Part 2 of Your Ballet Beautiful Journey is here! Sit back and be inspired by these next four BB success stories and keep sharing your stories with us! We always love hearing from our BB community and enjoy celebrating and encouraging each other.
xoxo — The Ballet Beautiful Team
Marielle Srebro
I’ve struggled with weight issues and fad dieting my entire life. I’ve tried nearly every wacky idea out there in the name of shedding the pounds. Unfortunately, I also developed eating disorders that lasted from all of high school until midway through college. Fast forward to summer of 2012 when I bought a copy of
Ballet Beautiful: Transform Your Body and Gain the Strength, Grace, and Focus of a Ballet Dancer. I already owned the original
Ballet Beautiful DVD bundle that I bought a couple of months prior but I hadn’t tried them yet.
I was surprised how much the book spoke to me. Mary Helen’s writing was able to change my negative mentality about what I thought health looked like. I didn’t feel like I was reading the words of a fitness guru that I couldn’t relate to. Reading about her vulnerabilities and mistakes was comforting in a way. Ultimately, I felt the book was like reading a letter from a close friend that wanted to lend me a helping hand.
She helped me let go of my self defeating perfectionism. She taught me how to see self care as an essential part of self love. The concept of forgiving myself and instantly moving on after mistakes lifted so much weight from my shoulders.
My all or nothing mentality allowed my fear of failure to prevail every time I tried to lose weight. Even that end goal shifted because of Mary Helen. No longer was I obsessed with what the scale said as a measure of progress. The goal became about being consistent in the day to day of exercise and eating as a means of nurturing myself with foods that made me feel well and energized. When I relinquished the power numbers had over my health, that’s when I started to see drastic changes unlike any I had ever had before.
The weight gradually came off. I lost at least 20 pounds and was able to keep them off for the next 2 years. Before Ballet Beautiful, I had a conviction that I would never be happy or love myself until I looked a certain way and my numerous failures at controlling my weight left me desperate and self loathing. No diet or fitness program had contributed so greatly to my emotional, mental, and physical well being as Ballet Beautiful has.
Thank you, Mary Helen! You have changed so many lives for the better and I’m so grateful to have found you.
Laurie-Ellen Price
I’m a 43 year old mother of one. I was a professional ballet dancer in my teens, but suffered hip damage in a car accident and had to stop. I didn’t think I’d ever do ballet again, but two years ago I battled some health problems and when I was in the hospital I promised myself that when I got better I would try. Around that time I came across a few videos of Mary Helen for Ballet Beautiful on Pinterest, and when I was well enough I began trying out the exercises. After a year, I was able to arabesque and plié with as much delight as I used to! ?
Ballet Beautiful was a god-send for me – a reintroduction to what I loved – and ballet was no longer a lost dream to me. I am very thankful to the BB group, and continue to be a “stay at home ballerina.” ♡
Elaine Berrill
I discovered Ballet Beautiful 14 months ago. I had returned to ballet class after a long break and was really interested in finding an approach to fitness that would help strengthen my ‘ballet muscles’ too.
I started with the
Ballet Beautiful book and the
60 minute Classic Workout and I loved it immediately. The exercises were challenging but I found Mary Helen’s manner really calming and reassuring and I started to feel stronger and more toned almost immediately, definitely within 2-3 weeks.
I progressed to using the
custom/streaming workouts as well to add more variety and for the past 14 months I have attended ballet class twice per week and worked out at home with Ballet Beautiful another 3-4 times per week.
I enjoy it so much that it’s easy to stay consistent and it’s so much easier than using a gym or exercising out of the house as I have very young children.
By combining Ballet Beautiful, ballet class and a healthy diet I have lost 35 pounds and dropped 2 dress sizes which is a result I didn’t even think was possible when I started working out. I am very grateful to Mary Helen and Ballet Beautiful, finding you has been truly life changing for me.
Ruthann Jagge
I live in a very rural area and while I love a great yoga, barre, or pilates class, the travel-time to attend one for me is often ridiculous: 1-2 hours one way from my ranch. I used to try and do this on a regular basis but the stress from heavy traffic stopped making sense after a while.
I have a workout studio in a separate building here but most DVD workouts really get boring after a while! I also cannot “live stream” because of our rural location. Using the
Ballet Beautiful DVD’s has not only motivated me, it’s helped me to center and ground what could be considered a bit of an “isolated lifestyle” through movement and a small amount of self-learned grace!
The workouts are more than just something I look forward to doing several times a week, I actually feel the energy of a “class” with the excellent instruction and the way they break things down! They truly help me stay flexible and healthier at 62, even though I do them alone because I “feel” like a ballerina and walk just a bit taller after each session!
The workouts are very effective and I can tailor them as needed, and anyone who thinks Swan Arms is easy hasn’t tried it! ?
I truly appreciate the fact that DVD’s are offered, I’d be lost otherwise, and will look forward to owning and enjoying more to come!
I would recommend this workout to so many women! As opposed to so many other more invasive forms of working out at any age: it’s truly everything your body, heart, and soul can benefit from!
Reliable content. Thank you!