I live in rural Connecticut these days and when I have to go into New York City, I drive in. I’ve gotten really good at driving into the hubbub of Manhattan, and I know all the ways in and out. I even know the best parking strategies. The repetition of going in and out of the city month after month, year after year, has given me a keen sense of awareness, and has strengthened my...
I really do pay attention to things and I am a bit worried about the state of health in the US. There is a lot of chronic conditions and chronic pain, and so many people, women especially, go from doctor to doctor seeking help to no avail. From what I’ve gathered, the ones that tend to break out of the never ending doctor visit-to-doctor visit cycle, go on the offensive by doing these three things: ...
I went on my usual sunrise dog walk this am and I slowed it down a bit and meandered, really taking in the energy of right now. The leaves have almost completely left the trees. The farmers have harvested their last crop of hay. I hear the geese on the move overhead. My favorite purple and yellow wildflowers are no longer sprinkled into the landscape. It smells like November. These observations don’t make me happy...
Many of the conveniences of modern life have made our range of motion smaller, our muscles weaker, and our cardiovascular capability reduced. We have garage door openers, drive-thru’s, and escalators. As the late great Anne Marie Benstrom said, “Do you know how much effort it takes to churn butter? No, you don’t!” It is no coincidence that the rise of the fitness industry coincides with the rise of modern conveniences. Society had to add intentional...
I believe in cardio. It’s been getting a bad rap as of late. Some fit pros say strength training reigns supreme. They poopoo cardio saying too much of it can atrophy our muscles. This logic rarely applies. Do you know what “too much cardio” is? It’s like running for over an hour, many days in a row. Most of us will never be tempted. Some fit pros say cardio makes us crave more sugar. This...
Seasons change. Right now, wherever you are on Earth, there is a shift. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re leaving summer and entering autumn. When we think season change, our minds go to weather change, wardrobe change, schedule change. Lots of change outside of us. There’s energetic change within us too. Personally, as I approach autumn in New England, USA, I feel a little more ambitious. Like the squirrels, I feel an urgency to get things...
Sometimes we lose track of the why. Why are we working out? Why are we spending time, money and energy on fitness? Why? There is no right or wrong why. Your why can be to manage weight or boost mood. It can be to be better at your job or safer at a sport. It can be to keep up with your kids or to look good. Many of us have multiple why’s, and for most of us the why keeps evolving. Perhaps, what...
I am a people watcher. Airports, at the beach, at coffee shops, on the NYC subway….I people watch, hard. Yesterday, I was sitting in my car, waiting for the red light to turn green, watching folks traverse a cross walk in Saint Augustine, Florida. It was a looonnnnng light. I noticed three things: 1. While being overweight is very different from being obese, both situations create labored movement. Joints are over burdened. Body temp elevates too fast. Breathing...
A new release called Standing Stretch on Let’s Move has arrived, and it’s short and sweet, ultra grounding, a bit flow-y, and subtly choreographed. By standing up, the act of stretching has an innate balance challenge, which enhances core engagement and muscular integration. What does this mean? It means the stretch will be less passive and more dynamic. The transformation happens with stretch. Cardio is crucial as is strength training, and everything needs everything else, but the stretch is when the energetics change for the...
Here in North America, it is spring and one of the biggest symbols of spring is the tulip. The tulip pushes through the soil and rises its vibrant green stem straight up towards the sun, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, these pastel petals confidently bloom. When I come across that first tulip emerging from the ground after a long cold winter, I am wow-ed. Something in me gets a charge. Energetically, I feel in sync with that tulip, and it reminds me – yup,...
