Learning Flexibility

I was so excited about my plans for this weekend. Several months ago, I booked a weekend at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, a retreat center in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. The weekend program was to be taught by David Swenson, a renowned expert on Ashtanga yoga. I have read David's books and use his primary series DVD to practice at home, and was really looking forward to meeting him and exploring my Ashtanga practice through the workshop.

Unfortunately, when I flew into Washington, DC to connect through to Albany, NY, I found out that my flight was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions in the northeast. Furthermore, when I discussed my flight situation with Kripalu, I discovered that David Swenson's travel plans were also hampered by the weather and he would not be able to make it to the center either.

Wow. What a bummer. My trip, which was to be my one "me" weekend away this year, was completely turned upside down. Not to mention that I was now hundreds of miles from home in Washington, DC.

Usually in these kinds of stressful circumstances, I would get anxious and depressed. However, after discussing my options with my husband, I decided to stay in Washington, DC for the weekend and visit with my sister-in-law, who lives in the District. She was so gracious to ask for a half-day off of work in order to spend time with me.

I ended up having a great weekend with my sister-in-law, eating at wonderful restaurants, shopping in fun little boutiques, exploring the landmarks, and of course, painting the town red at night.

To top it all off, I even found a small yoga studio near my sister-in-law's house, Boundless Yoga, where I was able to practice both Saturday and Sunday mornings. While the classes that I took were not the typical Ashtanga or vinyasa flow classes that I normally take, it was good to take time to slow down and on focus on alignment and form in Iyengar-style hatha yoga classes.

Even though I wasn't able to focus on the flexibility of my body the way that I expected to this weekend, I was able to practice flexibility in my attitude and heart by "going with the flow" and choosing spontaneity over disappointment. The weekend was fun and exciting - not at all what I had planned, but a terrific vacation nonetheless!

Today's workout:

90 min. hatha yoga practice

60 min. walk around DC

Self-Confidence and Body Image

With the recent Oscar nominations for the movie Precious, the breakout actress Gabourey Sidibe has been getting a lot of attention. I watched that movie in the theaters and it was a devastating portrait of a suffering, abused teenager. Gabourey's (Gabby) performance was incredible, especially since this was her first movie role. In real life, Gabby's personality is bubbly and her demeanor poised and confident.

In an interview for New York Magazine, Gabby has stated,“They try to paint the picture that I was this downtrodden, ugly girl who was unpopular in school and in life, and then I got this role and now I’m awesome, but the truth is that I’ve been awesome, and then I got this role.”

In another interview, when asked what she sees in the mirror, Gabby responded:

"Ooh! I see myself! Usually, I'm really happy with what I see when I look at myself. I look into the mirror and I give myself pep talks, and coach myself to make it through the day, which isn't hard to do. I congratulate myself for making it this far in life and for being the person I want to be."

That kind of self-confidence is amazing, and is hopefully the way that all young girls should view themselves. Gabby is a talented actress and has accomplished a lot with this first movie of hers.

While most interviewers completely ignore Gabby's size or tiptoe around the issue, there is no escaping the fact that she is obese. In the movie, the implied message was that her character's obesity was a symptom of the oppressive situation. Several scenes depict Precious frying up unhealthy foods, and the abusive mother uses food as a way of controlling and punishing Precious.

While Gabby's family and personal situation seems to be healthy and normal and completely unlike her character's, her morbid obesity is evidence in itself that she has an unhealthy relationship with food. Her reasons for overeating are unknown. However, while it is wonderful that Gabby loves herself and expresses well-deserved confidence, it does not change the fact that being obese is not healthy. In fact obesity is a risk factor for many diseases and illnesses, including:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Breathing problems
• Arthritis
• Gallbladder disease
• Some kinds of cancer

So, while I wish Gabby the best of luck in her career and life, I also hope that she is able to find the inner strength to address her weight issues and able to make her body as healthy as her attitude.

Today's workout:
90 min. run (10 mi)
50 min yoga

Working out with Jillian

With all the snow storms in this part of the country, I have had to get creative with working out. Several of the past few days, it has been treacherous to get to the gym, especially with three kids in tow. The other day, I resorted to using the OnDemand feature on my TV, and chose a Jillian Michaels workout from the free selection on Exercise TV.

Jillian Michaels is famous from the TV show Biggest Loser, where she uses her tough approach to help contestants lose weight. I admit that I don't watch that show, but I have seen Michaels on the talk shows. Even though the workout was short (40 minutes), I noticed that Michaels has a similar philosophy to resistance training that I do - at least based on this brief glimpse.

Here are a few of the principles that she emphasized that I have been using to shape my workouts for the past few years:

• Low weights, high reps. I am not trying to bulk up; I want to be lean and mean. Toned and taut.
• Supersets. Rather than resting in between exercises, make the most of your workout by alternating exercises one after the other.
• Multiple muscle groups. Combine upper and lower body moves in each exercise to maximize benefit of your workout.
• Muscle confusion. Mix it up - always use different types of exercises for each body part on different days so that your body doesn't become accustomed to the same workout day in and day out.

Today's workout:
50 min. run (6.8 mi)
30 min. resistance training
45 min. yoga

Sledding

Columbus, OH is in the midst of a gigantic snowstorm right now. We had about seven inches of snow today, on top of another eight or so that fell last week, and we're expecting more tomorrow.

Although school was not cancelled today (but probably will be tomorrow), the kids (and me) have a big case of cabin fever from not being able to run around outdoors.

I never take the kids' sledding - daddy's job! - but since my husband was gone today and this evening for work, I decided to bite the bullet and take the kids out for my very first sledding experience.

Luckily, the temperature was not terribly frigid (24 degrees, how sad that I don't consider that too cold). We got all bundled up and went out to the nice little hill behind our house. The kids were great troopers. They trudged through snow up to their knees and scrambled up the hill to the top. We spent about a half hour sliding down and climbing up. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it! The kids were squealy and giggly and adorable and we had a great time.

Sledding burns approximately 315 calories an hour, so it was also a nice little workout too.

Today's workout:

48 min. run w/ intervals (5.75 mi)

30 min. resistance training

30 min. sledding

60 min. yoga

No Excuses!

Sometimes, I feel cranky that I didn't start running until I was 33 years old. I think, "imagine what I could have done if I had run in high school or college, or even in my 20s!". In a race, I feel a little jealous of the speedy younguns next to me in a race, or the runners my own age who have the advantage of years of training and experience.

This month's Running Times is devoted in large part to older ("masters") runners and their achievements in various age brackets. I am always inspired of stories of other runners who didn't start running until later in life. Pictured left is Ginette Bedard, who started running at age 68 and now routinely sets records in her age group.

In his Editor's Note, Jonathan Beverly writes about age grading, which adjusts results based on age (kind of like handicapping, I think). It basically sounds like a way to make yourself feel better about being older and slower. Beverly struck a chord with me with this comment:

"The only measure that really matters is what you can and cannot do today. Every race has an asterisk listing all of the reasons it should have been faster - even those fondly remembered PRs [personal record]."

He goes on to say, "we are not who we were at 30 either, and celebrate what we can do today." I really appreciate this notion, and will try to take it to heart.

I am so pleased with my improvement and performance so far, and thankful for the body that I have and for what it can do. There is no reason for wishing to change the past or making excuses for what I am.

Today's workout:
60 min. elliptical (7.50 mi)
15 min. sun salutations

28-in-28 yoga challenge

I just finished reading Living Oprah by Robyn Okrant, in which she takes on all manner of challenges introduced by Oprah Winfrey over the course of a year (more on that later).

Instead of tackling someone else's goals, I am working toward my own of establishing a daily practice. I already have an almost-daily yoga habit (about 5-6 days a week). However, I usually practice in the evenings after I put my kids to bed, and if my husband and I have other plans, then my yoga time may go by the wayside. This 28-in-28 challenge, originated by blogger Sarahsana and brought to my attention by blogger YogaDork, suggests that we spend some time - whatever time we can - each day in the 28 days of the short month of February on our yoga mat. Hopefully, having this challenge will give me the extra impetus I need to carve out some yoga time even if it isn't my "usual" practice time.

Today's workout:
53 min. hill interval run (6.51 mi)
30 min. resistance training/plyometrics
75 min. primary series yoga

Zipping into the Second Series (or not)

Sunday I had the pleasure to take Cathy Yoshimura's three hour workshop on the Ashtanga Second Series at Yoga on High in Columbus, OH. Although I practice the Primary Series several times a week, and have occasionally practiced certain asanas from the second series in various vinyasa classes, this was my first formal approach to the second series as a whole.

For those unfamiliar with Ashtanga, it is a form of yoga that "is based on a specialized sequencing of postures and focused breathing techniques." (David Swenson's Ashtanga Practice Manual, p. 6) The primary series is most commonly practiced as it is the most approachable. The poses are challenging, but not impossible (for the most part!). The second series, however, is a different story for mere mortals like myself. The second series builds on the foundation created by the primary series.

According to Swenson (pictured left), the Second Series is a nerve-cleansing practice due to the number of backbending postures. He writes in his Practice Manual,

"Our spine is the housing for our nerve center. By bending and twisting the spinal column, we are encouraging and maintaining suppleness on a physical level as well as opening energy channels to allow prana to flow freely on the subtle plane. This cleansing and toning occurs in each of the four series of Ashtanga Yoga. The Intermediate Series is particularly focused in the energetic regions of the spine, pelvis and hips."

While many of the traditional Ashtangis are fairly dogmatic in their approach to learning and mastering these asanas, Cathy's outlook was slightly more unconventional. She encouraged us to work incrementally, using blocks, straps and the wall when necessary, and listen to our own bodies as we worked our way into the poses. She did not push or crank us into any posture for which we were not ready.

It was a great introduction for me to the Second Series and made these postures a little less daunting. I am not sure that I ready to practice the series as a whole on a regular basis, but I will definitely start practicing some of the methods that Cathy suggested for individual asanas.

Today's workout:
30 min. hill interval run (3.0 mi)
60 min. ballet body class
50 min. heart-opening yoga