Hello All!

I am Sarah Sophie Flicker and I am a dance nerd.

I LOVE dance.

I love how much movement can say about the human condition wordlessly and gracefully. Dance is endlessly inspiring to me. I was very serious about ballet when I was young and even though I did not pursue it professionaly, I am a great pretender and admirer in all things dance related. I’m here, on the Ballet Beautiful blog, to share with you some of my favorite images and films from the dance world.

So lets jump right in! This 1951 film, The Tales of Hoffman, stars the great Moria Shearer. Technicolor and dance go so well together, don’t you think? Ah, if only every waking hour looked this way! Enjoy!

Love,

Sarah Sophie

Hello Beauties!

We are thrilled to announce the release of two new streaming videos – an aerobic new BB Cardio and 15-Minute Abs.  To celebrate I’m offering a 20% discount on purchases through April 30th!

Both videos are a great complement to our other Blasts and an essential part of my own weekly workout.  I am so excited to share them with you all!  The Allegra Workout from my Cardio Series is a killer.  It’s an aerobic, high-impact Cardio Blast that always makes me sweat.  In under 20 minutes!   The 15-Min Ab video is also a favorite, and a perfect way to quickly target, sculpt and tone the center and waist.  Hello bikini season!

Check out the video above for a sneak peak at these vids and more of our streaming Blasts to come.  Click here to purchase in our store and use coupon code BBSTREAM to save 20% through April 30.

Have a great workout!

Sending love! xoxoMH

Hello Beauties!

Spring is the season for new beginnings and incredible growth and change.  Mild weather and sunny days are waking up nature around us all in the most beautiful ways!  I have spent the last week in California basking in the beauty of the dark pink camellia blossoms, wisteria vines, rolling hillsides and the incredible coast.  Getting out of NYC and into nature has really made me think about how springtime affects us all.

The magnificence of nature never fails to feed and inspire my artistic soul.   Right now it is really blooming!  I find that something similar happens to me each spring – I feel lighter, happier and inspired to tackle new goals.  To me spring represents possibility.  It’s easy to think about the ways that you want to blossom, adapt and change when nature’s perfect example is just outside your door!

One of the best ways to let the warm weather work for you is to get outside and enjoy it!  Go for a walk, a hike or just try eating lunch outdoors.  Hooked on my Ballet Beautiful videos?  Multi task as you stream Swan Arms from your back patio, lawn or in the park.  Sunshine feeds the soul!  It’s awesome (in moderation, of course) for the body and the mind.  The days are longer, warmer and in my opinion, more beautiful.  Take full advantage — put on some sunscreen and dig out your giant sunhat and get outside!  Busy with deadlines for work or school?  Take your laptop with you and pack a healthy meal or snack.

Once you are out there really think about where you want to be in life.  What are the things you can do better each day and what do you need to accomplish them?   Challenge yourself to tackle the difficult questions and the sticky areas too.   If you are ready to take on change you will blossom and grow in ways that just might blow your mind.  Think big and treat yourself with sunny love each day!

Wishing you an incredible spring, with many beautiful blooms!  xoxoMary Helen

Balance is one of the keys to happiness, inner beauty and health!  And in today’s hectic world where demands from work, school and home are literally non-stop, it’s harder than ever to achieve.  And once you manage to find balance in your life, how do you keep it?  It’s a constant juggle.

I am always thinking about how to achieve better balance because it’s something that I work on daily.  My struggles probably are no different than yours – balancing the pressures of work and family with health when there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day.  So how do we find better health and happiness through balance?  We set priorities and compromise.

The truth is that you just can’t do it all.  You cannot make every meal from scratch, exercise for an hour or more each day, keep the laundry clean and the fridge stocked with fresh fruit and veggies, tend to your family, study, work, have the perfect outfit, makeup, hair and have any time left over to sleep at night.  This isn’t a personal failing, it’s reality!  Something has to give and this is where balance comes in.

Let’s start by looking at your health and how diet and fitness can make a positive impact on everything you do.  When you make time for exercise and eating well you generally end up sleeping better and feeling more confident, energized and strong.  This is a key to better productivity – it will also help you create balance in your life!  I talk about this in my upcoming book so more on this topic soon!  Flexibility is key here.  If you are really busy and stressed, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t make it to the gym.  Instead do what you can to exercise for one hour three days/wk from home and squeeze in one or two of my Blasts on days when time is tight.  If you can’t swing a vacation to recharge, pamper yourself with at home treatments and rent a movie or spend a Saturday afternoon watching Downtown Abbey or a favorite show!  Carve out a few minutes at night or in the afternoon to read a great novel or a few lines of poetry over a cup of tea and just give yourself time to pause.

Taking a little bit of time each day for you means that ultimately, there is more of you to give.  Indulge in these moments and enjoy.  And don’t forget to make time to connect with the people that you love!  There are so many ways to stay connected these days – even if you can’t get enough time together face to face make a date to skype, trade texts or a call.  Prefer a live workout to a video?  Try my online class.  You’ll be amazed by how easy and fun it is to connect and how much time you save too!

Finding balance is all about making time for yourself and for the people that you care about.  Remember to treat yourself with love and make health a priority every day – the rest will fall into place.  Try it and let me know how you feel!

Sending love as always!  xoxoMary Helen

Hello Beauties!

Many of you have asked me about an ideal rotation for the Ballet Beautiful videos.

If you have already tried Ballet Beautiful you know that the workouts are highly targeted (i.e. they really burn – in all the right places!!).   The secret to a ballerina’s strength, grace and fluid movement is in her rigourous daily training.  My Ballet Beautiful workout mimics this process through fitness using a series of ballet-inspired exercises and stretches with a focus on the muscles that define a dancer’s body.  Inner thighs, butt, back of the legs, deep through the center, arms and upper body work for elegant posture…!

So what does this mean in terms of time? In an ideal world I recommend 1 hr/day of Ballet Beautiful, 5 – 6 days/wk. That rest day is important for your recovery – don’t skip it, no matter how driven or excited you are.   If you are working with my videos (and I hope that you are!), aim for 3 days/wk of the Classic 60-Min Workout and another 2-3 days of the Blast Series – via DVD or online with my streaming videos.  This allows for a great mix of toning and resistance work with some cardio and standing exercises.

The changes in your body will come quickly – most people see a difference in as little as 2 weeks!  Of course we don’t always have a full hour a day for exercise and that’s ok too.  If you can’t accomodate an hour a day, do everything you can to set aside three hrs/wk for yourself to workout.  Life can be hectic – I designed the program to be flexible and easily broken into shorter workouts on days when you don’t have the time.  Aim for one or two BB Blasts when possible or a few chapters of the 60-Min DVD when time is tight.   Do what you can to work in 3 hrs of exercise each week and your body will thank and reward you for the time!

When it comes to cardio I’m a fan of low impact workouts that don’t tax the quads, tighten the back or bulk the legs.  If you aren’t already using my BB Cardio streaming vids check out this link to our store to see what I mean.  My personal preference is for about 30-mins of cardio, 3 days/wk as a complement to my toning exercises and part of my BB Blasts.  Once a week I enjoy something with more impact like my BB Cardio Series Allegro Workout (coming soon to our streaming video library!), sprints on a treadmill or outdoors or a hard swim.

Try out this rotation and let me know what you think. I can’t wait to get even  more Ballet Beautiful with you all!

Have a great workout!! xoxoMary Helen