TAmily Member Laila Andrade: “[The Method] Grows Me Inside Out, and Outside In”
Laila Andrade is a Brazil-based member of our TAmily, a supportive community of Tracy Anderson Method devotees who strive to design a life of balance. Connect with Laila (@lailabeandrade on Instagram) and follow us (@tracyandersononlinestudio on Instagram) to stay up to date on all things TAM.
Courtesy of Laila Andrade
Laila Andrade’s Tracy Anderson Method Journey
My journey with the Tracy Anderson Method started in March 2020, shortly after the establishment of the pandemic state in my city and country. I consider myself a tenacious seeker for inner peace, and of course this requires a healthy and balanced body. At the time I had recently made the choice to change my physical practice, as I was a Pilates student for four years and I was noticing that my body—that of a 25-year-old young woman—was craving something that would work my muscles in a more integrative and aerobic way.
As Tracy always tells us, it’s so true that most people don’t know how to design and work with their bodies in an integrative way. And I love how she puts it, “a whole conversation with our physical self.” So before the quarantine kicked in, I was doing some gym stuff, and I was already bored after three months. When I found her Method in a @goop post and saw the expressive nature of the arm workout, and then the creative moves for the legs session with thousands of repetitions, I was absolutely mesmerized.
“One of the things that keeps me hooked to this Method is that it imitates life, so the workout is ever-changing, preventing us from stagnating in comfort zones.”
After doing two weeks of the 15’ workout post on goop, I signed up for the Online Studio program. Until today I only used Online Studio programs, starting with Intermediate, and after five months doing the Fundamentals every day, I launched off to atTAin, where I’m growing and learning so much about my true self.
Mind, Body, and Soul
One of the things that keeps me hooked to this Method is that it imitates life, so the workout is ever-changing, preventing us from stagnating in comfort (not-challenging-enough) zones. It’s never the same; even when we’re evolving within the weekly routine, each day presents a new breakthrough if you’re paying attention. Actually, I feel that the Method is designed to keep us sharp and flexible to the impermanent nature of life, but obviously it requires our personal commitment—not only to the consistency that our physical health requires, but to the brutal honesty that analyzes the extension of this commitment: How far am I willing to go to really restore and regenerate my health?
In the atTAin lane I feel this deeper call of commitment, for it’s not doing the moves in a mechanical “perfect” way, but the real goal is to know how to be yourself while flowing with the movement. And I confess, this kind of authenticity requires much more heart and patience. So the path of learning how to move and be present is why I love and cherish my workout, in addition to the obvious benefits for my physical self. It grows me inside out, and outside in.
It’s not easy to put yourself through a growth journey like this one, but its worth is beyond what I can express with words. So for those who are reading this, I would say that this is the most important kind of self-investment, because you’re proving for yourself, with your own bare hands and body, that you’re worth the sweat and the tears of liberation that eventually come out on the mat.
