Meet Hannah Madgett

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Madgett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

As a yoga practitioner, we always end our practice with one word “namaste.” Namaste, means “the light in me, sees the light in you.” My resilience stems from the moments of light I share with others. Whether it be a meaningful conversation, friendship, meal, time spent together, shared laughter, or a new creative endeavor, these moments keep me going.

We are all walking around with an amalgamation of emotions attached to us such as grief and unprocessed trauma. Choosing to honor the light within me, the world, and others keeps me going. With so much horror and pain that fills our world, I have to believe and actively choose to seek out this light daily.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My name is Hannah and I am the founder of Grateful 2 Move, a Seattle based fitness and yoga community built on education, affirmations, and mindful movement. G2M’s mission is to foster a vibrant community where fitness and yoga serve as pathways to self-love, mindfulness, and joy.

We have two different offerings; Wellness Raves and Self Love Sunday! Wellness raves are special because they bring together community in such an epic and fun way.

Wellness Raves feature a Seattle based DJ for a glow-in-dark fitness class followed by wellness mocktails. Self Love Sunday happens the first Sunday of each month and is donation based. Self Love Sunday is all about slowing dow, turning inward, and loving-up on your body. Self Love Sunday as a slow flow yoga class with a savasana sound bath.

We also do corporate classes for team building, birthday parties, private events, and more!

We have some amazing upcoming events.
• Self Love Sunday October 6th at 7pm-8pm. It’s also livestreamed for free, so you can tune in from anywhere.
• October 13th we will be hosting a free class at Fabletics in Bellevue, WA at 10:30am with a live DJ.
• November 8th Wellness Rave from 7:30pm-8:30pm with DJ whodinii

Grateful 2 Move is co-hosting the Seattle Wellness Summit that will be happening October 2024. The Seattle Wellness Summit was created for women and prioritizes financial, physical, and emotional wellness and education. The Summit consists of two educational panels. One on financial wellness and the other on physical and mental health. Women will gather to practice yoga, network, shop women owned, and listen to two educational speaker panels. We’d love to have you join us!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three skills that have been impactful on my journey are learning how to effectively communicate, cultivating an optimistic outlook, as well as developing confidence and self-esteem.

Learning how to effectively communicate has been a game changer on my journey. I have acquired effective communication skills by attending therapy. Having access to therapy transformed the way I view the world, speak to myself, speak to others, and how I show up in my day-to-day life. Therapy has given me the tools to effectively communicate and truly listen to those around me. I do not listen to respond, I listen to understand.

Having an optimistic outlook has greatly impacted my journey and is a choice that I actively make. If I am actively turning my attention toward goodness, love, laughter, and joy, I will see goodness, love, laughter, and joy. I choose to be hopeful and believe that good things happen because when I do, I see these moments unfold. I think about optimism as a pair of sunglasses. Which pair am I choosing to put on today? I could choose to see all things in a pessimistic way. Or, I could acknowledge the existent of bad and evil and actively seek out hope and joy.

One way I have developed confidence and self-esteem on my path is practicing affirmations. The way I speak to myself matters. I started writing positive affirmations on my mirror in 2020 and this practice has transformed my confidence and self-esteem. I say these affirmations out loud to myself in the mirror. At first it was really awkward and cringy but I quickly realized it is no one else’s job to make me feel comfortable in my own body and mind. I no longer find myself seeking approval and external validation as much since practicing affirmations. Obviously, I still struggle with this as I am human, ha. However, I find peace in knowing my sense of self begins within me. My sense of self is personal to me and not like anyone else. Consistently practicing being my own friend has given me confidence in the way I show up in the world. If I find myself speaking poorly to myself, I’ll ask myself: would you say this to a friend? If the answer is no, I actively have to reframe the thought or I will quickly become my biggest critic.

A piece of advice I would give to someone trying to improve on communication, optimism, and self-esteem would be to practice and acknowledge that your foundation begins within yourself. The things you have to offer to the world are specific and unique to you. Own your strengths and be willing to learn about your weaknesses. There is no one else like you, believe your authenticity will bring you far.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

Imposter syndrome. I was recently recognized in a 40 under 40 campaign in Seattle and the imposter syndrome is real. I’m one of the youngest people featured and my mind immediately went into comparison-itis mode. I think it all goes back to self-talk and the narratives we speak to ourselves. During moments of imposter syndrome, I acknowledge the feelings I am feeling and validate myself. It’s perfectly ok for me to feel that way. Then, I ask myself one question: is it true? Most of the time it is not true. I will then reaffirm to myself and acknowledge what is true.

I find that having family members or friends to confide in is important when it comes to imposter syndrome. As for this specific moment surrounding the 40 under 40 campaign, I went to my dad. My dad is one of the most successful people I know in terms of career achievements. My dad validated all of my feelings and told me that he has felt imposter syndrome his entire career. Really? My dad? Wow, if someone who has accomplished so much more than me feels these feelings too, I know I am not alone.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Maxine Eve Photography (affirmations photo & meditation photo)
Disco smiley logo by Natalia Bella

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