I went for a winter walk with my lifelong pal yesterday and we had a deep discussion about our journeys. My friend, who was a volleyball star in high school and college, is a nurse now with her oldest child in college, is stumped as to why and how I still “move my body for a living.” She remembers taking my aerobics classes at “Gold’s Gym” in Dewitt, New York, in 1995! She is both...
You’ve probably seen those fitness fanatics at the gym. Self-proclaimed gym rats, they love working out. They smile as they sweat and are enthusiastic about all things fitness. While I’m no gym rat, I do love working out, and I know many of you do too. We enjoy movement. We don’t view it as a chore. In fact, we miss it when we are pulled away from our regular workout routine. When we travel or go on vacation,...
The opposite of love is contraction. I know this doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with fitness, but it has everything to do with fitness. I must preface this by saying contraction is great when it’s on our terms. When we intentionally contract like during a crunch or a biceps curl. Contraction is not-so-great when it happens without us wanting it – like when we experience stress, grief, fright, worry, or when we...
Kundalini yoga expert, Amy Allen, is back with an awesome outside-the-box video fit tip, called Yoga Technique For Clearing Negativity. (Now available online at Ellen Barrett Mindful Movement.) Just in the nick of time, right? Everyday, these days, I know I could use some clearing! The main thing I want to emphasize in regards to Amy’s 4minute video is the very obvious mind/body connection. It illustrates how movement effects everything…not just the body. My son’s school has...
For as long as I can remember, I’ve collected rocks. After time spent at the beach and elsewhere, I’d return home with my pockets filled with stones and pebbles. I was always very drawn to them. Then, my senior year in college, I took “Rocks For Jocks,” a geology class that focused on gemstones. We went out into the woods with little shovels as the professor pointed out the various rock formations and their mineral compositions. We found...
