word wrecker

Side post #1 Earlier I've discussed my attempts to start practicing meditation and how taking even five minutes can help when you're stressed. What I haven't talked about yet is how meditating, even sporadically 5-15 mins at a time, influenced my workout habits. Starting out with exercise almost two years ago, I needed lots of distraction during walks, yoga, and on bike rides. Music and audiobooks provided this in spades. Music especially helped during planks and burpees. With planks, the time goes faster and a good quick tempo helps set a pace for burpees. Late last summer I realized that not only had it become easier to walk, practice yoga, and bike ride in silence, there were times it was preferable. This ties into meditation because becoming comfortable with silence is a big part of finding stillness and peace of mind. No space is ever completely silent, but turning down my own noise lets us hear all the smaller sounds that surround us. Right now, I just comple...

Goal Post #15 follow up This month has been instructive and humbling. After a bumbled start, I managed to complete every-other practice the rest of the first week. This wasn't bad- more yoga than in the entire month of December and I felt the difference right away. It still wasn't great. My attitude toward yoga was surprisingly hostile considering exercise outside wasn't an option and how much I miss it when I fall out of practice. I caught myself thinking "I don't wanna" on the regular that first week. How much can I miss yoga? Starting in grad school I've had entire dreams about just doing yoga if it's been awhile. My mind will literally try to make up for something my body isn't doing often enough. This also happens with bike rides - I'll have intricate dreams about riding sections of the  monon  and wake up wishing for spring. The second week was much better. I completed almost every practice on time and Nic even joined us one day. M...

Goal Post #8 Dancing is my favorite way to move. I love to dance. I love dancing. With zero training and minor skill, I’m certain it isn’t interesting to watch; but turn on some music, give me some space, and I can dance for half an hour without stopping. Very few indoor activities make me happier. When alone while putting tables and chairs away at work , I sneak in some dancing . There’s more and more space to move, to fill that space with movement, my movements, to fill that space with me. If someone walked in, of course I'd be startled and a bit uncomfortable but not really that embarrassed. How do I know this? Once I was alone in the kitchen at a party, presumably to get wine, but in reality dancing my heart out to Ophelia by the Lumineers. By the way, could someone please choreograph and produce a ballet based on this album? It is beyond my skill set annd I desperately want to see that! Back to the party. The stairs were open and very close so I knew I’d hear i...

Goal Post #7 Last January I stopped drinking alcohol on work-nights and cut out both coffee and milk completely.  By the end of the month I’d lost five more pounds. Primarily this is because I'd finally started meeting my calorie goal - but that was much easier to do because even one glass of wine a night adds up. Those extra calories vanished from my day with almost zero effort. Before that, between heartburn and stomach upset, my digestive system was a wreck. Stomach issues had become so frequent both of my sisters (who are nurses) asked if I had some kind of disorder. Before going to the doctor and possibly being misdiagnosed, I tried looking for the culprit in my diet. Having no idea what food product was keeping my body in a daily state of gastrointestinal stress, I started with two primary suspects, coffee and milk. Things got better immediately. If cutting these items out hadn't helped, other foods, one at a time, would have been cut to try and determine what w...