Finding Joy in Health with Elian Haan EP#66

Welcome to Habits and Humor. My name is Suzi B and I am your host Today I am joined by Elian Haan ElianHaanan, welcome to the show. So happy that you're

here. Thank you so much, Suzi, for having me. I am happy to be here. I'm very excited to be on your

show. Thank you. It's gonna be super fun. So today you guys we're discussing something that a lot of us think is either difficult or impossible or we don't think about it at all, and that is enjoying yourself on the path to better health.

A lot of us think about, okay, , when I get there, I'm gonna set a goal, and when I get there, then I'll be happy. Then I'll be proud of the work that I've done. But listen, you're missing the point if you wait till the end to enjoy yourself. So today we brought Elian on here. She has a host, or she's also a show host on the Win Win Women TV Network.

Just like this podcast here. And the name of your show, Elian's. Joys Joys. Joy. Joy, where I share joy and energy. Yes, so much joy and energy. I love it. So tell us a little bit about you, your background, where you come from, and then we will go from there.

Physically where I come from, the Netherlands, Amsterdam, until my mid thirties when I came to the United States.

, I didn't know how to much do much, but I did know wellness and fitness really well because I came from a professional ballet background train, ballet and theater history at the University of Amsterdam. And so for for that reason, I just wanted to move and, and make people move. I was always, I guess the born teacher, because I loved teaching classes and I, in the early nineties I was still in Amsterdam.

I got introduced to. The, the, the era of Jane Fonda and, and Richard Simmons. And I thought, I love Jane

Fonda. Richard Simmons. Yes. Whole different energy guy. I love it. Yes.

And that was my kind of energy I wanted to be in. I didn't really wanna just spend the rest of my life in a bun and in pink Leo tar.

I was way more interested in that hot little suit that Jane was wearing with those high cut things, and both colors and, and the first, the first time that we had ankle warmers and high, high heeled sneakers. So I was very attracted to that and, and dove into the fitness industry as having the ability to teach.

And, and, and that was the thing that I could do when I came to the United States. I came through and, and, and decade of trauma there. So I had to reinvent myself, but teaching was always one of these things that I could fall back on. So if I try to get out of it, it didn't work. So by now, I, I must say I have in a nice way, I would say 30 plus years in the fitness industry, but probably a

little bit more.

Beautiful 30 plus years in the fitness industry. You've been here and there and everywhere about it. I gotta, I gotta ask, what was your most fulfilled time like, which piece of this was the most fun for you or was the most made the biggest difference for you?

I loved it all. I loved teaching.

I loved aerobics those days and on the floor with the calisthenics. So like I said, the early days were really big for me. My highlights were the years where I started really doing conventions and presenting at conventions because I really loved writing content and creating content for fitness.

At that point, I had my own studio, my own yoga fitness studio. I was teaching four or five classes a day. These were the highlights years because I can't do that anymore. But from step to boxing to yoga and meditation, I got into it all. Started trainings myself and, and with that training I was in the remote area at this point, Susie, so I had to.

Kind of come up with new things to keep people interested in classes and start of mixing yoga and Pilates and called it pao just like everybody else did or whatnot, right? But just creating a lot of content. Got invited to do that on the national stage, started creating. Training the trainers different cities all over for about five, six years life.

Those were really the highlights of I met, I met so many great industry professionals. I met so, so many great presenters. Learned so much myself. So that was really fun. It was really

fun. Amazing. I love this. So one thing that you and I have talked about previous to this discussion is how your. The forms of exercise that you now do are slightly different than what you used to do and how this hasn't brought you frustration or anger that a lot of us think as we.

As we age or as things change in our particular circumstances, if I can't do what I used to be able to do, a lot of us are really frustrated by that. So what is your perception on, should we be frustrated by that? The fact that we need to do things a little differently now than we've done them previously?

Or is there still some joy in there that we can find? What is the spin on that or the perception on that that you have?

Absolutely. Yeah. So the, it, it comes from, of course I'm frustrated. I'm very frustrated because I'm in my sixties and I'm thinking, oh, I can't do that whole hiphop thing anymore. I definitely cannot do cardio anymore.

My knees are messed up and no wonder because I have that onset of arthritis and no wonder, because I've been doing, you never know if you do too much or not too much, right? So there was years that I did way too much and probably messed a few things up. I am just in a great place in my life right now where I say that if you can still move a lot amen.

I'm just very happy to move bodies and since I teach a lot more people during midlife going into the transformation of, well, we can't do this anymore. I refuse to call it senior classes, of course, but I would like to call us mature adults. So I did a lot of these. I designed a lot of these after programs that were just really focused on.

Not having to do all that hardcore stuff anymore, but getting a lot of the benefits out of taking it back into what I call my method is based on simple, effective, and getting results. I called it the s e r method, so breaking things more down, more into a crossover between, let's say corrective exercise and movements, including daily movement patterns.

And, and then still have the same results. Feeling stronger, being able to stand up straight, lots of posture, correction. Those are the things that are really, really important. And of course, flexibility. I still do a lot of yoga classes and stretch classes. In that sense, I think flexibility kind of wins at this point.

Not having lower back pain, hip pain keeping your. Fluids flowing, I just do a lot of tai chi and energy work with clients and individual personal training, but also in groups. Just keep moving and having that wonderful feel of of as long as we move, as long as we keep going, it's all good.

It's a form of acceptance. And with that, I had to transfer my career instead of going for five hours a day into crazy fitness mode. A a as a teacher and as an an instructor, you're a a coach as well, right? And so for me, 10 years ago, that also became my midlife and transformation certified coach career.

So I also have a private practice helping people to stay in that mindset of happiness. You

stay in the mindset of happiness and just keep moving. Mm-hmm. I love these concepts where it doesn't even matter, like whether it's age or whether, whether it's circumstance or an injury or just life uproot itself.

There's so many times where we get thrown off from what we used to be able to do. And like you're saying here, like there's just. Focus on the fact that you can still do, your body is still moving and move your body in a way that feels good. I think that's a lot of where the joy comes from, right?

It's not so much about focusing on how it looks or whether the pants fit the same, or if you can still run a mile in so many minutes. It's not so much about tracking the numbers as much as it is about feeling. Would you

agree with that? Absolutely. And I think that we're too focused many times on the numbers and the outcome in a sense of, I have to look this way, I have to look that way.

Luckily, I think we are going globally through that transformation of coming a little bit more into that awareness anyway. We feel good. We don't have to look a certain way. We don't have to, per se. Although one of my mottoes is how to get you sexy back, right? Feeling that sexy from inside, but not necessarily what has been put on us from the outside and, and the pictures around us and, and what our neighbors can do and so forth.

So coming more into the place of just feeling that even if you have a really bad day, if you go walk, if you go walk it off, I say, go, walk it off. You feel better automatically. You get that movement, you start feeling. Of course emotionally, of course mentally more prepared after you do that walk or that little exercise for yourself because it will just release those hormones that get your happy on, right?

That get you sexy on a little bit and then you just wear your crazy t-shirt and you do it anyway. That is my motto.

You wear your crazy t-shirt and do it anyway. Yeah, I love it. Wear the crazy t-shirt and do it everywhere. Anyway. That's excellent. So you talked about a couple of different movement, movement patterns that you focus on that you feel like are.

Most important. You mentioned posture correction. You mentioned flexibility. You mentioned walking it off. What other specific modalities should we be using? As these difficult circumstances or changing circumstances come up in our lives to help us keep our bodies feeling and

moving well. Well, for me it's all about a post correction in the first place.

And I'm really big on that because there is so much that we do forwards, right? We are just more onto the computer the whole day and everything. And as a somatic approach instructor or counselor, what I've done for years is starting with that. So in in the mind, body, spirit approach. If you sometimes just correct that posture, I call that open your heart, right?

And sometimes I say maybe I can't say it on television, but I do it anyway. I do it on my show all the time. I call that girls up, standing up straight girls, it open up too hard to where it all is and it's all up there anyway, right? So I also say that to the gentleman in my class, believe me, girls up.

So open your heart where it all is, and then it has to do with, if you keep looking down, you're going down anyway, right? So if you feel

a little genius, taller, excellent imagery, stronger,

right? Then you're just kind of like, I got two more inches in my waistline all of a sudden by standing up straight.

It is. So I make a lot of fun of it, but it's so important because Susie, we just have generations. After us generations that are doing nothing else and carrying big backpacks and having loss of self-esteem and, and, and all that stuff that comes with, the difficulty of life. And, and that first in their bodies.

Yes. And if my, at some point when he was 18 or my 16 year old at that point, years ago, came to me and said, mom, I think I need a chiropractor. I opened my eyes and I said, what? When I was your age, I was hanging upside down in the tree. And I was running all day. So where is this coming from that you all go to the chiropractor?

This is ridiculous here in high school. And but that is the truth. There is more and more and more back pain that is absolutely not necessary if we correct or posture to answer your question is secondly of course, balance and flexibility and then strength and then cardio. We have to keep our cardio going.

We have to keep walking, but it doesn't have to be running a mile or so. A couple miles. Get your steps in here and there and I really try to just try to find something that you really enjoy, if it's by yourself or in group format. I always enjoy group format because it's fun. Fun with friends,

fitness.

It is fun. Yes. And enjoying yourself finding the joy in the thing while you're doing it. What is your mindset that you use to do that? So like a lot of us are thinking, okay, well my balance isn't very good, or my flexibility isn't very good. And we're like, okay, I'm gonna change. That doesn't particularly sound fun.

So what is the mindset that you have where you can find joy in these movement patterns and find joy in something so simple as ipro, improving your posture?

There's two big things to that mindset. I think Susie is like in the first place. When people come to me and say, of course. They say, well, I'm, I, I don't have balance, or I'm not flexible, and so that's why I'm not going to your class.

Well, that's why you are going to my class. You become flexible. It's not about touching your toes, it's about the journey, and it's all about the journey, getting something done, and at the end of the day, how accomplished you feel. How. Awesome. That makes you feel that you make that start. So one step at a time and not predicting too much outcome, not setting too much expectation there.

Just doing it. That's, that's honestly, thank you, Nike. Just do it. Just do it. Yes.

I love that

will come. It'll come. The deep results will come. And that's the same as, as people say, well, I can't do it. I teach many times things to people without telling them what's gonna come. In the sense of. In the middle of the class, I'll do a plank and we're holding that plank for a little bit and people are doing that plank.

And if I would've told them today, we're gonna do some planks, they're, I know I can't do that. So their mindset afterwards, I tell 'em, well, you just did a three minute plank and you're, and they're like something and they're, what? I just did this mind blowing. And, without too much. Expectation upfront or setting too much.

Things there that we can think about. Just do it. It's just do it. Just make that start today. It's one little step at a time.

One little step. Let's do it. Excellent. And that will give you the first bit of momentum. Momentum is so key in making a change you guys. So if you are starting something or if something feels really difficult, they use that.

Analogy of starting a chemical reaction, it takes far more energy to start a chemical reaction than it does to keep it going. Absolutely. Same thing with what you're doing with your changes in your life. So if you guys are thinking of anything, whether this is fitness, whether this is nutrition, whether this is family, relationships, finances, whatever change you guys are thinking of making, just start.

Just take the first step. And if you're not sure what that first step is, reach out to somebody like el. Reach out to somebody who is an expert in that field already. And if you don't, won't know what workouts to do, get a trainer. If you don't know what exact steps to take, then reach out to somebody. Have a community of people around you.

That's what habits and humor is. That's what the Habits and Humor Facebook group is. That's what all of the community the free challenges, all of the things that I do, are a place for you to get that support, to get a couple of first steps so that you can start moving in the right direction. Elian, if you had to give us a couple of first steps, what would those be?

What would be maybe some starting points to finding the joy in your health or to changing your health in general?

Well, the starting point of point, just do it. And just like you just said, I love the fact that you said with humor, because we have to look at ourselves at some point with a sense of humor, right?

I, I can't do this. It's, it is just not existent anymore. So you have to come to somebody that will motivate you. And that motivation, that inspiration, I cannot motivate you. I, I can inspire you, but that comes with you more and joy, and that's what I like to. To, to really, I always say that to people.

It is about relating with somebody that inspires you to do that thing and that kind of makes you laugh during it and has some, I love my, I myself all the time. Oh my, what a mess I am. So if you get that sense of group, and maybe even when we are together, when I'm with one-on-one, With somebody. It has to be a, a, a joyful experience.

Otherwise, people are just, if you're, if you're going to a yoga class where everybody is so serious and nobody says the word, and you're just, I, I'm dead, scared to enter the next time. It has to be an inviting and a safe, very safe environment. So that's what I always. Tend to create for people is the safe and fun environments where, like I said, in my, in my courses, the one of my courses was called the F word of fitness, which was Fun with friends and functionality, right?

I love, love it. So it's all about those efforts in the sense of create that safe space small steps, start walking if that's your thing. Start swimming. I love swim. And anything aerobic in the pool, anything that has to do with exercise in the pool is wonderful for people. As an overall pain management workouts, and in my case with pain management, I work with people lot one-on-one.

Because I came from that background working with people for years, I worked as a counselor and, and, and coach in a in an addiction facility. And people had to get that physical strength one-on-one back, right? They were addicted to drugs or alcohol. And in long-term facilities, as I worked for 30 to 90 days, 90 days with people, they had to get that strength physically back to feel.

That empowerment to feel that sense of self-esteem and confidence growing back to where you could indeed mentally and emotionally handle more. And then what is so fun always is, or not so fun, but what is my, one of my biggest saying, and I called up my coach approach because it doesn't sound nice, but no excuses.

200 years ago when you lived in your little house on the Prairie, you didn't have excuses either. You had to get back on that horse. I take care of five kids because your husband had only been around for five times because he was tending to cattle for hundred acres, right? There was no choice, so you just had to work through that movement and work through that pain sometimes, and there was not too many instant solutions.

I am very much against. Not trying meditation or any alternative form of wellness first before you grab medication. Before you go into the instance solution of surgery or, I worked with many people with back, back pain and sciatic nerve pain and so forth, and I had a solution before they had to get to surgery.

So no surgery.

Yes, absolutely. There's so many other options and if we would, But that's not what we're being told. When we go to the doctor and we say I'm in pain, they say, all right, here's your options. Medication and surgery, and that's it. And so then some, so many of us are struggling with that concept right there of, okay, I guess I'm just, this is just the way it's gonna be for Yeah, but it's really not you guys.

If you are in pain, get somebody to help you to strengthen the muscles around that area of pain so that you can, like she mentioned, the power of strength. It goes way beyond physical. When you have that physical strength that enables you to succeed in mental and emotional and all the other aspects of your life because you've proven to yourself, oh, I have some strength in here.

I can grow, I can change, I can do this. So training your body physically can really set you up for some phenomenal success in other areas of your life. And I like how you're saying this Elon, that this needs to be a joyful experience, but also at the same time there's no excuses. That fine line, that balance.

What are some tips that you could give us for the days where we don't want to, so we have all the excuses. We don't have time, we don't have the energy, but we know we need to do the thing. Whether it be eat healthy or not, grab the cookie on the counter, or all those different things. What are, what are some ways that you choose to motivate yourself?

Well, on those days when you don't feel like it,

Yeah, I have those days, absolutely. But then again, it's just the days of back to the small steps, right? And back to just do it. So on the days that you don't feel good, I call that, put your outside on and it's the same thing as that silly t-shirt or a crazy hat, or that's those high heels to wear you.

Automatically by what you are wearing and standing up straight and what you're gonna do is making you feel a little bit better. The outside world will, at that point, also react to you. I call that that's, that's moments where people say, wow, you look great today. Or, or, or. You look strong today. It's just because you're standing up straight.

You're a little taller and, and you got that feel. You put your outside back on. Even if you don't feel good inside, if you have a lot of struggle, I have pain, I have grief, I have loss, I have a mess. Just let everybody else, but I have to not necessarily drag everybody with me in that and show it all the time.

So it's really important to, to show a little bit more of that courage and confidence. I love those two words where you just. If you don't feel good at all, I have those days that I wanna wear black all day. Big sweatshirt, no hair, all that stuff. Messy bun. It doesn't help, it doesn't help to linger.

So a small step with nutrition is same thing, a small step. I have a line of supplements that I believe in very much so that people can reach out to me. Please do. That help me. Tremendous with pain management, chronic pain. If you have these small steps that you're taking that help you and that you get informed on.

You get well informed and, and, and there's so much information out there right now. We don't have to go to those commercials that we are overwhelmed with the whole day on television that promote you and promote and promote and promote you to take medication. Number one, one pill leads to the side effects.

So now you need, number two leads to the

side effects. Now you need number three, et cetera, et

cetera. Downward spiral. There's so much other things, and it's not always exercise. It's not always clothing. It can be a good massage, it can be a aromatherapy a, a new diet, some good foods, some amazing supplements that you see results right away is really important, really important.

Phenomenal. I'm loving all of this. Small steps, small steps. Put your outside on, take the small steps. Stand up straight. You guys, I'm teaching a, a conference this weekend for teenagers that is about that concept, like you said. Yes. Confidence and courage. I'm actually doing confidence and compassion together and how those two, when combined give you courage.

And it's just interesting how if you give yourself a little bit of grace and you're not so hard on yourself. And then you stand up a little straight and you, even if you don't feel confident, act confident. Even if you don't want to go and do the workout, just just pick up your pace a little bit. Just walk across the room a little bit faster.

Put on some shoes that make you feel a little pep in your step. Like you said, if you don't linger, lingering doesn't help. So don't linger and don't stay in the feeling where you're at. Just shift something and that's what's going to give you that confidence and courage. Act like you have confidence, stand up straight and look good and, and put on your, put your outside on.

I love that. Yeah. Yeah. And then that courage is gonna come and you'll feel better, you'll be able to do what it takes. You'll have the courage to just do it. And this is phenomenal. So good information. Useful. And

and you said, yeah, Susie, because I worked with so many teenagers, especially on that self-esteem and that that confidence, and I know it's hard, it's hard for them, it sounds so simple, but just to kind of like get a little bit of that, that, that posture or a little bit of that, that feel, sometimes I, I do exercises like, well just go run the, do the runway walk.

Pretend so that you feel a little bit of that feeling coming back to where you were. It's very important for them because that's our future regeneration. They need to, they need to lead us into wonderful seniority. Absolute. So we need them to have that self-esteem. Absolutely. I love that.

Yeah.

Yes, yes, yes. All right, so before we open up to questions, if you're just joining us, we do a 30 minute after. The recording here. Every single week we go live, and after the first 20 to 30 minutes discussion, we do a live q and a session. So if you would like to join us, if you're listening to this on the replay and you want to join us, come live on Tuesdays right here and we will answer your questions.

You get to interview Meia. You get to interview our wonderful guests today. We've got Elian on here. But before we open up the room to questions, I would like to just give people your information so that they can reach out to you about supplements or information or more things that they need from you.

Where can we find you?

Absolutely, yeah. ElianHaan.com. That's simple. ElianHaan.com, I'm most social media, and then my name and I, I think I'm easy to find. There's not a lot of aliens out there. Oh, well, all over the world, of course. But i, yeah, ElianHaan.com and link three Elian Haan. So that's the easiest way to set up a Calendly appointments or, or just reach out for my programs, or if it's coaching one-on-one or group courses, anything like that.

Most people. How is

h A A N?

Correct? H a a n? Correct. Okay. Just a double checking. And it's on the bottom of the screen here, so just a.com right there. And easy to find. I hope for people. And please, yeah, please reach out. Absolutely.

Beautiful. All right, so thanks for joining us this week on Habits and Humor.

You guys, we will catch you next time. Remember, just do it. No excuses. Put your outside on and your strength will give you the confidence you need. So keep building that strength, whether it's internal or external. You guys are doing amazing things. You're doing better than you think you are. So stand with a little bit of confidence.

You're doing amazing things and you deserve the best. So keep working in the right direction. Keep taking those small steps and you're gonna succeed. I know it. Elian knows it. Thank you Elian, for being here. If you are live in the room, go ahead and stay here. Otherwise, we'll catch you next week on Habits and Humor.

I'm Suzi B, and this has been Elian Haan. Thank you, Suzi.