reformer Pilates is not a knock against you. I’m not trying to say that, like, what you’re doing isn’t wrong. It is actually part of Pilates. There’s actually Pilates, and then under that, there are different pieces of equipment. But it was all. The mat was designed first. The mat is this idea that we have everything we need in us and we can get stronger with our own bodies. And there is a mat series of exercises in order. So if you are someone who needs certainty and control in your life, and you are lacking that because, well, we live on this planet. the thing I love the most about the mat work is that it starts with the same exercise that ends with that, and you kind of know where you’re going to go, and you can compare yourself to yourself. Then Joseph, realized it was very difficult. It was really hard, and people needed more support. And so that’s where the reformer. The. Which is the one that looks like the sex dungeon. Like, it looks like you can hang off of the work on it. then there was the Wunder chair, which means wonder in German. All the other piece of equipment came along. And the way marketing and studios have changed it today is more like, come to your reformer class or come to your window chair class. And really, it’s just it’s all Pilates. And what I think is great is that people are doing it and I love that they’re going and they’ve found something that works for them. What I also want to make sure people know is you can do P without having to make an appointment. And you don’t, have to take an hour and you don’t have to have the fancy equipment. You can actually do it in your pajamas at home. And I think people need to know that because some days you just don’t. You either don’t have the time or you don’t have the will to get dress. And I think we need to make, P as accessible as possible because it changes your life.

Wendy Valentine: I totally agree.

There are a lot of similarities between yoga and Pilates

So as someone that has been doing yoga for a long time, what is the big difference between the two? Especially if you’re doing. Doing the Pilates on the mat?

Lesley Logan: Yeah, a lot actually. So it depends on what type of yoga you’re doing as well. But like, let’s just say you’re doing a regular yoga flow style of class. Like you often repeat poses or you do a flow of a series with transitions. you start standing oftentimes and then you work your way to the ground. And there’s a lot of emphasis on stretching. Now, for the yoga lovers out there, I actually do know that yoga is a strength based, modality as well, but it’s also more of a meditative practice. And, so the emphasis is also on the breath and deep belly breaths. In Pilates, you actually want to keep your abdominals contained during Pilates only, ladies, please do not do your Pilates breathing. in life, you’ll be constipated. You need to let your abs go. We all need to let our abs go so we can all go to the bathroom. But in Pilates you’re going to do more of a lateral breathing. Breathing more into your back, lungs more in and out through the nose specifically. And we don’t repeat an exercise unless you need to. So if you need to omit something, maybe exercise M is too difficult for you where you’re at right now, or it’s contraindicated to what’s going on in your body, then you might repeat an exercise, especially if you’re taking a class so that you’re still following along. But typically we do one exercise that leads into the next and the exercises get more complicated by the end because you’re more warmed up. They are all full body and they are designed from the center out so there’s a Lot of similarities, but then there’s a lot of differences, especially if you’re going more meditative with your yoga.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I like that. The only Pilates I’ve done is on a reformer, I’ll admit.

Lesley Logan: Okay, that’s okay. Great. I love it. I love my reformer. It’s in the living room. everyone’s like, I need one that goes into the bed. I’m like, no, you don’t get a really beautiful color. Make sure it matches your style. Like people walk in. I got a Cadillac and a reformer in the living room. And it’s a five bedroom house. Like, I don’t know why they just can’t live in their. In a room. But I like where. I like them as furniture. But the mat work can’t. You need a bit of a thicker mat. So I’d say if you have a yoga mat and you don’t want to have more stuff, just take a beach towel or your yoga blanket and put it on the middle of the mat because there’s more rolling exercises and the yoga mats are a little thin for some of our spines. Now if you’re a mat on carpet, you’re probably fine, but for me you’re a towel house. I got to use a little bit thicker mat.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. What.

So what inspired you to create online Pilates classes? Dot com

So what inspired you to create online Pilates classes? Dot com?

Lesley Logan: Yes. And yeah, you know me. so my husband was really the pusher of anything that you see me do online. He’s like, you gotta have a YouTube channel. And I was like, no, someone else should do it. I’ve only been teaching for this long and he was just a really big. He’s like, no. I googled, I tried to figure out what P was when we were dating and there’s not much out there. So I think you should have, you should do it. And because I was studying with my teacher who’s just recently passed, but he said with Joseph Pilates. So I’m considered a second, generation P instructor. Which doesn’t mean my mom did it. It means my teacher study with Joe supplies. Okay, so that’s the. Gets a little culty. But don’t worry, we’re not in one. You won’t be in one unless you are. But so, so at any rate, I would study with him and I just doing YouTube and people around the world were asking me to come and teach them and I was like, this is amazing. I’m going to New Zealand. I’m going to Australia, I’m going to Brazil. I thought it was great. And my husband was like, you know, your clients aren’t going to think it’s awesome that you’re always gone, so you need to have something for them. And so we started creating online classes and I, but I was really insistent. I was like, look, it, already kind of exists. And at this point this was like 2018. I said, there’s things on YouTube, people can do it for free. So like, I really believe in the power of community. I think people need to be around each other. And so I love the in person classes. I said, I also love the accountability of when you like go to class. Like if you don’t go, if you miss it, that’s like you missed out on that experience. And so I said, if I’m gonna do it online, then the class has to disappear. So people show up for themselves and there has to be a way for everyone to talk about class before or after class so that they can experience what it’s like. And so we actually were the only, up until, at the time, the only platform that had a community for their members to talk. And also they were all taking the exact same class at whatever time they wanted. So all they had to say was class this week. They didn’t have to go, you know, 30 minute class with this. So. And so it’s like this colleague’s class that’s.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, this one.

Lesley Logan: Yeah. And so it could be. It’s like, oh, I was going to skip, but I, like decided to do it and I’m really glad I did because I felt like this. And someone goes, oh, thank you for reminding me. I’m going to go take it right now. So like, people can inspire other people to move and then they can share about it because they’re all taking the exact same one, which I felt was super, super important. Like, and then the class goes away. So if you miss it, it’s gone. And that is so that you show up for the thing that you said you wanted. Like, I really do believe that we all need some sort of accountability in this world. It gets, it can be really hard when life lives. And so that’s how I, I started in 2018 because I was traveling and wanted, you know, people to not be mad at me.

Wendy Valentine: And it was perfect timing because then hello Covid hit. Yeah, you know, everyone was at home.

Lesley Logan: I’m always really honest. 2020 was, was, when that happened, we actually lost a lot of members to all the free stuff on Instagram and TikTok and things like that. So. But in 2021, we built up really well and we’ve been growing really steady and we’re not, we haven’t yet. At the time of this recording, hockey sticked. I hope we do, I hope the community does expand because I do believe in the impact we’re here on this planet to make. I know what our platform is, is designed to do. And we are a safe place for women and the men who love them to move their bodies without having to commit to a lot of time.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: And we don’t care how you look and we don’t care what your body size is like. I’ve been really, I was really intentional. I’m the youngest one on the site. I’m 41. I’ll be 42 in January. You know, our teachers go all up to 57 and I really wanted to have a place where there was multiple types of bodies and ages so that women who are in, are older than me don’t go, oh, it’s easy for you because you’re younger and your body still feels good. Actually it’s because I keep doing it because here’s 57 year old. Yes. Like she’s doing it. So.

M. M. talks about embracing your body as you get older

So I really wanted to create that space.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Plus two. I mean obviously getting into midlife and you got perimenopause and menopause. I talk a lot on the show about just embracing your body. It’s, it is going to change. Like just, it’s, it’s okay. You’re supposed to, your body is supposed to change as you get older. And I mean I love Pilates, yoga, all of that because it’s more. You can, you can spend that time. It’s, it, talk about self care. Right. I mean it’s a little bit more of a quiet time. You can chill, you can relax. You can do it right in the living room. I mean in your PJs. Like you said.

Lesley Logan: I love that you brought up that self care and it’s quiet time. So. Especially for perimenopause and even afterwards. The reality is the science is in that long, high intensity workouts are not super awesome for us, ladies over going through some things. And the reality is, is that you can actually be doing like if you are doing the same CrossFit workout all the time. And I love heavy weights, ladies. I lift them. You absolutely should. If you’re doing that every day, you’re actually increasing cortisol, which is probably why you’re going, why is my body changing this way? Well, it’s because the type of workout you’re doing, we have to Be considerate of our hormones. And so the thing about Pilates is if you have a cycle, you can do it no matter where you are in your cycle. M. It does not affect whether you’re in progesterone time or in your testosterone time. you can do more workouts in testosterone time, but you can do Pilates every day, all the time. It’s low impact, low impact on the body.

Wendy Valentine: Right.

Lesley Logan: If you are in that perimenopause or if you’re outside of your cycle. The great thing about Pilates is it does not spike your cortisol levels. And so you can enjoy a 45 minute workout that is strength based, that hits all of your body parts without spiking cortisol, without affecting your sleep. Really, really important that we know that about ourselves. And so I, I, think like, unfortunately the way that a lot of gyms work is all the classes are an hour. And for a lot of our bodies, we don’t need an hour.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, it’s. I know. I’ve been the same way. Like, I. I sometimes will juice like 30, 45 minutes. And that’s plenty.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, yeah, it is plenty. It is. I actually, there’s so many studies that show that it’s plenty. And so we actually, our classes are 30 minutes and then we have a longer one that’s 45. And I was like, 45. Because after that it’s not great for.

Wendy Valentine: Our over 45 ladies. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, nothing.

Lesley Logan: 45.

Wendy Valentine: Over 45.

Lesley Logan: Yeah.

PIES cards can be used to build your own workout

Wendy Valentine: So what about the deck? The cards?

Lesley Logan: Oh, okay. So you’re talking about. So, okay. Because I was trained by Joe Supply’s client, one of his clients. I’ve had a lot of people who want me to create a manual. It’s probably the same way that, like, you’ve been like, you wrote a book. Bendy is like, like, people are like, how did you do it? Teach me all your ways. And I, I felt like, well, there’s manuals everywhere, and you cannot take a manual with you when you travel. You cannot. It’s a little weird to take the manual with you to the gym. Like, it’s like this binder, right? And so I wanted something that could be easy and small, but also like, you can, you can do anything with it and it’d be really helpful. So, I had a tarot, so people asked. And then that same day, I had a tarot reading. I was watching this girl flip through the cards and I was like, that’s fascinating. What if I just put them all on cards? What If I put each exercise on a card. And they could be used in multiple ways. So if you are not a PIES instructor, you can use them to build your own workout. You literally can take the box of flat of cards of exercises. They are in an order, so you can actually go through and you can just go, okay, these exercises look freaking weird. And you could just put them in the bottom of the box. Just like, just put them in the bottom of the box. And now you’ve created your own workout. On one side, it’s a picture of the exercise, and then there’s a QR code that will take you to. So if you are a visual learner, genius auditory learner, you can go that way. And, if you flip the cart over, it actually is written out how to set the exercise up, how to do it, and then how to transition to the next exercise. Because the more advanced you get in your Pilates practice, the shorter the workout gets because you don’t have to stop, start, stop, start. the exercises kind of flow into the next one. It also has tips on reps, things to think about for safety, and, like, a quick tip from me. They’re so fun. They’re also really pretty. I’m really.

Wendy Valentine: They are. There’s. I was look. Yeah, I looked at them online. I was like, oh, they’re so cute.

Lesley Logan: They’re so fun. And I really, I didn’t know when we designed them, we sent. We. We produced them in 2020. I didn’t know who. Who would, like, who would get them. Right. I was like, is it just be teachers who get them? Is it going to be, like, who I think should get them? Which is. Right. Like. Like regular, normal folks who want to move their body more efficiently. So if you’re like, oh, I love her, but I don’t want to sign up for another membership. I won’t use. You don’t have to. You can just get the cards. You buy them one time and you have them forever. And they fit in a bag. They fit. Travel Sports, Illustrated put them in their top 10 for best travel workout. items. And I was like, this is. So that’s exactly what I dreamed of. Like, dreams come true. That’s exactly what I wanted. So, I’m really, really proud. And they’ve led into. For the Reformer lovers, there’s a Reformer deck, and then there’s a Cadillac deck. There’s. All the equipment has a deck. And while we’re talking, I am shooting the last deck, which is actually could go with the matte deck. Over 70, 60% of the deck is household items or can be. So a, ah, pencil, marbles. there’s a squishy ball, but you could use a pillow from your couch. there’s towel exercises, there’s a wall exercises. There is something called a sandbag, but you can make it for less than $10 at your local hardware store. It’s so easy to make. There is a two, which it’s really easy to grab an old yoga mat and staple it to a, two by four. So there are about four pieces of equipment you’d have to buy. But again, 70 of the deck is going to be this household thing so that people can help their feet, they can help their arm strength, they can help their grip strength. And so I’m really excited about that. Won’t be out until 2025. But, but the matte deck is the. My, my. It’s the OG it’s my favorite. It’s the one I wanted everyone to have.

Wendy Valentine: It’s really like just transform Pilates a totally different way.

Lesley Logan: Right.

Wendy Valentine: You don’t need a fancy studio. None of that.

Lesley Logan: No, no. And that’s the thing. I hope people, you know, especially from 2020, we realize like, I need to go somewhere or I don’t or I like to go somewhere sometimes, but I need to have things like we have.

I’m excited that everyone knows what Pilates is in some capacity

There is conveniences at our home. And I think especially if you are busy, especially if you’re overwhelmed or you’re having anxiety, having access to moving your body without making it more difficult. And I really am just so excited for. I’m excited that everyone knows what Pilates is in some capacity and they’re doing some version or they’re thinking about it. But I really am, most excited to bring it back into people’s control because that’s what Joseph l wanted. He wanted you to do it at home. He wrote a book. He’s like, here are my exercises. Do it at home. And so I’m really proud that I can actually hopefully entice people to do that a bit more.

Wendy Valentine: So it’s interesting because I had researched a little bit about Joseph Pilates because I was curious. I was like, where did Pilates, like the name come from?

Lesley Logan: Amazing.

Wendy Valentine: I know.

Lesley Logan: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: And so it says, born. And he was born in Germany in 1883. And I’m sure you probably know this originally called his exercise system. Do you know the answer?

Lesley Logan: Contrology.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. Emphasizing the importance of mind controlling the body.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Contrology.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, yeah. So the line of equipment that I use Is all called contralogy. interesting. Someone who’s wanting, you know, to, like, actually build out your Pilates studio at your home just hit me up. But, he’s an interesting man. He’s. He also, like, taught, like, in, like, tiny, tiny white shorts, and he was really buff up until he died, which is really cool. And he drank beer and he smoked cigars. He, He was really cool. And the mind controlling the body. Yeah. The thing that I think is important about having a Pilates practice, why I believe that it. That it is important to have, and probably where you get with your yoga practice is like, you understand who you are today.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: And you can go, oh, I have a lot of energy today. Oh, this is amazing. And you can just. Wow. Like, you can, you can. And you can actually be a curious person. Like, what did I sleep? How’d that go? What’s going on? And you have, you know, you have energy to take on your day, but you could also do your mat practice and go, I am just feeling heavy today. I’m feeling tired. This is feeling hard. And hopefully eventually you go, wow, what can I take off my plate? Or how can I give people, like, give myself grace that I’m not going to do extra today. I’m going to do what needs to get done today. And you get to compare yourself to yourself. And your body is telling your mind how you are doing, like, what your vessel has capacity for today. And your mind is telling your body, okay, here’s how we’re going to do these moves. And together, you, as this whole person can go show up in the world as the best version of yourself that day with. With understanding. Instead of, like, snapping people, like, I wonder why I snapped at that. You actually knew that was going to happen? Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: You know, I actually watched the, God, I can’t think of the name of it. Mr. Rogers movie. yes. What’s the name of the Ding movie? But it was with Tom Hanks, you know, and as I was watching, because he’s so calm, quiet, patient, I was like, oh, I need to be more like that.

Wendy says not taking care of yourself is selfish

But back to, like, the mind. Mind over matter. Mind controlling the body. I mean, it’s true, right? Thoughts or thoughts control everything. And one thing I love, like Pilates yoga, is that it’s a, It’s very quiet. So it does give you that opportunity to listen to your thoughts and to listen to your body, like, and to be able to feel like, okay, this hurts. Or because we’re. We’re go, go, go. And sometimes we don’t even pay attention if there’s something hurting in your body until it’s screaming at you.

Lesley Logan: Well, I, I, so I go, I have a chiropractor in town. And I, had to see her like every other week for a, for a couple of months. I just had something going on. And I was like, am I your most. Like, am I so annoying? Because like, I’m like, I this today we’re working on these three things. Like, I’m very specific. And she’s like, you’re just extremely aware. And I wish my more of my patients were as aware because by the time they come to me, we’re limited in where we can bring them back to you. you’re like, oh, this is out. And you’re like, at the place that day. I’m like, my rib is out, I gotta go. And, and I don’t waste any time. And I think like, first of all, if you’re like, oh, it must be nice, like, it’s not, it’s not a nice thing. It’s actually a necessity. We have to start giving our body what it’s asking for when asked for that. Right. and also sometimes beforehand, we all know that if you are actually thirsty, it’s too, you’re already dehydrated. We have to start thinking ahead of like, how can I nourish this? Because for all of us who are, you know, in the midlife, it’s like you have, if you have kids, you’ve got kids to take care of, but you also have parents take care of and you also have a job and you’ve got all these things. And that is why I believe that self care isn’t selfish care. Because you cannot be half of yourself to any of those demands if you don’t take care of yourself. I actually think not taking care of yourself, not having self care practices, not doing those things is selfish. I think you’re actually, you’re, you’re now turning the thing going. I need the attention. And you all have to like, and now I am a drain on your resources because I like, didn’t take care of me. And so I’m on this mission. It’s like the, especially women, the girls around you are watching and they are watching. They’re, they’re watching more than your words. They’re watching your actions. And if they can see, wow. It’s not about balance, it’s about like priorities. Wow. She is really making sure that she has the energy and stamina and she’s prioritizing Sleep. It gives them a framework of, like, boundaries on. Oh, I just.

Wendy Valentine: You took the word right. I was gonna like, yeah, boundaries. I was like, yes, exactly.

Lesley Logan: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: And making yourself a priority. Like, I think it says a lot when, like, no, I’m. I’m going to do my Pilates now. This is important to me. I need this amount of time. It’s like, okay, yeah, yeah. I mean, that is self care.

Lesley Logan: It is true. And you know, I, had the pleasure of talking to someone who wrote a book about, like, we have to talk about mental health at the workplace and how to do it. And. And she talks about, like, wellness. Shaming is like, needs to be stopped. And so if someone ever says to you, oh, it must be nice, Wendy, that you can go for a walk at the end of your work day at 4:00, you. Instead of going, oh, just because I work for myself or, oh, I, you know, whatever. Like, no, you say, it is nice you. You should join me one day. Or, you know, like, how can I help make sure that you can do that? Like, let’s talk about ways that you could. Do you want to walk in the afternoon? You know, so instead of that, because it’s kind of like when someone says, we. Oh, you have a nice dress. We go, oh, it was on sale. No, you say, it is nice. I love this.

Wendy Valentine: It is. Yeah. Yeah.

Lesley Logan: So it’s that same line of thinking. And if we can all start doing that, we can stop doing. We can stop going, oh, I have to have an excuse to take care of myself. No, you take care of yourself so you can do the things. If you truly love people, you have to take care of yourself.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. To not feel guilt for that, for actually making yourself happy.

Lesley Logan: Right.

Wendy Valentine: I used to get that. Especially when I took off in the rv. I used to get that a lot, like, from people, like, all the trolls on social media. Oh, must be nice. I’m like, yeah, it actually is. It is so nice. I love that I can travel, I can go wherever I want. I can work where I want. Yeah. And I.

Wendy says after 40, people stop wellness shaming others

And I, I did. I stopped doing that. Where the old Wendy would have been like, oh, yeah, well, you know, I did this and did that, so then therefore, no, I deserve to do this.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, yeah, I. I totally understand. It took me. It took me. After 40 is when, like, someone’s like, oh, I can’t do this because, I have this. I’m like, okay, we should take care of that. Yeah. Like, I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna argue with you anymore. Like, I’m not. I am just gonna sit here in my truth that, like, I know that a morning walk every day, my cold plunge, my Pilates practice, you know, my red light. These things make me able to show up and take care of a lot of people. You know, I love what I get to do. I get to teach a ton of people around the world. I get to employ a ton of people around the world. That means I have to take care of myself because I. That is something that’s really, really cool. So I think we have to stop. We? Well, one, everyone listening. Hopefully you stop wellness shaming other people, and you can notice that. But two, can we. Even if you want to argue with me, you don’t have the time.

Every day we have to take a look at what is truly a priority

Okay, let’s talk about that. So 30 minutes is 2% of your day. 2% of your day is 30 minutes. If you do not have 30. And I’m not saying do applies for 30 minutes. I’m saying 30 minutes for yourself. If you don’t have 30 minutes for yourself. Every day we have to actually take a look at what is truly a priority because your prior not. Not everything can be right. And so now if you have an infant at home, this is a different story. This is a special season in your life.

Wendy Valentine: Okay?

Lesley Logan: Very, very special season. But I’m talking like, you know, your. Your child can probably tell you a little bit about, what they need. At that point. We have to really make sure we’re taking 30 minutes. And maybe it’s not all at once. Maybe you get five minutes first thing in the morning, and then you get 10 minutes during your lunch break, and then you get 15 minutes right after dinner before you go to bed. Like, maybe that’s what it is. But here’s the thing. When you start to take care of your body, when you actually move it, you actually create more energy. And when you have more energy, everything in your life gets done faster.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: And I think a lot of us think that we have to be the ones that do a lot of things. We have to do that I have to do this. We live in a really beautiful time when literally groceries can be delivered for $10.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, it’s so cool.

Lesley Logan: It’s so cool. It’s so cool. People are like, oh, but we’re still.

Wendy Valentine: Like, I thought about that. We have so many more conveniences now. But why aren’t we should have more time in our day then instead we just fill it for. With whatever.

Lesley Logan: So I. Here’s what I think. I think people one. So, very Important that you understand when you are wasting time versus using your time. I think there’s two different things. So, like, checking your email typically is you wasting time. Scrolling on socials, typically wasting time. So one, if you can’t be trusted with your apps, change your settings on your phone to have a mode where those apps don’t even show up on your home screen until 5:00pm or 6:00pm you know, like, so currently on my phone, I can’t see anything but my meditation apps because it’s not 9am yet. So, like, I could only see things that help me calm myself. I can’t see, like, none of my notifications, my text message or email show. It’s a whole mode that I set up for myself so that I don’t, in a worried state, go, let me just check on work. Let me just see what’s going on a little early. Right?

Wendy Valentine: I mean, m. All of that is very habitual too.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, it’s.

Wendy Valentine: Or we’ll just like, grab our phone.

Lesley Logan: Like, so we can talk about that. So people don’t realize that habit. Your whole day is habit. Okay? Everything you do in a day. So even the time you’re wasting, it is. It is all habits. Right? And the reason why you are like, no, I have to be the one that goes to the grocery store. It’s not me. My husband doesn’t go. He goes. He’s like, I’ll make a new recipe. I’m gonna go. But like, for the stuff that we need, every week, it is delivered because it’s. It’s pointless to waste my time. Like, oh, we’re out of milk. You know, like, those kinds of things are wasted time. But so habits, how they’re created is by the emotion you put around them. So you are checking your email nonstop because you are looking for relief. M. You are looking for like, okay, I did that. Like, you’re looking for the sense of accomplishment. when you wake up in the. We have a person on our team who responded to something in the middle. I’m like, it’s the middle of her night. What is she doing? He goes, she does this every night. She wakes up, she must get up to the bathroom. She checks slack. And then she was like. I’m like, we have to tell her to stop doing that. I, like, I’m not encouraging this anymore. Yeah. but like. But that. She gets a sense of relief in knowing, like, okay, everything is good, nothing’s on fire, and go back to sleep. And so if you don’t like habits you have, if you don’t like that you check your social media more often than you want to or that you scroll on your phone or surf the Internet right before bed or maybe you watch a murder mystery before bed. Like if you don’t like these things, what you have to actually understand is like first of all, what is prompting you to start doing it? What’s the thing that’s make, what’s the feeling, what’s the saying, what’s happening that you’re doing that because the prompt has to be changed. If we just take the apps away, you’re still going to have the desire from the prompt we have to bear. That prompt is if you’re someone who is like, I don’t want to snack at my desk. Just taking your snacks from your desk is actually not going to stop you from wanting to snack at your desk. So we have to go, okay, what, what’s the prompt? And then we have to see if we can remove the prompt or we can have it prompt us do something else.

Use these prompts to help you built in the self care that you want

So for those of you who feel like you fight with someone in your life all the time and you avoid their calls, what if every time you take a call you actually book yourself a nail appointment or you give yourself permission to watch a romantic movie or you get to sit down like yeah, use it as a, it’ll help you stop avoiding the things you, you are needing to do. But also you can use these prompts to help you built in the self care that you want. And, and truly, truly, I know it sounds ridiculous, but you’ve got to figure out what parts of the society that automates things that can you benefit from. What can you benefit from? Like, we don’t need to be martyrs. Like how can we do this? And then the other thing is it is okay to when someone says can I help you? To say yes, you know, yeah, great, I really, really need this. Or you know, for the moms out there, like I love my neighborhood so much. I watch every morning. There is a whole system of carpooling that goes on. On Mondays this mom across the street takes, takes all the kids from her house and four other houses to the school. On Tuesdays it’s the other house’s mom. On Wednesdays it’s my neighbor’s husband, he does it. On Thursdays it’s the other woman’s husband. And on Fridays it’s the other. And then pickups are all the other parents who didn’t do the morning. I think it’s so cool that they did that. But instead of them all Trying to get their kids on time every single day that they go, okay, hold on, here’s how we’re going to do this. So you’re. There’s not. No. If anyone’s like, can you believe Wendy like, lets her neighbors, you know, take her trash can in every Friday? Like, who cares if they’re saying that, that who, if they have the time to complain about that? Like, that’s so we have to stop being martyrs for all the things that you do in our life and just go, okay, what can I automate? What can I let go of? How can I contribute with community? And then how does that buy me 30 minutes for myself to move my body or 30 minutes to sit and read a book? You know, like, take care of yourself?

Wendy Valentine: Well, the same way you were talking before, like when you go to the chiropractor and you’re. And you are so self aware of what’s going on in your body, it’s also becoming aware of what’s going on in your life in your day to day. And then when the more you’re listening, the more you’re observing, I always kind of think of it like, what do they call those things that fly? But like a drone, right? I always like, picture a drone above me and, what’s it, what’s it observing? You know, like, am I grabbing my phone all the time? How am I eating? Eating? How fast am I eating? What am I eating? How am I sleeping? And then kind of just like observe yourself throughout the day. What are you actually doing? And I guarantee you’ll find way more than 30 minutes of free time.

Lesley Logan: You will, you will. I love that. I love that. Wendy, everyone needs to like, get. What’s that? Well, if a drone was watching now, what would they be seeing?

Wendy Valentine: And not see me bopping all over.

Lesley Logan: It’s an observation, right? Like, that’s an observation. So, so if you don’t like what the drone is seeing, that is information for you that you’ve been wanting to change it, you know, but if it’s something that you love about yourself or something that you love doing, like, you keep that.

80% of people bail on New Year’s resolutions by end of January

Wendy Valentine: So speaking of habits, considering that January 1 is right around the corner, like big New Year’s resolution day, and I think the percentages. By the end of January, I think it’s 80% of people already bail on their New Year’s resolutions. So what do you, what do you think? What can you recommend of, how to make the New Year’s resolutions or at, any time you can create a New habit right now in this moment. So how do you make that thing stick?

Lesley Logan: Yeah. So first of all, I love. So I love the first of a month. I love the first of a year. I love a Monday. Like, there’s so many different times you can, like, start something new. So.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: But I also think that resolution is an interesting word. I like to think of, a new year as an opportunity to, like, upgrade. Like, your phone, right? Your phone doesn’t update all the time. And what we don’t realize is that the company spent a lot of time thinking about that update, preparing, testing the update, you know, having other people look at the update and before it got to your phone, and then you did a restart and boop, you know, you got to download and it’s working. But we don’t realize that we are the same.

So anything that you have been thinking you want to do for 2025, start experimenting

So anything that you have been thinking you want to do for 2025, the first thing you have to actually explore is like, why do you want to do this? How motivated this? And what are all the different ways that could help you? So, for example, if you’re like, I love what Wendy and Leslie said. I want to prioritize my movement. I want to do Pilates five days a week. Okay, great. I love that for you. So first of all, we have to actually explore where, like, what would. What would have to happen to do polite. Like, okay, I could ask my. My neighbors to do carpool. So. So, like, let’s just brain dump all the different ways you could make 30 minutes a day exist in your life. Okay, so I could, I could wake up 30 minutes earlier. I could have my partner do breakfast, and I don’t. I could write, like, that’s right. All the ideas down. Then you take a piece of paper and you draw a vertical line and a horizontal line. Okay, so, the. The vertical line is how easy it is to do. So, like, easy is on the top, hard is on the bottom. The horizontal line is how much you actually are motivated to do it. So over on the right side. Highly motivated. This sounds great. I like it. if you are like, oh, I hate this idea. That sounds terrible. It’s on the left, right? So what we’re trying to get is the right. The top, right quadrant, which is the easiest. And I want to do. So you take all of the ideas you have and you put them somewhere on. Based on easy and want, and you get probably two to three ideas up in that easy and want to do, and then you actually start testing that. So you’re going to test it and you’re going to figure out like you’re in experimentation mode, which is why January 1st maybe will work because you’re hearing this beforehand and you can take a couple weeks, but also might take it to February to figure out, okay, I thought waking up 30 minutes earlier would be easier. It’s not. It’s actually terrible. It’s a terrible idea.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: So that’s not going to work for me, but I actually, can leave work 30 minutes earlier and I could do it here. So you’re going to experiment, you’re going to figure it is. The other thing that I would suggest doing is to make things as small as possible. So instead of you setting out for 30 minutes of Pilates, I would say maybe you just lay your mat out. And for the perfectionist listening, that’s going to sound terrible. But maybe you just like the process of putting the mat out and that’s, oh, I did it. I, I did my Pilates today. You know, and then if you, after you put the mat out, feel like laying down and hitting play, then that’s extra credit.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: And then the last part that I’ll tell you because otherwise it’s all overwhelming and people will stop doing it, is you have to celebrate what you did do. Our brains are looking for feelings that make us feel good, which is why the bad habits and air quotes, the habits you don’t like that you have, they actually do provide something positive for your mind. They’re something. Control, certainty, relief, something. So what we have to do is get the brain to go, oh my God, I love plays so much. Like I rolled my mat out and like high five myself and had a party. We have to have fun with it and get the dopamine high so that your brain wants to try it again tomorrow.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, there’s that quote. I don’t know who said it, maybe it was me. it’s, it sounds really good. A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.

Lesley Logan: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: But I also think though too like, you don’t have to get so uncomfortable getting outside of your comfort zone. Your comfort zone can simply be your day to day. Like that is comfortable. Yeah, your, your usual routine, that’s very comfortable. So leaving work early or getting up earlier or, you know, whatever, doing it during lunch break or figuring it out, that is even getting outside of your comfort zone. But you will grow just by doing that. But it’s being consistent because otherwise. Yeah, I’m like, then after two weeks go by and you’re like, oh, I miss my old routine, you know, I want to. Yeah. So it’s like, no, no, no, no. You got to keep going, keep going, keep going. I think it’s 30 days to create a new habit, as they say.

Lesley Logan: That’s what they say. The.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: So I highly recommend. So everything I just kind of said was like a very tiny, tiny synopsis of one chapter of BJ Fox book, Tiny Habits.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: And it’s a great read. I highly recommend it. he has a really good example that I think we can all remember. So in 2020, we had to wear masks to go to the grocery store.

Lesley Logan: And we all remember that there was a day where they said, oh, you don’t have to wear the masks in the grocery store. Right. And then, holy crap, masks are back at the grocery store. How many people forgot their mask?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly.

Lesley Logan: I wore them for weeks. More than 30 days. Anywhere in public you wore it. And then the moment you didn’t have to wear it, you’re like, instantly forgot that habit. It’s gone. Why?

Make it small, small morsel. Pick parts of your day that happen always

Because we hated it. No one liked it. It wasn’t fun.

Wendy Valentine: Messed up my lipstick.

Lesley Logan: Correct. I know. It took me over a year to get back into my lipstick because I, you know, just took a while. So what I will say is, like, you don’t be obsessed with how many days in a row something has to happen or that it has to, like, you have to, I, oh, I’m going to travel next week. Something happened. Pick it as a small, small morsel. Make it small that you could do somewhere. Okay. I can put a towel out at a hotel room when I travel next week and do the hundred I could. That would be Right. So try to make it small and make it sustainable in a way that you can celebrate you did it and you can celebrate that you thought about doing it. Oh, crap, I forgot to do my Pilates today. Okay. I’m. I’m really proud of myself for remembering to do it. And then the other thing is, we have to remember that it’s not a reminder or a bell on your phone. Like, I was with my mom this last weekend and I watched her phone have all these different alarms and I watched her just ignore them. And I said, even, what is that alarm for? She’s like, oh, it’s remind you take my medicine. I’m like, well, did you take it? She’s like, no, I’ll take it later. I’m like, you remember to do that. Like you have a reminder. What’s going. So we have to, like, we want to Figure out what is a prompt that could be. So maybe it’s that you roll out of bed and your mat’s already on the floor laid out to go. You just have to play. Or maybe it’s after I get home from work, before I turn on the tv, I will meditate or I will do my m. Pilates or whatever. Pick parts of your day that happens always. They’re kind of. You kind of do it without thinking about it. And the time of day, less matters. Less than, like, the. You know, then the. The ease of access to what the habit is that you’re wanting to create. It’s really hard to. I’m gonna do Pilates, but I’m in a parking lot. Like, that might not be the most ideal thing, but. Oh, when I get home and I put my purse down there is the living room floor right there. I could just have the mat ready to go.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Your podcast is called be it be it till you see it

So this leads into my, my next question for you. Your podcast is called be it be it till you see it, which I love. So what does that mean to you?

Lesley Logan: So I don’t really, like, fake it till you make it. And no offense to anyone who uses that to live by, it just feels a little negative and impostery to me. And I think women already are conditioned to having imposter syndrome around things. And so we, all know that if you can see something, then you can. You can be something. And, I think be it till you see it is acting as if you were already the person who’s got the life that you want to have. How would you do that? Like, so when you went R and became an RV woman, it’s, like, really hard to be that until you can do it, but you can actually, like, go, okay, well, if I was someone who artists live in rv, would I be buying this lamp, or would I be skipping the lamp? I. Probably exactly right for the lamp. So you can start to act as if you are the RV living lady before you have the rv, because you can start to run questions through. If I was already doing the thing that I want to do, how would I answer this question? How would I solve this problem? And so to me, be it till you see it is. Is acting like you have the life you want to have before you have it, and then realizing it’ll come a lot faster because you’re making those steps and decisions. So if you’re wanting to be someone who makes more time for themselves. Okay, well, if you were that person, how would you respond to the text about you Know, brunch on Sunday.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly.

Lesley Logan: I could go at noon, guys. I got something going on in the morning. That’s how I would answer that. I’d be someone who prioritized my self care. But you, if you’re not that person yet, how would you respond to that? What would that would that look like? So that’s be. So you see it.

Wendy Valentine: I totally agree with you. It’s interesting because I had just released this, it’s called the new you blueprint. And and it is about that. And it’s about acting as if. And that is the probably one, the number one things that I did to change my life. And I’ll never forget my aunt Annie. She goes, she’s darlin, she said you’ve always wanted to be an actress. She’s like, why don’t you just act like the woman you want to become? And I was like, oh, I can do that. So I did. I started thinking about it. I was like, okay, how would the new Wendy eat? How would she move? How would she talk? How would she walk into a room like. And I literally just started to act like that woman until I. And then eventually I woke up one day and I was her. I mean, it’s one of those things that just happens naturally. So yeah, instead of like, okay, this is going to be my new habit to do this. You just step into the shoes of the new you and you become that woman.

Lesley Logan: Yes, yes, yes. That is. That is. Oh my God, I love that story so much. That’s really how it is. If we’re waiting. Oh, when I, when my kid goes here, then I will. Or win this. When I get the. This promotion, then I will. No, you’ll never will. You won’t. So m. You have to start acting like the person who’s going to have that thing and then you’ll actually start to see opportunities for it to happen sooner. You. You probably did. You’re like, whoa, it’s right here. I didn’t even know there was a person.

Wendy Valentine: Well, think about like the. Yeah, the tarot cards.

Lesley Logan: Yes, yes.

Wendy Valentine: Right. Like it just happened. It just like, oh, look at those cards. Maybe I’ll start to make some Pilates cards.

Lesley Logan: Right. It’s like. Because when we are aware of what we want.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: We can actually spot the opportunities. Like people say. What is like, luck is where preparation meets opportunity. But really it’s. If you are not in the awareness of what you want to have. If you haven’t taken that drone like you said, Wendy. And like Thought about it. Observe. You cannot see that what’s right in front of you.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: You know, like, if some of the ideas we talked about, like, making our lives easier, you’re like, I’ve never thought about that. It’s because, unfortunately, you’re kind of. You’re stuck in the whirlwind, and you kind of are living in the whirlwind, and so you’re not able to see that there’s a helping hand, like, waiting pull you out of this if you know you can’t see it because you’re like, you’re not. You haven’t taken time. And so I think part of it is, like, we all just have to take a little bit of time to figure out, like, who do we want to be? What do we want? What would that person be doing? And how can I have a tiny, tiny bit of that right now so we can create the habit and make it happen?

OP PC cards are great for strengthening your body, and they’re free

Ah.

Wendy Valentine: This has been really good.

Lesley Logan: So good.

Wendy Valentine: I can’t wait to get the cards because. So what’s nice, when I’m here in Portugal, I do have a trainer here. I go to a gym here. India. They actually do Pilates, Portuguese Pilates, But I haven’t been because they do speak Portuguese. Like, I don’t know what the heck they’re saying. But when I go back to the States and I’m in the rv, I can do the Pilates. Yes.

Lesley Logan: You can do the plastic. You can do the mat work. I see plenty of room on your floor right by behind you. So unless that’s.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: You know. Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, the rv, is actually plenty of space. I can even. I can do this. Like. Yeah.

Lesley Logan: Oh, yeah, you’re good. And also, you can do it, you can do it to warm up for your yoga practice, or you could do it after your yoga practice. Like, you can do it m. Together. Like, they don’t have to be. It’s not like you have to pick one or the other. Or it can just be on days you. You do something different. But.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Lesley Logan: Sorry, guys. We are. And do not disturb. My husband gets through. He’s like, hello. He’s.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I know, right? The do not disturb doesn’t work for him. He can disturb.

Lesley Logan: Yeah, I know. But then you’re like. But then when it’s you trying to get a hold of them, you’re like, how come I can’t get through?

Wendy Valentine: I know, right? I know. Oh, my gosh. So awesome.

Lesley Logan: And you know what?

Wendy Valentine: To what I was telling you before we hit record those cards Christmas hello. Those are great for stocking stuffers.

Lesley Logan: They are. They will totally fit in a stocking. I hope people, really do. And get them for your friends. You know, here’s the thing, like, if you are wishing you had more time to move, like, get your friends the things too, because then you all can do them together. You can go, which car did I. Which car did you do today? Or like, okay, which five are you doing? And you guys help hold each other accountable. Like, okay, I’m doing these five today. Okay. And that makes it really a lot of fun. I think we all, we, all know now that we have to take care of the one bodies that we have, it’s really hard to do it later. I promise you there are things that are not reversible, but if you are really focused on strengthening your body, the cards are really great. And they are not a commitment to a membership. If you’re not ready to do that. Yeah, I mean, of course I would love for you to, because at OP PC, I will actually, you can send me a video of you doing an exercise and I will tell you if you’re doing it right. Like, you get. Our members can do that. And yeah, it is so fun, but I also know, like, needing the flexibility to do things and try things out and test them out, and that’s what those cards are for. So, yeah, get yourself. Get them for your stocking stuff or, you know, do the two for you, one for me kind of a thing.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly. And then it’s. So it’s online Pilates classes dot com.

Lesley Logan: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: You can get the cards there. You can do the classes on, on the website there on the platform.

Lesley Logan: So you can actually download. Everyone can download the OPC app for free. And it has all of our tutorials for free. It has other things we put out on YouTube for free. And you can also, and then if you, you can also do a free challenge on there. You can take classes on your iPad, your tablet, whatever. And then if you do become a member, you’ll have access to the community and you can ask questions, you can share, you can vent. It’s a really cool place.

You can submit a video of yourself doing an exercise to get feedback

And then if you want to submit a video of you doing an exercise, to get feedback like, oh, I don’t feel what you’re saying, or am I doing this right? you can do that. And if you’re like, I don’t want anyone to see me do it. You don’t. You actually can check a box that, like, I don’t put it in the group for other people to learn from. I’ll just give you your feedback. So, yeah, we really try to make sure that everyone has, has a way of doing it for themselves. But, yeah, the app is really fun. It’s also bright yellow. It’s really easy to see on yourself screen.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Well, kudos to the hubby for, like, hey, you need to put this more out online. Like, nobody else has this genius.

Lesley Logan: He’s genius. He’s wonderful. That’s why he, that’s why he does all the, all the big calls. And I, I, I’m the ideas person. I’m the.

Wendy Valentine: You just show up and chitchat.

Lesley Logan: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, my God. Thank you so much, Leslie.

Lesley Logan: Thank you, Wendy. This is great.

Wendy Valentine: Thank you, everyone. Have a great day.