Monday Workout: Vacation!

I am on vacation this week.  When I travel, most of my workouts are cardio because I try to walk everywhere.  Also, it is often hard to tell whether hotel gyms are going to be well-equipped or not.  However, it can be useful to have a body weight workout handy just in case.  Here is one.  Three or four rounds should do it, depending on time and energy available.

squats	20
1 leg squats	10
lunges	20
pushups	10
punches	20
pretty princesses	10
brains	10

Friday Book Report: The Spirited Walker

After so much sitting while studying, I hardly needed any inspiration to get walking.  Also, I have a dog, who is not shy about insisting that I get up and go.  I drank the Kool-Aid long ago about the benefits of walking for mind and body.  That said, The Spirited Walker by Carolyn Scott Kortge has a lot to offer for those of us who would like to walk more or better.  It also has a lot to bring to the mindbody conversation.

Kortge brings her journalist’s training to mindful walking.  She certainly has plenty of faith in the process, but she also has research to ground her assertions.  She suggests that we all walk for our own reasons, but that all of us are seeking both bodily and spiritual fitness, whatever spiritual means to us.

There are practical exercises, inspiring stories (and not the kind that make me want to vomit in that women’s-magazine kind of way), references, and a good list of further reading. 

It’s on my studio shelf if anyone wants to borrow it!

Go play outside.

The sun has come out!  Here are some good things about that:

• Trees.  Going outside shifts our perspective, especially if we can spend some time in nature.  Forest bathing is a thing for a reason.

• Vitamin D.  Many of us don’t get enough of it during the winter months.  As we age, our ability to synthesize it from sunlight also decreases.  A little sun time can do wonders for our well-being (and then put on the sunscreen so we don’t die of skin cancer).

• Changing up the routine.  The view from the elliptical trainer rarely changes.  When we can pick a different bike ride or hike or walk or run, we wake up our bodies and our minds.  We have to adapt to new routes and changing terrain.

Go play!