Some Reflections & Exciting New Beginnings

This past month has been full of endings, beginnings and plenty of reflecting on my past 6 years in Austin, TX. As many of you know I have been working towards my Master’s in Counseling for the past 2 years, and I officially graduated last month which was incredible! The time has flown by, and when I look back over everything that has led me to this place I am so grateful.

Both my parents came to Austin from Virginia to celebrate my graduation and we had the most amazing weekend filled with THE best food ever and beautiful weather in the city. I loved celebrating with my parents and taking time to stop and enjoy the moment. <3

I also taught my last fitness class at The University of Texas at Austin after 6 years there, which was definitely bitter-sweet. Those fitness studios are where my passion for health and wellness first started years ago.

I auditioned to become a fitness instructor my junior year of college, and have taught obsessively since. After becoming a certified personal trainer and weight management specialist, I started SummerGirl Fitness and continued to pursue my passion for health and wellness.

What first led me to the Master’s in Counseling program was the wellness coaching I was doing through my business. Working one-on-one with clients, I realized how interconnected the mind and body truly are. So many clients came to me struggling not only with weight loss and fitness but also with self-esteem, anxiety, depression, self-confidence and so much more that was affecting their health journey.

I realized to help people see real results, I needed to work with the whole person: mind AND body.

Ultimately in my master’s program I became even more fascinated with the way exercise can positively impact mental health and help with anxiety, self esteem, self confidence, body image, depression and so much more! Because of this I decided I really wanted to go on with my studies to research and discover the next generation of knowledge about the mind and body connection through a PhD program.

Fast forward through months of applications, interviews and standardized test (ugh) I was so excited to be accepted into a PhD program in Clinical Psychology in Dallas! This fall I will be moving to Dallas to pursue this dream to study exercise and mental health and bring YOU ALL along my journey to continue spreading the message of the importance of health and wellness!

DALLAS BABES comment below – I am excited to be in your neighborhood soon <3

Don’t worry, SummerGirl Fitness will not be going ANYWHERE and I will continue to share even more about my passion, journey, and integrating more of the wholistic mind and body side of wellness.

I am so thankful for each and every one of you who reads my blog posts, works out with me with my Youtube channel workouts, watches my Instagram stories (@SummerGirlFitness) and connects with me on all my social media outlets. I love getting to know all of you, sharing my passion, helping and supporting you all, and building a positive online community!

THANK YOU for supporting me and helping me share this message. It means so much to me!! xoxo

Sending love and good wishes to any of you who also graduated this spring, or are starting up a new job, career or stage in your life. Change can be challenging and is always scary. One of my favorite quotes though is written in graffiti on an Austin bridge here and it says:

“Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

As we all continue to follow our dreams, take risks and grow together I hope we remember this! Love to you all and CHEERS to our new daring adventures coming up!

These beautiful pictures in Austin were taken by the talented Terri Young of wwww.teriyoungphotography.com! If you are an Austin babe and need some photos taken I highly recommend her. She really captured the Austin spirit I was looking for with this shoot and was super friendly and a joy to work with. <3 #LOVE

For those of you asking this AHHHMAZING dress I found at Planet Blue: the Wildflower Maxi Dress check it out HERE >> http://shopstyle.it/l/Xeh.

xoxo,
Marielle