Meet Shirlene Quigley - Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher, Actress, Believer, Ground Breaker. This girl has got an impressive resume! For starters she's danced with everyone from Missy Elliot to Beyonce. Additionally, she has travelled the world choreographing and teaching dance.
Shirlene and I first met on instagram, believe it or not, and she invited me to come take one of her heels classes in NYC. Me dancing in heels for the first time, is a whole hilarious blog to itself, but I digress. During the class I was struck by how welcoming, funny and honest Shirlene was with all of her students. Subsequently, we all put our awkward shyness aside and leaned into the experience.
Fun Fact: She is on tour with Lizzo right now! So, I feel lucky she carved out a little time to talk about her health and fitness philosophy while she’s on the road. Enjoy!
1. What is your personal philosophy around health and fitness?
Fitness is not for how you look, it’s how you feel from the inside out. I workout and keep an active lifestyle to stay healthy and have a healthy future for years and years ahead.
2. When it comes to staying healthy, what comes naturally to you and what things require more effort?
Dance and cardio sport come natural. Anything like a fitness class or group activities is so fun and easy.
But taking time to lift weight and set gym time aside can be hard with my schedule since my daily lifestyle includes so much cardio activity.
3. I know you bounce back and forth between east coast and west coast, does your self-care routine change from coast to coast? How do you stay in your flow?
Yes it is harder for me set gym time when I am in NYC, because NYC can be so busy. But i set time to do at least 15-20 min of small workouts I can do on a mat, like leg lifts squats, push ups etc.
4. How has life as a dancer and teacher influenced your mindset?
I want to be healthy not just for myself, but for the team I am working with and the dancers I do my best to inspire.
5. What are your fitness/wellness essentials?
Water! Lots and lots of water. Vitamins. A mat and rolling out those muscles.
Also I spoil myself with a once a week message to get that blood flowing.
6. How do you stay motivated through the ups and downs of life?
My relationship with God has helped me in all areas. Especially loving myself and all life’s challenges.
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