No Matter What…
/No matter what, there is beauty in life... in all of ours lives. Those of you who join me in “Train and Smile” classes, you have already celebrated the theme of beauty this month and I decided then that this would be a good theme for this month’s blog. After the stressful month of September, with everything heating up (literally), October brought a bit of fresh air and a fun twist, especially with Halloween. Even though, the month still had its share of sadness and stress, the beautiful things that surround us helped me to replace tears with smiles...
One of the biggest (literally) beauties that we enjoyed this month was the forest of Redwood Trees... After exactly two months later, we were able to go back to our calm and quiet in the Camp Jones Gulch at Santa Cruz mountains. The crispness of the fall weather gave our camping experience a whole new feel. As we did our daily 2-3 hour hikes, we couldn’t help to think about the fires of last month. On the far ridges we were able to see browned trees but they were still standing up, strong and resilient... Definitely a great lesson to learn from the nature. Kaya was able to join his class from the Redwood Forests, thanks to Y’s WiFi. As I watch him work on his letters on Zoom with the back drop of giant trees - sitting on a wooden bench, I thought about the irony of how this opportunity is an outcome of COVID. Even the fact that we can enjoy this campsite is because of COVID. And now the better news for you is that, the Camp Jones Gulch is opening its doors to anyone who would like to experience this beauty (you don’t need sleeping bags, they have cabins!). Just in case you would like to check out: https://www.ymcasf.org/cabin-rentals
As I look around to see the beauties around us even during the toughest days, I realize that my thoughts start rolling fast on how to make my actions part of those beauties. Believe it or not, if you don’t know already, I am VERY scared of spiders. However, once the kids were born, my right of being scared of spiders was taken away from me so that I wouldn’t create fear in them - I still scream but when they are not around :). Thanks to them, I can now watch a big garden spider create its web (from a FARRRRR distance). The work of the spider is BEAUTIFUL, even though I would not want to get close to it. So, one way of celebrating that beauty is by using the movements of a spider in my workouts. Spider walks are already a move in the fitness world, how about making it even more similar - come and check out my training sessions if you want to know how we move like spiders.
A spider walk starts with a perfect plank. Planks are already great moves for the full body. Allowing our limps to move a plank just like a spider is the beauty that I am trying to create in our bodies as we strengthen our core and back. The best part of this move is that, just like push-ups and squats, you do not need anything other than your own body.
With that, I would like to focus on a plank as our move of the month... To me, it represents the strong trunk of a redwood tree, the resourceful legs of a spider, the sturdy surface of a boulder and, most importantly, the amazing body of all of us... We all have the strength to hold a plank for a couple seconds. The key is to train our bodies to hold it longer while not sacrificing in form. Core strength is what we need, regardless of age.
With that being said, I am adding two separate plank moves to our night routine before going to bed:
Plank Hold for 15 seconds
Spider Walks: Start with a perfect plank hold, step both right hand and the right foot one step to the right, bring left hand and left foot close to the right side. This is count one. Repeat the move toward left. This is count two. Continue until you hit count 4.
Here is a quick video of me doing the moves if you would like to do them with me: https://youtu.be/qUnI18ILv-A (Correction on the video: 15 SECONDS not MINUTES)
So now, if you add along last two month’s daily routines to this one, you basically have pushups and squats in the morning and pushups and planks at night... The number of pushups are up to you. You can either do the progressive version that I talked about last month or just stick with 2 at night and 2 in the morning.
Let’s get out of bed with a strong body and let’s end the day with even a stronger core... Don’t forget there is beauty all around us - on the leaves of a flower, on a smile of a child, on an old picture from a fun time and most importantly in the mirror as you look at yourself.
Big high five to all of you who can find the beauty around and cherish it even if it is only for a few seconds. Let’s be strong, build that core for many beautiful days ahead!
Beauty of freedom.
Beauty of the sIbling love
Beauty hidden in the dead ivy
Beauty of catching the Blue moon rise
