mood magic

I keep thinking about a term I read long ago in a book called Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.
That term was "wrestling with the tofu" (or how about "wrestling with the futon"-ever tried to move one?)
It's the process that one's mind can go through when sitting down to meditate.
Or in my case, trying to overcome inertia or grumpiness.

Rather than wrestling with my own mind (sounds so complicated), I resort to linguistic tricks.
When I am sitting on the couch with my laptop and need to get up and get moving,
telling myself "You know you need to go EXERCISE" just makes me feel teenage rebellious.

So instead I use...it's time for a little Mood Magic!
Once my shoes are on and I'm out the door (with my trusty big brown dog), I feel instantly better.
And that elevation lasts for hours. Effects are doubled when the sun appears along the way.

Minou used to complain when I headed out the door to jog, leaving him alone with two tiny p'tit minous.
He learned over time to say "Good for you--it's good for your heart".
These days I bet he's pretty glad for the existence of Mood Magic.
I'm much nicer to live with because of it.

Some days he even says "Don't you want to start your day with a jog?"

How about you? What's your Mood Magic?

commute challenge update

Yahoo!

I filled in at a different (more centrally located) health center for a few hours this morning, where I was able to proselytize discuss the benefits of participating in the Business Commute Challenge and walking, biking, busing or carpooling to work with other coworkers (one Nurse Practitioner who lives in the country told me that her husband bikes two hours into town sometimes! Now that's dedication).

At this center, I was excited to hand out 8 free day transit passes for this week, and a bike flat tire fix coupon to a cyclist. And someone said "Wow--you mean I can win prizes and get coupons for something that I'm already doing anyway?"

Why, yes!
On another note, I have now cycled 20 miles instead of driving this week. I feel fitter already.

And on yet another note--I was inspired by the perseverance of a coworker who quit smoking two months ago and is feeling better, sounding less husky, and doing great. I am constantly amazed by our human capacity to change and adapt and overcome adversity.

Speaking of which, I have a large and looming project to work on for the rest of my day off.

Hope you have a lovely day--what are you up to? Do tell...

mitzvah monday

mitzvah (noun): a good deed, a charitable or meritorious act
I'm not sure that this week's act is really a mitzvah...
...but I want to think of it that way, rather than arm-twisting monday.

I'm going to loosely define the mitzvah monday concept as something that I did during the week meant to benefit someone or something else. Some contribution to the greater good.

Which then benefits me with warm fuzzy feelings as well.

Bringing me to the concern over this week.

I signed up to be team captain for a citywide commuter challenge at my worksite. The idea is to promote alternate transportation, anything other than solo driving, for civic and environmental reasons. Of course active transport has great health benefits too (plus it's fun).

I received a nifty blue t-shirt, some incentive coupons to give out for chocolate and bike flat fixes, free day passes to distribute to colleagues for the bus, a calender of special events for the week, a bus schedule, and a map of all the local bike trails and best streets for walker-bikers.

It turns out that most of my (wonderful!) coworkers have pretty complicated lives. Many of them juggle more than one job, or go to school, or have children who need to be dropped off various places. They are rushing all over town, and don't have a lot of extra time for this challenge--and it does take extra time to bike, bus, walk, or coordinate schedules with someone else.

They have all graciously listened to me, and entertained the notion of trying to get to work in a different manner if possible, and I helped one person figure out which buses she could take and another to brainstorm how to make the rapid transit work with her schedule.

 But I feel a bit like the zealous convert that everyone inwardly groans at (I saw the look in one coworker's eye that I know I get when someone asks me if I know Jesus).

Still, it is a mitzvah! Everyone needs to know...ahem...discover the joys of biking to work!

Right?

It's a continual process, this learning that we are all so different in values and beliefs. And daily lives!

frugal fitness saturday

Here's to the most frugal exercise equipment ever!

springing

It's the time of year that seems to inspire blogging creativity for me.

A brief disclaimer: for my sweet family members (you know who you are, and I'm glad you're here!), permission has been withdrawn by the teen/tween boys around here to share images or information. They are seeking online privacy in this forum (at the same time I have no doubts establishing their presence in other online ways, but of their own choosing), and I need to respect that. So if you are hoping to catch a glimpse of how much shorter Minou and I appear each day compared to our offspring...sorry!

Nevertheless, I am a Mama. It's not all of my identity by any means, but it is a deep and central and vital part. So Mama Minou I will remain here, and it will be hard to avoid sharing parts of my life that relate to mothering and parenting. It shifts as we head into these different years--stage by stage all along of course, but it is interesting to have these glimpses that their time at home is sadly not forever.

Minou and I have had moments lately of looking at each other and thinking "Only x more years...." and not sure how to understand all the many emotions that accompany that. For the majority of our (many) years together, we have been PaMa MaPa Minou. We will need something new to share. We have started to think about volunteering more in the future--we were both glad to help in a cold weather homeless shelter kitchen these last few years, but the evening and very early morning hours didn't feel right when leaving our own little (?) minous at home. Also, be still my heart--Minou said casually the other day, as he picked me up from work, "Maybe our trip (this upcoming summer) will be the start of many more travels together".

For the moment, we are sharing a new (renewed?) commitment to healthier eating and trying to reach some fitness goals. For tech-oriented Minou, the helpful tool has been a free online fitness tracker that lets you input food choices (even scanning bar codes) and exercise, and helps set calorie and weight goals. I say, whatever works! (it's called myfitnesspal, if anyone is curious).

Other goals--continue to learn and grow in my community health care position, try to get the garden cleared out from last fall (sigh) in time to plant for this spring and summer, prepare for a very, very exciting trip TOGETHER this year to visit our family in Lattes, and dear to my heart, create more space at home. More on all those later.

To be continued....

What are your goals, plans, and dreams today?