Wow. I have not
written in awhile. Apologies. Been a bit busy with summer research and
teaching work, not to mention the fact that my best friend is in town and she’s
been re-organizing my kitchen, making it easier for me to cook in and that has
been delightful.
Having a well-organized, clean kitchen where you have easy
access to all cooking utensils and foods is a must for a healthy
lifestyle. So, even with just a few
quick fixes, you can make your own better.
Now, how has my year of health been going? Pretty well, although I must admit that I’ve
had some serious exhaustion and inflammation that has kept me from feeling
totally healthy. I continue to exercise
every single day, both with yoga and with another form of exercise, usually
swimming or running. Now that it’s nice
outside, I tend to take at least one long walk a day too.
Just bought a FitBit.
Now, there are some funny anecdotes out there about these pesky little
devices that track your fitness in terms of steps, and can also track food and
such. If you take it seriously, it can
be a helpful device in knowing your overall level of health and challenging you
to fit in your step goal every day. This
David Sedaris article about the FitBit is hilarious. Read it if you haven’t already:
What I have learned the most from my own FitBit is that I am
not sleeping as well as I would like, sometimes experiencing as much as 15
periods of restlessness a night. So, now
I am thinking about strategies to work on this.
Tonight I am going to try my sleep mask and ear plugs to see if that
helps. One of my friends told me yesterday
that ear plugs work for her. I’ll give
it a try and keep you posted. I know I
have a lot of trouble with light, so darkening my room helps so much. Apparently not enough, so I shall keep
working on this.
Tomorrow I begin a 21 day challenge with my coach Mandi, who
will be helping me to improve my overall fitness. I promised myself to do a couple of such
challenges this year. I completed 30
days of yoga, and now I am up to over 60 straight days of yoga, headed toward
90 and onward. This 21 day challenge
should get me eating better and with better overall strength. Core strength is something I especially want
to continue building. In Yoga, I can
feel when core strength is lacking because it is the source of exhaustion in
the practice. When my core is engaged
and strong, and supporting my whole body, I feel plugged in and feel like I can
do it all. When my core is tired or
doesn’t have enough strength, I just feel like retreating into a face plant.
The core of the body is from the chest down to the
knees. In particular, it is the muscles
that are connected to and wrapped around the spine, extending out. If the core is strong, you can pretty much
accomplish anything because it kicks in first to support the body and REALLY
reduces injury. Yoga is perhaps one of
the best movement forms that improve core strength at an integrated level. Many weight lifting exercises can work the
core, but they do not integrate it completely in the way that a good yoga
instructor will teach you to do. Just
doing a daily series of sun salutations:
Just doing these on a daily basis will help you so
much. They can be done alone and there are
plenty of videos out there to help you.
Try it. See if you can do it…just
ten a day. You can and you will feel
better and better.
If you just cannot abide yoga, but still want to build core
strength, you can try pilates as well, but I would also recommend the P90X core
strength building video. It uses weights
and really kicks some butt in terms of a challenging workout.
Remember, the core is not just the abdominal muscles, but
all the muscles surrounded by and supporting the spine.
Just last week I was in yoga and I felt truly plugged in and
integrated for the first time in a long time…maybe even since I was a kid when
the body is more fully integrated because we have a higher level of
flexibility. What I mean by feeling
plugged in is that I was in a pose (high plank) and I was not tired at all and
just felt completely present and supported.
My spine was perfectly straight and I felt like I could’ve stayed there
for a good long time. It was
wonderful. And I could just breathe and
relax into the pose. Then, just a little
while later, I was out in the garage and a box fell from a big rack and I
caught it and it was heavy, but there was no problem because I actually felt my
core kick into gear. It was like a
little lightning bolt of energy across the core muscles of my body.
So, kick it into gear.
Core strength and the spinal stability it provides will keep your body
young.
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