Snow Day Survey: What's your favorite exercise (or not?)

Hi all,
Since many of us won't be getting out to our regular fitness activities today, it's time for a little Deep Contemplation! Please post your favorite (or least favorite) fitness activity, yoga position, or exercise. Let's find out what we find fun (or at least tolerable)--and what we can do without. Let the conversation begin!

True Flexibility

This past weekend, I took 12 intrepid belly dance fitness and Belly Dance 101 students on a "field trip" to a dance workshop in Cincinnati. For four hours, a master instructor had us spinning, plieing, shimmying and arabesquing. We were confused, exhausted, sore and exhilarated. Some of the other 80 dancers in the room picked up the choreography effortlessly, mimicking the instructor's style as if they were her own troupe. Most of OUR crowd had never even seen that much dancing at one time before--much less attempted it.

Are we all experts now? Heavens no. On Tuesday in class, I doubt we'll remember even half of what we practiced. But, on the other hand, we will remember 40%--which is infinitely more than we knew when we began the workshop.

As our energy flagged and my students got discouraged with the complexity, I reminded them that their job was to open themselves to the possibility of learning, rather than forcing themselves to try and be perfect. We stretch our bodies and our minds in the same way--gently moving forward in new directions without forcing ourselves.

Physically, when you stretch, you should let the muscle melt. If you bounce or overreach, you'll tear muscle and injure yourself--the excess effort backfires making you tighter than before. In learning and growing it is often the same way--if you grit your teeth and insist on perfection, you end up "locking up" mentally and emotionally. Or worse, you avoid trying new things entirely, deciding, "If I can't do it right, I won't do it at all!"

So be easy on yourself this week. Try something new with an open mind and heart. Pick up a tennis racket with a friend and see how many balls you can miss. Roll a bowling ball down a lane and see how few pins you can hit without guttering. Get out there with a sense of silliness and enjoy physical activity rather than working at it. It's called playing, and none of us do enough of that.

Keri

P.S. Belly Dance 101 is opening for registration! The new session will be 4/15-7/1. Visit the website for details and I hope to see you in class!

Heat It Up!

Bland foods encourage you to eat more--in order to get the pleasure of taste, we mistakenly feel that putting more food in our mouths will compensate.

Try eating warm foods (on a day like today, how could you not) whenever possible--warm oatmeal with nuts for breakfast. Put your lunch sandwich in the microwave a few minutes to melt the cheese and/or toast the bread. Heat releases more of the aroma and flavor oils in food and makes them more pleasurable, so you are less likely to gorge.

In addition, eating warm foods requires intention and attention. Mindless eating is the primary culprit in weight gain--I can't tell you the number of times I've heard, "I put on ten pounds last year and I don't know how! I didn't change anything!" Well, I know how we gain that weight--we eat without thinking. So take two minutes to nuke your food and become aware of what you choose to put in your mouth. If you're going to open that bag of Doritos, then put them on a plate with some cheese and eat them nacho-style. They will satisfy you more and you won'tfind yourself mainlining the whole bag.

Love the One You're With

Another chocolate-heavy holiday is staring us down. What are your expectations? Are they really high (your spouse will send roses to work, chocolates on your pillow and take you to Pigall's)? Are they really low (you'll watch FTD commercials on TV while eating Chunky Monkey)? How do you expect to experience LOVE on Thursday . . . and whose responsibility is it to love you?

I can answer that. It's YOUR responsibility. If anyone should be caring for you this week, it's you. If other people in the world get the privilege of loving you, well, good for them. But you are the one who knows what makes you happy, and you are the one in charge of getting it.

I know that isn't romantic. I know it would be perfectly lovely to sit back and let the rose-scented love wash over you. I also know it would be lovely if that Chunky Monkey were calorie-free. I'm a big fan of fantasy--I believe our dreams are the signposts towards true goals.

But if your reality doesn't meet your fantasy, then take a minute to mourn the gap between the two. Finished yet? Good. Now, figure out something concrete that you can do to boost your mood, make progress towards a goal, or make you feel satisfied with a job well-done. Eat an apple before you open that pint of ice cream. Take a walk at work and count all of the drive-thrus you pass on by. Close your eyes and breathe deeply in the brisk, cold air outside. Call your best friend.

These are real acts of love towards yourself--and that makes them better than daydreams.

Happy Valentine's Day,

Keri