Yuen Yen: ‘My end goal is giving 100%, here, now, every training’

When Yuen Yen (47) entered HealthCreators a year ago, she'd done nothing athletic for 46 years. Her focus had always been studying and working. During training the learning continued. Yuen Yen: "Sometimes when Tamar asks: 'where do you feel this?', I really have to look for the answer: 'where d I feel this?'. It is such a beautiful process to discover your body from the inside out. Even though sometimes, I only feel I am about to fart!".
She doesn't really have goals like biking up a certain mountain or fitting into a certain size clothes. Yuen Yen exercises from a value: "My end goal is here, now, this week, this training, to give it my 100%".

 

Why did you start at HealthCreators?
'At the end of 2014 I decided to give exercise a place in my life. I thought about that for about 2 months before I made that decision. As the daughter of Chinese parents my focus in life had been studying and working.Knowledge and good grades are very important in Asian culture. My parents left their country, their home land, you don't do that in vain: you want to succeed! And your children? They also need to succeed. That is why there was a lot of focus on that. Of course I did some sports in school and I I did some diving. But after that: nothing. During the Christmas break in 2014 I went into the silence in my head and made a conscious decision to start exercising. I also set goals for what I wanted to learn from it.
Yuen Yen went looking for someone to help her get started with sports. Several people recommended Naomi. "My sister reminded me of the fact that she is 'the daughter of'. Naomi's family were regular guests at my parents restaurant. I waited tables there, so I knew her whole family. That was a fun fact. But what sealed the deal for me was the explaination on the website about the own responsibility of the person she trains with. That the trainer might give it all, but that you can only reach your goal if you give it all yourself. That was what I was looking for: someone who was willing to give it 100%, that is what I expect of my trainer."

Tamar

Yuen Yen ended up not training with Naomi, but with Tamar. At first it was because their schedules fit better, but in Tamar Yuen Yen found the trainer she was looking for. The famous 'click' happened. "A click has something to do with two people, but this is my side of that click: I am discovering my body. When you never gave much attention to your body, you don't have any knowledge about it. So part of that process for me was: what do I feel, exactly?"

Tamar guided me through that discovery. She tells me what she sees and asks questions, like: "What do you feel on your left side?". Sometimes I feel nothing at all. Controlling muscles and movements are all new to me, so I have no automated reactions. It really was a quest, together.'
Also with nutrition Yuen Yen needed some guidence: 'At first I would come in on a empty stomach after a day of work, untill Tamar told me to eat something small. I noticed that I have more power then. Fuller power, powerfull power. I can control my movements better.'

What are your goals?

'I do not have a goal in the traditional sense. My end goal is every week, again, here, now, this training, give a 100%. Values like 'fun' and 'awareness' are important finds in this. It has to be fun to do and I want to learn about my body. Tamar certainly plays a role in that. She gives me homework and supports me to do well in that. I manage to do it once or twice a week now. When I know two times won't fit into my busy week, we accept that. And we won't compensate for it. I give 100%, there is nothing to compensate. That really worked the last year. I found my flow in exercise.'

Yuen Yens'  daughter and son play a role in discovering the fun in sports: 'My children enjoy sports. My daughter snorkeled and did diving, she wants to play soccer for Feyenoord, surf, play hand ball. My youngest started with gymnastics, wanted to do basket ball but is now into beach volley ball. In summer they go to sports camp, they can try all kinds of activities. That experience, nobody can ever take that away from them! I see their enjoyment in the game and in the play. I have that too. I have a lot of playfulness. I have a playful job: I take notes in meetings but with pictures in stead of words. That gives a lot of insight in how processes take place. It is playful, but also fun to see how knowledge stays with people longer and more accurate when they have a report in pictures.'

What are your results? What did the quest into your body teach you so far?
'I leave a better first impression with people, they get a fuller picture, more complete. My posture improved. I stand more relaxed. I can wait. Presence in silence. I recently started hosting and presenting webinars, seminars and discussion on the internet. That is new for me. How to present people in a room with information, that I know. I can take control in that. But the webinar is new. I have done two up till now and especially the first one got rave reviews. I still don't understand fully where all the enthusiasm is coming from, what those people saw. When I watch it I just see myself: a fun lady. I stopped looking to see what others saw. Maybe they just noticed that I am confortable in my skin, to use that popular phrase. Presenting a webinar is a big deal, a top performance: focus is important, fun is important. The top performance I managed to give is related to what I learned during training. There is also a parallel: I give my 100%. That is exactly what i found in Tamar and in HealthCreators: 100%.'

Yuen YenCan you recall a fun training story...
'I the search of what I feel in my body with certain exercises, I feel that air is trapped in my body. I need to fart... I run outside and pass the wind into the hedge in the garden. You can hear the leaves move. Tamar and I really get the giggles when that happens. Recently my son joined us in training. He is 8 and in the phase between amazement and rejection. His: "Mom! What are you doing???!!!" made farting in the garden even more fun.'

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