Dance Walking

I don't know about you, but now that the weather is getting a little warmer and I'm shedding my layers of winter, I'm feeling way out of shape.

Too much time spent sitting in front of the computer.  Too many afternoons noshing on comfort food.





A new season means moving is the name of the game for me and I think this You Tube video below showing how to Dance Walk is the perfect way to kickstart some outdoor motion and burning off those almighty calories!

Even if you don't need to tone up, check out this Dance Walk video because it's fun and we all need to find something that makes us feel fabulous by the end of the week, right?

Joy Of Motion

Blogging plus my full-time job equals too much time in front of the computer.

When I am involved in a deadline project and super concentrated on what I am doing, it is very easy for me to lose track of time and forget to move from my chair.  Sitting at my desk for hours on end may help me get my work done, but researchers also say it increases my chances of getting diabetes, heart disease and shortening my life.  So as comfy as it feels to sit or hang out on the couch, I've got to get moving.

 

Because when I don't move, I feel as if my body is literally turning to Jello. 

And that's when I make myself get up and stretch and walk and move around to get everything going again because our bodies are designed to move, groove and if we take care of them, they will work like efficient, healthy machines.

Desk Exercising

The father of one of the guys I work with in my office is a doctor and he told his son that every day you should do some kind of activity that makes your heart beat faster.  The activity has to be aerobic enough so you feel your heart accelerate in its beating but not to the point of being out of breath. 

This guy definitely follows his father's advice because sometimes he takes the stairs from the lobby all the way up to our office on the 10th floor.  I know this because I have seen him come through the door from the stairwell and he is usually holding his fingers to his neck taking his pulse.

Now I don't feel the need to go running 10 flights up the stairwell but I do make sure to leave my desk every day and go for a 10 to 15 minute walk around the block or to the park to get my heart and circulation going.  I also have been known to do jumping jacks in front of the copying machine when I don't think anyone is around.  There is joy in motion for it's great for your body and mind.  It cleans out the brain of those swirling thoughts that are stuck and gets you to free thinking.

 

Motion can also promote healing for those navigating the loss of a loved one or dealing with lots of stresses. 

 

This is a time of patience with yourself and others.  That may be difficult when you have little energy or patience to spare but think of exercise as a way to transition.  Being around a lot of people  and exercising are probably at the bottom of your list of things you want to do right now but start slowly.  Take baby steps, breath deeply and walk around your neighborhood.  If you continue this for at least a week or two, you will have strengthened your mind/body connection and will see a change in your mood.

 

We can do it together.  There's no better time to start than today!

 

For more ideas about fitting exercise into our busy schedules, here's the link to a great WebMD story that reinforces the philosophy that standing is always better than sitting and walking is better than standing:

 

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercise-at-your-desk

The Great Possession Debate

Sometimes you find help in the most unpredictable places.

Yesterday morning I was reading a column in The Washington Post called Home Front and came across a question from a reader that I thought was timely, on point and more importantly, one that we all probably will have to face at some point or another in our lives.

The questioner wanted to know what to do with the possessions that once belonged to a loved one.  Specifically, the things that belonged to her father, who had recently died.  Inheriting a lifetime of someone else's possessions can be overwhelming and increase the sadness and stress everyone is already feeling.

 

 

They may just be things, but they are also your loved one's things and since that person is no longer here, it feels as if the possessions will help maintain an emotional bond.  It feels wrong and disrespectful to toss it all away.

 

Do you have to keep everything?

It's up to you.  But keeping everything at some point can become an emotional burden so you might want to pick and choose the things that you do keep.  You can do it little by little when you feel ready.

While preparing yourself to make a decision about a loved one's possessions, here is a wise point of view from Sheila Bridges, an author and New York-based designer who was named "America's Best Interior Designer' by CNN and Time magazine.

Bridges has a common sense answer we all can easily follow.  Here is the unedited question from Home Front and Sheila Bridges' answer:

Q: My mom is coming to live with me in a 1,500-square-foot townhouse.  She has boxes of things she has collected over the years, many associated with my father, who passed away a year ago.  How do I incorporate some of these things in our soon-to-be-shared living spaces?  She collects Hummel figurines and things like that, and I also have one small case of cat-related items.  What is the best way to showcase items such as these without overwhelming the house and still making my mom feel welcome?

 

A: I understand, having just lost my own father nearly a year ago.  I think it is more about incorporating a few of the things that are really meaningful than a ton of items.  Maybe you could put a cabinet with open shelves on top and drawers below in your mom's bedroom and she could put some of the things on the shelves that remind her of your dad.  I incorporated a couple of my father's lamps and his favorite chair into my home, but that was it.  I think anything more than that would have been too much to live with.  They are reminders of him that I love living with, without going overboard and turning my own home into a shrine to him.

 

 

So You Know You Can Dance!

Everyone can dance.  And they should!

For dancing gets you moving and helps you get rid of the stress and tension you are storing all over your body.  Dancing also helps you heal your soul. 

 

While listening to music, my mind momentarily stops thinking about hurt and pain and frustration as I allow my body to take over and lose itself in the rhythms and sounds of whatever is playing.

 

Dancing is definitely therapeutic!!  And today, in Washington, DC, you can go to The Kennedy Center and dance pretty much all day to your heart's desires.  Or you can do what I intend to do which is dance wherever you are and go with it.

It's National Dance Day, an official and recognized event started in 2010 by Nigel Lythgoe, the co-creator and judge of the television show "So You Think You Can Dance."  His purpose in founding this day was simply to get people dancing and inspire others to get on their feet and move and discover the wonders of dancing as a healthy lifestyle.

 

Lythgoe will be in Los Angeles today for that city's celebration of dance.  Besides DC and LA, there will be performance, tutorials, and flash mobs in Austin, TX, Vail, CO, Montgomery, AL and Rockford, IL, among other locations.

 

The DC event at the Kennedy Center is free and today will feature hip-hop, salsa, modern, Bollywood, flamenco, African, tap and ballet from 1 pm to 11:30 pm.

 

"The whole concept is to have fun, to bring people to dance, to start knocking down the barriers we  build," Lythgoe said.  "You know, you put any piece of music on and a baby starts dancing, just quite naturally.  And somehow we lose that as we get older.  We start to feel embarrassed about ourselves and embarrassed about our bodies."

 

So get up and strut your stuff and boogie all the time for it's great for your body and your sweet, sweet soul!  Here's an oldie from one of my favorite groups, Earth Wind & Fire, singing a hot song, "Boogie Wonderland."  If this doesn't make you move, I don't know what will:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jLGa4X5H2c

 

 

 

Zumba Zumba

The guy who invented Zumba, Beto Perez, wears a black sleeveless T-shirt and says to me, "Feel the Music."

And I do!

I am watching Beto, along with 5 other Zumba dance instructors on a DVD and I am taking the 20 minute Zumba express lesson in my house.

What's so great about Zumba?

Well, for me Zumba feels more like fun rather than exercise and the workout burns mucho calories which I am always trying to do.  Having discovered Zumba this summer, I am finding it to be everything I heard.  First of all, the music is great!  It's not like an exercise class at all.  I am writing about Zumba because I genuinely like it, not because the company sent me materials and asked me to endorse anything.

Even though I am watching a DVD rather than being in a live class, it still feels similar to being in a party atmosphere.  I have watched a lot of exercise DVDs and enjoy all of them for different reasons but Zumba is different.  Don't get me wrong, you definitely do break a sweat will following the instructors! 

 

 

 

But the Zumba program, which involves dance and aerobic elements, doesn't feel robotic in terms of constantly counting where you are in the exercises and how many you have left to do to get to the end.  Also, if you fall out of step in one of the routines, it's more forgiving.  You can easily find your place again if you just keep moving.

 

We all need to move around a lot more than we do.  Our bodies were designed for movement.  We are built to be active. 

 

Over the winter I could tell that I was spending more time sitting and I knew this wasn't a good thing.  I could tell because I was started to gain a little weight and I felt sluggish.  Plus there are more and more studies coming out about how sitting all day may shorten your life.  As a person who works in an office and spends a good amount of the day in front of the computer, I find those studies to be scary.

 

So I was prepared to get off my butt but I needed to find something new to jumpstart me and keep me off my butt.  I had heard about Zumba for a while and had casually watched some infomercials and I thought it always looked more like dance than exercise.

 

Try it for yourself and see what you think.  Even if you don't follow the routines you can dance or move along with the music which is better than sitting in front of the television or the computer.  Any movement is better than no movement.

 

Here's a short introduction Zumba clip to watch so you can see what it's all about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG_YDGH7jhU

Moving Day

I received a couple of texts over the weekend from a friend who lives in another city about how he now lives in a new place.

 

I didn't know he had moved from his home of almost 20 years so I was surprised by his news but I also knew that there was more to the story than just a regular heave-ho move from one place to another.

 

 

My friend lost his wife to cancer a number of years ago and she was a wonderful and talented person, but she also was the kind of person who kept everything.  She was not a hoarder but instead was a person who wanted to keep things so that she could pass these things along to other people because she knew that they would be perfect for someone else.  She kept all these things until she saw the person she had in mind or until she eventually got around to sending the item to the person.

 

This is why I knew that when my friend said he had just moved to a new apartment that it must have meant that he had come face to face with the dreaded day he had tried to put off for so long:  what to do with her possessions.

 

There are times when we all need to try and work through stuff by ourselves and then after a while of giving it our best shot, there comes a time when we need to talk to friends about what is going on.

 

And when what is going on is bad, I think the best thing to do is shut up and listen to the person who is going through a painful time. And listen. And listen some more until the person says they can't talk anymore and they have to get off the phone.

 

Which is what I did.

 

And I was happy to listen to him talk about the all of the tons of stuff he found and what he did with it.  I would go into more detail but this part is not my story to tell.

 

My part of the story is about the idea that even though you may not be in a crisis mode, it is always nice to have someone to reach out to.

 

To connect with someone else on a human level.  To be able to say this is what is happening to me and it sucks, big time!

 

To feel that another human being understands you and gets what you are going through.

 

To know that you are not alone.

 

And you never are either, my friends!!! Ever!!!!!

 

iPods Forever

I am deleting all of the songs on my iPod and starting over.

Here is a blast of a song from the '80's that I will be adding to my new song list.

I don't know what happened to Lisa Stansfield but I always turn up the volume when I hear this song:

I hope you are having a great weekend!