Shannon is enjoying being a stay-at-home mom to Skylar, who will be 2 this Christmas.
Shannon Owens can be described in many positive ways. She's supportive, determined, attractive, motivated and is physically fit. According to Shannon it wasn't always like that. She had lost both of her parents in a car accident when she was 10 and she struggled with why such a terrible thing had happened.
"I was horrible and mean and had a lot of anger," Shannon said. "When I was in high school and into my early 20's, I was upset a lot of the time and suffered from eating disorders and an obsession with my outward appearance. In the early 90's, I was a compulsive aerobics instructor who was only interested in what I looked liked on the outside and what I could get. If I saw an overweight person trying to workout, I was critical."
She had first learned about Tae-Bo when she was up all hours of the night breast-feeding her daughter. She kept herself awake by watching infomercials and had ordered the videos at a time when she was still really focused on just losing weight.
"I tried it once, but I didn't like doing things I wasn't good at and I didn't think it was going to work, so I put the videos away for a while," she explained.
Shannon experienced another major tragedy when, in May of 1999, the uncle who had raised her committed suicide. She traveled to her hometown of York, Pennsylvania to be with her aunt.
Shannon explains, "My uncle's suicide was horrible and I've tried to think of all the reasons why, but sometimes you realize that you may never know the reason. When you come to the realization that some things happen you just don't understand, you have to move on and learn what you can from it."
Knowing that she wouldn't have access to a gym while staying with her aunt, she brought the Tae-Bo videos along with her. For whatever reason, at that point in time, she was ready to get into Tae-Bo.
"I just started to listen to what Billy Blanks was saying when he would say, 'You've got to work your will and your spirit.' When I started doing that was when I started seeing changes on the outside," she said.
When asked what the turning point in her life was, she said, "Tae-Bo was a tool to help take the focus off of the outside of me and made me look inside to see who I was and what was important to me. I realized that it's not about what I look like or how much I can get or how many pounds I can lose. If I focus on what I'm doing and try to reach out to other people, then I'm going to have a much better life."
When asked what helped her come to terms with her losses, she explained, "I believe there's a higher power and that there's something more to life. Being able to rely on that and not dwelling on all the things that have gone wrong in my life helps a lot. I try to focus on what's going right and what I can control. I have sadness, but I remember all the good times I had with those I've lost and that helps keep me more positive in my outlook."
When Shannon was younger she put a lot of pressure on herself and did whatever she thought other people thought she should be doing. She says she never had the ability to be proud of who she was or to be confident in her ability before. She wasn't able to look at herself and tell herself that she was a good person and deserved good things.
But, now she's able to do that and she knows that it isn't because she lost 10 pounds or she looks fit, it's because of who she is as an individual. She now believes that what it comes down to is that you have to enjoy life, be who you are, and learn to be comfortable with that.
According to Shannon, "If you try to lose weight and you do it just because you want to look good, it's not going to last -- that's really an important thing. Doing it the right way has given me confidence and inner strength."
Today she is a very supportive and caring person who treasures her family and friends. She's an active participant in a Tae-Bo E-Group and has found it surprising that just by talking about her own experiences she has been able to help a lot of people.
She said, "I now see my life as a journey on which I can learn to know and love myself."
Shannon recently became a certified Tae-Bo instructor. Her hard work and determination stems from her love for teaching and her deep desire to help others. She's hoping to share her love of Tae-Bo with people who live in her area and who wouldn't workout with a video.
She said, "A lot of people just don't enjoy working out alone. If you can get to a classroom situation where there's a teacher, you can reach a lot of people. It really has changed my life and I want to show people that they can do it, too."
She now believes it's an inspiring experience to see an overweight person working out. She's excited that anyone regardless of whether they're 5, 50, they're thin or overweight, can do the Tae-Bo workout. She likes that it's not geared to just one group of people and that it can be modified according to the individual needs of each person.
Shannon's final comment was, "I've met a lot of people through Tae-Bo that I may not have been friends with otherwise but have turned out to be my best friends. I used to be solely into looks. I've changed a lot in that respect. Tae-Bo is an incredible and amazing gift for anyone who has an interest in it and I hope that others will give it a try because it will change their lives too."
Shannon's Tae-Bo Work-Out Tips
- Wear comfortable clothes
- Find a good area of space to workout in
- Have plenty of water close by
- Don't be afraid to push pause if you need to take care of a child
- Start out with the Tae-Bo Instructional video and do it over and over so you can learn it correctly
- Use your will and your spirit -- Have fun!
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