Life By Design: The Perfect Fitness Fit

I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking about physical fitness during this time of New Year resolutions. The trick, I’ve found, is to find a formula that’s a perfect fit for YOU in THIS chapter of your life – for your schedule, constraints, personality, fitness level, social needs, location, budget, etc.  The rewards of moving that uniquely beautiful body of yours are multiple: exercise enhances not only your physical, but also your mental, emotional and spiritual health.  In fact, it’s a great way to counter the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), common at this time of year.  Not everyone, however, is into team sports, outdoor adventures, group classes, gyms, or running clubs.  So what’s the right fit for you?  Here’s what I do to get my groove on.

Knowing Myself:

I’ll start off by saying that I am in no way an athletic person.  The only reason I passed high school gym was because of the theory and flexibility units, as well as a wicked volleyball serve.  I spent the rest of the time humiliated, panting with burning lungs far behind the rest of the class.

I did, however, love being in nature and taking long leisurely walks to fill my eyes with the wonders of the world.  So throughout my life, I arranged to live at least 30 minutes walk from where I worked, ensuring at least 1-3 hours of walking a day on workdays. I’ve also never owned a car – which helped.  Indeed, I’m a destination walker – I’ll gladly walk to where I need to go no matter the weather.  I’m discovering, however, that I’m not so motivated to simply “go for a walk”, especially on my own, unless special scenery is involved (like on all those hiking trails in Vienna or the East Coast Trail here in Newfoundland).

New Chapter, New Program:

When I moved back to Canada in July, I chose to live in a great environment far from university, which unfortunately meant taking the bus to campus when I was teaching.  I’m facing an even greater need now to expand my physical fitness program since I’m working entirely from home for the winter, mostly hunched over my computer or my paintings.

Knowing that my current hermit mode, early-riser schedule, financial priorities, and location aren’t conducive to yoga or dance classes that I may have enjoyed in the past, I’ve designed an at-home program that I just love.  It has made such a difference in my days and nights as I had been suffering from the ill-effects of sitting cross-legged on the floor painting for 12-16 hours on some days…

So here’s my program:

1. Morning Kriya Yoga Energization Exercises (20 minutes)

I learned this routine last May while at the Ananda Center in Italy, where I was artist-in-residence for 10 days.  It’s a series of 39 simple muscle tensing and relaxing exercises that help to consciously direct the life force to certain parts of the body, awakening the body, mind and soul. I did them for a while afterwards and then stopped, despite keeping the poster my friend Regine gave me on the wall. I’ve added this back in this year, at the beginning of my morning routine, sometime between 5-6 am. It feels great! If you’re curious, here’s a longer instructional video, but I now use a shorter one to follow along.

 Note: This series was designed by Paramahansa Yogananda (author of “Autobiography of a Yogi”).  When I was in Ottawa over Christmas, I saw that there’s a feature movie about his life in theatres now – unfortunately, it’s not currently scheduled for St. John’s.

2. Morning Rebounding (15-40 minutes)

I love to dance! As soon as I was old enough to go to bars, my friends and I went to a punk club called The Zinc and danced until 3am every weekend.  It was the only place we could dance without being bothered; it wasn’t the typical meat market.  While my friends danced, socialized, drank, and kept an eye on me, I would close my eyes and enter a blissful state, translating the music with my body for hours on end. Then, I would drive everyone home.  I’m rarely awake past 10pm nowadays though and never liked the club scene after The Zinc closed down.  I did, however, find a various types of yoga-dance classes / spiritual movement events in the many cities I’ve lived in. Since I’m currently not into classes, though, incorporating dance into my daily routine has become a priority.

I found out about the health benefits of rebounders (mini-trampolines) when I lived in Saskatoon, so I bought one and placed it in front of the balcony doors of my 6th floor apartment overlooking the South Saskatchewan River, trees, and the city.  I would dance to a set of 3 kirtan songs (devotional songs in Sanskrit) every morning. I just loved how I felt physically and mentally after my sessions.

That rebounder stayed in Saskatoon, so I bought a new one a few months ago and use it daily in my studio, as part of my morning routine and anytime I need to step away from my art to contemplate its evolution. I bought a well-reviewed one – the Urban Rebounder. It has different settings and comes with DVD workouts, but I simply dance on it – nothing fancy, using the shuffle feature on my iPhone to select 3 kirtan songs that come up, fully trusting that this combination will uplift me (ha ha, get it?).  Some of the songs in my collection are pretty long, so my rebounding sessions can last anywhere from 15 – 40 minutes.  Once I get started, however, I lose track of time as I enter either a state of contemplation, devotion, joy, or creative flow (looking at my art or vision board, praying, singing, or thinking).  I often get ideas or work out the details of projects during these sessions. It’s all good.  Adding this video here is a bit of a stretch of my comfort zone, but just in case it inspires you – here it is (in a very authentic albeit a little self-concious, pre-shower, painting clothes state).

3 . Morning Restorative Yoga (36 minutes)

My back gets really tight as I don’t have a very good posture while painting or working on the computer (yes, I just straightened up and heard a bit of a crack).  Although I’ve tried and enjoyed all sorts of yoga styles with the years, my favourite at-home routine is Jennifer Steed’s Hatha Yoga Class for Rejuvenation from her Dynamic Stillness CD, now on my iPhone (available through Jennifer) .  I can do it almost anywhere and have been doing it almost daily since 2008.  The first half is all done lying on my back with my legs up a wall or in various twists.  It’s just the level of exertion I appreciate and the stretching feels soooo good – there truly are yoga types for all types of people.  For folks in St. John’s, if you’d like to try it in a class, my favourite restorative yoga teacher is Cheryl Fenk, who also teaches a much-loved yin yoga style.

* Basically, I spend about 1.5 hours moving my body every morning before feeding the ducks, taking my shower, and eating breakfast.  No matter what mood I wake up in, I feel great by the time my workday starts.

4.  Evening Soma Yoga (1.5 hours)

I’ve just started this up again this week, using a CD that Meranda Squires from the Lotus Center gave me. Many teachers here in St. John’s teach this style of yoga thanks to her training.  It’s another form of gentle yoga, mostly done lying down, using tennis balls and a tie.  I find it very therapeutic for those ropes along the sides of my spine and other tightness  – the side effects of my profession. My intention is to do this 1-3 times a week.

5. Occasional Walks

It may be winter, but I’ll keep walking to do as many of my errands as I can (although my housemate made me a key for her car recently and I’ll admit, I’ve made use of it a few times when walking would have been beneficial).  This week, I walked to the library (1 hour each way – luckily with the wind at my back on my way home) and enjoyed a bit of a stroll by the ocean at Middle Cove Beach with my friend Leslie.

6. Skating

I sold many of my belongings in early 2013 as part of my fundraiser and preparation for my year overseas,.  I held on to my skates, however, when I heard that they were building an ice loop in Bannerman Park.  I haven’t been yet, but it’s on my list.

7. Misc.

Then there’s whatever comes up with opportunity or inspiration. For example, my most memorable sports socials during my year overseas were skiing in Austria and cycling in the Czech Republic with my beloved friends.  It doesn’t have to be a huge production though – I experienced great joy yesterday making snow angels in the backyard after 2 hours on the phone with a computer help technician (without success).  What a great stretch! My favourite moment was having a few ducks fly up to join me and just sit nearby – heaven! (of course they were hoping I’d feed them a second time that day …).

Listening:

The most important thing is to tune into your body to know what’s right for you on any particular day. I’ve had to remind myself to be flexible in mind as well as in body this week when I decided not to do yoga one night as planned.  I can get pretty goal focused…

However and with whomever you choose move your body this year – enjoy!  May you find a fitness routine that’s a perfect fit for you.