Category: exercise

#13: Share the Love

An homage to V-Day

I just love the wisdom I glean from the people who attend my classes. Every class is good for at least one choice nugget. We talk about good (and bad) restaurants, books, activities around town…and very often about our kids, and what they are teaching us of late.

We learn so much from children, whether ours or someone else’s…they just ask such great questions that make us think in a profoundly new way. “Why are phones not allowed in the playground, Mommy?” Why indeed? Well, I suppose because if Mommy were talking on her phone, she might not notice you run out of the playground and into the parking lot. Huh. So that’s why that sign is there.

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#12: Clear Your Clutter

It’s time to face your internal clutter.

Maybe some of you are familiar with this New Year’s resolution: Clean out the house and keep it clutter-free. It is hard work to keep the house uncluttered when you’re busy, and even more so when you’re busy and have children. When you work, too, well, it’s almost easier to just give up.

But don’t. When you live in a cluttered home, you hold clutter on the inside, too. In fact, when you visit a person’s home and it’s just stuff everywhere, you can tell a lot about that person. Not that he or she is necessarily dirty or lazy, but that he or she likely has some unresolved issues. It’s true: Clutter is only a surface expression of a deeper issue. When you keep your home organized and clean, your heart and mind are more free and available to the people and things that are important to you.

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#10: Why We Do Things Even When We Know They’re Not Good For Us

So the kids and I are sitting in the car waiting for Mike to grab a smoothie for Bella, when a car pulls into the parking spot beside us, and Bella notices that the woman is doing something she hasn’t seen before. “Why is that lady doing that?” “What?” “She’s doing that with the fire.” I look, and I see. The woman is smoking. It’s now time to have thatconversation.

I tell Bella it’s something that some people do, not everyone, and that it’s stinky, dirty, gross, bad for you, makes you sick, makes your teeth yucky….to which she responds, staring blankly out the window, “Uh-huh.” It’s then that I realize what she must be thinking: “Then why would some people choose to do it?” That is much harder to explain.

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#9 Being Thankful

Let us give thanks, shall we?

Let us give thanks, shall we? For our childbearing hips, our matronly triceps, our formidable will to shrink our tummies. For the stamina to chase children, work hard, and play harder. For the mental clarity to know the difference between “needs work” and “fine the way it is.” For the mental agility to see what is possible and the lucidity to accept what is futile (and the ability to forgive ourselves for it).

Thank you for the tiny pockets of time that are truly little gifts, fifteen unexpected minutes when we can read or drink some tea out of a mug instead of a to-go cup. Thank you to our babies for the occasional really good naps.

Thank you to the ones who love us, for loving us.

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#8: The (Too) Skinny

How do we stay on the safe side of skinny?

I caught Portia De Rossi (now Degeneres) on Oprah the other day. She was discussing her new memoir, called Unbearable Lightness. Who knew she’d had such a desperate relationship with food not so long ago? Well, okay, we all did, if we watched Ally McBeal, but I didn’t understand that the actresses we rolled our eyes at, saying they were too skinny, actually had serious eating disorders. When Portia hit her lowest point, she was 82 pounds!

It struck me as I listened to her talk how very hard it is, for a lot of people, to watch what they eat and stay mentally healthy about it. Once you’re “watching what you eat,” maybe counting calories, it’s not terribly difficult to see how you might get a little too into it, and start flirting with bulimia, deprivation, or at least obsession. I realize I’m lucky because it isn’t hard for me to be moderate in most things I do. I have pretty fierce willpower, so I can say no to dessert if I want to. But what makes it so much easier is that I usually say yes. I just stop after one cookie instead of eating two or three or a whole box. It sounds so easy, I know.

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100 Things to Think About While Doing a Plank

Or: My relationship with my abs and beyond

It’s not easy to plank, but it’s one of the best exercises you can do without any props. Just you and the floor and your focus. That’s the hard part, the focus. I always say that exercising is not just physical, it’s also mental, and the plank is a fantastic example. When I plank with others, I often say “go to your happy place.” That’s my way of saying, take your mind off the exercise itself because your body can do it—it’s your brain that’s saying “I’m tired, I’m bored, I’ve done enough for today…” Transport yourself through conversation (as we do in class) or reading (as I sometimes do alone) or thinking about something other than holding yourself up in an admittedly uncomfortable position, and you CAN do a plank for a minute, or two, or even three.

Since I love to plank (or rather to have planked), and I certainly love to make others plank, I intend to share here 100 things to busy your mind so it won’t sabotage that wonderful plank.

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Pilates Shouldn’t Be a Pain in the Neck

Are you feeling neck strain during or after practicing Pilates? Then this is for you.

One of the hardest parts of starting out in Pilates is learning how to hold your head up without straining your neck. What’s frustrating is that until your abdominal muscles are strong enough to take the brunt of the work, your other muscles are going to try hard to help out—thus the strain in your neck. So my advice: don’t try to keep your head up just because others in the class are doing it. Listen to your body, and do what’s right for you. If you get enough of a strain, you’ll be unable to practice for a class or two, and that would be worse!

Try to lift your head each time you do Pilates, even just for a few exercises. Make sure to keep your focus on your thighs or abs—not the ceiling. That just adds to the strain. And when it’s too much, try these modifications:

  • Complete the exercises with your head down on the mat.
  • Put one or both hands behind your head for support, depending on the exercise and what your arms may need to be doing.
  • Bend your knees. This takes some pressure off your back, and may help alleviate some of the strain you are feeling.
  • A combination of any of the above, such as putting a hand behind your head and bending your knees.

With time and practice, it gets easier to hold your head up, I promise!

Farm to table to…your best shape ever

Dig deep–in the dirt, that is–and you might just find a way to get in shape.

Everything is cyclical—we hear that all the time, but I do believe I am now witnessing it. I live intown, and have neighbors who have chickens. Gardens are flourishing (or languishing, but at least they have been planted) in front yards, back yards and anywhere sun gets there right here in the city. One of my neighbors is making a good side job of building garden boxes for city dwellers. The people have spoken, and what we want is wholesome, organic, do-it-yourself foods.

The reason I love this growing trend is, well, take this direct quote from my 3-year-old daughter yesterday: “I wanted more arugula.” I think it’s easy to look past the grammar issues to the word “arugula.” When I told my husband about it, he said, “I don’t think I even said the word ‘arugula’ until recently.”

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Your Body Must Reside on This Planet…

so we must treat our planet as we treat our bodies

I am inspired by the two movies I’ve managed to see in full since the birth of my son several months ago: Food, Inc. and No Impact Man. I already live a pretty environmentally aware life–we take tupperware to restaurants instead of using to-go boxes, pick up recyclable litter on walks and always bring our own bags to stores. But seeing these movies made me want to be even more vegetarian! I want to do MORE.

On reflection, I think it makes sense that people who care about their bodies would care about their Earth. I go to great lengths to make time for exercise, cook healthy foods, nurture my mind… only to walk around breathing in pollutants and kicking trash out of my way? It doesn’t jive. Rather than pick up and move to the Pacific Northwest–and believe me, it’s been considered over and again–I know that I must make strides here in my own city toward creating a healthier place to live.

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A Nap? Or a Workout?

Sapped of energy and with only an hour to spare, which would you choose?

To nap or to work out? Both rejuvenate the body and mind, but only one burns calories. For me, it’s a no-brainer.

If you said “nap,” you’re not unhealthy for it–a nap is definitely worthwhile as long as you’re not one of those who wakes up in the middle of the day grouchy and wishing they hadn’t napped–but I love the idea of inspiring you to choose “work out” over time.

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