This is Number Sixteen Bazillion and One

There are approximately sixteen bazillion articles out there on stress and how to reduce it.  What this means is that no one has actually found the One True Way.  (Personally, every time I find a list compiled by experts to address any problem and it includes “Drink plenty of water,” I conclude that no one really knows what to do; drinking water isn’t going to hurt, but if that’s the best advice available, we’re all screwed.)  (That said, dehydration is bad for stressed people, so we all probably should be drinking more water.)  (I like parentheses.)

Here is the thing:  a great many of those articles list techniques for dealing with symptoms.  Let me suggest:  deal with the real problems.

Yes, this is the Hard Way.  It might mean figuring out how to leave that abusive job/partner/habit.  It might mean a temporary increase in stress as we figure out how to fit taking care of our health or finances or aging parent or obstreperous child in with all the other stuff we already have to do.  But finding the good and healthy solutions, in the long term, is the best way to deal with the stress for good.

If one of those stressors is health-based, it really is worth it to get sweaty and eat the vegetables and heft the weights.  I’m here to help.

Monday Workout: Fun with Medicine Ball!

This week, we are using the medicine ball.  The first three exercises all use it and it returns toward the end as an enhancement to the high knees.  Three rounds.

woodchoppers	30
ball slams	20
rescues	10
(lunge) punches	30
flies	20
curls	10
overhead high knees	30
good mornings	20
pretty princesses	10

Friday Report Report (And a Chance to Tell Me Things!)

“How We Gather” is a paper by Angie Thurston and Casper ter Kuile.  I read it because something else I read referred to it, although I don’t remember what now.  The writers explore ten organizations where millennials gather to find meaning in our somewhat post-organized-religion culture, where they found six broad themes:  community, personal transformation, social transformation, purpose finding, creativity, and accountability.  While the focus was on millennials, I think what they found speaks to other generations as well.

One thing I found striking was that two of the ten organizations chosen as exemplars of this new way of building community were explicitly exercise-based.  It’s nice to know that I am not alone in thinking that changing bodies can change the world.

Here’s the thing:  I want to do it better.  Give me feedback!  How can I do more to foster community, personal and social transformation, purpose, creativity, and accountability with my work?  What do you wish I offered (besides weekend hours—a person needs a little balance!)?  Would you enjoy reading groups?  Community meals?  Service projects?  Meditation?  Classes?  What needs can I meet?