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Holiday Stress

I’m sure we can all relate to the pressures of holiday stress.  At this time in the year, the stress level is maxed out as we hurriedly try to finish our holiday preparations.  When you’re a small business owner, you can amp that stress level up 100X as you wait for contractors to act on invoices sent over a month ago.  While they’re are definitely benefits to owning your own business, the added stress is not one of them.

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I’ve written about missing home before, but some times in the course of doing business I really, truly miss the Northland.  It would be unthinkable up north for a reputable contractor to sit on invoices for over a month.  Whereas, here in S. Florida it is completely normal for a contractor to pay invoices on island time.  Admittedly, I’m new to this business and my hubby assures me this is normal, but I want to fucking throat punch this guy right now.

Anyway, rant over because that’s not what this post is about.  Believe it or not this post is about ways you can reduce your holiday stress.  Here are some of my favorite coping mechanisms:

  1. Run –  Runner’s high is real and it is amazing.  The world is a better place after a good long run.  f0c4c054288a64ccf399c4ef4b13cbf2--runners-quotes-funny-motivational-quotes-for-working-out
  2. Meet me at the mat!  There’s nothing like a good Vinyasa class to remove your from life’s craziness and put you in the moment.
  3. Come fly with me….  If you’re not inclined to hop on a mat and namaste, then come fly with me at Aerial yoga.
  4. Bake some holiday treats with your loved ones or friends.  If your family is anything like my boys, make sure they don’t steal any cookies from the cookie sheet.  FL Christmas 2006 487
  5. Spend time with good friends  24883571_10155106304447371_1492472535565284382_o
  6. Enjoy a nice drink (i.e. Ciroc and vodka.)  See 5.  tenor (2).gif
  7. Pay it forward.  There’s nothing more rewarding than helping those that are less fortunate.  IMG_1144
  8. Hang out with your four legged friends.  I love chilling with my puppies!  IMG_1291
  9. Spend time doing the things you love with the people you love.  There’s nothing I love more than watching my boys (even the big one) play hockey.  I was in hog heaven last night as three of the four took to the ice.

    Monday Night Mayhem
    Monday Night Mayhem
  10.   Drink more Dunkin’!  Just think soon it won’t just be coffee I’m talking about it will be beer too!

I hope my list of tricks and tools to alleviate the holiday stress was helpful to you.  Obviously, if you’re not in to running or yoga, you suck.. I’m only kidding.  In all seriousness, if they’re not your poison, make time for your favorite workout.  It will do you a world of good!

Tonight’s song is “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”

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Yoga With Jake

Tonight I loved yoga class because tonight I went to yoga with Jake.  As a huge fan of the Beatles, Jake has been intrigued by yoga, veganism and other facets of Eastern culture that the Beatles have espoused.  in particular, George Harrison was deeply spiritual, a devoted yogi, who wasn’t shy about sharing his views.  You may recall from a previous blog post that the song “Got My Mind Set On You” was one of the few songs George Harrison released that wasn’t about religion.

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George, the quiet Beatle, did a lot for bring Eastern ideas and practices to the Western world.  The Beatles’ found yoga while travelling in the Bahamas.  There they had met Swami Sivananda, who was the founder of Sivananda yoga. Lucky me!  Here my son’s love of the Beatles’ (who I also love) and my love of yoga coalesced.  There’s nothing more enjoyably than being on my mat except when I can share it with someone I love.  Consequently, tonight Jake joined me at class.

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For the uninitiated, it can be a bit intimidating.  Unquestionably, he was probably second guessing his decision as he quickly realized he was the only guy.   Thankfully, one of the other yogi’s in class tonight is also in his Thursday night class at school.  Ice broken!

The class was rigorous and fun.  Yoga is definitely one-way to spend quality time improving one’s self, while also building physical strength.  I’m curious to see how he feels tomorrow night.  As for me, I can already tell that this class will leave a mark.   Notwithstanding that tonight was his first yoga experience, Jake dove all in.  He even went up into a headstand!

Lastly, today is Giving Tuesday, which is the perfect opportunity to donate to Team Deb Force Five.   You can help us double pancreatic cancer survival rates by 2020!

Tonight’s song is none other than “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison.  This is one of my favorite songs from a former Beatle. George may have been the quiet Beatle, but his musical talents speak volumes.

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Dancin’ in the Rain

Is there anything more cathartic than dancin’ in the rain? I tend to think not.  In all actuality, now that I live in a place where the rain is warm, I don’t even mind dancing in the real rain.  There’s no mystery to why I teach Zumba several week nights.  First, it helps cover the boys expensive hockey habit.  Secondly, and most importantly, it is my sanity keeper.  Even when I’ve had the worst day at work, I leave my Zumba class refreshed, happy and ready to take on the world.

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Dance has magical properties that lifts burdens from our shoulders.  I see it in my Zumba students and myself.  At the start of class, we all look a little more serious and stressed than we do at the end.  To be clear it isn’t only dance that achieves this, however, dancing in my mind is a lot more fun running.  Whatever gets you moving and gets your endorphins pumping will put you in a good space.

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So if you’re having a rough day and thinking about skipping your workout, don’t do it.  Get up and give yourself the gift of dance, running, weights, barre, hockey or whatever your workout of choice may be.  I know its super tempting to sit and binge watch Stranger Things 2, but put it off for at least a 1/2 and get moving.

“Dancin’ in the rain
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
I’m happy again!
I’m singin’ and dancin’ in the rain”

 
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To Fly or Not to Fly

To fly or not to fly that is the question.  For the 2nd Saturday in a row, thank you hockey schedule, I was able to take my circuit burn class followed by aerial yoga this morning.  This was my 3rd aerial yoga class. One of the questions, I’ve been asked most often since starting aerial yoga is which practice do I prefer.  Do I prefer aerial or vinyasa?

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The answer isn’t so easy because both the aerial and vinyasa practices feed each other.  There are aspects of aerial yoga that will translate into a better practice on the mat.  For example, the inversions in aerial yoga are much easier because the swing supports you and provides balance.  Consequently, since the inversions are aided in a sense, it allows you to work on strength and alignment.   As an added bonus, you can hold the pose for a significantly longer time.  I guess the answer is that I prefer both.

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Aerial yoga takes a significant amount of trust and letting go of fear.  You have to trust yourself and the swing knowing that it will prevent you from falling and hurting yourself.  Moreover, you have to let go of fear.  Admittedly, the first aerial yoga class I took was intimidating.  My teacher Monica, who is incredible, encouraged all of us to let go of our fear.  Additionally, she also showed us how to position our bodies to prevent a fall and assisted us with the poses.  As a consequence, I felt comfortable in the fabric by the end of my first class.

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Aside from the fear of getting hurt or embarrassing oneself by falling, the fear of not being able to keep up is omnipresent that first class.   If you find yourself in an aerial yoga class discouraged by your ability, do like Elsa and “let it go.”  Today in class, there was someone completely new to aerial.  Almost half way through the class, she became discouraged and was ready to leave because she couldn’t keep up.  Fortunately, between our teacher’s encouragement and her fellow classmates’ encouragement, she decided to stick it out.  While she may have struggled that first half of class, she absolutely slayed the second half.

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I think the turning point was realizing that: a) nobody was judging her b) everyone progresses at their own speed c) her practice is her own.   In my opinion, there is no better teacher of humility than a good yoga practice.  I’m a highly competitive person.  Yoga has helped me put that aside.  I’ve learned to accept that my practice is my own own and I’m in competition with nobody.  In addition, I learned that I loved savasana in aerial yoga even more than on the mat.  I know, I didn’t know it was even possible.  In the aerial class, you encase yourself in the yoga silk, which becomes akin to a hammock.  It sways ever so gently during the pose, which is okay with me.  By the end of the savasana, I feel like I’ve just woken up from the best night’s sleep. I freaking love it.

Due to my work and hockey schedule,  I haven’t been able to go to a Vinyasa class for a couple of weeks.  I cannot, however, wait to see how I’ve progressed on my mat since starting my aerial practice.  As for my aerial practice, I look forward to seeing how it evolves from week to week.  Significantly, I’ve noticed with each class a step function in ability and comfort.  Last week I was able to do a flip, while today I was able to do plow and a shoulder stand.  It was pretty awesome stuff.   Tomorrow it’s Xtend Barre in the morning followed by hockey games in the afternoon.   At some point tomorrow, I’ll try to tackle the household chores. I’ll  probably try to get some laundry done and maybe even take a nap.

Tonight’s song comes courtesy of Tom Petty in honor of Aerial Yoga: Learning to Fly

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A Rare Free Saturday

Today was a rare free Saturday for this hockey mom and I took full advantage of it.  I started my morning up at Burn Fitness for their Circuit Burn class with Danielle.  It was my first time taking this particular class, which balances 5 circuits of strength training with running laps.  Undoubtedly, I expect to be quite sore tomorrow.   Nevertheless the class was a great compliment to my existing regimen.   Additional strength training is exactly what I need.

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Afterwards, I moved right into my aerial yoga class.  This was the second time  have taken an aerial yoga class.  Since Monica was away, we had a substitute today.   Our class was small and our substitute teacher was fantastic.  Comparatively speaking, I felt a lot more comfortable on the swing today than I did the first time.  I even managed to do a flip today.  #progress

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The nice thing about these classes is that by 11:15 I had already gotten in a two hour workout (including a run.)  While I would have enjoyed sleeping in a bit more, getting my workout out of the way early made for a productive day.  Further, since I had two great workouts, I was on the post workout high most of the day.  Can I tell you how productive I was today?  I actually got all of my errands done!  Unbelievably, this only leaves me with household chores and laundry to complete tomorrow.

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While I ran errands, Goalielocks had arranged with his teammates to go to stick and  puck at 3:00 pm.  This would have been nice to know before I got home from errands around 2:30 pm, but that’s okay.  The Mayor wanted to go too, but he’s battling a cold so he stayed home.   Notice how I still ended up at the rink on my rare free Saturday?

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I’ve never seen stick and puck so crowded.  The rink was full of hockey players.  Goalielocks and his teammates were able to carve off one half of the ice with some other players.  There was one that had forgotten his socks and had his shin guards on the outside of his pants.  At first glance, he looked a bit ridiculous and like someone that didn’t know what they were doing.  That was until he took a shot on Goalielocks.

Straight away it became apparent that this guy was no joke and was a serious player.  His shot was a laser.  He spent most of the hour shooting on Goalielocks and talking to him.   It turns out this guy played in the AHL for the Coyotes and saw some NHL preseason action previously.  His last professional stint was in Finland.  Due to a burst appendix, he’s currently without a team and is undergoing rehabilitation and retraining in Florida.

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You know why hockey’s the best sport in the world?  Here’s a pro rehabilitating from a major health condition that took the ice with my goalie and his buddies today.  Rather than put on airs of superiority, he worked with and shot on Goalielocks for the majority of the hour.  I could see them working together throughout the session.  He would shoot 5-6 pucks on Goalielocks in quick succession.  Afterwards, he’d give Goalielocks feedback and encouragement.  Goalielocks left the rink on cloud 9 today because of his experience with this pro.  Admittedly, Colin was proud since he was able to stop some of his shots.  At one point the guy’s shot was so hard that when Goalielocks caught the puck in his glove, his glove went flying off backwards.

Lastly, it’s always a good day when both mom and Goalielocks are feeding off our high’s from a workout.   The afternoon and Goalielocks’ great mood were quite disparate from his mood this morning.   Goalielocks found the anemone dead and that it broke the filter in the process.  Apparently our anemone decided to climb onto the filter ending both it’s existence and our filter.  Goalielocks was devastated.  Fortunately, I was able to get to Petco quick like to replace the filter and keep our clown fish George, star fish Bob and our crab Eugene alive.   After a busy day, I’m ready to chill on the couch while watching some Panther’s hockey.

Tonight’s musical interlude is The Cranberries – Dreams.  Growing up the Cranberries’ CD was one of the very first that I bought. It remains one of my favorite CDs.

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Be Exceptional

Be exceptional, don’t settle for average, don’t settle for mediocrity, don’t freaking settle!  Do you hear me?  Instead choose to be your best.  Everyday we have a choice.  We can choose to be average or worse mediocre, but we can also choose to be exceptional.  This doesn’t mean that we are perfect or striving for perfection.  It only means that we do everything with our best effort.

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For example, when we work out.  Do you give your best the entire time?  Or do you slough off a bit?  If we’re not giving our workout our best effort,  we won’t see the results we covet.  Our results are proportionate to our effort and sadly our diet (damn you age and womanhood.)  For example if we only give 50% effort at a Zumba class,  instead of burning 500 calories, we’ll only burn 250 calories.

Tonight I tried my first Xtend Barre class up at Burn Fitness.  Cheese and rice, I will feel it tomorrow.  Adam, our amazing teacher, likes to call his class barre boot camp.  He wasn’t lying.  Hey, at least he was up front and honest.  He’s a great teacher with tons of energy, so class went quickly.b8d1df9391abe1705203067426eec94f--barre-memes-funny-barre-fitness.jpg

Class may have went quickly, but it was tough!  In truth, I felt a little bit like fish out of water as I was the sole novice in the room.  Adam, as good fitness instructor will do, made the class appropriate to everyone’s level including mine.  Even though I was new to barre, and admittedly not that good, I gave it my best effort.  Consequently, I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to move tomorrow, but no pain, no gain.  Right?

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Being exceptional isn’t just for the fitness studio though, it’s for all aspects of our lives.  If we find that what we’re doing is no longer inspiring us to be exceptional, then it is time to move on.  Life is far too short to settle for mediocrity.  It is imperative that we find something that makes our heart and soul sing.  In addition, it is easier to be exceptional when we find something or someone that we are passionate about.

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Tomorrow morning the choice will be all of ours. Join me in embracing the madness one cup of coffee (see meme below)  at a time and being exceptional.    If you’re not where you’d hope to have been by now, that’s okay.  Now is the perfect time to start working towards your dreams.   Now is the time that you stop settling and grab the bull by the horns.   Its time to go get it!

p.s. I’d like to give a special shout out to my Finland for tagging me in the meme below on Facebook.  It very accurately depicts my relationship with coffee!                                     22365410_1448928341822504_7005541926207002228_n.jpg6361016783982351261051636329_574e2900dc33501062016054456

 

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Caffeine Drip

I’m in serious need of a caffeine drip for tomorrow after the craziness of today’s hockey schedule.  The Mayor’s team was at the rink by 7:30 am for their 8:30 game.   My hubby, who is a saint, took the Mayor for warm-ups, so  I could sleep in.   7:30 am isn’t really my idea of sleeping in, but it was far better than the alternative.  The Mayor’s squad got the win, which started off our day of 4 hockey games perfectly.

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Post-game I headed to Burn Fitness, an awesome locally owned fitness studio, for my first aerial yoga experience.  Admittedly, I was a bit concerned about the inversions and the potential for nausea, so  I skipped my early morning coffee and breakfast.  Pre-class I had a GU gel for energy that wouldn’t upset my stomach during class.  I have to say I was a bit relieved to hear that the other newcomers to aerial yoga were just as nervous as me.

 

Once in the studio, we picked our swings that were best matched to our height and then setup our yoga mats under them.  We took to our swings to start working our core and open our shoulders.  The core work in aerial yoga is quite similar to working on the TRX, so it is intense and efficient.  Surprisingly, the inversions didn’t bother my stomach and didn’t make me dizzy.  I quickly learned that if I was swinging too much while upside down,  I could put my hand down to stop the swinging motion.  The warrior poses and half moons poses  felt incredible in the swing.  I could feel myself getting more elastic as the class progressed.  Unequivocally, the best part of class was the shavasana in the swing that quickly became cocoon-like.  It was absolutely heavenly.

After yoga, I was finally able to enjoy my morning Dunkin and some solid food.  I made myself some Gardein Schezuan Beef and broccoli ,which was super tasty.  No sooner had I finished my lunch, when we had to head back to the rink for the Mayor’s 2nd game and Goalielock’s first game.   Of course, I had to stop and get another coffee lest I get cold at the rink.

To Fly or Not To Fly

The Mayor was on fire during his second game.  He scored a hat-trick and had several assists.  It was incredible to see the kids moving the puck.  I loved seeing them work so hard to setup their teammate for a goal.  Undoubtedly, their teamwork today is what led to their success as a team.  Honestly, I just love watching my Mayor play.  He’s the smallest on the ice, but he plays and runs his mouth likes he’s six feet tall.  He works hard and is always giving 100%.   I love his commitment to his team and his game.

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As soon as the Mayor’s team left the ice, the Zamboni started cleaning the ice for Goalielock’s game.  I spent a lot of quality time with the scorekeeper today.   In an effort to contain my crazy, I ran the music during the games today, which put me in the sin bin where I belong.  Goalielock’s had the first game off, but his goalie buddy Brian was lights out that game.

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Unfortunately, someone probably should have called a 5250 for the megaphone mom from the opposing team.  We’ve been in travel hockey for many years and we’ve seen a lot things, but this woman took the cake.  She put the craz in crazy.  Keep in mind, these kids are either freshmen in high school or 8th graders not little kids.  Imagine, if you will, a mom screaming directions and commentary via a megaphone from the stands.   My favorite part, is when she chirped our player, #4, and he took the puck and went and scored.  Thankfully, the goal was enough to shut her up for a couple of minutes.  I did my best to drown her out with the music, while my better half drowned out the megaphone with a fog horn.  Instant karma was served to megaphone mom as we beat the team 7-1.

Between Goalielocks’ two games, we headed to pick up the Mayor from dinner and pick up some grub.   Unsurprisingly, we didn’t have a ton of time between games, so there was no trip home between them.  After taking Goalielocks’ to Publix for a sub, we headed back to Hurricanes to get hubby and the Mayor.  While we waited for the check,  I acquired a nice, new sexy tattoo.  You’ll love it, but don’t worry mom it’s only temporary.

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In the end, the Mayor decided to go to a teammate’s house during Goalielocks’ game, so we headed back to the rink without him.  I took my position in the sin bin, where I belong, ready to blare the music as the boys took the ice.  The game got a little chippy, but we were all relieved that there was no megaphone mom on this team.  By the end of the 1st period, we were up 5-0.

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Goalielocks’ wasn’t seeing a lot of work, which stinks for a goalie because you don’t have the opportunity to get into a rhythm.  Nevertheless, he was playing well when his team needed him. I was busy in the box with a couple 10-2 and repeat visitors.   Nonetheless, the boys won 9-2.  Goalielocks’ played well, but as always was quite critical of his performance.

 

 

 

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Guess What Day It Is?!?!

Guess what day it is!?!?!??  Not only is it hump day, but it also opening day for the NHL.  That’s right folks, hockey is officially back!! Whoop Whoop!  My Minnesota Wild start their season tomorrow night, so tonight I’m watching the Pittsburgh/St. Louis game.  Nevertheless, I am stoked to be watching my favorite sport live!

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Last night marked my first yoga class in over a year.  Boy oh boy how I’ve missed my yoga and my yoga has missed me.  Unfortunately, I’ve been away from my mat for far too long and today I’m paying for it.  I am sore from head to toe!  In fact, combing my hair may be problematic tonight since my range of motion is quite limited today.  Initially my plan was take an Xtend Barre class tonight.  I can’t deny, however,  that the only activity my body is up for tonight is blogging and sleeping.

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During shoulder stand, my only inversion of the night, I got a giant, horrifically painful charlie horse in my left leg.  Holy cannoli batman, I wanted to scream at the top of my longs.  Of course, I was in a yoga class, so I couldn’t vocalize my angst.  I didn’t want to detract from the others experience by wallowing in pain.  I briefly left the pose to try and massage out my calf.  Unfortunately, this move met with little success.  As I winced in pain as my calf contracted violently in pain, I used my ujayyi breath to keep my pain and my heart rate at bay.  Miraculously, the yoga breathing allowed me to manage the pain and work through the rest of the pose.

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There’s some pride in the pain, right?  I mean, it is a reminder of how hard I worked last night.  Conversely, its a reminder of how much more work there is to be done.  The thing is, we’re all a work in progress.  I expect days like to as I work toward my physical and mental goals.  At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.  As I tried to climb the steps at work this morning, my left calf reminded me of the charlie horse and my right leg reminded me of a major issue cooking in my shin.

This morning was the first time I actually thought it might be time to call a podiatrist.  I feel old.  Ugh.. What the heck?  I’m not even forty, the last place I want to be is at a podiatrist office in South Florida during season.   Listen its not that I hate snowbirds, its just that I strongly dislike them.  Honestly most of them, at least by us, are utterly terrible and entitled people that feel traffic laws were made for everyone but them.  Sadly, my ankle and my shin are starting to cause some serious pain that no longer abates after I stop working out.  It is probably time to bite the bullet and make sure there’s not something serious going on in there.

 

“I’m the podiatrist around here!”

 

 

Tonight I will be enjoying another nice, hot shower followed by some tiger palm and salonpas patches.  If I thought I could get out of the bath, I’d probably draw myself a nice, hot Epsom bath.  The only problem with this plan, however, is that I’m not confident I could get out tub.  While I’m taking tonight to let my body rest and recover, tomorrow night I’ll be back to teaching Zumba followed up by some yoga at home.   Until then, I’m going to namaste in bed.

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Namaste

Namaste my dear friends in the blogosphere.  Tuesday morning started off with the realization and confirmation that another icon of my youth was indeed taken too early.  Today Tom Petty is playing his guitar with George in the great beyond.  Consequently, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and The Travelling Wilburys provided the soundtrack for my morning commute.

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The soundtrack brought some solace and lots of nostalgia.  Petty’s songs played with heavy rotation in my house.  Inevitably, these songs remind me of my parents and all the great times we had as a family growing up.  Not surprisingly, as my kids have spent many their summers with Minnesota, these same songs conjure up sweet memories of their time in Minny with my folks.  Music unites us, our collective experiences and the generations.  One simply cannot ignore or question the power that music has to shape our lives.

Tonight, after too long of an absence, I finally made it back to Burn Fitness for yoga with my beloved yoga teacher Monica.  Oh boy, am I going to hurt tomorrow.   Undeniably, my return to yoga was long overdue for both my physical and mental well being.   After a year of pain and grief, tonight’s class felt like a welcome release.   As I work to get rid of the Irma weight, I’ve made the commitment to myself to take time and devote it to my yoga practice . This is long overdue as all of the running and Zumba are quite taxing on my body.  Meanwhile, yoga is the perfect anecdote to keeping my body in peak physical shape.

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Post yoga, its all about the MLB wildcard game between my Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees.  There’s something alluring and thrilling about baseball in October.  It definitely peaks my interest significantly more than the regular season.  We just turned the game on and its tied 4-4 at the bottom of the 4th.  We’re already into our bullpen.  Consequently, this isn’t the best harbinger for a favorable outcome for my Twins.  If the Twins lose, work will surely be miserable tomorrow with all the Yankees fans in the office.   Let’s go Twins!

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Tether Ball

I remember playing tether ball as a kid and being pretty awful at it.   It was a lot of fun, but if you got distracted for even a second there was a good chance you were going to get smacked in the face by that ball.  Now as an adult, we all have days like that.  Days that smack us upside the head like a tether ball.

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Thening.  Our daily routines, can set us up for how we handle the stressors of our day.  In a perfect world, I’d start each and every day with at least 20 minutes of yoga.  My snooze button – a very stubborn thing – keeps getting in the way.  Another practice that helps during the day is taking regular walks throughout the day.  If you can’t get away from your desk for multiple walks, set aside at least one fifteen minute break to take a walk outside.

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The events of our day, much like our life, don’t define us.  Rather it is our reactions to these events, both good and bad, that define who we are.  Setting yourself up each day for a calm reaction will go a long way to ending the tether ball feeling.  Being mindful about how we react to other people and to our stress is an important skill needed to be successful.  With a little practice, some breathing exercises and a few walks, one can find balance in even the craziest day.

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The Last Mooring