I have a lot of things I want to get done today but the most important thing on my list is making a very loose schedule for the next week or so.
Yeah, it seems weird to be making a schedule for what is, essentially, a holiday week for me but I know that creating that plan will make a big difference for my busy brain.
See, I have all kinds of things of fun and interesting things I want to do and all kinds of tasks that will contribute to those things.
What I don’t have is unlimited time and energy.
So, today, I am going to spend an hour or so looking at the holiday things I am hoping to do, and the tasks related to them, and decided, roughly, when I’m going to do them.
This will be helpful because:
My list will be visible and tangible so it won’t just be taking up space in my head. And part of my brain can relax instead of constantly reminding me of the things I need and want to do.
I will be able to see when things are happening/when I want to do things and I’ll be able to tell if I am trying to fit too much into too little time.
I’ll be able to batch my tasks so I can do errands for several activities at the same time instead of having to go out multiple times.
Basically, I’ll be able to make sure that I have time, energy, and all the supplies for the things I want to do when I want to do them.
Having all of that written down means that I will be more likely to finish stuff when it needs to be done and more likely to be able to relax and have fun when I am with my friends and family.
Now, maybe you can keep all these things in your head and map out a mental schedule without having to take the time to sit down and plan it out, if so, forge ahead and keep being kind to yourself about what you are trying to get done.
But if you are like me and you need to have things a little more fixed in time and space, perhaps a list/schedule will be helpful for you, too. Forge ahead with your scheduling and keep being kind to yourself about what you are trying to get done.
No matter how you approach this, I wish you ease, clarity, and as much space as possible to do the things you want to do in the way you want to do them.
And, in case you need it, I give you permission to ditch anything that is causing you disproportional stress.
So, now that we’ve taken care of that larger space-making idea, let’s move on to the practices for today.
Our suggested movement practice for today is 5-Minute Movement Break from Work.Break.Stretch.
Still image is a sideview of the instructor in a slight squat with one arm pointing straight down and the other curled up towards her chest. She is wearing a sweater and yoga pants and she is standing next to a large plant and a window at one end of an office space with white walls.
Our suggested mindfulness practice is 7 Minute Meditation to Calm Your Mind from Soundings of the Planet:
Still image is of calm water with the sun low in the sky and reflecting on the water. The sky and water look orange as a result.
“I started riding in 2013, in my early 50s. My eldest daughter was doing a charity coast-to-coast ride and I thought ‘what a fantastic thing to do’, so she put my name down.
I’d run very competitively between the ages of 12 and 40 (I was third in the nationals aged 14 at 800m and ran for England twice in cross-country), but stopped due to Achilles and bone-spur surgery.
My brother is a cyclist and for years he’d said I should get a bike but I said, “I haven’t got time to ride, it’s too time-consuming”. I felt so unfit and saw the coast-to-coast as a chance to get fitter…”
WATCH
Snow Warrior is a love letter to the splendour of winter. It captures the beauty of a northern city through the eyes of a bicycle courier named Mariah.
I’d like to invite you to take a really deep breath and kind of shake your arms out a little while you breathe out. And now I’d like to invite you to do that a couple of more times.
Ok, now that we’ve already done one small, silly, helpful thing for ourselves, let’s do another.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a good singer for this to work – as someone who sings with more enthusiasm than skill, I assure you that any level of singing ability is absolutely fine here.
You can sing in the kitchen, in the car, with other people, or wherever the heck you’d like.
You can pick a seasonal tune, pick a ditty you find especially enjoyable or you could give one of these ’10 Happiest Songs’ a try (with the caveat that while there is some science behind those song choices, they are also not very diverse, culturally or otherwise.)
No matter what kind of noises you are making today, tuneful, silly, or otherwise*, I wish you ease and self-kindness as you make space for yourself in your day.
And here are today’s suggested practices. As always, these are just here to save you the trouble of seeking them out, if you have your own plans for movement, meditation, or other space-making today, please proceed with those.
Our suggested movement practice for today is 6 Minute NIA Dance Break with Myrna Weinman from Nia Technique. This movements in this video are slow and deliberate so it is pretty easy to pick things up as you go.
Still image: 5 happy looking people in a dance studio with a brick wall and windows behind them. They are all wearing exercise clothes and their arms are in motion, some of them have one foot slightly off the floor. Four of them are standing and one of them is exercising in from a seated position.
And our mindfulness practice for today is this 10 Minute Mindfulness Drawing Meditation: Easy Art Tutorial For Relaxation and Self Care from Artfully, Mindfully.
Still image shows the title of the video in white text on a rectangular see-though title card and beneath the card it shows the instructor’s hands as she draws on a notebook with a blue marker, there are a few other markers next to the notebook on the left.
*There are those who suggest that screaming into the void is the way to go but that’s a bit hard on the voice so proceed with caution on that one.
Hi readers– I’ll be doing an occasional (roughly once a month) post on some of the latest research on physical activity, nutrition, longevity, fitness, and other health-related topics that appear on my radar screen. (Full disclosure: most of these studies came to my attention courtesy of Sam, who manages to sift through mounds of exercise and health information coming her way every day; thanks Sam!)
Today’s theme is exercise and longevity math: how does that add up again?
First up: news outlets announce new study showing that weight training can “take eight years off your body”(sez the Telegraph here), or (according to Women’s Health here) “can shed eight years off your biological clock”, or “give you the body of a person almost eight years younger”.
Okay, I have questions:
If the weight training is “taking eight years off my body”, is that in a good way or a bad way? Are we extending my life or making it eight years shorter? Ditto for the biological clock thing. These writers clearly didn’t learn much about ambiguity in language.
This reminds me of the oldie-but-goodie SNL skit where retiring nuclear power plant engineer (played by the late great Ed Asner) offers this parting advice: “You can’t put too much water in the reactor”. The remaining employees argue amongst themselves about whether he meant “don’t put too much water in the reactor” or “however much water you put in the reactor, it’s fine”. Language matters, folks.
And if I’m getting the body of someone eight years younger, do they then get mine? Do we get any say in this? I’m not feeling happy about this.
The study examined the impact of weight training on ageing in a random sample of 4,814 men and women, aged 20 to 69, in the US. Researchers analysed the length of ‘telomeres’—the protective DNA caps at the ends of chromosomes… which prevent genetic material from unraveling or becoming damaged.
The study’s authors wanted to determine whether weight training could impact the length of these telomeres. They did this by taking blood samples from the participants and measuring the length of telomeres in their blood cells. Participants were also asked to report how often they engaged in ‘exercises to strengthen their muscles’.
‘In this national sample, 90 minutes per week of strength training was associated with 3.9 years less biological ageing, on average,’ the study reads.
But, if I go twice as often each week, I can extend my life by eight years, right? Well, no. This study is not causal– it’s just showing an association between weight training and telomere length. There are loads of behavioral or genetic or environmental factors which can help account for this correlation.
Is strength training good for us? I think the jury is in on this one: yes. Is it going to help us live longer? Dunno. Maybe? How much longer, and in what condition? No one knows.
What if you don’t happen to enjoy strength training? Maybe you prefer walking. Can you get some longevity bang for your walking buck? It would seem so, if our news media headlines are to be believed. “Daily walks could add more than 10 years to your life”, (according to Real Simple). Fortune Magazine ups the ante to 11 years. My favorite is this one from The Independent: “Just one hour of walk in middle age can add years to life”. That’s a pretty low bar, but okay– excellent! Good for us all.
Sorry, but it’s now party-pooper time. The actual study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, took a look at different subsections of the population by level of physical activity (PA). They found that if all adults were as active as the highest quartile (25%), relative to PA, they could potentially live 5-ish years longer.
We’ve kind of known this for a while now, namely that the number one predictor of longevity around the globe is physical activity. Of course, this new study is very useful for nudging governments and health systems to fund more access to physical activity for all individuals throughout the life trajectory. We need more evidence and pressure on authorities to do just that.
But Fortune magazine and Real Simple– maybe y’all should stick to reporting on the latest in tech stocks and table decorating trends, respectively.
So, after my lovely slow start yesterday morning, things got hectic.
In fact, I kind of feel like I have been on a hamster wheel ever since.
None of this hecticness was a result of my slow start though because none of this stuff could have gotten done yesterday morning.
It’s all just a frustrating convergence of a bunch of small things with bad timing thrown in.
No crises, just low key hassle and some rushing around.
And I hate it.
But, let me tell ya, I am so happy and grateful that I drew a card and listened to ghost stories yesterday morning instead of churning through my to do list.
Imagine if I had really pushed myself yesterday morning and then I had all this hassle – I would be totally exhausted by now.
I have definitely learned a lesson about taking breaks when they arrive* and I can feel the difference that calm morning made in my brain even amidst the other hassle.
Speaking of the hassle, though, I have also been trying to pause and take a few deep breaths every so often and that’s also been helpful.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to be one of those people who says ‘Stress is all in your mind. It’s all in your attitude!’ because while there is some truth in that, it is also rather unhelpful and puts blame on an already stressed person.
No one needs that.
But here’s what I will say – some extra stress can be generated by our own thoughts and stopping for deep breaths on the regular can help reduce that pressing, busy feeling.
Deep breaths are more of a pause than a break but they do make a difference.
So, Space Making Friends, if you are feeling straggly and hassled today, I hope you can find a moment to pause and breathe.**
Now, with the story of Christine’s pauses complete, let’s have a look at our suggested practices for today.
I wish you ease and clarity today and always. 💚
Here a 10 Minute Cardio/Strength Workout from Yes2Next to try out today;
Still images shows the instructors, a mother daughter team. The mother who is a senior, is seated for the workout, and the daughter, who is middle-aged, is standing. They are both wearing exercise clothes.
And here’s a 5 Minute Guided Meditation for Clearing Blockages and Negativity from Great Meditations
Still image is a cartoon graphic of a person seated cross-legged in meditation.
*Yes, I will definitely have to learn this lesson again. Let’s just accept that and move on.
**Some of my coaching clients find it fun to breathe in deeply and the exhale while saying a curse word – might be worth a try if your brain fights you on the idea of pausing.
In case you were wondering, there is zero overlap between Dancing with Christine and Dancing with the Stars.
I mean, unless you count all the gold stars that I have hanging up in different places in my house. Technically, dancing in my kitchen is dancing with stars…or near stars.
ANYWAY!
I like dancing in my kitchen when I am cooking, baking, or just hanging out and here are a few of the songs that I have been flailing around to lately.
I’m offering them to you in case you feel like flailing around in your kitchen right now, too. Flailing in other rooms of the house is also highly recommended, I just tend to flail in the kitchen most often,
A few years ago, we came across JD McPherson’s Christmas album ‘Socks’ and I have been dancing around to it ever since.
The song All the Gifts I Need is linked below but consider also giving Socks and Ugly Sweater Blues a try. Or just dance to the whole album – you won’t regret it.
Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree is an obvious choice but still a VERY fun one.
And again, I am not breaking any new ground here but All I Want for Christmas Is You gives me a ‘put bells on my sneakers because I’m a cheerleader in the Santa Claus parade’ feeling (even though the didn’t come out until I was several years past my cheerleading days.)
If you can’t stand Christmas music or if you don’t celebrate Christmas, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!
Here are some totally non-holiday songs that I also like flailing around the kitchen to.
The second song in this list refers to a funeral and alcohol consumption, and the third one also refers to alcohol consumption. If these things are sensitive topics for you please take good care of yourself and avoid clicking the links.
Charming Disaster’s Baba Yaga is not only a fun song, it has all kinds of great folklore in it.
Great Big Sea’s The Night Pat Murphy Died may not sound like a good dance topic but my sisters and I have baffled many other dancers at weddings while flailing around to it.
And finally, Spirit of the West’s Home for a Rest will always get me into full-flail.
Do you already flail around to these songs? If not, give them a try and let me know what you think!
Also, please feel free to put your songs to flail along to in the comments.
I am (accidentally!) a good example of space making today…in two different ways.
First off, I decided to start my week in a fun way (an excellent way for me to create mental space for myself) by drawing a card for someone.
That much was deliberate.
However, I also put on a YouTube video of Christmas ghost stories because I’m looking for ideas for another story to tell at an event on Thursday night and I got so caught up in the stories and in my drawing process that I spend MUCH longer at it than I meant to.
Now, from a ‘plan things well so you don’t feel rushed’ perspective, that might not have been the best result.
But from a ‘how does your brain feel’ perspective, it was a GREAT way to make some space for myself. I feel relaxed and very ready to take on the other tasks in my day.
As for the second way that I am going to be a good Space Maker example today…well, after spending all that time on drawing and listening, I didn’t have a lot of time to develop my original idea for this post.
Soooooo, I reminded myself that ‘done beats perfect every single time’ and find a quick but encouraging approach to this post.
Hopefully, I was successful!
Meanwhile, Space Making friends, I hope that you can create enough space in your day for some fun, some ease, and that you can choose done over perfect whenever possible.
And, with that said, here are our video suggestions for today and whether you choose to do these or another practice, I hope you feel good about the process.
Our movement practice for today is 5 Minute Office Chair Yoga from Black Yogi Nico Marie:
Still image description: The video title is in the foreground in white text and the background is gently blurred but shows the instructor sitting in an office chair in a bright living room space with art on the walls.
And our mindfulness practice for today is 3 minute Mindful Breathing Meditation Relieve Stress from Meditation4 SelfHealth:
Still image description: a photo of a calm ocean and blue sky. There is a light green circle graphic overlaid on the image and with text reading ‘Mindful Breathing: Stop Breathe & Think’ on top of the circle.
Close-up of a hand grasping a freshly glazed donut oozing with icing, ready to satisfy a sweet tooth craving
A year ago today, I posted a blog here about the jarring effect of seeing a very thin Brie Larson, playing the lead role in Lessons in Chemistry, preparing food that she never seemed to eat. I was not alone in trying to puzzle through the strange effect that her appearance had in relation to the show’s rich stylization of food. FIFI stats tell me that at least 5489 readers clicked the link to open that post in 2024.
The nerve that the blog touched, perhaps, is the nerve hit, repeatedly, by the horrible lessons served every day to North American women for dinner and dessert. “You should be perfectly thin. If you are perfectly thin, we will adore and praise you.” But also, “You must not be imperfectly thin. If you are imperfectly thin, scaring us with intimations of death and disease, we will shame and shun you.” Putting food near the perfectly thin celebrity reminds us of what she eats, or maybe doesn’t eat, to look the way she does. We see the food, we see the body, and the red flags appear. The imperfectly thin body, we fear, serves as the star’s understudy. It’s like the optical illusion that has us looking at a duck—no, wait, a rabbit! The mind is not quite sure what it’s perceiving. Should we clap or hold the applause?
The trouble with making all of this explicit is that drawing attention to the problem may look like blaming the victim. I see the jutting collarbones and hear the rumours and turn away out of respect for the privacy of the woman whose life is so mercilessly mined for entertainment and exploitation. She may be naturally tiny or she may be suffering. It’s none of my business. Except it is, insofar as her body elicits a visceral response, reminding me of my own vexed relation to the story it tells, or doesn’t tell.
I started thinking about Brie Larson again because I’ve been thinking, lately, about elite women runners and the price they may pay to achieve their goals. Last year, I wished them all happy holiday eating in my post. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult, for me, to ignore the problem of disordered eating and running excellence. In some ways, it’s even harder to have this conversation than it is to talk about Hollywood celebrities. There might be a world in which actors could all gain weight and continue to play characters in movies, but could women marathoners carry any weight and still be competitive? And, if we want to respect both their professionalism and their boundaries, should we not simply agree that they are born lean, mean, running machines and move on? Only, reports concerning college women athletes suggest that it’s probably not just all good nutrition and good genes, all of the time. The idea that a decade after graduation, North American runners have grown out of whatever food-related issues they might have had as young women—well, I wonder. (A brave post by Kelowna runner Christy Lovig addresses this subject head on.)
Recently, I wrote here about a marathon that went sideways. One of the stranger thoughts I had, in the final excruciating hour of that race, was that donuts were to blame for my lack-lustre performance. In the cacophony of nasty voices that I had to listen to, one was louder than the rest: “Too many donuts.” To be clear, this was not a reflection on whether my nutrition plan might have failed me—that more protein and fewer simple carbs might have made for more muscle and less fat. No, this was a moral judgement: “You are a bad person because you eat donuts and now you are being punished for it.”
I feel lucky in not having had to struggle with disordered eating since brushing up against it as a teen. But like most women I know, I carry an internal critic quick to judge and shame my appearance and the appetite that has me relishing donuts whenever I can get my hands on a good one. Most of the time, I ignore her. But when I’m sad or vulnerable, there she is, observing that I want too much, whatever that “too much” might be—wanting to run a marathon or to eat a second piece of pie. I had better prove it’s all worth it–by running a BQ every time I take on the 26.2 distance, for instance–or make myself small.
So, this holiday season, I wish everyone enjoyment of their favourite festive food. But I also wish for honest conversation, at the family table, about the damaging lessons we learned as girls about appetite; about the casual comments made by friends and family that reinforce these lessons, decades later; about the runners, including me, who work to maintain the illusions of control and self-discipline that our culture values so highly, at such great cost.
Alison Conway lives and works in Kelowna, British Columbia, on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people.
I am among the first to step up and complain about the relentless darkness that is the reality of December. Where I live, the sun is setting by 4:12pm (as of today) and it’s middle-of-the-night dark by 5:30–6pm. Sigh.
But I discovered a silver lining last year (yes, I’m always late to the party): lots of botanical gardens and zoos, and yes, even cemeteries set up location-appropriate light exhibits for the winter season, inviting folks to walk through their spaces in the darkness, enjoying their artsy, funny, joyous and even contemplative creations.
Last night, I returned to the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge with a bunch of friends to experience their Solstice lights walk. Unlike zoos and gardens and historic houses, there are no elves or Santas, and no holiday jingles are playing. There is music, but it’s more somber and majestic. We are all encouraged to reflect, to look inward, to be aware of movement and stillness. This is, in my view, just what’s ordered for a cold, dark December.
In case you’re finding this hard to imagine, we got pictures (several of them courtesy of friends who accompanied me).
One of the coolest art installations was a field of lights, facing a row of mausoleums. There was a rubber mat to stand on that signaled a person’s stillness and movement. The lights responded.
The field of lights with four lighted mausoleums and a full moon.The light field, which changed in response to a person’s movement.A kid standing still, the lights awaiting their movement.
Moving our arms and legs every which way, the lights responded, as if they were waves of wheat. It was so cool.
Continuing our walk, we saw orbs of light and candle pillars, strewn among the stones and benches.
A bench, illuminated with yellow candles and blue-white orbs.Orbs, trees, headstones.Lit trees, orbs and surrounding darkness.
The next light exhibit was the eclipse, accompanied by deep bass music and fog.
A bright outline of an eclipse, surrounded by fog and tree branches.
We then made our way by more headstones, trees and memorials to loved ones.
A sphinx, keeping watch by night.Feathery tree branches, bluish in hue at night.
The last big outdoor exhibit was a light show on the facade of the Chapel.
Patterns of moving lights– celestial? Organic? The Chapel in deep purple on its way to indigo.
Inside the Chapel there was a violinist playing, and we were encouraged to stand or sit in quiet contemplation.
Leaving the scene, we headed down the hill and back to normal life. It was a lovely side trip to a space for breathing, stillness, and movement.
Oh, and I got a lot of steps in, too, at a time and place that I normally wouldn’t. Which was fun.
I have more plans for outdoor walking light shows: I’m going with my friend Melanie to the Eleanor Cabot Bradley house Winterlights show, and also to the New York Botanical Garden for their holiday train and light show with my friend Martin. And who knows what else may present itself before the holidays are over…
Hey, y’all– does anyone have plans for strolling around a garden, zoo, historic house, cookie factory, etc. that’s strewn with lights? If not, I heartily recommend it. All you need to do is dress warmly and prepare for wonder.
Here we are at December 15th almost halfway through the month and I think this is a good time to take a breather.
Yes, I know that you probably can’t just take today off and rest completely but I am hoping that you can keep an eye out for possibilities for more rest and then take them when they arise.
So, with the idea of giving your brain a break – something I am hoping to carry forward beyond today – I have been thinking about what I can dial back on.
Now, to be clear, while I am someone who always has a lot on the go, I am not someone who goes in for elaborate celebrations or over-the-top events.
I am, however, someone with ADHD who can’t always accurately calculate the time/energy/effort that will be required to do the things I have set out to do and, as a result, I can get overwhelmed with even the fun or interesting things I had hoped to do.
So, dialing back often becomes a VERY important process for me* and it may be useful for you, too.
If you are finding that the thoughts of the weeks ahead are exhausting you already, perhaps there are places where you can dial things back so you have more energy for the things that are really important to you.
For me, dialing back often involves identifying the most minimal version of the task that will still count as done.
So if, for example, I was planning a dinner for my friends and I had envisioned cooking something elaborate, my dialed-back version might involve ordering food, cooking something in the slow cooker, or changing the gathering to a games night instead. I would still get the fun of hanging out with my friends but I could take away the parts that feels overwhelming.
Or if I had a report due and I had planned on designing a cover and doing some more elaborate formatting, a dialed-back version might mean a black and white digital version. (Or I might ask someone else to design the cover and do the formatting.**)
If decorating felt too overwhelming, I might just pick a few key items to put up around the house and leave the rest for another year. If you make the decision to only put up a few things then you close the loop on decorating and it doesn’t hang over you as a task undone.
Dialing back on these things is not about depriving yourself, it’s about giving yourself more space and more energy to do the things that are actually important to you right now.
Dialing back is choosing which things are fine to stay small so you will have room to go big in other areas.
Not everything needs to go up to 11 – some things will serve you perfectly well at level 5, 3, 1, or even 0.
And even though there are often other people involved in these things, I often find that my overwhelm has arisen internally, that I am the one who has the vision that is too big for the time available. So, for me, the key is usually in taking the time to notice the dials on my tasks and then turning them in a direction that suits me best.
If you find that the same thing happens with your dials, I hope that you can adjust them as needed.
And as you figure these things out today (or whenever!), I wish you ease and as much peace of mind as you can muster.
And with rest and ‘dialing back’ in mind, here are our suggested practices for today. Please remember that you are the boss of you and that I am hoping you will do what serves you best, whether it involves these videos or something else entirely.
Please be kind to yourselves, Space Makers!
For our movement practice today, here’s Restful Movement (Theme: Community) from Queer Yoga North:
Still image description: a brightly-coloured title card featuring graphics of a rainbow, a series of hearts in rainbow colours, various brightly-coloured polygons, and a drawing of a white cat in a rainbow bow tie. The title of the video is in a handwritten font on the right side and the background of the image is a vibrant green.
Still image description: a photo in the forest with the trunks of giant trees all around with big spaces in between them, most of the trees are too tall to see their branches and the scene is very light for a forest floor so the top branches must have space between them as well. . Some trees appear to be redwoods but others seem to be evergreens with mossy trunks. There are rocks, fallen logs, and fallen needles on the forest floor.
*Yes, I also work on trying to understand the scale and scope of my tasks but sometimes I don’t realize that I haven’t done that until it is far too late.
** If your budget allows, consider this your permission to hire someone to do some aspects of your tasks for you – even household tasks. Lots of people need extra money this time of year and I have often hired a friend to help with tasks I was dreading or that I couldn’t get around to. I have also traded annoying tasks with friends so, for example, I could make their phone calls while they ran my errands.
