Goodness Weekly 9.21.26
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”
—Shunryu Suzuki
WHAT’S GOOD
Thrift Pop-Up This Weekend
The Nuevos Vecinos Thrift Pop-Up is back this weekend at One Another Coffee! Join us on Saturday, September 26th from 9 AM - 1 PM for a thrift event raising money for Nuevos Vecinos. We’ll have gently used clothes at great prices for everyone in the family at great prices, with all proceeds going directly to Nuevos Vecinos. Plus a portion of all One Another Coffee sales for the day will be donated as well. All are welcome. Interested in volunteering for future events? Sign up here.
Becoming a Beginner Again
Elizabeth Stephens, Managing Director, Sunset Ridge Church & Collective
Take a deep inhale through your nose and a deep exhale through your mouth. Feel your vertebrae curve one by one…
You know the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? Well, in this case, I was the dog and Pilates teacher training was the new trick. And I was here to defy the age-old adage.
As a tenured CrossFit, team-sports-playing, high-intensity gal, I joined my first Pilates class rather reluctantly.
Can this really impact my body?
Will this be too slow and steady?
The answer to both ended up being YES and it was EXACTLY what I needed.
I am in my post-40 season of life, and in many ways, it has been steadier than I expected. Except for the fact that no one tells you (or maybe they do and I just didn’t listen!) that the older your children get, the MORE they need from you.
See definition:
Parent of Tweens: Personal, unpaid, unstarred Uber driver. Occasional coach. Pick-up master. Game attender. Study-session dropper-offer. Ultimate schedule keeper. Starbucks affiliate.
I needed something to regulate my very scattered body—and mostly my brain. Am I right, moms? Enter that first Pilates class. Turns out, I loved it.
I embraced the steadiness of the movements. I forced the brain-body connection until it started to feel natural (because, spoiler alert, it is supposed to be). I started going as many times as I could each week. My husband and my children noticed a difference in my overall demeanor. #win
Don’t worry, I didn’t leave my intensity at the door. I simply refocused it.
Eventually, I decided I loved Pilates too much to NOT let people like me try it, learn from it and, hopefully, embrace it. So, I decided to become officially trained to teach.
I spent the entire summer—mostly nights after the kids went to sleep and weekends (thanks, husband!)—practicing, studying, observing, teaching, and working with my mentor.
And here is the part I didn’t expect: Being a beginner again was really, really good for me.
As adults, we get pretty good at staying in the lanes where we know we are competent. We build careers. We raise families. We develop expertise. We create routines. We naturally gravitate toward the things we know we can do well.
Then you try something new and suddenly you’re asking questions again. You’re messing up. You’re concentrating on things that seem incredibly simple. You’re celebrating tiny wins. You’re using parts of your brain, and yourself, that haven’t been stretched in a while.
And that discomfort? Turns out, there’s a lot of goodness there.
Learning something new reminds us that we are still becoming.
We are not finished products. There are still muscles to strengthen, ideas to discover, skills to learn, people to meet, and versions of ourselves we haven’t encountered yet.
You don’t have to become a Pilates instructor. In fact, please don’t. We can’t ALL start cueing neutral spine at dinner parties (IFKYK).
But maybe there is something you’ve been curious about. Take the pottery class. Learn the language. Pick up the guitar. Try pickleball. Plant the garden. Learn to bake the bread. Sign up for the class you’re pretty sure everyone else will be better at.
Be curious enough to start. Because maybe the point of learning something new isn’t simply mastering the new thing. Maybe the goodness is discovering that there is still something new in you.
Coming Up…
Daily, NYX Yoga & Fitness
Daily, One Another Coffee
Wednesdays, 11 AM - 1:30 PM, Open Studio Painting
Wednesdays, Mission Compost Pick Up
Wednesdays-Sundays, Scott’s Pizza, Charis Park
Saturdays, 9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
2nd & 4th Saturdays, 10 AM - 12 PM, Women’s Stitching Circle, Sunset Ridge Church Fellowship Hall
Sundays, Worship at 9 AM and 11 AM, Sunset Ridge Church
Wednesdays, through November 18, 6:30 - 7:30 PM, Joyful Noise, Students in 5th - 8th grade will discover how music deepens worship, strengthens faith, and helps build meaningful friendships. Registration required.
Friday, September 25, 7 - 9:30PM, Full Moon Friday, Charis Park
Saturday, September 26, 9 AM - 1 PM, Nuevos Vecinos Thrift Pop-Up
Saturday, September 26, 10 AM - 12 PM, De Boca en Boca, A monthly bilingual storytelling space for children and families.
Event Rentals - Interested in hosting your event at Charis Park or in our facilities? Please email rentals@sunset-ridge.org
Community Partners: For updated schedules and events please follow One Another Coffee, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, NYX Wellness, Scott’s Pizza, Mission Compost, Sprouts School, Good Acres, and Community First Food Pantry.
