A Bow, a Curtsy and a Helping Hand

Up and down all day. Moving around is what life is about, or are you making it harder by hurting your back at the same time? It’s easy, when picking up a dropped sock, to lean over at the waist, doing a bow, which makes your lower back take the stress of holding up your bent-over torso as well as returning to upright. How to prevent that distress? Turn that bow into a back-friendly curtsy by bending your knees, even a bit. You can give your back even more relief by placing your hand or bent forearm on your knees as a triangulating prop. Then pick up the sock with your other hand, walk both hands up your thighs and Presto! you’re upright with sock in hand and a happy back!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

A Tree is a Tree

Feed your curiosity and give your senses a treat by examining your environment in a new way. Because of my love of plants, I especially find trees a perfect object for sensory practice. One view of trees is that they are lollipop- or triangle-shaped, like we drew them in kindergarten. Maybe that’s so, maybe not. Just for fun, pick a tree. First, look at your tree from a distance. How closely does it match the lollipop/triangle mindset? Now, stand beside your chosen tree, and look up the trunk into the branches. Do the branches go evenly out from the trunk like spokes of a bicycle wheel? Or does your tree somehow vary from that stereotype? Do the branches call you to climb up? How does the foliage look from the bottom? Then close your eyes and notice your other senses. How does the bark feel? How does it smell today? What temperature touches your skin? Finally, take a deep breath, step back and notice if/how your tree has changed for you.

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Surprise Your Mouth!

On the subject of toothpaste pros and cons, my whimsical friend told me she keeps three kinds on hand, grabbing them at random so she can surprise her mouth! How about shaking up a routine day by turning that cute idea into a game for the other senses? Try closing your eyes and opening one of your spice jars–can your nose figure out which one it is? What about tying a scarf over your eyes and exploring the depths of your closet with your fingertips? Or squeeze your eyes shut and put your face in front of a fan, listening carefully to all the nuances of sound made by that artificial wind. Hmmm, these examples all bypass seeing. I wonder how much using our eyes takes away surprise?

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Cross Pattern? What’s That?

Babies crawl that way, wild and domestic cats and dogs (and many other animals) move that way. Elite athletes run that way. You can walk that way too! “Cross patterning” means advancing one leg together with the opposite arm (or paw). Then repeat on the other side. For humans with two feet on the ground, it means swinging your opposite arm forward as you take a step. Even though you tend to do it naturally, it doesn’t happen if you’re carrying a load. Besides being stimulatingly rhythmic, cross patterned walking builds the bridge connecting the two hemispheres of your brain, which helps thinking happen in a more integrated way. To strengthen this skill, walk around with an exaggerated arm swing, checking that your arms move about the same amount. Or try marching while tapping your opposite fingers on your raised knee. Oh, how about skipping with arms flying!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Grapevine Away!

Strengthening leg muscles, an important ingredient in building balance, means working your legs in all directions. In walking, running, biking, and most other life activities, legs move forward and backward. Doing the Grapevine adds strength to the sides of your legs, rounding out their strength. Here's how it works: Moving to the right, step sideways with the right foot. Still moving right, step behind with the left foot. Take another right step with your right foot, and then bring the feet together by tapping the left toe beside your standing right foot. It's four steps, and the words you can say to accompany the steps are "Side, Behind, Side, Tap". Repeat in the other direction. Stabilize with your hands on the edge of the kitchen counter or the bars in the hall if needed. Once you catch on to the pattern, you just might feel like you're dancing instead of giving yourself a good workout!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

For the Birds

When the conversation goes to bird watching, my woeful/embarrassing ignorance makes me fall silent. I have never figured out how to see those little beings in their big camouflaging world, let alone cipher their features into a name. Luckily someone suggested the idea of listening for bird songs. Hooray! A new way to go at it! On my next walk, I listened, and also tried (badly) to mimic the sound. Besides the delight of it, I also received the benefit of having my attention shift from the omnipresent annoying sounds of the nearby freeway and the ringing in my ears. Then there was the unseen benefit of building new neural pathways in my brain, which has never before been challenged that way. Do you have a stuck place that can benefit from a different sense? How about joining me in playfully trying it? (Or maybe you want to add more structure to your observations by using the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s free Merlin app, which can help with attaching a name to your observations.) And who knows, maybe the closed door of birding has now been cracked open…maybe?

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Soft Eyes

When I was taking my self-defense class, we were told that we could have a better chance of success in a threatening situation if we used Soft Eyes. This is a technique that lets us see more of the world around us, especially small movements. Pointing our face/eyes straight ahead without focus but letting our looking be the whole range of what our eyes can see--including all of our sideways and vertical peripheral vision--shows us the big picture in ways we can't see if our focus is straight ahead. It is easiest to start this practice seated without glasses, and, while pointing our eyes steadily ahead, we let our attention go up and down, side to side, and diagonally, seeing the whole range. Then we can softly return to center while keeping awareness of all that we've just experienced with our eyes. Practicing walking this way makes us especially aware of unusual movement, such as a fly zooming about. I have to admit, however, that if I found myself in a challenging situation, I wonder if I would think of Soft Eyes!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Bubbles? No Troubles!

I recently learned that, in Seattle at least, bubble wrap can be recycled as sheet plastic if all the bubbles are broken. Hmmm. Is that an onerous task or an opportunity to play? I say Play! Use the opportunity to build strength. Pop those bubbles with the tips of your fingers (bigger bubbles are easier). Try smashing them between your palms. Feeling bold? Can you burst them by dancing on them? If all that racket gives you an excuse to laugh, all the better. Combining strengthening exercise with recycling is multitasking at its zaniest! 

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Take Your Soul for a Walk

There is a pace that is your most comfortable speed, a pace that lets your whole being participate, a pace that is personal and may change minute to minute. And your body will probably tell you when you’re there, if you ask. Try an easy walk in an undistracting location, changing your speed, not hurrying, not too slow. Do a body scan to notice the sensations you’re feeling. Perhaps you will know you’ve found it when you notice an aha moment and your body sighs with ease. Perhaps this is the rate for your body and soul to be lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time for magic to happen…perhaps?

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Walk! Yes, But When?

Make exercising easier by tapping into your personal preferences and rhythms. Take walking, for example: what time of day makes it an ideal walk? Roll out of bed and walk. Walk and roll into bed. Walk after meals, walk before meals. Take mini-walks all day. Then explore different intensities at different times. Do you like a crisp brisk walk in the morning and an easy saunter after dinner? The same idea can expand to include other forms of exercise. For instance, you may find, like I do, that I have to make a commitment to get around to my strength workout. Knowing my time of day for being most willing to exercise  gives me ideas for when it would be easiest to do that determined workout. Getting to know yourself better lets you honor your quirky preferences. Walk? Now you know when!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Savoring the Sweet Spot

A hot research topic these days concerns how to build our brains and the types of challenges that do it best. One enticing finding is that if you’re doing something physical and add a mental challenge, you will hit the magic formula for efficiently creating new neural pathways, the brain-building sweet spot. For example, practice your Spanish flashcards when you walk. Or sing while washing the dishes for rhythm building and learning lyrics (or is that just a pleasure?). I wonder if walking would help me with my beloved sudoku. Hmmm? Probably not. Who knows what else research will discover, but this one simple idea strikes me as both easy to use and practical. What combos will you find? Let me know!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Ankle Alphabet

Ankles are at a critical location when it comes to movement. In order to stay upright, to navigate all the variations in the surfaces you walk on, and to handle surprises in those surfaces, you need ankles that are both strong and flexible. And flexible means flexible in all directions! To give your ankle practice and build it for all that flexibility, practice drawing the alphabet with your toes while your foot is in the air. You have a choice of block capital letters, cursive lower case writing and everything in between. There are also creative options for additional fitness benefits. For example, spell gratitude-inspired words to fill your mind with positivity. Spell your alphabet with one foot while standing in line, thus strengthening your standing leg at the same time. What else can you create for your twinkle toes to do? Whatever it is, have fun with this one!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Exercise Your Eyes

Your eyes have habits too. Their “computer posture” includes looking at objects on a screen, and that screen usually stays the same distance from your face. Give your eyes a break by picking two objects in your environment, one up close (even closer than your screen) and one as far away as your space allows (maybe down the hall or out the window). Then do visual gymnastics, focusing on the details of the close object for about five seconds, then shifting to the far object and noticing its details for five seconds. Continue back and forth for a minute or two, noticing more details with each shift. For a variation, choose objects to the left and right and equally far away. Try shifting focus with and without moving your face. Then, hold your face still and move your eyes left and right, up and down, and in circles. If you’re feeling adventurous, try moving your eyes in figure eights and enjoy that dizzying view. Your eyes will love it!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Exercise + Nature + Senses = Immersion

Taking a walk in your favorite (or nearest) natural space is an easy way to expand your appreciation of spring. Nature, and especially trees, muffle civilization’s noises, creating space to hear the more subtle natural sounds. The exercise gets more blood flowing around your whole body, including your brain. Flooding your brain with extra blood (=extra oxygen) provides a fertile field for noticing more of the sensory input from nature, creating an upward spiral of physical and sensory experiences enriching each other. Focus on one element, like the crisp spring air, then pair it with each sense. How does the air feel on your fingertips? What smells is it bringing to you? Is it moving enough that you can hear it? Does it have a taste? How is it playing with the nature all around you? What words can you find to describe the uniqueness of the air-of-the-moment? Then take a deep breath to enhance the experience as a wonderful memory to keep you company while you do spring housecleaning!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Lopsided Loads Build Your Core

Parents often carry their children on one hip, and many of us have probably done it ourselves. It's easy to carry grocery bags or our purses on just one side. I have a shoulder bag and it always somehow seems to end up on my left hip, meaning my right shoulder is getting most of the workout. It turns out that a lopsided load makes our core muscles subtly adapt and strengthen to the asymmetry, without the necessity of doing those infamous crunches! It's a great way to build muscles without spending any extra time. However, if you get too habitual, using the same side all the time, the muscle building is also lopsided. It's easy to increase the value by getting into the habit of moving the load around.

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Raising the Bar That's Already There

You're already exercising every time you move--movement is simply a part of your day. Choosing to use that existing momentum gives you a head start on building more fitness into your daily life. Take a movement you're already doing, like getting out of your chair, and make it more conscious by raising the bar. Pay attention to what you're already doing and choose baby steps toward more challenge. A goal could be to be able to get up and down from the chair without using your hands. The next stretch could be to count how many times you can get up and down in 30 seconds. All the while, your legs will be getting stronger, and you will also be reaping the consequent benefits in improved movement and fall prevention!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Exercise in the Dentist's Chair

Once on a teeth-cleaning day, I did an experiment that turned out to be a wonderful addition to my dentist visit. It all started when I got out of the chair mid-cleaning and was so stiff I could barely walk. I realized it's worth the effort to keep our bodies active even if our face is pinioned in place. I made a game of moving every time her hand and attention were out of my mouth: cross right foot over left, cross left foot over right, shrugging shoulders, shift to right hip, shift to left hip, stretching my arms in any available direction, wiggling my back, bending both knees with feet on the chair, trying cross-legged. (To keep your dentist calm, it's probably a good idea to tell her what's happening.) Then when she was back in my mouth, I could focus on the challenge of taking even breaths and keeping my whole face relaxed. The movement helped my body, and being proactive helped my brain, and having my teeth clean helped my smile! 

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Victory Stance Works Both Ways

It's natural for winners to throw their heads back and put arms up and wide when reaching the finish line. The Victory Stance expresses winning as well as pride. Since not everybody can be the first to finish the race, it's nice that Victory Stance also works in reverse. Putting your body in the Stance stimulates feelings of confidence. Claiming a bigger physical space translates into more expansive thoughts. Expansive thinking inspires an uplifted mood, leading to your own feeling of victory. Try it: Hands up and out! Chin lifted! Legs wide and stable! Hold that pose. Suddenly you're a star!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Waiting, One Foot At A Time

Make the most out of time spent waiting. Stand on one foot at a time while waiting for the elevator, using a handy wall or railing for extra support. If you're in a line with a cart, use the instability of the wheels as an added challenge. Standing on one foot while holding on builds your leg muscles. Using your hands less and less for support adds a balance challenge. A worthwhile starting goal is to be able to stand on each foot for 5 seconds, building up to a minute, without help from your hands. Research shows that five seconds on one foot is the threshold of standing strength that helps us with fall prevention, and more than that is even better.

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.

Argh? Self-Soothe. Ahhh!

You can think and act better if you’re not distracted by being upset. There are so many reasons to feel anxiety and/or stress: maybe you overdid a workout, learned something distressing, ate too much junk food, or are facing a hard diagnosis. What’s soothing to each of us is as individual as we are. Maybe a hot bath, sitting a spell in a rocking chair, or a leisurely walk does it for you–pick your favorite(s). I challenge you to also find a quick and mobile way for self-soothing on the fly. For me, I find that one hand on my belly and the other on my heart is a reflex action that reminds me to slow my breathing. And for long-term relief, if you see me dressed in bright blue and walking toward my garden, it possibly means I’m giving myself a soothing uplift. Or maybe I’m just Very Behind on my weeding!

Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.