Month: December 2024

fitness · holiday fitness · holidays · meditation · mindfulness · rest · self care

Making Space 2024: December 31

Christine Hennebury

Hi Space Makers,

Well, here we are at our very last day of Making Space in 2024.

I hope that my posts throughout December gave you a little room to think, a little room, to breathe, and helped you have a little more space for yourself in your own life.

And I hope that my enthusiasm for your space-making efforts helped you to feel supported and helped you to find a little more ease as you made your way through the month.

As we move into a new year (and as I move into creating Go Team! posts for January), I hope that you can take some of that spirit of ease, that sense of space making, that determination to create a little more room for yourself, into your day-to-day.

I truly wish more ease, more relaxation, more personal energy, and more of whatever kind of space you want for yourself for you in 2025.

As I often say in people’s birthday greetings – May the year ahead bring you plenty of time to spend as you choose and may you have plenty of energy to enjoy it fully.

And since this wouldn’t be a Making Space post without some suggested practices, here are a few for you to choose from. (And, as always, you are free to choose something else entirely – you are the boss of you!)

For today, I decided to offer a variety of things – some are long, some are short, some are relaxing, and some are energizing. It’s a ‘take what you need’ kind of thing around here today.

First up, we have our movement practices.

Here’s a relaxing Vin Yin- Relax & Flow 30 Minute Yoga Practice from Yoga with Adriene.

still image shows the instructor lying on her back on a yoga mat with her legs bent at the knee and leaned to one side while she rests her hands on her belly.

And a short Relaxing Yoga Before Bed practice from Yoga with Uliana

still image shows the instructor lying on her back on a yoga mat with one knee bent (foot flat on the floor) and the other leg bent with the bottom of her foot pointed towards the ceiling and she is holding that foot in both hands.

If you are looking for some extra oomph, this Energy Boosting Cardio Jumpstart – Total Body Warm Up from Fitness Blender might be just the thing.

still image shows the instructor standing with one foot further ahead than the other and her arms are in positions they might be when running – one bent at the elbow at her side and one bent at the elbow in front of her.

If you are looking for a longer workout, this PS Fit 30 Minute Energizing Cardio Workout with Amanda Butler is worth a try.

still image shows three happy looking people in exercise clothes demonstrating exercise punches towards the camera

And here are our mindfulness practices.

First up, in case you have a little extra space (or need a little extra space!) we have a 20 Minute Meditation for Inner Strength and Peace from The Mindful Movement

still image shows a photo of two mountaintops on the right and an expanse of pale blue sky on the left and overlaid on the image is the logo for Mindful Movement (overlapping Ms with a purple lotus on top and the word Meditation beneath) and the words Mountain of Strength.

If you are looking for a shorter meditation, then Circles 5-Minute Guided Mindfulness: Relax, Recharge, and Refocus could be just the thing!

And if you aren’t looking for movement or meditation but you want to have something kind of friendly on in the background while you read, rest, do crossword puzzles, or do some handiwork, I have been really enjoying The Dead of Night‘s Ambience videos this month and you might like them too. (If that channel’s videos don’t draw you in, there are tons of other ambience channels you can explore.)

still image shows an animation of a roaring fire, a purring cat, and a cup of tea in a candlelit room that seems inviting (at least to me!)

And that’s it for our Making Space posts for 2024.

Thanks for reading!

May you have ease, joy, and strength in 2025.

Goals, Contradictions, & Planuary
ADHD · advice · goals · new year's resolutions · planning

Goals, Contradictions, & Planuary

Christine Hennebury

This time of year is so full of contradictions.

January 1 is an actual new calendar year BUT it is also an arbitrary date for starting something new. It simultaneously has a lot of meaning AND no meaning at all, goalwise at least.

I love the idea and the feeling of a ‘fresh start’ on January 1 but I resent the pressure and the implication that I need to become a ‘new me.’ (I happen to like current me and I would like to add more good things to her life.)

I am drawn to creating plans, goals, and systems but I feel overwhelmed by the idea that they all need to start on January 1 (an idea that I reject but it still haunts me.)

I love the idea of big challenges (they help me focus) but I need small, recurring tasks if I want to keep working away at my plans (even though my brain argues with me that the tasks aren’t adding up to anything.)

I want to make a long-term plan so I have everything in place right at the beginning but I know that making a detailed plan means that my brain will overlap the plan with the tasks and file the project away as already complete.

I like having something to work towards but I know that focusing on the process rather than the result is the only way to actually add good things to my life.

For all of these reasons (and because I have zero capacity for planning in December), I usually refer to January as Planuary and use this month to figure out how I want to proceed throughout the year – with fitness, with work, and with everything else.

To prepare for Planuary, I’ve been reading and watching a lot of interesting advice about resolutions, goals, and the like.

And since you might also be in the space of contradictions and Planuary and figuring things out, I thought I would share some of the stuff I have found:

Here’s Jessica McCabe from How to ADHD with some advice about accountability. She’s mostly talking to people with ADHD but I’m sure there’s useful stuff for everyone in here:

Karin Nordin. Ph.D., from Body Brain Alliance has some interesting suggestions in this video about how to experiment with your goals before deciding whether to take them on. She suggests this approach as a December experiment but it could work as a Planuary experiment, too.

I really enjoyed this reflection from Kate C. Bowler on Instagram about how we can proceed imperfectly.

And this Instagram post from Kaitlin Curtice is ALL about the contradictions of this time of year.

And I like how this post from Dr. Kristin Neff brings self-compassion and values into the conversation about our plans for the year ahead.

So, with all of this information (and more!) at hand, I am ambling into January/Planuary with the idea of taking things day by day while I figure out the big and small pictures of how I want to expand and enhance (and simplify and streamline) my life in 2025.

AND, as I have been doing for the past few years, I will be writing a daily Go Team post to encourage you (and me!) to be kind to ourselves as we figure things out.

Whether you have your plans in place or whether you are ambling along with me, I hope you’ll keep me company along the way.

This isn’t exactly a Go Team post but it also kind of is, so here is our gold star for our efforts – our efforts to figure things out, our efforts to be at ease with what we haven’t figured out, and our efforts to be kind to ourselves either way.

a photo of a sparkler that has been lit and is giving off sparks and sparkles
I know, I usually use a drawing for our gold stars but this photo of a sparkler always makes me happy and it feels celebratory AND it has lots of star shapes in it so we’re calling it a gold star. Image description: a photo of one of those metal sparklers with flammable, spark-creating material on one end that people use to celebrate special occasions. This one has been lit outside and is giving off all kinds of sparks and sparkles that look like a cluster of gold stars. The background is dark and the metal stick at the bottom of the sparkler is slightly visible at the bottom.

fitness

Want to join our merry band for 225 workouts in 2025? Here’s how…

Sam B

Interested in joining a supportive workout community focused on getting more movement into your days? The 224 workouts in 2024 is rebranding to 225 workouts in 2025, and you’re welcome to join!

This blog post from a few years ago explains how.

Want to join our merry band for 221 workouts in 2021? Here’s how…

fitness

Diane’s 25 in 2025

Diane Harper

I enjoyed trying to do 24 things in 2024. I’ll keep some things, refine others, and add in some new ones. As usual, they are wildly divergent, and I will not get good at anything, but I’ll have fun.

1.       Camp more at the cottage property. Now that I have a cottage to stay in, I hope this will be easier, if I can manage my work schedule.

2.       Figure out Hydro, running water, and a contractor or two to do the inside work on the cottage. Not exactly fitness challenges, but they are adulting things. Last year’s challenges of building permits, septic tank and cottage buildings worked well so I’m feeling confident I can get at least some of this done.

3.       Get the canoe into the water and explore the lake. This may require at least temporary stairs to the water – or more contracting. We shall see!

4.       Hike some of the trails around the cottage area.

5.       Bike at least 2,000 km, including a ride to Gatineau Park for a swim. Last year’s 3,000 km goal turned out to be impossibly ambitious, especially after I retired. My numbers plummeted once those daily rides to the office disappeared. I think 2,000 will be plenty ambitious for the new circumstances. It will require me to get a handle on my ongoing knee and quad pain, so lots of physio is rolled into this one.

6.       Read one book a month. I came so close last year! Sadly (depending on your perspective), I bought more new books than I read, so this challenge will need to remain.

7.       Read one magazine a week. That’s 52 magazines. I had read 41 at the time of writing, and I have enough for at least another year.

8.       Cook one new recipe a week. This is an old habit, but this year’s challenge has three new components. My daughter moved out this year and my dad is unwell, so I need to figure out things that serve only one or two meals and others that match my dad’s dietary requirements. I also want to do more recipe redactions from medieval cookbooks. Let’s say one a month?

9.       Weed and care for my gardens and hopefully harvest more food. This is a repeat, but I’m going to push out of my comfort zone with some different veggies.

10.   Swim. I recently saw people completing the challenge of 200 km a year. I like this! It will mean doubling my time at indoor pools and swimming outdoors, but I think I can do it. I have already signed up for the 2025 Bring On The Bay open water swim.

11.   Do some crafting. I have a few ideas, and one project I know I want to finish for a February deadline. Plus I will be going to a conference in June where I will spend four full days learning new skills.

12.   Sew at least five outfits that have been lurking in my fabric stash and “to do” list for 5 years or more. I have a June deadline for one piece. If I get electricity to the cottage, then I could sew up there. Hmm…

13. Declutter the things in my house. I have been reading a lot about fast fashion and our consumer culture more generally. Getting rid of things may not help, but I feel like it’s time to move them on to someone who will love them more.

14.   Couch surfing vacation to southern Ontario as part of Stratford Theatre trip with friends. No change from last year.

15. Volunteer more. Specifically, I want to lead some harvests for Hidden Harvest. I’ll keep doing the Bike Ottawa and medieval club things, of course.

16.   Visit my son in Toronto. And my new grandson!

My son holding his son, heavily backlit so they are almost in silhouette

17.   Spend more time with my parents. Elder care is going to be a big part of my life for a while, sadly.

18. Stretch! Physio, yoga, some of the stretch and strength videos from Movement Union, do some aquafit classes. Is it too much to dream of physio at least three days a week and one of something else? Probably, but I can give it a shot.

19.   Shop from my pantry. I’m really good at preserving food, not so good at using it up.

20.   Meet up with friends. I hang out with way too many introverts. We love getting together, but it rarely happens. I’ll aim to meet up with one of them each month for coffee or a meal or something.

21.   Do something artistic. Will I finish that oil painting that has been sitting around for years? Work on my calligraphy and illumination? Take a watercolour class? Or just take my sketchbooks to the cottage and put them to use?

22.   Be loud. I discovered my activist voice last year and I liked it.

23.   Relax. Deliberately spend time staring at trees, or lounging in the sun, meditating, or whatever. More specifically, hammock time. Use the one in my back yard and set up one between a couple of trees at the cottage.

24. Set up my bike for indoor rides and see if I can make it track my distances.

25. I have no idea! This is a placeholder for whatever adventures might come my way, or new things I want to explore. This may have been my favourite last year.

advice · holiday fitness · holidays · meditation · mindfulness · self care

Making Space 2024: December 30

Christine Hennebury

Hey there, Space Makers!

Here we are at the last Monday in 2024, the last Monday of this Making Space series, and at the beginning of one of those weird feeling weeks because somehow today is supposed to be a regular day but tomorrow night is festive and Wednesday is a whole new calendar year. Go figure!

So, on a pretend-normal day at the beginning of an odd week, I’m recommending that we create space for ourselves by having some extra fun.

Yeah, I know, you probably have to work or maybe you are thinking about future things, or planning how to spend New Year’s Eve, or juggling various things for kids, relatives, and yourselves, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t add some fun.

Not ‘feels like a whole other job’ level fun, but something that feels doable.

Maybe you blast your favourite music in the car on your way somewhere.

Maybe you draw on your post-it notes for a few minutes.

Maybe you have something special for your lunch.

Maybe you watch a cartoon with the kids over supper.

Maybe you play a board game, or tell some joke, or read a funny book.

Maybe you call a friend and keep each other company while your do some filing or do the dishes or fill out grant applications.

Maybe you gather a few favourite memes and send them to your friend group.

Maybe you lie on the floor with your dog and tell her that she is the best pup.

Really, you can do anything at all as long as it falls into the range of ‘fun and not very much hassle to arrange.’ After all, this is about creating SPACE not about creating extra work.

However you decide to add extra fun to the last Monday of the year and the first day of this odd week, I wish you ease in the process.

And, of course, I offer a couple of possible practices in case you want to create space with movement or with mindfulness. Remember, that these are just suggestions – you are the boss of you!

Our suggested movement practice for today is The Most Fun 15 Minute Cardio Dance Fitness Workout EVER The Studio by Jamie Kinkeade (I don’t know if it’s the *most* fun ever but it IS pretty enjoyable!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN3GgCUmmXw&t=12s

I’m having trouble embedding this video so if it doesn’t show up, here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN3GgCUmmXw&t=12s

And seeing as we are working with fun as our theme, here’s Add Fun to Your Life (Guided Meditation) from Inner Space Meditation. We might as well add fun wherever we can, right?

fitness

Sam’s year in review, the speedy version,  in numbers

Sam B

There’s a lot of big stuff going on in my life and that’s been true for pretty much all of 2024.  It’s been a year.

Work has been especially demanding in 2024. And so too has family. None of that is stuff I feel the need to work through on the blog but it has been relentless,  demanding,  and stressful as much as I love both my family and my work as dean.

The good news from a fitness point of view is that I managed to just keep on trucking and doing my thing.  I certainly think all the exercise helped me stay on a more even keel.

There’s another member of the senior university leadership team who works out at the same gym and often we see each working out before our 830 am meeting.  It helps doesn’t it? We both agreed that it does.

Also, I’m going on research leave in January. 

For the non- academics reading the blog,  you need to know that’s not vacation. Instead, it means my work switches from a mix of mostly administration with a little bit of teaching and research to mostly research with a little bit of grad supervision on the side.

I’ll be at the University of Otago in Dunedin, NZ for the first part of the leave and at the University of Toronto Centre for Ethics for the second part.

Okay,  here’s the 2024 numbers.

Strava

I’m not quite back to my goal of cycling 5,000 kilometres yearly, but I’m working towards it gradually. To achieve this, I’ll need to make some significant commitments, such as participating in a bike rally, going on cycling holidays, and scheduling weekly long rides. A lot of my city riding isn’t recorded on Strava because I don’t always have my Garmin with me.

224 in 2024

My goal was 400 workouts in 2024 and I almost made it. So close! I’ll end the year at 393. No stress.  393 is pretty good.  Number goals work for me as motivation but I don’t feel too bad if I don’t make it precisely all the way.

Physio

I started the year with twice weekly physio,  then weekly,  and then every two weeks.  I still do physio at home and that’s going well.

Sleep

As much as I begrudge sleep (life is so short,  why must we spend a third of it asleep?) I an definitely a person who needs eight hours or more sleep a night.  I have friends who claim to get by on four or six hours of sleep but that’s not me. Sarah can work through the night when she needs to but again that’s not me. I was very happy this year with my sleep habits.  Mostly I avoided 6 hour week night sleeps and 10 hours a night on the weekend. I was pretty consistent.

GoodReads

It’s not strictly speaking a fitness goal,  but reading fiction is definitely part of my overall wellbeing. My goal is to read 25 books a year and,  thanks to audio books,  met my goal.

Onward and upward,  bring on 2025.

advice · fitness · holiday fitness · holidays · meditation · mindfulness · self care

Making Space 2024: December 29

Christine Hennebury

Hello Space Makers!

As we get closer to the end of 2024, the posts about resolutions, making changes, and “self improvement” are getting more frequent and more intense.

If planning new things is appealing to you at the moment, then have it.

I don’t object to the practice, I object to the idea that we have to have everything figured out right now, that we have to take ourselves away from holiday, end-of-year mode and jump right into something new.

And I hate the ‘do it now!’ ‘last chance!’ ‘be better!’ tone of a lot of those posts.

Please don’t let all that pressure crowd into your space.

It’s ok to be seeking rest, to be reflective, to take things as slowly as feels right to you. It’s ok to keep making space for yourself to be the way you want to be right now.

And whether or not you feel like moving into goal-setting mode, please remember that there is nothing wrong with you, that you aren’t a project, and that you do not need to be fixed.

If you want to add something new to your life, if you want to change something about your systems or your processes, or you want to make your life better in some way, and the new year seems like a good time to do that, please forge ahead.

Just be kind to yourself in the process.

But if all of these posts and ideas about resolutions and changes just feel like more pressure and if they make you feel like you’re not getting enough space, then you don’t have to change anything.

You don’t need resolutions just because there’s a new calendar year.

You don’t have to be on a constant mission of self improvement.

You do not have to add more tasks just for the sake of adding them.

And if you think you might like to make some changes, or to add some more interesting things, some more fun or some more challenges to your life, you do not have to start on January 1.

You can pick a convenient time of your own choosing when you feel you will have the resources to follow through on your plans.

As you may know, every January, I write a series of Go Team posts that are about encouraging you to start the year with self-kindness, to be realistic about your interests, your capacity, and your time, and, if you are trying to build new habits, that it’s ok to go gently.

Within those posts I like to remind people that I’m there to provide support and encouragement, not pressure. No one has to start anything new in January. They can start whenever they like.

Personally, while I start some things in January, I have also labelled the month as Planuary because that’s when I like to sit down and think about the months ahead the best I can.

So, keep in mind that this is your life and these are your plans.

Trying to cram yourself into someone else’s idea of what you should do won’t leave you with a lot of space for yourself.

So I hope that you will reject, to the best of your ability, any outside pressure to proceed in a way that doesn’t serve you well.

I hope you’ll take up the space and time that you need to figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it.

And I wish you ease throughout that process.

With all of that said, let’s check out the suggested practices for today. After all, we need space both now and in the future and sometimes we have to work on both of those things at once.

Our suggested movement practice is a Short Wake Up Flow from Yoga with Adriene

Still image shows the instructor in a low lunge with her hands in prayer position in front of her chin/chest. She is on a yoga mat in front of a window. The words ‘Wake Up Flow’ are overlaid on the image.

And our mindfulness practice is Evolving Through Life’s Cycles from Great Meditation

Still images shows an cartoon-style illustration of a young person with long hair sitting cross-legged with their arms resting on the tops of their legs, fingers curled, hands are palm upwards. There are illustrations of swamp-style plants in the background and around the edges. The title of the video is in dark green in the upper right.
A big pile of bikes and bike parts. By Eric Prouzet for Unsplash. Catherine’s decluttering plans for 2025
challenge · fitness · Happy New Year! · new year's resolutions

Catherine’s decluttering plans for 2025

catherine w1 Comment

My dear readers,

Remember when Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, came out?

Studious alligator doesn’t know.

Neither did I. Google does– it was 2011, and was released in the US in 2014. But it wasn’t until the January 2019 Netflix series that full-on Kondo-ing fever hit. All of a sudden, thrift shops and donation bins everywhere were overflowing with good stuff. We all wanted to get rid of whatever no longer brought us joy. And yes, I joined the throw-out brigade.

But that was six years ago. In the meantime, stuff has built back up. And not just stuff: the grime and residue and smudginess of habits and ruts and plans (even new pandemic-provoked ones) created too much complexity, too much mess. Some of us (by us I mean me) thought that by tweaking or shifting around or reconfiguring, we (I) could juggle all the things (physical and mental) to function efficiently and happily.

Yeah, no.

It’s now five years later, and I’m in need of a full Marie Kondo treatment– not just of my stuff, but of my life habits. Back in 2016, I wrote about Marie Kondo here, concluding that, for my workouts, more was still more. And during the pandemic, Sam was on Team More, doing more and more varied workouts. I was on Team Less can be More. Fast forward to now, I’m joining Team Less Life Clutter. How to do that? Here are some ideas I came up with:

 Fewer streaming services– I mean, how many spy suspense series and cooking shows can I actually watch while I have a job? I’m dropping Apple+ and Hulu. Keeping Netflix, Amazon Prime, and PBS (public tv app, which is awesome). We’ll see how long Amazon Prime stays around…

Fewer clothes– I’m going on a serious buy nothing* plan starting this January (*except basics that urgently need replacing and stuff from my favorite consignment shop, provided I bring things to consign, too).

Fewer books—ACK! *breathing* I have way too much books that I’ve already read or won’t read or don’t need. Plus, I have many books that I WANT to read, but they’re not organized or easily accessible. Imma organize them so I can see the vast selection I own, and put the brakes on buying for a while* (*except for book club books I can’t get from the library or something urgently needed for research).

Fewer and simpler physical activity plans—for the next two months, I’m cutting back my list of exercise activities to three: 1) one yoga class per week; 2) one trip to the gym per week; 3) ride my bike trainer once per week. Let’s see how that goes. If two weeks goes by and I don’t do all three, I’ll cut back to two, and so on until I do at least one of these every week for 4 weeks. Then I can build back up. I got so caught up in work and family stuff and social stuff that I lost consistent regular workouts. I want them back.

Less variety in my meditation– I’ve used the Happiness app (formerly Ten Percent Happiness) since 2020, and I’ve noticed that I gravitate towards the same 15–20 guided meditations and 5–6 teachers. I’m also doing more unguided meditation.

I used to think I should switch it up more and get exposed to more meditation teachers, more approaches, more variations on practice. But I’m really happy with the meditation practice I’ve embedded in my life. I do 10–20 minutes first thing in the morning, every morning. I *might* do another session in the afternoon if I’m feeling extra leisurely and contemplative. But honestly, the morning sesh fixes me up for the day.

Fewer classes to teach—I teach a four-course/semester load at my university (which is a LOT), and in addition, have been teaching at least one overload course per semester for extra money. This year, I’m getting rid of the extra course as soon as possible (maybe this spring, but definitely in the fall, and no summer school teaching!) I really enjoy teaching, but have noticed that I can’t really maintain the quality of focus I want and need when I teach so many courses. Luckily I have a little wiggle room to cut back.

Less gear: I’m selling my ultra-light speedy kayak that I bought myself as a 60th birthday gift. Here we are back in 2022.

Don’t we look happy together? Nothing bad happened, but the thrill is gone…

I was very excited to get my own boat, and loved how light it was (27 lbs/13kg). However, it just didn’t suit me in the end. So I’m letting it go. I may buy a used tandem recreational kayak if I can find a good deal. We shall see. I already have all the gear I need for it (except for one more paddle and PFD/life jacket). I’m also letting go of my old squash racket and tennis racket. I haven’t used them in a while, and they deserve good homes.

Looking at my decluttering list, I didn’t mention lots of things I really love– swimming, kayaking (in other boats), walking in nature, travel to nature places, fun outdoorsy adventures, possible new activities (full disclosure: I’m planning a bungie fitness class with my friend Martin sometime this winter, and want to take some parkour fitness again, too). BUT: I really need some decluttering before take on anything new. So, it’s time to let go. Less is less, but it’s not nothing!

Dear readers, do you have plans for decluttering any parts of your activity life this coming year? Are you adding to your schedule? Happy as you are? I’d love to hear from you.

ADHD · advice · fitness · habits · holiday fitness · holidays · meditation · mindfulness · self care

Making Space 2024: December 28

Christine Hennebury

Hi Space Makers!

Before we get to today’s suggested practices, I’m inviting you to give some thought to future you. *

And the future you I’d like you to consider is the person who will be trying to get things done next December.

What does that person need to know?

What have you figured out in the process this year that you want to make note of for the future?

What expectations (yours and others’) can you work to change now, so that future version of yourself can have things a little easier?

What reminders can you set for future you?

A few years ago, I got into the habit of putting reminders into my calendar for this time next year and it has made a huge difference.

One year I set a reminder for myself to buy new Christmas lights at the end of November the following year.

Another time, I put a reminder in my phone telling me where I was storing the Christmas tablecloths so that future me wouldn’t have to scramble to find them.

And I have also included reminders to help somebody with something earlier in December then I did this year, reminders of when to do specific holiday related tasks, and reminders of tips for gift shopping.

Even though I often have trouble envisioning a future time, this time of year seems to be an exception.

There’s something about being in the thick of it right now that makes it really clear to me what I will need next time December rolls around. Right now, it’s much easier to imagine a future version of what I’m doing at the moment, especially a version that I could shape to make things more straightforward for future me.

Every time I have done this, it has both come in handy and I have been surprised by the information. I always completely forget that I’ve set these reminders and then I’m really grateful to past me when they pop up.

And on top of the straight-up utility of this process, it feels really good to take good care of myself this way. I can only assume that it would be the same for you. And, obviously, I’m all for things that help us feel better in the moment and in the future.

As for feeling better in the moment, I have included a movement practice and a meditation practice below. You are free to choose either or both of these or to choose something else of your liking to create space for yourself today

No matter what you choose to do, please take good care of yourself and be kind. May you have ease today, and always.

Our movement practice for today is A Quick Individual Medley Workout from Ella’s Wheelchair Workouts

Still image is of the instructor, wearing exercise clothes and sitting in her wheelchair, leaning to one side as she ‘swims’ one arm forward. She is smiling and looks like she is enjoying herself.

And our mindfulness practice for today is Guided Breathing Meditation To Relax And Be Calm from Mindful Peace

Still image is of a ring of light with a dark centre with beams emanating from it and the words ‘Just Breathe (Calm and Relaxed)’ overlaid in white.

*If today isn’t the right day for this, consider doing this type of thinking sometime soon instead. And, of course, be kind to yourself when and if you do this type of thinking. The goal is to make next year easier while this year’s events and activities are fresh in your mind, this is not about adding complications for future you.

fitness · holidays · traveling · walking

En marchant à Paris (walking in Paris)

fieldpoppy

A lot of what we capture on this blog is the counting of fitness — number of workouts in a year, kilometres ridden or run, personal best in a race, time in a heart rate zone, steps in a day. All useful in their own categories of marking accomplishments, meeting goals.

But some steps are more transcendent than others. Susan and I gave ourselves the gift of a short trip to Paris for the beginning of the holidays. It was grey and rainy and every step had a story.

Friday, 6598 steps. Arrive, fall fast asleep, wander out to find a vegan feast whose colours mock the early darkness.

One of the many meditations on death in the catacombs.

Saturday, 20,275 steps. Death and ancestors. We voyage through the catacombs and then make a pilgrimage to the church next to the Salpêtrière. This building started out as a gunpowder factory and then became a place for “poor” women of Paris — meaning beggars, orphans, mentally ill, sex workers and, later, criminals. Now it’s a sprawling hospital, but I wanted to visit it because it’s also the place where many of the Filles du Roi — the single women sent to marry the colonists of New France around 1670 — were recruited. Like all people of French Canadian origin, I have several of these women in my family tree — and I wanted to acknowledge their strength and resilience. The church they would have worshipped is still standing, a shabby contrast to the miraculous restoration of Notre Dame – and I pictured the shivering young girls of the mid 17th century, hoping for a better life. I wrote my ancestors a letter of thanks. It came out in French.

Sunday, 18407 steps. A windy and rainy encounter with the excesses of empire and colonization in Versailles, which sends us into rabbit holes of the causes of revolution and during which Treaties the Europeans actually divided up the Middle East (Sevres) and Africa (Versailles). I spend a lot of time talking smack about Napoleon.

The wind whips us back to Paris instead of wandering the gardens of Versailles, which are mostly covered for the winter in any case. We cleanse our palates with a wander through the Picasso museum and the cutest shop of paper products I’ve ever seen. We find a serendipitous charming tiny, crowded italian resto where the owner unexpectedly calls for everyone’s attention and then serenades us with Con Te Partiro.

Yes I did take a photo of Athena. After I looked at her and decided I wanted to take her with me. And I wasn’t in anyone’s way.

Monday, 20,116 steps. Simultaneously sublime and enraging, it’s the Louvre. Sublime because, well, the Louvre. All the art. Truly transcendent moments. More opportunities to talk smack about Napoleon. Enraging because of the rivers of humanity holding their phones above their heads with video on while not actually looking at the art. We fantasize about paying extra for a No Phones around the Art day. I ask Athena for some rageful wisdom.

We eat more pain au chocolat and bouche de Noel and take a ride on the Roue de Paris just as night falls and all of the lights come on. Dinner is at a random, teeny vaguely Mediterranean vegetarian place festooned with vines that might be the most charming wee spot I’ve ever eaten, though the kitchen and its burning oil are basically right in front of us and we both have to use our inhalers before bed. We have a cocktail in a Hungarian restaurant and then wander out to the dampened nightlife of our Le Pigalle neighbourhood, admire the spritely sleaze of the Moulin Rouge.

Tuesday, 16,795 steps. Christmas eve. We march off to the Eiffel Tower, which neither of us has ever been up, with our tickets that include a glass of champagne at the top. Just as we arrive, it shuts down because of a fire on the top floor. No one is hurt, but more than 1000 people are evacuated and we get to watch the pompiers at work. We eat more pain au chocolat while deciding what to do, head for the Musée d’Orsay. More art, more cursing of the people with phones, though they are a little less voracious here. I look at Mary Cassatt’s Jeune fille au jardin and want to photoshop a phone into her hand.

We both do some serious stretching before dinner, feet worn down by all the tromping, my plantar fasciitis held at bay by my hideous cushy Hokas. But I trade the comfy shoes for Fluevog boots for our final adventure, dinner in Montmartre and then midnight mass at Sacré-Coeur.

Mass is another pilgrimage for me, one of the only things I can do in my weird 21st century life that my ancestors would recognize. I connect with my mother, with all of my grandmothers, whose fortitude and shortness twirl through my DNA. Susan is patient. I’m grateful for everything.

Christmas Day: We fly home lying flat, blessedly upgraded, astronauts compared to my ancestors and their 17th century ships. I’m filled with gratitude and thoughts of revolution.

**

Fieldpoppy is Cate Creede-Desmarais, who is descended from four Filles du Roi — Jeanne Petit, Catherine Paulo, Anne Rivet, Marguerite Girard — and from Marie Margarie, Jeanne de St. Pere and Gillette Banne, three “Filles à Marier” who arrived between 1634-1662, decades earlier than the Filles du Roi. Gillette has the distinction of being the first woman executed for murder in New France — she killed her daughter’s abusive husband.(Those links are little video bios of each woman made by genealogist Lisa Elvin-Staltari).

Cate is pretty sure that her grit and penchant for riding her bike alone across new countries is written in her DNA from these women.