Do you ever really pay attention to how you move? Do you notice how you shift your body weight into each step? How your body expands on an inhalation? How it settles down on an exhalation? We sure do glorify busy-ness in our type-A world, but that busy-ness sometimes needs to be left at the door, especially when it comes to movement. Our latest video workout, Moving Meditation, intentionally focuses the mind and slows down the breath, so we can move...
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,...
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...
In the darkness of last night’s new moon, my family and I experienced a powerful storm. We heard the rain beating hard against our windows and felt the wind shake our house. It was exactly 5:55am when I stepped outside, the dawn light just barely peaking through the trees, and surveyed the scene. Grateful to report, nothing was damaged, things were just moved around. (I had to go looking for our patio furniture, and found...
Are you someone who wakes up behind the eight ball, rushing around in the morning? Do you take your coffee or breakfast on the go and speed off to work feeling frazzled from the get-go? Even though I am an early bird, I used to be this “rushing around” person. But I’ve changed. A few years ago, I had a realization that rushing is rarely circumstance, it’s a mindset. It’s feeling like you are in a race against time. It’s...
All of a sudden, the term lifestyle medicine is everywhere. I even heard it on the radio this morning while taking my son to school. I like the term – it’s a hipper way of saying healthy living, and it’s so true – the ways in which you live your life are ultimately good for you or bad for you. Lifestyle medicine is about choosing the good for you variation more often than not! Now, there’s big lifestyle medicine and then...
Many of us feel a bit stuck at the moment, waiting for things to turn around. I’m sensing a great big collective “in limbo” status, which to be honest, I find agonizing. Feeling powerless is no fun, and the first reaction to this sensation is to do nothing, and wait. But your time is now. Go. Go drink a big glass of water. Go breathe with awareness. Go workout. Or go cook a great meal or organize your closet or...
There’s a new video fit tip today on Ellen Barrett Mindful Movement called Breathing Your Shoulders Down. It’s short and sweet, and I think we all could benefit by watching it right now, because it’s about releasing neck tension. I’m seeing lots of neck tension in people (myself included) across the board – kids and adults, men and women, on TV and in real life. Ugh… let’s loosen up people! As a fit pro, I am particularly clued in to neck tension because it’s dangerous. It...
The last big video shoot we had for Ellen Barrett Mindful Movement was February 24, 2020. Who knew that craziness would ensue so soon after that day? By Mid-March 2020, life as we knew it was turned upside down. All summer long, I plotted my next video shoot and prayed everyone involved stayed healthy and prayed our government wouldn’t close down production. I prayed the weather (and the power!) would cooperate too. Well, my prayers...
