Eighty degrees in March, and nothing is at rest. The flowers are up, stretching their arms after nary a winter’s nap. The magnolia has exploded into blossom way before its time, dropping its once-precious petals onto the ground where they turn slipper and slimy like a million mini banana peels. After she sat down on…
exercise
Where is the yogi?
It’s been only eight days since I completed my 10-Day Yoga Challenge, but I broke the daily yoga and writing habit in a big way. My last class was on Monday, and on Tuesday night I was up until nearly 1 a.m. preparing food for a surprise road trip to my sister’s on her 50th…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Ten: “Party in the pose”
It felt like a graduation. I completed my 10-Day Yoga Challenge Monday yesterday, taking my fourth class with the Anusara-inspired teacher who told me and the other students that we were all ready to kick it up a notch. We’d all gotten comfortable with her repeated calls to isometrically draw our legs together and to…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Seven: “Reveal”
Today, I am tired. I had trouble focusing in the Anusara class on this, my seventh day of my 10-Day Yoga Challenge. I did not feel strong and bright. I’d gone to bed too late, the baby had woken too often, and I hadn’t gotten up early enough to eat enough to sustain me through…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Six: “Brighten the belly”
I might have missed my exit if this were my first day driving into the District. The rising sun made it impossible to see the sign for Rosslyn/Key Bridge. But by now, this sixth day of my 10-Day Yoga Challenge, I feel like I know what I’m doing, and I know where to turn. And…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Five: “Root and reach”
I cannot wait for tomorrow’s 6:30 a.m. yoga class. Seriously. I’m tired and sweaty, and at 9:00 p.m., both my kids have just gotten to sleep. I have miles to go before I can. But, when I look ahead at tomorrow, I think about crossing the Potomac just after sunrise and about arriving home at…
10-day Yoga Challenge: Day Four: “Surrender”
“Rest your shoulder blades on the back of your heart,” the teacher said. But what if the heart is tender? “Surrender,” she said later, in what felt at once like a welcoming to take a breather and at the same time, almost a dare. Am I capable of surrendering? Can I ever not try so…
10-day Yoga Challenge: Day Three: “Shine!”
I made it to my third yoga class in a row today in my self-imposed challenge to go every day for 10 days on my $10 ten-day pass at Centered Yoga. This class — the 9:30 a.m. Anusara-inspired yoga — was what drew me to the studio. I like what I know about this style,…
10-day Yoga Challenge: Day Two: “Let your bottom blossom”
After my first of what I hope will be ten consecutive days of yoga class, I woke today feeling like my calf muscles had wrapped themselves around my legs. Same with the triceps. It was an enjoyable, tightened sore, like I’d had someone squeeze me into Saran Wrap. I was feeling so good yesterday after…
Gym childcare: mandatory TV?
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on November 6, 2009 Gym Childcare: Mandatory TV? When a huge new gym with a low monthly fee opened a mile from my house, I was excited to try it out. During the tour, I asked about the TV in the childcare room. In my previous gym,…
Fighting the flu naturally
I haven’t been pro-vaccine for a long time, since I got the flu vaccine in my 20s and felt terrible. Now that we’re facing a potentially bad flu year, there is a lot of talk about vaccines for flu and specifically for H1N1/Swine Flu. I’m hoping that the alternative folks are right that the best…
Mama Wants to Run
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on January 7, 2009 Mama Wants to Run It was going to be a glorious new beginning: turning a corner in parenting, relationships, and commitment to health. I’d registered with a friend to run the Labor Day Virginia Beach Rock & Roll Half-Marathon. Our husbands would watch…
When needs diverge
I am being pulled in opposing directions. Now, my wanting to do several things at once is not a new thing, I freely admit. However, I was starting to feel good about the idea of going to bed early in order to get up early and do yoga or work out and write before my…
The belly is back
“Sugar is a bigger deal for you than gluten,” concluded my doctor as she perfomed muscle-testing on me. A chiropractic neurologist, she was very happy with my progress since my first visit back in October, 10 months ago. At that appointment, I was weepy and not very hopeful. Plus my son was clingy and grabby,…