There's a tremendous sense of empowerment in knowing you can handle physical adversity. Plus, being physically capable is a great way help others and put them at ease. Ultimately, when you're fit, incidences like ones I experienced in the subway, the airport, and the high-rise hotel, become opportunities to shine.
This weekend, while watching college basketball with my sports-obsessed family, I spied a horrendous slogan, written front and center in bold, on an entire team’s sweatshirt, that read NOTHING EASY. Of course, I was like, “How did that get approved?” If I was the coach, I would never allow my players to wear such a low vibe, buzzkill statement across their heart centers. Talk about misdirecting focus and setting an entire team up for a major slog! (And they lost BTW.) Easy or...
The British government, during World War II, created a poster that read KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. It was intended to boost the morale of the British citizens and was widely distributed via newspapers back in the day. We still come across this saying today on throw pillows and memes, and often times, the traditional saying is altered a tad to things like, “Keep Calm and Buy the Bag” or “Keep Calm and Call Your Mother.” It’s fun...
Some days are harder than others to get moving in the morning as there are a myriad of variables when it comes to the state of our bodies. Amount of sleep, state of hydration, levels of stress, what we did yesterday, what we didn’t do yesterday…they all factor in. I find the seasons, the weather, even my location on the planet affects how my body feels and functions. Here’s my three-part protocol for when I’m feeling...
You may or may not recall a movie, from the nineties, called The Fifth Element. It starred Milla Jovovich, and it held the premise that there are the usual four elements – fire, water, earth, and air – along with an additional element, the ultimate one. The four elements are the “brick and mortar” of life, but the fifth element powers it. So what actually is the fifth element? Well, in the futuristic movie, it was “Aether, a pure substance that permeated...
“Where the eyes go, the body follows” is an old adage that was drilled into my psyche long ago. “Look up, go up” is another one. I heard them over and over again in yoga classes, and now I say them in my own classes because of their simplistic truth – where you are literally and figuratively placing your attention is the direction you’re heading in. A deeper thought still….have you noticed how, when...
In the US, Labor Day weekend is upon us. Monday (Labor Day) is commonly a day off, and it’s known as the summer’s send off, where people barbecue, lounge by the pool or kick back at the beach. Ironically, it’s about not laboring. It has occurred to me that I’ve never ever had an un-laborous Labor Day weekend. It has always felt unsettled as it is a major cusp, where some things are leaving and new things are coming. There’s a subtle panic of,...
I advise not labeling your fitness level, or anybody else’s for that matter. What’s “beginner” anyway? Someone could have been taking Pilates class for years and still call themselves a beginner. And what does “advanced” mean? I had a legit professional cyclist take my class last week. He raced in the Tour de France and had big sponsorship from a bike manufacturer, but he struggled to sit cross-legged at the starting line of yoga. Fitness...
When I was a kid, whenever I stayed over at my grandma’s house in Rockville Centre New York, she’s wake up and walk to her neighborhood church, every single morning without fail. I’d scratch my head about it, because six days out of the week, there was no mass or service. She’d go regardless, service or not, and simply sit in a pew all by herself, holding her rosary beads. Church was a non-negotiable for...
The only thing playing on the TV in my household is sports – basketball, football, tennis, golf, baseball….there is always a sporting event on the screen. I’ve learned to embrace it, and I’m actually very inspired by athletes. They are outstanding examples of self-mastery. One of the most universal things among the top athletes, no matter what the sport, is they are their own best cheerleader. They give themselves a fist pump, a subtle head nod and a “Let’s...
