Smile, it makes people wonder
The middle-aged, middle eastern woman was on the elliptical machine before I started circling the track. I noticed her and smiled a greeting. She smiled back and continued stepping. We have seen each other at the gym, perhaps been in some classes together, but I don’t remember ever being introduced. The gym is this way; every woman […]
Can we see stillness? hear silence?
The still life helps us to see and hear, ever in new ways.
Planking and praying, a perfect pair
I’m caught in a bind. Between fit-ness and fat-ness. What I really want to do is motivate people to take ownership in the value of being active. But this message is going out to two groups of people: those who want to fine tune their Maseratis and those who have missed all their 15, 30 and […]
Core Fitness: Plank Exercises for a Strong Core
Don’t have an exercise ball? No problem. All you need is your body and a padded but solid surface. (And I’ recommend securing your pets in another room. My husky sometimes gets a bit “too helpful.”) Let me first distinguish this from the planking fad (balancing face down with arms at sides in tricky and […]
Ever had one of those “Stop right where you are” moments?
Have you ever had one of those frozen-in-your-tracks moments? When you get some news and your heart skips a beat? And there’s literally nothing to be done before you deal with this? Somehow our circuitry seems to be wired even to manage the impossible situation. We stop. Perhaps we consider our alternatives. We wonder who […]
What small thing, offered in love, has been life-giving for you?
Mother Teresa said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” Genius. Frankly, I like to think of myself as a big thing do-er. Don’t bother me with the small stuff. If just anyone can do it, well then, let them. Don’t bother me. I’m saving […]
Core Fitness: Fitness Ball Exercises for a Strong Core
In my previous post called “Who Needs Core Fitness?” I made the case for the central role (no pun intended) for core strength in your body’s ability to move efficiently and hold still effectively. Sports require we are both stable and still. There are many exercises to strengthen the core. To make the grade with […]
Why wait to be moved when you can move?
Use More Active Verbs: That’s one of the prime advisories offered by writing coaches everywhere. This confused me at first. I mean, it’s a verb, right? So it’s already active. Someone or something doing, right? Or, being done to or acted upon. And there’s the rub. No one wants to read about someone being acted […]
Closing the loop
I don’t like open loops. Things left undone. Songs left unfinished. Jokes interrupted before the punch line. My mind keeps chewing on them. It’s that broken record that repeats and repeats the same line over and over and over. Finish already! I’m told this a normal thing. To want to bring something to completion. Our […]
How do we know when it’s safe to cross?
I was driving in DC this week. I don’t recommend it. Big cities and cars don’t mix well; take the mass transport. Anyway, I was amused at the looks on the faces of pedestrians as I approached the intersections. They stared at me with their feet firmly planted on the sidewalk several feet away from […]