Novosibirsk I.T.S convention - Per Markussen

Mo:

Per Markussen making Sweden proud...(yes, yes, I KNOW he´s Norweigan, but he´s actually a "Stockholmare" more than anything else....)

Novosibirsk - day 6 & 7

Mo:

Thanks again to Per, Tony, Marc, Christine, JB, Volkmar and Chris for keeping spirits high and the energy level going.

Thanks also to all the delegates at the Novosibirsk I.T.S convention for making this year´s event a success and for your wonderful feedback concerning our classes.

Enjoy this clip from Tony Stone´s beautiful cooldown on Saturday evening.

Day 4 and 5

Mo:

STILL here! :)

Finished the training course on Friday.

2 days, 20 people and 11 bikes later...

After training was finished I had a back massage by someone who must have been Karelin's cousin. 2 meters tall and about 100kg musle. Great for my shoulders though. Exactely what was needed after 4 days of pure stress.

Was amazed to see how many "off" classes that were held at "City Gym". Belly dancing in a push up bra, anyone?

Belly-dancing at City Club, Novosibirsk

Anyway, came back to the hotel about 7pm and had dinner around 8pm with Per, JB & Volkmar.

Time has gone so much faster since the gang arrived! (Thank God!....)

Per Markussen, my dear friend from Stockholm and the Swedish NIKE team

Per Markussen & JB´s manager Volkmar

Marc Oliver, founder of "People in Motion". One of the big names in Europe. Someone I've known for 10 years now, since I was the first to invite him to Sweden all that time ago...

Me and Marc Oliver - 10 years after meeting for the first time in Nürnberg

Tony Stone, the man, the myth, the LEGEND! We haven't seen each other for years and it was amazing to see that he hasn't aged 1(!) single day and he is as wonderful and humble as always... Damn it, if you have ANYTHING to do with dance - you HAVE to know who this man is! He has worked with Michael Jackson, is on speed dial to Britney AND choreographed the opening for the VIPs and extraordinary important people at this year's Olympic Games, God damn it!

Me, Tony Stone and lovely Christine Reiter

Lovely JB + cool manager Volkmar. Yes. Manager. And PR-agent.
I WANT ONE!!!!
So...: someone with class 1 organization skills, who is a complete negotiation and PR-wizz, preferably with fluent German, Italian, English, Swedish (Russian?) wanted for demanding, kick-ass, strong-headed, creative, control freak. Salary not negotiable.

Ego-photo together with JB

Christine Reiter, multi-talented and nice woman whom I've never met before! Teaches dance, house, Pilates (and Pilates to house music - I LIKE this woman!) + muscle classes.
Chris - friendly and fun guy from Germany, who teaches Hot Iron and is much too nice for his own good.

Per again, this time with Chris

Thank you crew for making these last days fly past!

Survived my 3 yoga classes yesterday. (Was supposed to teach 2 and was asked 5minutes after arriving at the convention if I could sub an extra class.... I said "yes, and here's the price..."

I've got 2 more classes today and I will definitely join Tony's "Street Jazz" at lunch.

Tomorrow I go HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ps. JO - I LOVE the hair!

MAKE ME

.......................

It's ALL GONE pete tong :)

No more curly fro, short, sharp and RAW

And I'm LOVIN IT :)



Off to London in two days. First some quality time with my loved ones! In one second I will kick my brothers ass in ROCKBAND - Guesse what I AM A ROCKSTAR :)

SHANTI Jo

FEAR FACTOR

All my bags are packed and.... no not really, but by this evening they will be:)

But before I leave for London I am teaching A BodyJam class, two Yoga classes, one meditation class and inbetween I am planning on attending a BodyPump class early early in the morning!
Guesse if I will enjoy the train ride down to Skåne after that :? Yeahh!

Before I go, wanted to share a source of inspirition of mine:

Authentic Avenue

Enjoy!

Rädsla är vägen till framgång

Rädsla är en enorm drivkraft i våra liv. Den kan styra oss att göra de konstigaste saker och den kan förlama oss till att inte göra någonting. Men den kan också vara en katalysator till handling och på så sätt bidra till äkta framgång, i våra egna ögon. Rädslan för att leva ett helt liv av bara plast och yta kan – när vi fått insikten om hur det ligger till - få oss att gå genom eld för det vi innerst inne tror på. Utan att fiska efter grannens tyckande. Det finns få tillfällen då vi känner oss så levande som då vi gör det vi är rädda för och rädslan är därför en vän, inte en fiende.

De flesta av oss är rädda för andra, helt vanliga människor. Vi är rädda för vad de ska tycka om oss, vad de ska hitta på om vi inte har kontroll över dem och för att de ska döma oss om vi visar vårt trasiga inre, våra drömmar eller vår oglamorösa morgonrutin. Det är lätt att glömma att vi alla är människor och att vår storhet ligger just i att vara både liten, rädd och – människa.

Det är inte konstigt att vi är rädda för varandra när vi själva målar upp en fasad som kanske inte alltid stämmer helt överens med verkligheten. Och om vi gör det finns ju risken att alla andra också gör det och hur ska vi då kunna lita på att dem? Det fina är att det enda vi behöver öva på är att vara människor och inte utställningsobjekt. När vi slutar jämföra våra insidor med andra människors utsidor blir det så mycket lättare att se varandra på riktigt.

Om vi vill bli berörda av och beröra andra människor och måste vi kliva ur alla de roller vi skapat. Släppa den polerade bilden av oss själva och istället kliva i den självklara sanningen om dem vi är. Sanningen som säger att vi kan vara små och stora samtidigt, rädda och modiga på en och samma gång och framgångsrika trots att vi inte har koll på precis allt. Inre framgång leder oftast till yttre framgång och för att nå den behöver vi inte göra någonting alls. Bara vara precis dem vi är och lita på att om vi tar aktiva, medvetna och modiga steg varje dag så kommer framtiden att ge oss precis det vi behöver.

---

So True!!!

Jo

Day 3 in Siberia

Mo:

Day 3.

In-Cycle instructors at Dr.Loder fitness center in Moscow

As I was boarding the plane - after hanging around at the airport for about 3.5h, I remembered: I left my 9 heart rate monitors in Sergeys car!!!! Couldn't believe it! For a moment I was worried that I had brought them out of the car and forgot them on a luggage carrier somewhere (as I've done with several half-read books...). But then when I backed-tracked, I was sure I forgot them in the car...

Red Square from a car window...

Luckily enough they were with Sergey and will find their way back to me in one way or another, either by post or when I stop by in Moscow for 4h on my way back to Sweden...Sergey, I buy you a HUGE breakfast if you happen to drop by Domododevo on Monday morning!!! :)

Arrived in Novosibirsk at 4.55am.
Got to the hotel at 6am and fell asleep around 6.30.
When my alarm went at 9.50am I had no idea where I was, who I was or where I was going....
Luckily a hot shower shook me up a bit and I even got breakfast in this hotel! YEEEAAH!
2 boiled eggs, some cereal and an almost sandwich (bread older than 4 days doesn't count as a sandwich...).

View from a car window in Novosibirsk...

Got to the fitness center around 10.45 and left at 18.30. It's been a long day-and yes, there were 23 people and 11 bikes. It's in these situations that your "flexibility" really gets tested.
At the end of the day, at least the people seemed very happy and there were even smiles all around....

Now it's room service, vitamins and BED! Cannot wait!!!!

By 21.00 I'll be sleeping like a baby....

Nitenite

.

A THOUSAND BILLION STARS

Thing like this makes the hair on my arms stand up straight! Some of you might find it cheesy BUT I don't care! It's thoughts like these that make me wanna make every breath deeper, it's thoughts like these that fuels me in this world!!!

Saw "Vingklippt Ängel" on TV last night and I am still a bit shaky. It is a fine line.... this life!

Cherrish it!

LOVE Jo

The making of....

I'm starting to PLAY with it.....

www.jira.se

SHAKTI Jo

I would rather do your math homework then:

• Buy stamps
• Buy toilet paper
• Go pick up the laundry
• Unpack my necesär
• Put up stuff in the attic
• Change the light bulb
• Do my accounting
• Clean my bokhylla (I mean REALLY clean it!)
• Learn how to install my TV BOX
• Go to sleep (right now!)

Oh well……

Sweet Dreams ☺

Jo

Day 2 in Moscow

Mo:

Day 2.

The sun is actually shining here in Moscow.
Leaving for Novosibirsk tonight, will arrive 4.55am tomorrow morning and start the 2-day training course at 10am...

Found a descent cappuccino this morning! Thank the powers above for small mercies! :)

Looking forward to see Per Markussen & Tony Stone at the weekend.

If Russia was a song it would definitely be "Firestarter" by the Prodigy.

16.59

At the airport. In one piece. I've "only" seen 2 car accidents in two days this time. Last visit (which was in February 2007) I saw 6 car accidents in 3 days - the worst one was a car doing a 360 in the lane next to us. Not to be recommended.

Sergey and his crew at the Dr.Loder Fitness Club have looked after me well. They are great people, very friendly and helpful.
It's not their fault that my hotel was a complete nightmare and that I was placed miles away from where I was working.

Russian people fascinate me. They are so serious and look so hard. Yesterday, when I was buying a ginormous barbecued chicken I was wondering why the men in the kebab shop were staring like crazy. (I mean, it's not like they haven't seen Asian people before). When I got back to my hotel I realized what makes me stand out here. I laugh. I laugh a lot. And loudly. Not extremely common in this country, I've noticed. As a matter of fact, most people look like they have "sold the butter and lost the money" as we so wonderfully say in Sweden.

I probably would too after a week or three. Apart from the absolutely stunning churches and ginger-bread inspired official buildings (think KREML & the RED SQUARE) a lot of Moscow strike me as very grey and tough. People in the underground wear a sea of different greys and blacks. Not a lot of Benetton-colour to be spotted there...

It's always a great lesson to travel the world and the greatest lesson of all:

Celebrate what you have.
Enjoy the little things in the place that you call home.
See the beauty in your everyday life where you are.

Like the clean air and fresh water,
the fact that you can walk or bike to work,
that you have your wonderful partner, friends and family close to you
and that you are in a safe environment.


To be continued...

.

Another day passes you by...

In the evening, feel grateful for whatsoever happened during the day!




BHAKTI Jo

Day 1 in Russia

Mo:

Sorry can't be long...but the story so far: Was supposed to be picked up at 9am, was picked up at 10.
Thought I was booked for a basic certification, turns out the client wanted a continuing education (my agent "forgot" to tell me this). Hence the wrong working materials in place...

In two days I'm supposed to do a basic certification in Novosibirsk for 20 people - with 11 spinning bikes. ???

And this is Day 1.

TRUE LOVE

I Love u
I Love u
I Love u


Why Do I love my Job?

Even though I sometimes wish that I had a daytime job at ICA (a food market) because of all the TRAVELING (hate flying, not good for the environment and I always make the mistake of buying a big Juice or Chai just before I enter the security check, dam it!), the ODD late evenings and full on weekends cramped up with WORK!

I wouldn’t trade it for all the stars in HEAVEN because of this:

Look at these amazing soon to be BODY JAMMERS trying to make a human bridge ☺

Or look at this ASSUME gym just outside of OSLO FIVE55!

When I got there NOTHING was in place but this weekend they hade their GRAND Opening. Man, their members are lucky! For example, every Friday they have a live DJ spinning records and you can chill with a bear or some sizzling wine at the club till midnight!

Not to mention my FAB colleagues, just look at Gorgeous HANNA!!!

Since Oslo is in a FOREIGN COUNTRY it’s best to stick with what you know: IKEAS Meatballs ☺

INPULS!!!
What a CLUB!
Three POWER WOMEN putting their SOUL, HARD ASS BOOTEE’S and INTELLIGENT MINDS together and create FITNESS MAGIC in the North of Sweden!

Check out my NIKE colleague’s blog, she was there not long ago (piccs from her blog:)!

And for this day!

After spending a weekend working and traveling I sometimes ponder upon the idea that MAYBE it would be nice NOT TO TEACH classes on Mondays! BUT, ONE minute into the class I KNOW why I keep on doing it!

Tonight one of my FAB and FAVORITE (yeas, we do have our favorite members hihi) brought her husband to the AFRO POWER DANCE class. He was the only guy there but my GOD did he shake some booty ☺ !!!

After the class I got an e-mail: He bought a 1-month membership at the club straight after the Dance class!!

But the thing that brought the biggest smile to my face today was this conversation:

Me: Wow, great thing that your husband joined the class tonight!
Her: Yeah, he’s the kind that goes running once every month and comes home hating it even more since he finds it soooo boring!
Me: Oh, well he did a great job tonight, he was so focused and I could tell that he gave it 100% all the time!
Her: Exactly! I want him to find the joy in exercising like I have because I want him to live as long as I!!!!!!

Hahahah This is TRUE LOVE friends! True LOVE

Sleep Tight!

Jo

Moscow & Novosibirsk - here I come!

Mo:

Almost packed.

I leave this afternoon for Moscow and Novosibirsk. I´ll be teaching spinning in both cities and then I´m doing 4 yoga classes in Novosibirsk at a convention next weekend.

I´ll be back Monday 20 October.

Please forgive me if I don´t find any good internet connection where I´m staying. I´m bringing my camera of course, and I´ll promise to give you a full report when I come back if nothing else.

Temperature in Siberia at the moment: 3.8 degrees Celsius.


Facts Novosibirsk:

Population:	1,400,000
Ethnic Groups:	Russian
Founded:	1893
Industry:	Machinery Manufacturing, Metallurgy

Novosibirsk is a city that prides itself on size: it is the third-largest city in Russia (the biggest city east of the Urals), has the biggest railway station along the trans-Siberian route, the biggest library in Siberia, and the biggest opera/ballet theater in all of Russia - even bigger than Moscow's Bolshoy. The red-brick Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, while not the biggest, is considered one of the finest existing examples of pure Russian Orthodox architecture.

Siberia is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the U.S.S.R from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century. Geographically, it includes a large part of the Eurasian Steppe and extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic drainage basins, and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the national borders of both Mongolia and China. It makes up about 77% of Russia's territory (13.1 million square km), but only 30% of Russia's population (42.2 million people).

.

Millennium Exclusive Convention

Mo:

Thanks to EVERYONE who joined Matthew Griffiths and me, during yesterday´s Millennium Exclusive Convention!

We had a blast and we are very humbled by your great feedback and
thank you-emails.

Thank you Kristian Rönne (MAI), for letting me read your review about my class back in 1998 (or was it 1996?!) - wow, that was a blast from the past!

Great to see "Styrkan from Värmland" in the house again - good luck with your new club!


Next year the Millennium Convention has its 10th Anniversary... Let´s see what can happen then...

Keep up the good work, the happy spirit and have fun in the saddle! :)

Ps. If you want to read about yesterday´s event from a participant´s point of view, check out the following blogs: Orka Mera & Towards Higher Ground. Thank you Anna & Magnus for the raving reviews!

Me and Matthew at the end of a long, great day...
Photograph courtesy of Magnus Gårdmark from Sportclub, Gothenburg

Live forever?!