I am going to try to get out on my bike twice a week this summer.
Martha
My focus for the remainder of the year is to downsize and reorganize. My new thing I would like to try is different methods of declutterring, an experiment if you will. The other new thing I plan to do is play in my greenhouse. That’s another experiment as well.
Cate
I do not get the novelty bug like some do. This summer I’m going to France for a bit, one Algonquin camping trip, a bike trip in France and the a week in Bulgaria for my annual hangout at the Black Sea with my friend Jess.
Nicole
Open to ideas. Can’t think of anything “new” lol.
Christine
I’m planning to revisit goals from previous summers – more outdoor swimming and giving my hula hoop another spin (ha!)
Diane
I have nothing new planned. If I manage a summer spent doing my usual fun things with friends, I will be content: open water swimming, cycling around Ottawa, spending time at the cottage.
Sam
More outdoor swimming for sure. But also more everyday adventures. I love the long light evenings with time for bike rides, sailboat racing, and dinners on patios with friends. We don’t have any big travel plans this summer so I’m going to be exploring closer to home. Since I’m walking more now I might try exploring a different park each week with Cheddar.
Cheddar
Nat
I want to try kayaking/canoeing with Lucy. I’m certain to get wet!
Lucy on the shore
Catherine
More swimming this summer– lakes, ocean, pools, wherever I can. I didn’t swim nearly enough last summer to suit me. I might even try an Ai Chi class at my local YMCA if I end up joining. I might, because they have a great outdoor pool.
The Waltham MA YMCA outdoor pool, looking luscious last summer.
When my kids were small I usually walked them to school. It was sometimes a hassle to get three people with ADHD out the door on time but I really liked that I had some exercise built into my day AND that there could be a clear end to the ‘home’ part of my morning and a clear start for my work day.
Now my morning commute is from my breakfast table to my desk upstairs and lately I have found myself wishing for an office a little ways from my house.
Not that I need a separate workspace, what I want is a reason to get moving for a fixed period of time each morning before settling into my workday.
I don’t really need a separate workspace to accomplish that, do I?
I just need to pick a physical activity to represent my morning commute, do it for a fixed amount of time, and then start my workday immediately after that.
But, as always when working around my ADHD, I need to be careful about how I add something into my day. I can’t add something too long or something with a lot of potential for distraction or anything that will complicate my mornings too much.
All of those things are just as likely to wreak havoc on my schedule as they are to help me shape it.
This is partially why the idea of a separate workspace has appeal – I could convince myself that I HAD to walk to get there – but, realistically, I would never actually waste money/time/space to rent a workspace just to make myself get moving.
So, I am experimenting with an alternative approach – getting all of my personal/home morning stuff done and then either taking a 5-10 minute walk “to work” before settling in for my first task of the day.
I imagine myself walking briskly but in reality I would probably look more like this, trundling along in my comfy clothes. Image description: a GIF of a small child in a fluffy coat and pink leggings walking in a bouncy way away from the camera down a sidewalk.
That might mean walking outside (possibly with the dog but I’m not sure I want to train her to expect a walk at that time) or it may mean an indoor walk of some kind but, either way, I will be ending that walk at my desk with a clear plan for my first task of the day.*
In fact, I started writing this post on Monday morning after a brisk, 5 minute walk next to my desk and it felt pretty good.
Updates as events warrant!
*This is a separate part of my plan to make the start of my work days easier – getting a bit more detailed with my task planning. My right-now brain hates breaking stuff down but my future brain loves when it has been done.
♥️ It’s definitely summer but it’s not yet scorching hot and humid. Please hope this stays true even in these days of a warming world. ☀️
🩷 Long days with so much sunlight! It’s bright very early in the morning and stays light well into the evening. ☀️
🧡 It’s Convocation month on campus. I love seeing all the happy students and their proud parents. 🎓
💛 Sailboat racing in the Snipe! ⛵
💙 Bike rides! June is the month when our bike rides get longer and more social. It’s also Bike Month. 🚲
💜 Pride! June is also Pride Month and while there are an awful lot of events I don’t go to, Sarah and I are hoping to make it to the Guelph Pride Ride. We’ve also got lots of friends who have Pride picnics and BBQs in their backyards. 🌈
I am going line dancing. I am facilitating a session about AI and teaching through storytelling. And my big day is finally here: Gathering on the Green, where I shall gather with other amateur artisans and sell ridiculous but joyful crocheted baked goods (and popsicles) all made with gifted and thrifed yarn. I’ve been crocheting these little monsters for months!
Martha
I’m looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues in Vancouver this week. I’m attending my professional association meeting and added a day to spend with good friends. This will also be the second time I will be participating in the Gift of Communication where communications professionals work with non-profits to help them solve communication issues.
Sam
Me, it’s seeing friends from across the country at Congress and the Canadian Philosophical Association meeting. Two highlights, the first Canadian national College Ethics Bowl, and a panel discussion with my fellow co-founders of Feminist Philosophy Quarterly, our proudly open-access journal. Amid all that is not going to be a big exercise week but thanks to my new knees it will be a big Toronto walking week.
Christine
I’m just back from another week-long storytelling tour (concerts and workshops) at schools. It was lots of fun but I am looking forward to a week of my normal routine!
Cate
Writing writing writing
Nicole
Going out for dinner with a group of girlfriends who energize me on Thursday. Many are younger and I think it’s important to have those relationships. Possibly, meeting my cousin Jordan for coffee on Saturday after my weekly visit to my parents. The forecast is HOT. Finally.
Diane
I’m looking forward to being in a play. Every 25 years, the University of Toronto puts on all 50 of the York Corpus Christi plays. I’ll be King 2 in the tale of the Magi. https://www.yorkplays.ca
1. Stretch! I want to start a routine of more regular stretching to regain flexibility in my hips and shoulders.
2. Get my nice but very heavy Dutch-style bike fitted out as an e-bike.
3. Go on a little vacation. I haven’t been away except for family or history club things in a decade.
Martha
1. Finish my taxes due June 15!
2. Finish three reports.
3. Plant up my greenhouse.
Sam
1. Hang out outside my house in our comfy new outside furniture drinking mocktails, reading fiction, chatting with the neighbours, and entertaining friends.
2. Take the Snipe out at least once on Guelph Lake with Sarah or Jeff.
3. Extend my distance on the bike. I want to do two moderate-distance rides (30-40 km) during the week and gradually build to longer distances on the weekend.
I get a real kick out of portmanteau words. Spork, hangry, staycation, and maybe the best/silliest one I know– turducken– they all convey a humorous approach to efficiency and multitasking in meaning.
We smush words together all over the place, with food and technology terms especially (think cronut and webinar), but also with sports and physical activity. Here are some I found online, of which several the FIFI bloggers have written about or tried for ourselves:
Yogalates (yoga plus Pilates)
Broga (a combo of yoga and calisthenics exercises, with gender stereotype marketing– yuck)
Yinki yoga (yin yoga plus reiki)
Jazzercise (an oldie but a goodie)
Hyrox (a newish one; Sam wrote about it here; it stands for “Hybrid Rockstar”)
Acroyoga (acrobatic yoga, see pic below)
Doga (according to Wikipedia, a variant of yoga done with dogs, or for people, or for dogs)
Smiling while lifting those bags? They can’t be doing it right. Two folks in acrobatic yoga pose.AI dog in Sukhasana, easy pose.
But how many of you have heard of/participated in Ai Chi? Not me, until now.
Ai Chi refers to Tai Chi– gentle but powerful low-impact martial arts exercises– done in the water, generally a pool. One site explains it this way, focusing on benefits for older people:
Ai Chi, a modified, water-based form of Tai Chi, integrates slow, deliberate movements with deep breathing in a physical activity performed in shoulder-deep heated water. Developed to promote relaxation, it builds full-body strength and challenges balance in ways that typical strength training does not.
Unlike lifting weights or other exercises on solid ground, Ai Chi harnesses the natural resistance of water while buoyancy reduces joint strain.
The practice begins with uncomplicated arm and breathing exercises that gradually progress to coordinated, full-body movements. As participants alternate between narrow and wide stances, they continuously test their stability.
When I did a deeper Google dive into Ai Chi classes, I found a variety of different types of Ai Chi-ish workouts. Some look like aquatic therapy classes (done at rehab places for people recovering from surgery or injuries or managing medical limitations). Others are aquatic personal training that combine gentle water exercise with massage. Then there are the regular Ai Chi classes at places like your local YMCA. Mine offers them.
People in a pool, ai-chi-ing with arms out.People in a different pool, ai-chi-ing with arms out.Ai-Chi diagram of walking in water exercises.
The list of benefits that AI Chi-ing confers is very long. So is the list of conditions for which Ai-Chi is purportedly helpful. You can find them here.
One more thing about Ai Chi: according to one Ai Chi blogger, Tai Chi makes dogs more aggressive, but Ai Chi calms them. They cited one Ai Chi class that also soothed a nearby duck and blue heron. Imagine how it might chill us out…
Honestly, Ai Chi seems like a nice variant on Tai Chi movements and also a low-key alternative to water aerobics to make it tempting to try. I will report back if/when I take my Tai Chi to the pool, strip off the T, and add water.
Hey readers– have you tried Ai Chi? Do you like it? How does it compare to its dry land sibling? I’d love to hear from you.
