If you come to my NTC classes, you already know this amazing lady really well - I use her mixes in pretty well every one of my classes...and almost every time, a participant asks me where they can get her music! She is unbelievably friendly, talented, and inspiring. She has defined a new niche for Djs in Toronto, mixing for Nike Running and NTC events on the regular! Check out her amazing story below... If she can do it, so can you! #noexcuses #betterforit

My name is FeelGoodSmalls and I am a DJ currently based out of Toronto, Ontario.

"Fitness and I have a funny relationship... "

we have our ups and down — You could call it a love hate relationship.

Some days I love it and other days it doesn't even exist.

Don’t get me wrong, growing up I was very active, but I didn’t realize being active was fitness. I was a competitive gymnast, snowboarded every winter and ended up on a Varsity Cheerleading team throughout University. I was always training, but in a way that was fun and a normal part of my life.

Normal, until I was in a nearly fatal car accident when vacationing in Costa Rica (I went down to learn how surf). I was flown home with a broken hip, pelvis and a shattered elbow which required emergency surgery. I was hospitalized for over two weeks before I could head home and recover with 12 weeks of bed rest.

It was like I was starting all over again, literally, I could not walk let alone run, cheer, snowboard or even dance. This was a very difficult thing for me to grasp, the things that shaped my life I would no longer be able to do - maybe for the rest of my life.

I knew I couldn’t lay around for the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself, so I started with the basics — walking, I would throw on my iPod and walk as far as I could each day of my recovery. I would use music as my motivation and to clear my mind. Over time my walks turned into light jogging and eventually into running.

Running allowed me to feel motivated again especially as someone who used to be very active

I would put on my favourite mixes and run at my own pace and for myself. Now I run 2-3 times a week and it is a integral part of my life.

The motivation behind my recovery was music; it allowed me to focus on my health in a way that made me feel happy. As a Dj myself I realized that I could share this with others in hopes that it would get them more active.

It’s been three years since my accident, and I have had to adapt to my new life, fitness goals and regime. Now, my fitness is based around running and exercise classes that are total body, and recently yoga which is a game changer for my frail body. I try to incorporate one or all in my weekly schedule. Clearly with my crazy schedule as a DJ (late nights), I have to plan my exercise weekly with what works best for me that week. This is when running becomes so clutch, because it really can be done at any time and anywhere. Some weeks I am on the ball and other weeks I am just scrambling to catch up on sleep let alone exercise.

Music keeps me motivated and being a DJ I feel I have the opportunity to share this with everyone. I have started curating mixes for runners and people looking to stay motivated during their work outs. I am also a DJ with Nike and I make mixes for their NTC work outs and live classes. This has taught me hands on experience of the types of music people like to work out to and what keeps people moving. To download my mixes check outmy SoundCloud Page https://soundcloud.com/feelgoodsmalls

I never want to feel guilty for missing a work out or not doing one every day, I live a very crazy life and I have to understand that this is the path I chose. I try and use exercise as an outlet to my life or a break, and in doing so I am slowly changing my love hate relationship to a more loving one :)

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Running allowed me to feel motivated again especially as someone who used to be very active