Matt Corker » Athletics

Day 4-6: European Yogi Nomads hit Basel

Matt Corker — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:49:23 +0000

With my travel essentials in tow (a rad playlist, my mat, and my new favourite body refresher), I spent the last three days of my reading deprivation week in Basel, Switzerland with the European Yogi Nomads.

8 hours of yoga was the perfect remedy for the aches and pains of not being able to read (or share my excitement about this adventure with others online). It was a weekend spent in my own body, and my own mind.

The people around me, from the Copenhagen kula, would joke and chat in Danish which gave me the chance to simply be in the conversation. Rather than trying to translate, or ask them to speak in English, I could sit back and enjoy their facial expressions, the intonation of their voices, and the crazy dance moves they would break out while cooking dinner. It was cool to experience happiness without knowing what witty comment triggered it.

The yoga, led by some superbly talented teachers, reacquainted me with my body. Note: my hips and butt are still talking to me! Press handstands, rolling down to full wheel … it was crazy. There is something about laughing out loud on a yoga mat – especially while reaching the peak of / falling out of a pose – that reminds me not to take myself so seriously. My inner critic definitely got a good kick in the butt this weekend. My best self also got some serious love. Thanks Copenhagen Kula!

Next stop for the European Yogi Nomads – Copenhagen. Can March be tomorrow?

Pick of the Post: Kelly Rowland – Down for Whatever

Day 2 + 3: Distraction & Creative Action

Matt Corker — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:16:02 +0000

Day 1 was filled with temptation. The textbooks, the incoming letters from friends I haven’t heard from in years, the blog posts … all tempting to read. I did not give in.

Day 2, yesterday, was a day of distraction. Was there an episode of Community that I could kill some time with? What about perusing pinterest for some visual stimulation? How much time could I spend watching videos on YouTube? (When I found myself watching babies laughing and beagles, I knew it was time to stop.) My procrastination had turned from text to images.

Day 3, today, is the day of creative action. I started off my day with a meeting with the Department of Management, Politics, and Philosophy about their research in self-management. This is the department at CBS that asks questions like “What is money?” and “How do we use co-creation in today’s society?” and hires (read: pays) PhD candidates to do research in authenticity and vulnerability in the business world. It was 10 am and my mind was blown.

My day continued with the download of Danielle’s Big Beautiful Book Plan. It was time to answer the call and realize that this blog may have been the beginning of something bigger … stay tuned.

And now, I am moments away from taking on another artist task for the week: create a vacation and make plans to do it. Well – “all talk, no action” and I don’t go well together. When a plan is created, I commit to making it happen. So I am flying off to Basel, Switzerland with the European Yogi Nomads to enjoy 4 classes this weekend with some great people from across Europe. One of the classes is being taught by Nanna (my friend/teacher here in Copenhagen) and Chris Chavez – together!

Worlds are about to collide in Basel and it will be beautiful.

Pick of the Post: MC Yogi – Give Love

2012 = Scandi Sweatfest

Matt Corker — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:43:22 +0000

I love getting sweaty.

There is something about the sweat dripping of my face, the mind raging with endorphins, and the lactic acid burning in my body that reminds me “I don’t feel this way by sitting on the couch!”

Sweat is earned.

After a sweatfest in Vancouver over the holidays, I became aware that my level of sweating had gone down substantially since moving to Copenhagen. Since I bike for at least 40 minutes every day, I’m on the move more than I was in Vancouver. However, the intensity (read: sweat factor) had severely decreased. So this past week I cranked it up by adding some new sweaty pursuits to my yoga practice – ensuring I was sweating once a day.

I took my new helmet (and new bike lights) out for their first 8 am ride of the year with the unofficial CBS MBA cycling team (also known as two rad classmates of mine). Leave it to them to find the only hills in Copenhagen! They like to sprint up hills, race each other along the seaside, and kick out 65 kms in -4 degree weather like its no big deal.

I don’t know which was more painful: the lactic acid building up in my quads or my toes going completely numb -slash- freezing. It reminded me of that time when Steph and I decided to do a crazy ride just to eat a cookie. It was great and I’m actually looking forward to the next one.

AND, after 25 years of having my siblings rule the pool, I joined a swim team. (Now all the Corker kids can smell like chlorine!) The first practices have been great. I’m slow – which motivates me to become fast. I also love being coached. Intentional feedback rocks my world – and my stroke!

2012. The year of swim-bike-shavasana. It’s my own little Scandinavian sweatfest.

Pick of the Post: Dionne Bromfield – Yeah Right

The Highlights of 2011

Matt Corker — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:23:59 +0000

Every year I love writing this post. It allows me to take the time to reflect on where I came from, who played a large part in my life over the last year, and remember the rad adventures that made me smile from ear to ear. It’s like a yearbook of awesome. I especially love it this year as it is making this layover en route back to Copenhagen fly by (pun intended?).

As seen through the highlights of 2008, 2009, and 2010 – lots has changed. With a humble heart and really huge dose of gratitude, I share with you the best moments of 2011:

January

Geeked out with Conor et all as we watched online when Sauder took home School of the Year at JDC West “one more time”
Presented another award-winning workshop at the UBC Student Leadership Conference

February

Got accepted into my MBA program at the Copenhagen Business School
Spread a little love for yogis on Valentine’s Day with NoMoSolo
Spent the weekend on Bowen with Zoe & Haas updating our vision + goals and laughing until we cried (I love that this is now a tradition!)

March:

Celebrated borderless friendship when my fav gents from Ontario flew out west to join us for a hippie party and a road trip to the Great Big Sea concert

Witnessed Peter’s epic surprise proposal to Joe. Holy love fest!
Met a man that reminded me what it feels like to fall head over heels in love.
Went up to Whistler to experience Camp Drishti 1 and to uncover my inauthentic leadership

April:

Cheered like a maniac at my first roller derby with Woo and DFern. Go Public Frenemies!
Headed back to Whistler for Camp Dristi 2 and experience the igolu principles by Susanne Conrad
Snowshoe’d and ear candled the weekend away with sis in beautiful Manning Park

May:

Cheered and clapped REALLY loud for Conor at his first performance with the Vancouver Men’s Chorus
Rocked the stage at UBC Alumni Weekend with a session on Why Goals Are Not Enough
Kicked an hour off my time at the BMO Vancouver Marathon thanks to a rad group of people

June:

Re-vamped my blog with the help of the brilliant artist Michael
Celebrated my Mom’s birthday out west. Real goodness + real conversations + real wilderness = real love.

July:

Played my first round of golf on Bowen with Joe, Peter, and Preston
Cheered on my best friend from a distance as he conquered the Spartan Death Race

August: (this month was E-PIC!)

Headed down to Portland for the weekend with the best group of friends a guy could ask for

Front. Row. At. Jason. Mraz. (need I say more?)

Raced around in mud at the Whistler Warrior Dash

Crushed my 100 before 100 – bungee jumping, hot air ballooning, making chocolate by hand…
Celebrated my birthday with a rad party and a hilarious camping trip
Said goodbye – to Vancouver, to my relationship, to my job – to say hello to the Life Europa

September:

Moved to Copenhagen to start my MBA at the Copenhagen Business School
Discovered Hamsa Yoga Studio - and the great people that are a part of that community
Supported imagine1day’s 1 School 1 Day event with a run around Copie

October:

Rocked out on a mat with Carlson when he came to visit

Was a tourist in my own town during Culture Night
Headed to London to rock out with the lululemon crew at the London Yoga Show and reconnect with friends from Van

November:

Lifted Martin with two fingers at “Leadership Bootcamp” with my class thanks to some Butanese magic
Made a Van-fam dinner with Calvin, Bonn, and Lanie

December:

Partied the night away at a memorable Julefrukost with my classmates – fake mustaches, snapps, and all

Had the best 2 weeks vacationing in Vancouver! Laughing with Steph at 6 am, getting sweaty with some of Vancouver’s finest people and instructors, dance partying (at every opportunity), eating great pie and sushi, meeting new friends who I believe will be shining in my life for a while, jamming on leadership theories, dating for 6 days, playing board games til the wee hours of morning (to FINALLY beat FLam at Settlers) – it was all so perfect. Thanks for the monumental end to 2011.

Holy wow. What a year. Correction: what a LIFE!
And now it’s 2012! Here we go again…
What are you celebrating from this past year?

Pick of the Post: Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe

Being Perfect

Matt Corker — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:37:15 +0000

Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends.

Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn’t one more thing you could’ve done.

Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that gentleman – you’re perfect!

- Coach Gary Gaines (Friday Night Lights)

Pick of the Post: The CAB – Bad

The perfect gift for the techie on your list

The Remarkable Journey: Steph Corker

Matt Corker — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:33:13 +0000

Could I have anyone else other than my wicked sister start off this series? Of course not. This iron(WO)man, attraction ninja, baker, and adventurer extraordinaire has dropped truth bombs on me for years now. As she traveled the globe in October, she stopped to share some lessons from her Journey with us.

I crave start lines and I live for finish lines; I write lists to feel accomplished when things are crossed off; I have defined myself by jobs I’ve loved (and hated!) and success by the size of my inbox. Yet what I know for sure is that the Journey is what makes it all worth while. I’m writing this fresh off a plane from a whirl wind trip to Asia, on the eve of lululemon’s Leadership Conference whilst totally jet lagged and concerned for the quality of my run in a few hours. None of these are line items to be checked off – in fact, they are remarkable experiences deserving to be savored because only from livin’ it up do i have the honour of being awake at 2AM!

In the last month, the brilliant Steve Jobs passed away and a world record was set by a 100 year old man who finished the Toronto Marathon. I’m pretty sure that Steve didn’t care how many emails were not answered and Fauja’s crossing of the finish line was about a whole lot more than 26.2miles. Our time is short and we don’t know when it will be taken away, so what I’m committed to is a really remarkable Journey…

Here’s is what I pack on my Journey:

1. Water – we are made up of 90% of it; it fuels our brain; and straightens our spins. Bottoms up, H20!

2. Vitamins – VitC + D, Apple Cider Vinegar, Psyllium, E3LiveBrainOn + a multi for good measure. Heaps of spinach + kale. Everything in a vitamix! Repeat daily.

3. Endorphins – I prefer to swimbikerun with a lil bit of yoga. You might prefer to skipjumpdance, lie in savasna with a bolster + a blanket, learn how to ride a bike, hike a new mountain, sign up for a new race….whatever you do, just move your body! Sweating is the by product – the sign of fat cells crying! It’s always worth it.

4. Rad Gratitude + Generous Enthusiasm, wrapped in Love. Period. Please + ThankYouThankYouThankYou, said with a smile…it is the universal language of Awesome and I wish everyone spoke it.

5. My Tribe – “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Family + friends; young + old; new + treasured. Your cheerleaders + motivators, your inspiration + accountability partners, your shoulder to cry on + hand to high five. They remind you that everything is recoverable + everything is remarkable. My life is so much sweeter because of them.

I’m so proud to be a Corker…especially related to Sir William Corker. You can find more of my random musings over here where I blog about Kale, Crunches + Kilometers on my journey to a six pack!

What are your Journey essentials?

Perhaps the sweetest of all is when the dream lands you on a beach for sunrise + sunset!

Steph

Stopped Down in London Town

Matt Corker — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:56:20 +0000

I headed to London on a whim and, as previously mentioned, these stories tend to have a happy ending.

I got off the plane, found my Oyster card from my bag, and minded the gap all the way to the London Business School. After getting off at the wrong stop, realizing my cell phone network doesn’t provide service in the UK, and getting lost for 15 minutes – I found my way to LBS to meet up with Derek. Did he tell me it was an open bar event for their MBA students and that another rad Vancouver-ite would be there to make my first night in London SO memorable? No, he didn’t. Life is great when it comes with surprises eh!

I made my way to the hotel where my friends from lululemon were staying only to discover that they weren’t back yet. (Party animals!) I found a glass of red wine at the hotel bar, my highlighter, and my Innovation & Entrepreneurship readings and went to town. Halfway done the glass (and two pages into the reading….) the crew arrives and we top up empty glasses.

Rocking out at the Yoga Show was the intention of the 3 day weekend. After 8 yoga classes (including 3 challenging workshops), a visit to one of lululemon’s partner studios, connecting with tons of cool instructors from around the world, chillin on bean bag chairs with new friends as they waited to try on PILES of clothing, and seriously kickin it up kitchen-party style – I would say we rocked it.

Being surrounded by, and working out with, such talented and hilarious people all weekend was like going for a run in my favourite sneakers. It reminded me what it feels like to be at my best, to be alive, and to be really truly sweaty! Thank goodness for silverescent. Just sayin.

After big days came big nights. A dinner with friends I’ve had since first year at UBC bled into a swank evening out at the Home House. More belly laughs, more great conversations, and, after all that yoga, my body actually lasted til 4 am. Time flies when time doesn’t matter! Before I knew it I was folding up my (un) mat and heading to the airport again.

As I boarded my last tube ride of the trip, I reached into my bag to put away my Oyster card and pulled out a bookmark left on my mat after one of the workshops I attended. It read:

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. – Rumi

BOOM!

Thank you to everyone who made this past weekend one for the books. (I told you these stories have happy endings.)

Pick of the Post: David Guetta ft Jennifer Hudson – Night of Your Life

Full Out & Off To London

Matt Corker — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:14:24 +0000

Before I left Vancouver, a friend and colleague of mine looked at me and said:

Play full out over there. You don’t want to look back and wish you did something different.

BOOM! Words I’ve taken to heart since I’ve arrived in Copenhagen for sure!

To me, playing full out means dropping the excuses, the “shoulda, coulda, woulda”s, and reconnecting with what makes me, me. Playing full out means sharing my full self – the vulnerabilities and the strengths – with the people around me that will inspire and challenge me. It means taking care of myself in a way that allows me to giv’r when the time comes. Playing full out means getting out of my own way.

I got to live this mantra a few hours ago when the opportunity to head over to London to meet up with some great friends from lululemon athletica at the London Yoga Show arose. I knew I had to take it, yet there were tons of excuses why I shouldn’t. It wasn’t part of the plan. The logistics weren’t all confirmed. There is school work to be done.

I acknowledged the excuses and then chose to get out of my own way and book a friggin flight! It’s another classic “commit, then figure it out” story! (And those stories always have a great ending.)

So off to London I go. To reconnect with people that inspire and challenge me. To shake my asana and get my downward dog on. To live and love doing it.

Here we go!

Pick of the Post: Pixie Lott – Turn It Up

Step Into Action: The Journey To Prostate Cancer Freedom

Matt Corker — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:31:55 +0000

My health is one of THE most important things in my life. Creating a difference in this world starts with ensuring I am physically and mentally able to do so. Having a healthy body and mind is like tying up my laces before a marathon. It’s the first and most important step to ensuring I can run the race (without falling on my face). My health ensures I can live this rad life and I will always be grateful for that.

In 2008, I had the pleasure of helping and watching Steph Tait and Matt Hill launch Run for One Planet and run around North America (for a year) to promote the simple steps of a sustainable life. Being at the finish line to welcome them home was simply amazing. Last month we saw the success of 1 School 1 Day in Vancouver (and Copenhagen!) when the fitness community came together to support education in Ethiopia. These folks truly achieved something remarkable in their athletic pursuits.

Now, my friend’s brother, Riley, has completed his cross-Canada run to raise awareness and research funds for prostate cancer. Vancouver welcomed him home on Oct 6th with the Olympic cauldron aflame and tons of friends and family eagerly waiting.

It takes courage to be a distance runner – both physical and mental. It also takes a huge heart to do it for a cause that will make a difference in people’s lives. I am so proud of everything Riley and his team (shout out to Lauren and Derek) have accomplished and learned over the past few months. Anything is possible and, by stepping into action, we can make it all happen.

If you’re like me, and couldn’t physically be there to see the journey unfold, check out the video below and the Step Into Action website. It’s all kinds of inspiring. It also doesn’t hurt to see that so much of his run was completed in lululemon run gear. High five to no chaffing!

Pick of the Post: K-OS – Holy Cow

5 Random Lessons From Copenhagen: Round 2 – Carlson Edition

Matt Corker — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:00:12 +0000

Continuing the trend of sharing the profound and the random…

My friend Carlson came to visit (!!!) and so this list of lessons were learned during our time together. (Huge hat tip goes to Carlson for being so friggin rad. I miss ya already good sir.)

1. Audible breathe is powerful.

Whether it be pranayama breathing heard in a yoga class or snoring heard from across the room, there is something comforting about hearing another person’s breath. It’s like a nice little reminder that someone is there with you – doing what you’re doing. Except in the snoring example … the other person is clearly sleeping when you’re not.

2. Smørrebrød is for lunch.

After searching around for a place to eat smørrebrød on multiple nights, we came to the (possibily inaccurate) conclusion that this great Danish dish is mainly eaten for lunch – not dinner. Next time, more effective planning will take place to ensure we get our fill of these delicious open-faced sandwiches.

3. Sharing a yoga practice with someone awesome is … awesome!

Carlson’s yoga practice is aspirational. Being able to jump on a mat beside him and have a good breathe together was a total highlight of the week. Sweating with great people has got to be one of the best ways to turn any day into a great day.

4. The war of gratitude has no losers.

I’d sneakily pay for Carlson’s train ticket. Then he would push me out of the way to pay for groceries. I’d hand him a freshly washed towel for his shower. He’d leave me hidden treats in my backpack I’d discover en route to school. All week it was a “battle” of sorts. Who can show their gratitude and appreciation for the other fully? No score was kept, and no lives were lost. Only constant surprises of kindness speckled throughout the week. I can deal with these kinds of fights.

5. Christiania has their own beer

Who knew? And it’s cheaper than the other local drafts!

Pick of the Post: Lady Gaga – You and I (Mark Taylor Remix)