Whether you are celebrating Christmas Eve, celebrating Sunday, or just ambling through an ordinary day, I hope you can find some ease, rest, and space in there somewhere.
And, no matter what, please remember that you are doing the best you can with the resources you have. Try not to be hard on yourself about things left undone.
If you are looking for a way to get out of your head and take a break from your to do list, here are two videos to try:
Still image shows the instructor in an exercise studio, the video title is superimposed over the middle of the image.
And for our meditation today, here’s a Midday Recharge from Mindful Peace
Still image shows a clear glass cup of coffee on a white table with a laptop computer next to it. The title of the video ‘Midday Recharge: Guided Mindfulness Meditation is in white text at the top of the image.
About Making Space 2023: In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating.
In 2021, I started doing daily December reminders with a post called Give Yourself Some Space, and that’s how the ‘Making Space‘ December tradition began. Throughout December 2021 and 2022, I wrote a short post that included two videos – one for exercise and one for meditation – and a bit of encouragement for you to make space for yourself at this busy time of year.
These posts are not about cramming more things into your month, they reminding you that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and that you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need at the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day. Just do whatever you can to give yourself a little more breathing room.
So, some of these posts may be long and some may be short but please know that every single one of them is written with the hope that you can find a little ease in your day, whatever that looks like for you.
Well, it’s happened. I didn’t know if it ever would. But this was my year. Yes, I’m talking about finishing my 223 workouts in 2023 challenge without frantically rushing around the block multiple times on December 30 or grimly doing bridge exercises in my living room. But, on December 22, I made it: hit the 223 mark!
Go me!
Yes, I know this news isn’t of tremendous import: I wasn’t the first over the line, and it was Dec 22 when I met the goal. But: this was the first year since I joined the challenge group in 2018 that it went so smoothly. Every other year, I had to plot and plan to get the workouts in over the holidays so I could finish up by Dec 30 or 31. All that last-minute hustling left me feeling foolish instead of glad or proud. Not good.
Poor me!
But that didn’t happen this year. What was different in 2023?
Looking back, I see a few changes. The main one is that I sought out or let myself be pulled into group activity. This sounds simple, but during the pandemic many of us shifted to more solitary workouts. I thought that would go well for me. It so didn’t. Turns out I do much better in groups, even groups where I’m the least fit person.
Also, I traveled more in 2023, seeing friends and family, going to conferences, doing a little touristing even. Again, I wasn’t a solitary self for any of these trips; I was accompanied by friends or family, who swam and walked and cycled and did yoga alongside me. It was fun. More often than not it was low-key as well– just getting outside and enjoying ourselves.
My sister and niece with the dogs, accompanying me on workout number 223.
This year I tried to say yes to more outings with people, to worry less about my fitness and instead to focus on spending time with people whose company I enjoy. And those people often like to move around in space (including water). So I went with them, and enjoyed myself as well.
Finally, a big shout-out to Nature, for being there all the time, ready to accept our visits. None of this is news to any of us, but heading out to green spaces, preferably near water, smooths out the rough edges of anyone’s day. Here are a few highlights from workout #224, done yesterday with family.
Winter brush with a view of the Congaree river in South Carolina.Rocks and gentle rapids in the afternoon sun.Unexpected art carving of two owls in a log beside the river.
I expect I’ll rack up a few more workouts before year’s end. But I’m not sweating it. And that, my friends, is news to me!
Dear readers, how is your end of year activity going? Are you getting out there? Staying in? Looking to bust out of a relative’s living room to stretch your legs? Running after dogs or kids? I’d love to hear from you.
If you’re pressed for time and space today, I have just the thing…
Two coffee break-themed videos to help you make a little room for you in your day.
First up is a 5 minute stretch break with Studio Jibby
Still image shows the instructor, a woman with dark brown skin in exercise clothes, standing on a yoga mat. She is facing away from the camera and there are plants on either end of her mat. The title of the video ‘5 Min Stretch Break at home workouts’ are on title cards superimposed on the upper right side of the image.
Still image shows the title of the video ‘The Coffee Meditation a 5 Minute Meditation by Vidyamala Burch’ super imposed over a photo of three cups of coffee on the left and a cup of coffee amidst a heart made of coffee beans on the right
I actually hope you have way more than 5 minutes to spend doing your own thing today but even if this day is a whirlwind, perhaps you have time to linger over your coffee/tea or to do a few stretches while it brews.
Wishing you ease and rest, whatever that looks like for you.
About Making Space 2023: In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating.
In 2021, I started doing daily December reminders with a post called Give Yourself Some Space, and that’s how the ‘Making Space‘ December tradition began. Throughout December 2021 and 2022, I wrote a short post that included two videos – one for exercise and one for meditation – and a bit of encouragement for you to make space for yourself at this busy time of year.
These posts are not about cramming more things into your month, they reminding you that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and that you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need at the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day. Just do whatever you can to give yourself a little more breathing room.
So, some of these posts may be long and some may be short but please know that every single one of them is written with the hope that you can find a little ease in your day, whatever that looks like for you.
Image description: Ten-pound hexagonal dumbbell in the foreground on a wood laminate floor, with a blurry background that includes a pair of running shoes on the left and two kettlebells to their right. Photo by Tracy Isaacs
We are almost into 2024 and maybe, just maybe, you are looking around for something you can really jump into to kickstart your year. I was already feeling that way back at the beginning of December, when I decided I couldn’t wait until January. I started easing myself back into some resistance training with short sessions by Irish YouTube trainer, Caroline Girvan. The workouts themselves are easy to find on YouTube.
Before I knew it, I stumbled into her EPIC series, which started with the first ten-week EPIC program about three years ago, when all of our training went virtual because of the pandemic. As I write this, I’m into week three of the program and loving it. It’s five workouts a week: three are about 45 minutes, Fridays are an hour-long full body workout, and Sundays are a 30-minute-ish HIIT session. Rest days on Thursday and Saturday. All you need are dumbbells, a mat, and your body, with some sessions, like HIIT, requiring just bodyweight and a mat. It’s ideal for home workouts, although already I can see that I’ll be wanting some heavier dumbbells along the way.
That’s okay. For now, I’m making do with a set of 4LB and a set of 10LB dumbbells, a 15LB kettlebell and a 20LB kettlebell. I wouldn’t mind some 8 or 12 pound DBs, and definitely a set of 15 pounders. I have a full range of more than I will ever need downstairs in my condo’s fitness centre. But for now I’m loving that I can just do these workouts in my own space at my own pace with no one else around.
The program is not for the feint of heart. If I hadn’t had so much pandemic training from Alex, who taught us how to modify where needed, I would probably have decided I wasn’t up for the challenge and opted for something less intense.
Image description: Sheet of paper with EPIC 1 SCHEDULE written at the top and Monday to Sunday calendar grid of squares, indicating workouts/rest days. Twelve squares have stickers with checkmarks on them.
I printed off the schedule and posted it on my wall to motivate me and keep me on track. Each time I complete a workout, I put a sticker with a checkmark on that day in the calendar. I have come to know something about myself: I am highly motivated by streaks. Once I can get a streak going, I don’t want it to end. So far I have done each workout on its scheduled day. This morning was Day Twelve: a full 45 minutes of shoulder work.
Caroline’s style is a “follow the leader” kind of style. She gives some remarks at the beginning of the workout explaining what’s to come in terms of the timing of work intervals and rest intervals. For example, today’s was 30 seconds on followed by 30 seconds of rest, but often it’s 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest, and on HIIT days rest can be as little as ten seconds. She also gives some tips and suggestions at the beginning. And for context, she tells us what weights she’s using for the workout that day.
But once the opening remarks are done, she doesn’t talk again. Instead, she clearly demos the moves and you just follow along with her. There is a count-down timer on the active intervals and the rest intervals, and the screen tells you clearly what is coming up, including an inset video that shows her doing the next set. You get three beeps before the end of a set and then a longer beep to indicate it’s over. I find it really easy to follow along and I love that she doesn’t talk throughout. This is really a matter of personal preference. I know others who prefer the style of trainer that talks you through and motivates you that way. For now, I’m enjoying this approach.
Anyone familiar with resistance training will find a range of familiar moves, sometimes with variations. You’ll find all manner of squats and lunges, push-ups and burpees, planks, presses, dips, curls, skull-crushers, raises, flyes, deadlifts, and sometimes very complex (to me) moves like makers or burpees into an overhead press. The Sunday HIIT sessions are pretty intense. I’ve only done two Sundays so far and last time I had to opt for the low-impact alternative. It was clear from the outset that I would be completely defeated by 30 minutes of burpee variations. But I love that she offers a low-impact option, and it was intense enough for me.
The workouts vary in approach. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they are usually a focus on upper or lower body, but sometimes really zero in — like today’s shoulder workout and yesterday’s quad-focused squat-fest. Some days they are “no-repeat,” where every single set is different. Some days, like today and yesterday, the sets are repeated in the traditional way you would expect. They are always (or at least so far) by time, not by reps.
Ab work is included some, but not all, days. It is really hard.
Caroline herself has a chisled physique and an enormous amount of energy. She throws herself into the workouts and never asks anyone to do anything she’s not doing herself. That said, she is human and sometimes has to take breaks too. I find that reassuring.
If I had one complaint it’s the music. I understand that for copyright reasons it’s just not possible for her to use all the latest and greatest workout hits and switch up her playlists. The music for workouts is basically the same playlist every day, and it’s not particularly catchy though it’s got a decent beat. It’s either the limited playlist that she has purchased a license to use or it’s available open source. Either way, it gets rather repetitive and if I didn’t need the beep countdown to tell me when a set was over, I might do as Anita suggested and mute her tracks to play my own. Yesterday I experimented with putting the volume on her music very low once the workout started and listening to an audiobook. That worked pretty well.
As is always the case when I see quality content for free on YouTube, I am really impressed that this is a free offering. I’m sure she has enough followers now that, like Adriene of Yoga with Adriene, she has developed a solid income stream through YouTube ads and some premium content that she offers through her app.
Looking ahead, I still have quite a few weeks left of EPIC 1. I have enjoyed every workout so far and I already feel as if I am getting stronger. Caroline Girvan’s EPIC program has definitely lifted me out of my rut. With four more EPIC programs available to try after this ten weeks is up, I feel good about deciding now to make her EPIC series my focus for resistance training in 2024.
Do you have any YouTube trainers to recommend? What are your plans for 2024?
Ever heard that proverb/saying/quote “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day but if you don’t have time, sit in meditation for an hour”?
Well, don’t worry! I am not about to suggest that you exercise and meditate for an hour each and I would never start throwing the word should around like that.
But…
BUT…
I’m wondering if you will accept a challenge on this 22nd day of December…
I DARE you to take twice as long as you think you can spare and do something that helps you feel most like yourself today.
Yes, this *may* mean that you run out of time to do something on your to do list but it’s more likely that you’ll fit in your fun AND get the most important stuff done.
(To do lists are tricky that way, They try to take over your whole brain and make you feel like you don’t have time for anything else. Please don’t let the list win!)
In the spirit of taking twice as much time on this 22 day, I have two exercise videos and two meditation videos for you.
For today’s first exercise video, let’s get everything moving with this Total Body Circuit from Silver Sneakers
Still image – the left side of the image is blue with the video title in white text, the right side of the image shows a person in exercise clothes in a room with green walls. Their arms are raised to shoulder height as of they are in the middle of a movement.
Our second video is a great Full Body Stretch from Yoga with Bird.
Still image shows the instructor in exercise clothes on a yoga mat. She is doing the ‘thread the needle’ stretch where you start in your hands and knees, then extend one arm forward on the mat while ‘threading’ the other arm underneath it and out to the opposite side.
If you’re feeling a bit frazzled today OR if you feel pretty good and would like to feel even better, give this Centering Meditation from Generation Calm a try.
Still image features the video title on the left, in the centre is a picture of a person wearing headphones and that picture dissolves into a pattern of different shades of light.
Our second video is an exercise called ‘take a deep breath’ from Calm
Still image is a picture of a rippling mountain lake with trees and mountains at the edge. I’m the centre of the image is a blue circle that expands and contracts in the video to help guide the breath.
About Making Space 2023: In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating.
In 2021, I started doing daily December reminders with a post called Give Yourself Some Space, and that’s how the ‘Making Space‘ December tradition began. Throughout December 2021 and 2022, I wrote a short post that included two videos – one for exercise and one for meditation – and a bit of encouragement for you to make space for yourself at this busy time of year.
These posts are not about cramming more things into your month, they reminding you that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and that you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need at the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day. Just do whatever you can to give yourself a little more breathing room.
So, some of these posts may be long and some may be short but please know that every single one of them is written with the hope that you can find a little ease in your day, whatever that looks like for you.
In some recent conversations, friends have remarked how busy the Christmas holiday season has felt this year. Although the Pandemic Times were awful, stressful, and difficult, with far fewer social events it was, for some, at least a quieter and slower time.
Lately I’ve also been noticing stories friends have shared about slowness: “slow living” ideas, a slow AF run club online community, a “monk class” where students live an ascetic life for 30 days.
Sam, Christine, and Susan have long been encouraging and celebrating slowness on the FIFI blog. They have described helpful strategies they have used to slow down, including journaling, drawing, practicing yoga, and doing things alone.
I am grateful for these ideas. I also think it is tough for me to “slow down” by adding to my life more activities that promote slowness. Do I need more slower things, or just fewer things?
Doing fewer things is hard for me. I was raised to value efficiency and productivity, and I’ve always wanted plenty of people and fun new challenges in my life. I have amazing ppl in my life who are active, and I want to keep up. Though I’ve had plenty of FOMO, I’ve never really experienced JOMO, the “joy of missing out.”
However, a recent series of calendar mistakes, being sick with a cold that won’t go away, and a fender bender accident I caused when I was rushing and stressed have all been reminders (in the case of my car, an expensive one) that I need to take slowing down more seriously. It’s affecting my life in ways I don’t want.
During the Pandemic Times, Susan wrote about acknowledging the privilege she has to be able to slow down (when others can’t), yet at the same time note, as she writes, “[i]t doesn’t slow anything down at all for me to shamefully, gratefully cling to my privilege and watch the world spiral.” I feel this way too.
As I look to the new calendar year, I see my world is set to wind back up into the constant busy-ness that I crave but can also get overwhelmed by. I intend to be more mindful about doing less, go more slowly, and think about doing so as a privilege rather than a loss.
I hope that you are feeling a little wiggle room in your day and/or you can give yourself a little wiggle room later.
This may be a good time to revamp your list of tasks and activities that you have planned for the next while and see if anything can be shifted, changed, discarded, or resized.
It may also be a good time to check if you have included enough fun or soothing or restful activities over the days ahead.
And, yes, I know it can be tricky to undertake both of those processes but even a five minute look at your list might be enough to make a difference.
Personally, I always find that deciding NOT to do something from the ‘if I have time’ part of my list or doing anything that closes an open loop creates a lot of mental space.I hope you can have the same result.
So, on to our videos for today!
I just loved the friendly energy from the instructor, Panida Klintong, in this Energy Boost Routine from Brain Education TV and I hope you will, too.
Still image features the instructor in comfy clothing standing on an orange mat in an exercise studio, reaching their right arm overhead and leaning slightly to the left. They look happy and engaged. On the right side of the image is the title of the video 10 Minute Routine Energy Boost in white text.
If your brain feels a bit too crowded to try the process I suggest above, perhaps this 5 minute Declutter Your Mind Meditation from Mindly will help.
Still image is a cartoon drawing of a person with long hair wearing clothes in soothing shades of sitting cross-legged on grass. There are small plants in the far corners on either side, hills in shades of white and beige in the background, and the sky is a pale peach colour. The overall effect is restful.
About Making Space 2023: In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating.
In 2021, I started doing daily December reminders with a post called Give Yourself Some Space, and that’s how the ‘Making Space‘ December tradition began. Throughout December 2021 and 2022, I wrote a short post that included two videos – one for exercise and one for meditation – and a bit of encouragement for you to make space for yourself at this busy time of year.
These posts are not about cramming more things into your month, they reminding you that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and that you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need at the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day. Just do whatever you can to give yourself a little more breathing room.
So, some of these posts may be long and some may be short but please know that every single one of them is written with the hope that you can find a little ease in your day, whatever that looks like for you.
I have terrible posture. I know that my slouching shoulders and downward gaze are directly related to the sore neck and back that have plagued me most of my adult life.
Thirty years ago I started to realize that I didn’t need to hunch over to hide my breasts. And yet… it has been (and remains) a huge struggle to undo the habit that came with with being a bigger girl in a world where role models were stick-thin.
Good posture would help me with all my fitness activities, especially dance and horseback riding. It’s really hard to engage your core properly if one half is stretched and the other half is squished.
It will be increasingly important as I age. A strong, straight spine will help with balance (and lower the risk of falls). It helps maintain a wider range of motion, increased lung capacity, and reduce pain.
Changing the habit is at least as much mental as physical. I do all my little stretches and rolling my shoulders down and back, but what really works for me is visualization. A favourite dance teacher used to tell my class to stand up straight and show off our jewels. The double entendre always made us giggle, but we did make an effort to look a bit more like this:
A dancer from the Cincinnati Ballet poses en pointe. She is wearing a white and gold tutu with a lot of jewels attached at the neckline and upper chest.
Imagining myself as a real queen helps too – my favourite is Queen Latifah. She looks so tall and confident in every picture I can find. Look for yourself and you too will be exclaiming “Queen!”
Remembering to hold my head a little higher and pull my shoulders down and away from my ears makes me feel more like a Queen!, or at least a queen. I can feel my abdominal muscles lengthening and engaging the moment I sit or stand up straight. I even get a little smile going.
I hope I have at least another 30 years to work on wearing that imaginary crown and showing off those jewels.
A cartoon woman with red hair, a big smile and a green shirt is putting a shiny crown on her head. Image is from freepik.com.
I really need an extra soft day about now and I hope you’ll join me in going extra easy today.
Let’s start by making space for this 5 Minute Gentle Couch Yoga Stretch from Santosha Spirit.
Still image shows the instructor in comfy clothes seated on a couch with one hand on their heart and one hand on their belly.
And let’s follow up with this meditation for encouragement that’s called ‘Slow Down You’re Doin’ Fine’ from Katie McLaughlin
Still image is of a cartoon person with long dark hair sitting crossed-legged on a sand dune with other sand dunes in the background.
Whether you spend today slowing down or speeding up, I hope you find a pace that works for you and that let’s you have the space you need. 💚
About Making Space 2023: In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating.
In 2021, I started doing daily December reminders with a post called Give Yourself Some Space, and that’s how the ‘Making Space‘ December tradition began. Throughout December 2021 and 2022, I wrote a short post that included two videos – one for exercise and one for meditation – and a bit of encouragement for you to make space for yourself at this busy time of year.
These posts are not about cramming more things into your month, they reminding you that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and that you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need at the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day. Just do whatever you can to give yourself a little more breathing room.
So, some of these posts may be long and some may be short but please know that every single one of them is written with the hope that you can find a little ease in your day, whatever that looks like for you.
Podcasts are one of my favorite new-media creations. I mean, the sheer variety of topics and arbitrary specificity you can sink into on a podcast is dizzying. I don’t consider my listening habits extremely eclectic, but in the past year I’ve learned more than I expected about eradicating smallpox, how to survive in a lifeboat at sea, what counts as improperly influencing jury selection, and the great joy in taking a road trip with your grandmother.
Here are four podcasts, all of which are talking about books that either I have read or plan on reading as soon as possible. All are written by women working on responding to big obstacles that keep us constrained physically, geographically, vocationally, psychologically.
We’ve written a lot about self-care in many modes: where we’ve looked for it, how we have found it (fleetingly, but still), critiquing the idea of it on equity and privilege grounds, what to do when you can’t engage in it, etc.
One of my favorite podcasts, NPR’s Code Switch, had an episode last week critical of the notion of self-care, with ideas about what to do instead. It featured Dr. Pooja Lakshmin talking about her new book on the topic. Her opening salvo, “you can’t meditate your way out of a 40-hour work week with no childcare.” Listen and see what you think.
Another favorite, On Being, played an interview with Sara Hendren, author of What Can a Body Do? How We Meet the Built World, Hendren is a design professor at Northeastern University questions, according to the show notes, “why we organize the physical world around vulnerability and needs for assistance are not commonplace– indeed salutary– forms of experience that reveal the genius of what being human is all about.” Yeah, what she said. Check it out if this sounds appealing.
Sometimes we all need a break from looking inward and just want to listen along to a good story and chuckle. If that’s where you are, I got you– listen to this interview of comic genius Leslie Jones on NPR’s Fresh Air podcast. Jones has her own particular way of being Leslie-Jones-positive that we can all learn from. She’s got a memoir out, and, although I don’t think I can write the title in this blog, here’s an adorable picture of her from the cover.
Little Leslie Jones, looking like a natural with that mic in her hand.
The Exra Klein Show takes on big and hard and complicated issues, so it’s a place I go when I’m looking for an extended conversation about something that merits deep thinking. One of the most interesting interviews he did this past year (IMHO) was with professor and author Kristen Ghodsee about the past and potential future of communal living. She wrote a book that I’ve really enjoyed called Everyday Utopia: What 2000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life. I admit that I’ve always been drawn to sharing space and things with others– not just family. Some of us bloggers talk, only half-jokingly, about establishing a feminist tiny house commune one day, complete with bikes and sports equipment shed (a big one), library, big communal social and eating spaces, etc. Ghodsee and Klein work through some of the obstacles and solutions of making stronger communities. I recommend both the podcast and the book.
Readers, what are some of your favorite podcasts? Why are they favorites? I’d love to hear from you.
