As if we didn’t have enough great things to say about PimpYourMat — we, finally, met Tandy face-to-face for her PYM Live event in Kansas City just a few weekends ago and whoa. Just whoa.
PimpYourMat is a Prettography favorite when it comes to fitness solutions. For less than the cost of most gym memberships, you can subscribe to a library of amazing pilates videos and cooking courses to watch on-demand when working out best fits in your schedule. New videos are constantly added and each is only about 30 minutes long so you can get an amazing workout regardless of where you are or how much time you have available. Seriously — I’ve done PYM in the closet of a hotel room while on vacation. Anytime, anywhere.
With amazing challenges, a phenomenal community of PYM junkies and the incredible energy of Tandy herself — PYM is a very unique workout experience. It’s nothing like the infomercial workout videos or “buy and die” set of DVDs for the physically insane. PYM will get you into shape in a healthy, strategic way using years upon years of fitness, food and health knowledge that Tandy has collected while facing her own health challenges. Never has this point been more clear than in the PYM Live event.
PYM Live events kick off with some one-on-one time with Tandy. Everyone relaxes and mingles while she works the room to learn about you, your successes and the challenges you face. What may seem somewhat unnecessary on the surface quickly reveals itself to be an amazing bonus of the live coaching: Tandy caters the workshop to the attendees’ personal needs.
We quickly moved into a live 30-minute pilates workout reflecting the movements and cadence we all knew from the online videos. It’s easy to question your form when you work out without mirrors or direct coaching in the privacy of your living room — but the live event solved all insecurities as Tandy nudged us into the right places and cheered when we were already hitting the movements perfectly. It was an amazing opportunity to reassess and feel our bodies in the correct positions — learning corrections that we could easily apply at home.
Following our workout, we listened as Tandy discussed her philosophies, background, food recommendations and strategies. For me, this was where things got really great. Where there had been holes in my understanding of PYM before, I now felt like I had a much better view of the big picture. And seeing just how personal PYM is for Tandy made me realize that it’s far more than just a workout. Tandy shares her wealth of knowledge with a clear hope to help others. After facing her own health struggles and frustrations to, over a much too long time, discover solutions that worked best for her body — she’s now an advocate, resource and cheerleader for those on their own journeys to better health.
Armed with an overwhelming appreciation for this more personal side of PYM, I found myself beyond motivated to make pilates a more consistent piece of my fitness puzzle. Tandy doesn’t use PYM to tell you how to be healthy or fit. She offers it as a possible solution to the challenges you face — and provides the guidance and support you need to discover what’s right for your own body. The value of the honesty, compassion and care she brings to each and every moment on the mat goes well beyond even that of a personal trainer.
That realization alone would have been plenty, but the event didn’t stop there. Before wrapping up, Tandy presented each PYMer with a gift bag including tons of discounts and gifts from PYM and Prettyography partners. Like a ridiculously fit Oprah, she then started raffling her favorite #onthemat and #inthekitchen items including rollers, a magic ring, coconut, pink salt, her book club book and more. In the corner of the room, the power pose photo booth by Banana Who? promised even more great giveaways — a one-on-one Skype session with Tandy, a stunning Peerless Charm necklace and a $50 gift card for pampering at Kansas City’s Posh Blow Dry Bar. Worked out, enlightened and swagged beyond compare — we wrapped up the Kansas City event ready to seize the day.
While the Kansas City event was the last PYM Live workout for 2015, Tandy is still hosting challenges online to help motivate and inspire new PYMers and addicts alike. The next one — the Superpower Challenge — begins tomorrow, July 1. In it, Tandy will educate you on what your core is (it’s not ‘just’ your abs), how to access it as your own superpower and how to initiate any fitness movement from your core to get better results overall. Registration is open through July 5! Simply sign up at How to Feel Like a Superhero and use code SUPERPOWER to activate your first month of PYM for free! Need more instructions? Check these out.
This post originally appeared on Prettyography. Photos by Laura Noll Photography.
Share this Post