Alexandra Engler is the beauty director at mindbodygreen and host of the beauty podcast Clean Beauty School. Previously, she’s held beauty roles at Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Allure.com.
October 10, 2023
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Here are some words to live by: “Your health can handle the truth, but it can’t handle lies,” says celebrity fitness trainer Tracy Anderson, founder of the TA Method and MYMODE.
On this week’s episode of Clean Beauty School, I chat with the famed fitness expert on how she takes care of herself, what she’s learned about the wellness world in her career, and the dangers of receiving self-worth from social media.
But mostly, we talk about life, and how sometimes it can be challenging to actually live well: “I’’d like to think that we all come into this world primed for wellness and wellbeing. It’s the highly commercialized world that is what largely makes us unwell.”
Tune into hear Anderson’s best well-being advice (she has a lot), and read some of my favorite takeaways in the meantime.
Your body knows the truth
It’s important to be honest, period. But it’s most important to be honest with yourself.
“You’ve got to be truthful about the things that you really love, the things that light you up in the world, and the things that make you whole and happy,” she says. “When your truth and body don’t line up, when there’s no balance, the body gets sick. You can’t have health with poor character.”
Because ultimately, your body keeps track. “Your body truthfully knows that it needs fruits and vegetables. It truthfully needs you to sleep. It truthfully needs you to say no to things in a kind way. It truthfully needs you to show up for exercise in a way that is meaningful and deep,” she says.
Do what you need to do beforehand so you can focus on the workout
I can’t count the number of times I’ve started a workout or gone to a workout class, and halfway through, I find my mind lost in thoughts about what I still need to get done or what tomorrow holds.
For Anderson, your time to workout is your time to declutter the mind. As she says, do what you can beforehand to make sure your mind is less likely to wander.
“When I do my workout, I turn everything else off. I dive into my workout and that is my time to problem solve, to connect to myself, to floss inside, to get everything out,” she says. “The things that are going to worry you during a workout, make sure they’re taken care of before you start. I think that’s part of being a responsible adult. I always make sure that everything that relies on me is in place, and taken care of in a way that I can trust.”
It’s OK (good even!) to be bored
Perhaps my favorite message from the episode is the value of boredom.
“I think that it’s really important to be bored. When I get really overwhelmed, I just go sit outside and be in nature. I’ll literally just sit there and be bored, because I think it’s really important to have moments where I’m not doing anything,” she says. “For anyone who can remember growing up without all these devices and options to connect all the time, we’d just go outside and get creative. We’d just roam around! I think it’s healthy to do that.”
