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My 2021 Word of the Year, Finally

Paula — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 18:47:55 +0000

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” ~ Sylvia Plath Sylvia knew. Post may contain affiliate links as a service to readers. I receive a small commission from purchases made via qualifying links. Words This year, it has taken me exactly a month to find my 2021 word of the year. Why? Well, I wasn’t convinced I’d bother to choose a word of the year. Wasn’t it a ridiculous assumption to make that a year would bend to meet the shape of a word. I mean after 2020, haven’t we all seen that life is nothing if not unpredictable? And yet the concept kept working away at the back of my brain. Should I have a word? Should I ditch my tradition or start a new one? Pros and Cons In the past, I have found that choosing a word of the year has given me a goal to work towards. One year – the year that I choose mindfulness, my word was not a success. Mindfulness turned out to be a much harder state to achieve than I had originally anticipated. However, the years I chose health and reach and growth were all successful years. Is it risky to choose a word every year and commit to a resolution or a focus? Sure, absolutely it is and sometimes you fail, but at least you tried. A Year Like No Other Although I have in fact chosen a word of the year ever since 2014, this year was not like the others. Last year, I chose a word and I have looked back on it a few times and thought why did I bother? Burt, I am sure that many people were precisely in the same boat in 2020. Recently, I was hunting for quotes to caption an Instagram post and I found this one above from Sylvia Plath about breath and breathing. While Plath was an author known for going mad and writing an exceptionally gorgeous memoir about it, I thought it summed up my 2021 word of the year philosophy. Aren’t we all feeling a little bit off kilter, off-balance under water some days right now? I know I am still. FYI – this is my yoga mat. I’ve used several and this is my favourite because it is thicker than the usual yoga mats. Buy one here – > Gaiam Yoga Mat 6 MM. Lockdown Life Wasn’t the world supposed to magically be healed and promising in 2021? And yet, numbers are erratic, stay at a home Amber Alert messages gave many of us a start in Ontario recently and mental health issues are growing as the days mount. So many days we all struggle. We are trying to ignore the huge wrench that has been thrown in ski season. I refuse to give up and I am holding out hope for even a couple of ski days at some point WHEN numbers go down. But, if you know me at all then you know I yoga. I boot camp and group fit, pilates, Centergy and walk. So for now while all of that is chaos and cancelled I breathe through the yoga. My 2019 word of the year was REACH. The Breath Challenge Every morning so far of this year, I’ve been doing a 30-day Breath challenge with Yoga with Adrienne and I am nearing the end of that fitness challenge. Yoga with Adrienne and Yoga with Kassandra as well as Blogilates are favourites of mine. In fact, I shared my favourite online fitness classes here a few months ago. Why I Move When we adopted our younger daughter, a child who would eventually be diagnosed with FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder) I started doing yoga for me, for self care. So, it has become a staple and a consistent part of my life. When Covid hit and gyms closed the first time, I pivoted to online workout instructors and classes. Ironically, or perhaps insightfully, my 2020 word of the year was clarity and positivity. I’d be a huge liar if I said that I didn’t struggle with staying positive during a pandemic. In fact, I felt flat out overwhelmed and overly sad and maybe even depressed as trips were cancelled one by one and then school closed down. Of course 2020 year was hard, but there are also things that I am proud of from our pandemic year. How To Approach Each New Year? What do you believe in or measure every year? Is there a moment at the start of the year where you say to yourself: This year I resolve to read more? Or This Year I Will Drink More Water? Keep Moving This gets me moving forward towards the challenges of the day. Breath and breathing. Just a week ago I got an Apple Watch. It is my first smart watch and it is life changing. The fitness apps are rocking my world and I love that it prompts me occasionally to stand or move or breathe. So, this week it hit me that’s my 2021 word of the year – breath and breathe. For some odd reason breath and breathing and control of breath during yoga has always been hard for me. The 2021 30-day challenge with Adrienne has helped me to recognize and breathe with purpose during exercise sessions, so I will keep working on that. Word of the Year or Resolution? Whatever your thing – Word of the Year, Vision Board, Resolution – when the intention is about self improvement and even sometimes making the world a better place, then I am all about that. I wish you success, love and strength in this year ahead. What I Can Control Right now, I might not control much but I can control this. Breath and breathing. Just this week it hit me that this is my 2021 word of the year – my goal and my mantra: breath, breathe. Just breathe.

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Getting My Gym Legs Back – Returning to the YMCA

Paula — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 12:27:00 +0000

After seven months of working out in my basement, I am moving on. This was the month that I found my gym legs again returning to the gym in person. Here’s how I found my gym legs again and here’s how it’s going so far… Deciding to Leave the Basement The decision to return to the YMCA near my home was not without a whole lot of introspection, hand ringing and anxiety. In fact, it kind of surprised me that I had anxiety returning at all, but after seven months of basement workouts, there it was. Nerves. Let’s face it the nerves were not unwarranted. I mean look around and you will see there are constantly gyms opening and closing and sudden Covid-19 outbreaks at Ontario gyms. That is all worrisome. How I Found My Gym Legs Again But I found my gym legs again this past month. Slowly, anxiously and then they returned just like getting right back on a bicycle. Don’t Miss this Life is Like a Bicycle Relaxing Colouring Sheet. Here’s My Why Here’s the thing – there’s only so many months that a person can work out in their basement without completely losing their mind. We have all been working at home for months now. Our homes are our schools, our offices and our gyms. It is a lot. My gym is crucial to my mental health and my happiness. Fitness matters a lot to me. It is the thing that I began as soon as we adopted our second daughter, a baby with special needs. I needed a break from parenting and I needed to get fit to be able to handle how demanding parenting her was, plus the constant advocacy was also exhausting. So, I joined the YMCA and I found my zen and my gym legs. Actually, we joined the YMCA. All of us. Pandemic Workouts As soon as the gyms closed in March, I shifted into working out wherever and whenever I could. If that meant outside, then I took to the trails near my house. If it meant, in the bedroom or the basement, so be it. The important thing was that I worked out. Yoga in my basement. That’s where I started and then to keep things interesting I did Boot Camp, Zumba, dance fitness classes and Power Walking. Here are the free virtual workouts that I followed. I’ve walked through my neighbourhood, hiked and also have been swimming. Soon, I hope to be able to go skiing locally. Our Pool Was Important Too In fact, this was the year that we kept the pool open longer than ever before and we swam more than usual and I’m grateful we had that opportunity right in our own backyard. My gym legs for months were froggy legs saturated with water and chlorine. Boy, I have grown to love that smell. The pool has been a blessing and I’ve used the pool as much as humanly possible this year, swimming most days. Our pool is heated so that’s definitely no hardship whatsoever. But Last Week The Pool Closed I’ve tried most things available to me. Still, I waited patiently for the announcement of the day the YMCA near my home opened. Anyone who reads my site regularly knows how important fitness is to me. Pre-pandemic, I was going to the YMCA 4 – 5 days a week for yoga, Centergy, various group classes and just to maintain my own health, mentally and physically. It is my break from the chaos of raising teenagers and also from running my own business and it is respite from raising kids with special needs. It was totally understandable that gyms had to close down and I completely recognize that was the only way to proceed, so I jumped in as soon as possible with virtual fitness and YouTube and all the basement fitness classes I could do. Nonetheless, when the Y opened I was thrilled… and also a little bit anxious. It’s no big shock that my family has become quite anxious as have a lot of families during the pandemic. But as soon as the martial arts studio opened up, my kids returned with all the Covid-19 protocols in place: masks on if you were indoors, extra cleaning, smaller numbers of students per class and you had to register for classes before attending. My Kids Went Back to Martial Arts So they resumed fitness classes that were important to them. They need sports for mental and physical health. We all do. Then suddenly, the YMCA started to phase in a few group classes very slowly throughout the city. I showed up one night, registered for yoga in September thinking it was indoors and wondering how that would work, only to find that it was outside and on a colder night. I was ill-equipped, with no jacket and a little out of practice. Still, I moved fast and tried to warm up leaning into the idea of in person yoga again. Would I Find Gym Legs and Stamina Again? Youtube Yoga is great in a pinch, but it doesn’t provide the same in person challenge that an instructor standing in front of you can offer. Nonetheless it was an important step getting out of the house and doing yoga. Another night my neighbour, who is now a certified yoga instructor, offered a free yoga class in a park near us and I went. That was a perfect weekend morning and it was warm and sunny. Kind of blissful actually. Finally Back Then finally the date came when I was scheduled to return to the YMCA. First you need to register. Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal, but for whatever reason technical glitches prevented me from being able to register. First You Register The registration process is important because there are a limited number of spots available to maintain social distancing in each class. At the most classes are 15 or less. (As I hit publish on this new rules have been enacted today and that limit is now 10.) Ten is fine by me. Registration opens every Thursday. So, I picked up the phone and called someone at the front desk of the branch closest to me. Turns out the system wouldn’t let me register because the classes were already full. Bummed at that, I told them add my name to the waitlist. Because I was first on the waitlist, it wasn’t that surprising when I got a call the night before the Saturday morning class. Off I went with my mask, water bottle and my matt, leaving the other personal items at home or in the van. No purse and no extra clothing. Bring just what you need. Class began and it was slightly surreal seeing a few faces I hadn’t seen in months. Despite working out all throughout the quarantine, social distancing phases we have gone through here, my legs definitely felt the workout immediately. Squats I do at home are not the squats that we do in class. An in person instructor pushes you and challenges you to go further. Two Week Check In I have been back now maybe two full weeks. On average that is two to three times a week. I register and attend and I feel better afterwards, because I need it. Does it cause everyone a little bit of anxiety here? Yes, and I totally understand that. Yesterday my husband point blank said: you NEED to be careful. You are going too much. He is not a normally anxious person, but everyone here has become either anxious or depressed during COVID, so frankly I get it and I got a bit angry actually and lashed out. Sometimes I Need Space But, I go for me. I need fitness, for mental and physical health. Too many days I feel like that airplane safety demo. Put on your safety mask first if it drops from the ceiling. You can’t help anyone else if you run out of oxygen.

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Personalized Twiga Fitness Leggings

Paula — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 12:19:49 +0000

Twiga fitness leggings are my new favourite. Let me tell you why. I spend a decent amount of time at the gym. Some weeks not as much as I wish, and other weeks exactly the right amount for me. I need proper gear when I am at the gym doing centergy, or weights, or pilates, or group fit. For the summer I have shorts I love that are moisture wicking and work beautifully for me. In the winter I have warm full length yoga pants that are also my office wear some days. It’s the in between times where I never seem to have enough of the right clothing that I need for exercise. So when Twiga women’s Yoga and fitness gear contacted me I knew I had to have some of their personalized capri length leggings. Capris are perfect year round for yoga and group fit and weights too. There are classes where long pants are WAY too warm, even in the coldest winter months. Depending on the workout, classes can feel like they are HOT YOGA. So long yoga pants are torture on those occasions. What is not torture is this awesome pair of Twiga Brooke capri fitness leggings. Look closely in the picture above and the one below and you will see that they have my Instagram and Twitter handle on them. INKSCRBLR. I LOVE THAT. You could opt for your name or a random word instead. That’s the beauty of personalized products with Twiga. [tweetthis]Personalized yoga/ dance workout products from TWIGA are perfect gifts #TMMGG16[/tweetthis] The pair of pants I received are simply amazing. They fit perfectly and you know how that can sometimes be an issue with on line ordering, right? My kids have more clothing than they need because they often inherit the products sent here that are too small. These Twiga Brooke Capri Fitness Leggings are true to size. That makes me happy. Twiga also sent my sporty spice 12-year-old a pair of adorable capri length pants. Twiga makes high quality product that is every bit as good as the highest priced product in the women’s fitness clothing segment of the market. Plus, it’s much more affordable and it is also Canadian, based in Toronto. Some of the products can be personalized and some cannot. Sometimes the personalization is on the waist, but these ones move the detail to the legs. Twiga leggings do not ride, whether you are doing downward dog, or standing splits. They hug my waist and hips and calves perfectly. The rise is good and more importantly, they are not low slung hip hugger pants that end up flashing everyone in the room each time you switch positions. That’s not my workout style. You can Follow Twiga Clothing on Twitter. They are also on Facebook. When I wear other brands of fitness leggings sometimes I am striving to do my best when the clothing malfunctions and breaks my focus. I have a much better workout when I am focused on the movements and the breath and making the most of my ability. Wearing these Twiga leggings helps me do my best. Plus honestly they are just a fun line of women’s workout clothing. I challenge any of my readers to find workout gear that outperforms my Twiga fitness leggings. Twiga makes going to the gym fun. If you have a daughter who dances, or does anything athletic these would be a perfect gift for the holidays, or for a birthday. While you are at it, get a pair for yourself. YOU will LOVE them. I received product for consideration here on Thrifty Momma’s Tips. My opinion is all my own.

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My Fitness and Wellness Journey Update

Paula — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 01:10:00 +0000

My Fitness and Wellness Journey Update is as much a progress check for me as it is for my readers too. So stick with me and I promise we can do this together. Okay? Here we are three weeks into my newly revamped fitness routine for 2014 and I thought it was time for an update. A progress check. My Fitness and Wellness Journey After 35!! First a bit of background. I have been working hard on getting fit since Ainsley was very small. I have always been sports averse. As in, I was the kid in grade school who hated gym. It brought down my average in high school and since I was a keener I petitioned someone to allow me to drop it from my courses. I was never naturally gifted at athletic things and to be very honest I did not care. (I was always good at petitioning people. LOL.) As a kid I knocked the wind out of myself doing backwards somersaults a couple of times. As a youth I nearly drowned at a wave pool. See what I mean? Not good at sports. Parenting in my mid 30s Then I grew up and become a parent. Nothing changed my mind faster about getting fit. Although even that realization that I needed to be fit for my kids wasn’t instant. My first baby girl was easy going and a total joy. The adoption experience was magnificent and really a positive for us. How could we not want to repeat that experience? Then Ainsley came. Also a wonderful experience, but something was different? Ainsley herself was the polar opposite of the easygoing first baby we adopted. She was the most active baby rolling fast and clear across the room to get her sister’s toys. She was intense, energetic and exhausting and she slept poorly from 18 months on and was just very challenging. Yoga So I took up yoga to help get fit and to bring a sense of calm to my life. It also helped that I got 1-2 hours a week as a break from my kids. The kids grew and they became more active – not less. So I started to increase my commitment to fitness and I went to the YMCA while they did their swimming lessons and I hopped on a treadmill, or tried to use some of the easier machines. I did my own cardio and I stuck with yoga, added pilates and whatever other classes I felt like trying. I grew stronger and a bit better able to manage stress when it came my way. First Ever Appointment with a Fitness Coach But this year I decided I wanted more. I have been doing classes for a long time, but I never actually took time to learn how to do machines properly. Well, guess what? I set up an appointment with a wellness coach and I learned. We developed a new fitness routine involving weights the first week of January. In fact I am well over 40 now and more committed to fitness than ever so it was time to level up. Shoulders Now here I am three weeks later. The routine is going well. That first day when my coach pushed me to do 3 reps of 12 on the arm curl and the shoulder press I thought my chest might explode. These are areas I have targeted that I want to build this year. I need to sculpt my arms and strengthen core. My shoulders are problematic because I work at a computer and they get stiff. Shoulders UGH – I know my shoulder rotation needs work and will never be as good as some people’s shoulder strength or rotation. Metabolism I have a goal of staying on top of my metabolism this year also. It’s true that metabolism changes when you hit forty. Last week I went back and did a check up with my wellness coach and he told me this: “You are here consistently and that’s already better than 75 % of the population.” WOW! I squeeze in an hour on machines as often as I am able. During my workouts, I am motivated and present and I feel better about my fitness and wellness journey ever single time I get to the gym and then when I am done as well. In fact, I was warned though to take a day off in between to let your muscles recover and I am doing that most weeks. My arms feel better already. The machines don’t seem as hard as they did that first day. I look forward to heading upstairs to do my weight machines and have a bit of quiet workout time. It’s completely different than the group classes. Hate the inverted ab machine, even still, but I can feel results and that’s the thing that helps keep me going. Next up – nutrition. Tomorrow I am hopping onto a webinar from Vega (I am one of their bloggers this year again.) It sounds strange but I feel more upper body strength already. Also I feel tighter. For the time being I will assume that’s because I am working hard and my muscles are getting a bit more defined every day. I am hoping this motivation continues and results follow by the summer if not sooner. What keeps you motivated to get fit?

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