One & Done! is here and it’s a unique take on fusion sculpt as this 30minute workout uses only one handheld weight. The video is now streaming on “Let’s Move! and I sure do hope you check it out. Having only one weight throughout the workout puts the body, intentionally, off-balance. That 3 or 5lb asymmetry “tips the scales” so to speak, forcing the midline (the core) to engage differently in order to stay aligned. If you are someone who sits in a car or at...
When you log in to your Let’s Move! membership, the first page that pops up is our Inspiration Board. Our Inspiration Board gets updated every Sunday morning and includes 1. an affirmation of the week, 2. a suggested weekly workout rotation, 3. a quote of the week, 4. a link to our latest newsletter, and 5. a mini pep talk. Here are a few things to know about the Inspiration Board: First, I personally create it, always, and all week long I...
Thanks to my sports-loving family, I find myself watching sports in person and on TV a lot. (It seems like every day…) Many of these games have cheerleaders smiling courtside, spewing encouraging words with energy and happiness. It dawned on me, wow, what a luxury it is to have real people cheering you on for all the world to see. If I had an actual person shouting, “You can do it, Ellen” or “Hip Hip...
For my entire life – without realizing it until fairly recently – I have used “doses” of cardio as mood boosting medicine. When I was an 8 year old, I freakishly took my dog on walks into the woods when I could have stayed inside idly watching cartoons. (Where were the adults 😉?) In my early teens, I’d bike to my friends house even though I could have gotten a ride. In college, when feeling blue...
It’s easy to get down about aging, especially as a woman. There is so much negative messaging about getting older and many of the celebrities of the moment convey serious fear over it. If we follow their lead, I think we are doomed. Work on yourself. Be the best you can be, but accept yourself right here and now too. If you can do that, you win. I love being the age I am. I’ve come...
Symmetry is honest to God so important yet often ignored. Alignment gets more play, and while alignment is just as crucial, function and flow need both. When bodies are misaligned and asymmetrical, they feel strain and unease, like a sliding door with a wonky track. If you’d like to move like a well-oiled machine, here are five things to do that facilitate the one-two punch of symmetry and alignment: We all have some specific nuances within...
Make sure your heart is in front of the head. Try to lift the heart and drop the shoulders. Does your heart lead the way? It is rare for me to see an adult with their heart open and shining bright, outside of class. I’d say the #1 alignment issue is a closed off, tight, sunken heart. Thus, getting that heart of yours unsunk is a major and ongoing alignment goal. The physical act of aligning the heart center...
As a minimalist, I find a yoga mat to be the best fitness prop there is. I roll it out and a workout ensues. The exercise industry will always be reinventing and/or creating gizmos and do-dads, and it will always be evolving. I don’t go to trade shows or fitness conventions anymore, but I feel I stay “current’ as I visit other studios and gyms often, and I also regularly meet up with my fitness...
When I look at this action shot from Quick Core Fusion, my first reaction is, “No strain.” You can tell that Krystal, Amy and I are flowing. There’s a lot to be said about flow. Flow makes effort feel better. (Huh? How does effort feel better? And what exactly is flow?) Flow is a way of moving the body where there is ease and effort simultaneously. It’s not all yang, and it’s not all yin…it’s a bit of both. Flow has five...
Mudra is a Sanskrit word meaning “gesture.” The most common mudras arehand gestures. Doing the peace sign is a mudra. Waving the hang loose symbol is a mudra. Giving the middle finger is a mudra. You and I have been “mudra-ing” our whole lives without even realizing it. Our hands are extensions of our hearts and a reflection of our mental state, so by placing our hands in intentional ways, we potentially direct attentions and energies in...
