Making Space 2023: Day 11

December 11, 2023December 11, 2023 Christine Hennebury

When I’m picking out videos for these posts, it’s sometimes a struggle to get away from the work-hard-push-yourself message that is a key element of so much fitness messaging.

That messaging is great if you are seeking a challenge, if you have specific fitness goals, or if that’s what gets you moving but for these posts I’m looking for a message of fun, a message of restfulness, a message of ease.

I want to encourage you to find ways to feel good in your body and in your mind. (I’m also encouraging myself at the same time. A bonus, really!)

And that’s why I love the title of this video from Silver Sneakers – I know I can definitely use a 5-Minute Feel Good Workout.

Still image features a light-skinned woman with long grey hair wearing fitness clothing and demonstrating a side stretch while standing next to a chair in a fitness studio. The image is framed in blue on the left side and in the bottom right corner and on the upper left is the title of the video and the channel name.

To compliment the ‘feel good in your body’ message from that video, here’s something for you brain: What makes you feel good, Guided Meditation from Great Meditation

Still image is a cartoon-style drawing of a peaceful-looking young woman with light brown skin with her eyes closed. Her brown hair is floating out the sides and there are leaves overlapping her hair.

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.

Personally, I am trying to Finish 2023 Soft so I am putting conscious effort into resting whenever I can. My overjangled nervous system needs a chance to unjangle and that process may look different every day.

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.

habits · meditation · rest · self care

Making Space 2023: Day 10

December 10, 2023December 9, 2023 Christine Hennebury

Hey Team,

Depending on how you organize your calendar (and where you are in the world!) we’re either starting a new week or about to start one.

Either way, as you look to the week ahead, I hope you are able to imagine a little extra space for yourself in there. Not extra space to do more stuff, extra space for you to spend in a restful, restorative way.

I know it can be hard to fit that into your busy schedule but I hope you can figure out a way to fit yourself into your days.

I wish you ease with the process.

Today, we’re starting with a 5 Minute Full Body Stretch from Yoga with Adriene.

The still image is of Adriene, a woman with light skin and long brown hair who is wearing leggings and a tshirt, balancing on her left hand and her right knee while she extends her left leg behind her and her right arm in front of her. Her dog, Benji, is asleep on his side near her yoga mat.

And here’s a 3 Minute Guided Mindfulness Meditation from Haven Inspired.

Still image description: On the left side of the image is a woman with brown skin with elaborate tattoos on her shoulders. She has her hair pinned up on top of her head and her eyes are closed. She looks very peaceful. On the right side is the title of the video, the title of the channel, and the word subscribe with an image of the subscription button next to it.

About Making Space 2023:

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.

fitness · habits · meditation · rest · self care

Making Space 2023: Day 9

December 9, 2023December 8, 2023 Christine Hennebury

Oh, I just caught myself spending entirely too much time trying come up with a good opening paragraph for today’s post.

It’s way too easy to fall into those sorts of thinking habits isn’t it?

Even though I know that done beats perfect every time, I still fall for that ‘gotta get it right’ trick.

As if there is only one right way to start this post instead there being many, many ways to get started. And most of those many, many ways would work out just fine.

So, my friends, please learn from my mistake today.

Don’t fall into the trap of trying to get everything right.

Instead, let yourself get started any old way you can AND try to accept that good enough is, indeed, good enough.

Is this the best post I have ever written?

Definitely not.

Does it get the message across AND include two videos for you to use to make a little space for yourself today?

It does!

Good luck with making space today, everyone.

Our first video today is from Yes2Next and they are leading you through a 10 Minute Gentle Brain-Body Workout.

Still image features the video title on the left and, on the right, the mother-daughter hosts are seated in chairs with one arm in the air and the opposite leg extended. The mother is an elderly woman in a black tracksuit with short grey hair and glasses. The daughter is a middle aged woman in a pink shirt and black pants with her greying hair in ponytail. They are both smiling.

And for our meditation today, we have a 2-Minute Focus Reset from Headspace. There are a couple of pauses in here when the instructor is giving the listener a moment longer than expected to follow the instructions so don’t worry that the video has stopped!

Still image features the video title in white and pink text on the left and concentric purple circles with a wedge of white/grey on the right. In the centre of the circle is a happy face with closed eyes.

About Making Space 2023:

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.

holidays · meditation · rest · self care

Making Space 2023: Day 8

December 8, 2023December 7, 2023 Christine Hennebury

Here we are at Day 8 of Making Space 2023!

I don’t know about you but I could use a little energy boost right now so I picked out two energy focused videos for today.

Here’s a 5 minute meditation for Feeling Full of Energy from Great Meditation:

Still image is a cartoon drawing of a person with light brown skin and long dark hair, their eyes are closed and they look peaceful. There’s a semi-circular mandala-style drawing in shades of orange behind their head.

And here’s a 1 Minute Energy Booster workout from Lucy Wyndham-Read:

Still image is a black and white photo of the instructor, a white woman, in exercise clothes reaching her right arm toward her right foot while she looks downward, her left arm is extended upwards and behind her. The title of the video is in red and black next to the photo.

At this point in the year, our weekends really get packed with various tasks – fun and otherwise – and it can be extra tricky to make space for ourselves. When you are planning out your weekend, please try to keep an eye on your energy levels and see when, where, and how you might be able to take a few minutes to catch your breath – literally and metaphorically.

About Making Space 2023:

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.

ADHD · rest

Week 2 of Finishing Soft

December 5, 2023December 4, 2023 Christine Hennebury

In this past week, I have been experimenting with my schedule to see how to create the softest day for myself.

To be clear, the softest day has nothing to do with whether I have work to do, it’s actually about minimizing any time-related stress and static. And I don’t mean stress and static from other people, I’m trying to work more cooperatively with my own brain here.

I’m figuring out at which point in the day my regular activities feel easiest or most straightforward. Or, to put it another way, when do these activities require the least thought and effort?

This will take longer than a week to figure out, of course, but I have to start somewhere.

Here’s what I’ve found out so far:

1- There are a lot of benefits to walking the dog earlier in the day.

Generally, unless I have a commitment that affects my schedule, I walk the dog either right after lunch or when I finish work for the day. Recently though, I have been walking her right after breakfast and before I start work and it’s been great.

Walking Khalee earlier means:

I have a clear time to start my work day (I work from home so this has always been a challenge.)
I don’t have to wonder when will be the best time to head out for our walk (my brain will mull that over all day if I let it.)
I get a good brain boost from the exercise (I can always use a bit more focus.)
I can free up my late afternoons for other things.

2 – I can get a lot done between 4:00-5:30PM.

I had a hint of this a few weeks back when I had some afternoon meetings and I had to shift my work later in the day. (I had walked the dog right before lunch a couple of days in a row so the end of the day was free.) I have always been trying to end my day around 4:00 or 4:30, thinking that it would be good to have the work day behind me as soon as possible.

Instead, it turns out that putting some of my ‘after work’ tasks in the middle of the day so I can work (especially on my writing) between 4:00-5:30pm is a really good idea. I don’t know if my brain just likes the break from work in the middle of the day or if it likes the ‘deadline’ feeling of 5:30pm (my husband and son finish work at 5:30 at get home at 5:45) but, either way, it seems to work. I feel really focused and determined at that time of day and I finish my work feeling good about it.

Oddly, I have also found that working until 5:30pm makes it a lot easier to head out for any evening commitments, too. I guess that supper feels like a break rather than feeling like the end of the day so my brain doesn’t mind doing something else afterwards?

3- I like doing yoga first thing in the morning AND right before bed.

As you can see, Khalee also likes to do yoga first thing. Image description: A photo of Khalee, a light haired dog, resting on my yoga mat. Our couch, book shelf, and lit Christmas tree are in the background of the photo.

Doing a little yoga when I first go downstairs in the morning feels good and helps me adjust to being awake. Doing a longer yoga session before I head to bed helps my brain tuck away the details of the day and helps me feel more rested.

Neither of these things are huge revelations but I was paying closer attention this past week and I really can tell that it is good for me to bookend my day that way.

Softer but still a ways to go

It’s obviously going to take more than a couple of weeks to undo the stress and challenges of a whole year. Being in stress mode is a habit now and it takes a while to unlearn a habit.

I am making progress though and I feel like I am learning some really important things about my schedule and about my approach to my day to day life.

The softening continues!

Wondering what this Finishing Soft business is all about?

After a challenging year, I have committed to Finishing 2023 Soft and here’s my report from Week 1.

meditation · rest · self care

Week 1 of Finishing Soft

November 28, 2023November 27, 2023 Christine Hennebury

Last week, I wrote about my conscious decision to finish 2023 soft but as we all know, there’s a big difference between wanting things to be soft and actually making them that way.

Here’s how it’s going so far:

Intention

Even though my intention to finish soft is just the first step in the process, it is an important one.

Knowing that I want to steer toward a particular feeling, to aim for more rest and relaxation, takes a lot of pressure off and helps me avoid that vague, looming sense that I *should* be working harder.

Delegation

I had to make some tough decisions about what I could actually get done, what could wait, and what I could delegate. And I had to make sure that I didn’t wear myself down with the process of decision-making.

My solution was pick the things that loomed the largest and make those decisions first. I decided to schedule some of the other decisions for this week. And others will wait until the relevant situations arise.

Active Rest

I know all about active rest as part of a fitness routine but I only recently thought to apply it to regular old resting. I’m not claiming this as a brand new idea or anything but it has been a useful framework this past week so bear with me.

I’ve written before about how just ‘doing nothing’ is not very restful for me and I knew that I would have to make some clear choices about what rest and relaxation were going to look like for me.

I also knew that really resting, actually letting my nervous system relax, was going to involve more than dialing back my activities. Instead I would have to consciously choose active rest – activities that would quiet my mind, slow my heart rate, let me shed some of the ambient stress of this year.

Yoga and meditation are obvious choices here and I have been choosing videos and audio practices that emphasize the feelings I’m looking for. My search fields are now autogenerating words like ‘reset’, ‘soothing’, and ‘restful.’

Drawing – especially repetitive patterns – can also fall into the active rest category and I have been doing a fair bit of that.

And I have been doing a bit more reading (mystery stories!) and listening to cello music both of which bring a lovely sense of overall calm.

And I think that doing jigsaw puzzles will help, too, but I haven’t gotten around to those. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Softening

Obviously, I can’t say that I’m soft yet, it’s only been a week.

I think, though, that I am softening, at least a little.

And that feels pretty good.

fitness · rest · self care

Finishing 2023 Soft

November 21, 2023November 20, 2023 Christine Hennebury6 Comments

As we move into the last weeks of the year, I’m starting to see posts about ‘finishing 2023 strong!’

And if that feels right for you, by all means have at it.

As for me, though, I’m finishing 2023 soft.

Notice my choice of words there.

I’m not finishing weak, I’m finishing soft.

This is has been an extremely hard year and every time I think I’ve turned a corner another physical, emotional, mental, or situational challenge appears.

Facing each challenge (Not alone! I have had lots of help and support.) has required a lot of strength, focus and energy and at this point, I’m tired.

I haven’t been able to rest properly (despite my best efforts) and I don’t have the capacity to push myself to finish 2023 with a burst of extra effort.

Instead, I’m going to finish the year with extra rest, extra relaxation, and extra breathing room.

A photo of light snowfall on a patio lit by string lights — Did I put away my plants and patio stuff before the first snowfall? I did not. I am not stressed by these things, please don’t let them bother you. Instead, please join me in noticing how peaceful this soft snow looks with the patio lights shining through it. Image description: a photo taken from my patio door at dusk. There is soft fluffy snow on a tree, my patio rails, and all of the plants and stuff on my patio. My strings of patio lights are shining through and on the snow creating a soft glow.

A few years back, a friend of mine was dealing with intense anxiety (and being hard on themselves about it), so I was trying to help them be kinder to themselves by using an analogy that went a bit like this:

‘Ok, imagine your anxiety is in a measuring cup. Under normal circumstances, you are heading into your day with about 1/4 cup of anxiety. Right now, for various reasons, you are starting the day with 3/4 of a cup.

So, when you encounter challenges in your day, even if they are “only” 1/16 cup challenges, it doesn’t take very many of them before things get overwhelming and everything starts spilling out of the top.

And since your brain and body are so revved up, you can’t empty that cup, all you can do is get down to 3/4 of a cup again.

This is not your fault, you aren’t weak, and you aren’t doing things wrong. Instead of focusing on this as your fault, let’s focus on things we can do to calm your brain and body and give you a little more room in that cup.’

Don’t worry, my friend was also seeing a professional counsellor so they had more comprehensive advice than that but they did find the cup analogy helpful.

And I am finding my past self’s advice helpful right now, too.

With everything that has been going on, I’m not at my usual capacity and there’s very little space in my cup.

Every time I have gotten my level to drop a little, something has come along and started filling it again.

So, for the last 40 or so days of the year, I am going to create space in my metaphorical cup.

I’m not dropping stuff I have committed to but I’m not taking on anything else.

I’m prioritizing rest, fun, relaxation, soothing activities, comforting company, and anything that feels like softness.*

I am taking good care of myself and letting my brain and body reset.

Want to join me?

*By the way, writing ‘Making Space’ posts definitely feels like softness to me so you’ll see those return in December.

rest · self care · yoga

Christine insists on a slow October.

October 3, 2023October 3, 2023 Christine Hennebury

September pretty much chewed me up and spit me out.

Despite my best efforts, I was awash in tasks and challenging situations and new things to learn. There was a lot of fun packed in there too but really it was all too much.

When I woke up Sunday and realized it was October I decided there and then that I was slowing everything way the hell down so I could catch my breath.

I mean, I still have lots of things to do but I am flatly refusing to do them in a hurry.

And I am not taking on anything extra.

I’m going to firm up the beginnings and ends of my days and keep the work in the middle from spilling over into them.

Today, I was giving some thought to what that might look like.

How can I help October feel more restful?

What would make my days feel slower and easier?

And, of course, how can I have those things without having to a lot of work to make things restful, slower, and easier?

I had already decided on journaling, drawing, and yoga as key elements of a slow October and was trying to figure out what yoga videos to do (I like to choose in advance!) when I discovered that Adriene is a step ahead of me.

This month’s Yoga with Adriene/Find What Feels Good playlist is called Ease.

And it includes this practically vintage video of Adriene demonstrating Sukhasana (The Easy Pose).

Easy Pose? That sounds GREAT!

A video from the Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel. The still image is of her sitting cross-legged on her mat with her hands, palms together in the centre of her chest.

So, that’s yoga figured out for October, now I just need to find the ‘Ease’ version of drawing and journaling and blend them into my days.

fitness · rest

One week countdown to second knee replacement surgery: 10 things Sam is doing to get ready

April 3, 2023April 3, 2023 Sam B2 Comments

Sleep

Obviously it’s good to arrive at the hospital the day of surgery well rested. I’ll try to get a good night’s sleep the night before but more importantly I’ll try to get lots of regular sleep the week before. I’m doing pretty well these days. No 4 hour nights, followed by 10 hour nights.

Check it out!

Work

This goal might conflict with sleep. Lol. I’m trying to get lots done at work so things are under control for the people I leave in the Acting Dean role. It’s hard because it’s not just that the Dean is away, it’s also that we’re down one person in the dean’s office. And we’re short on staff to start. In September when I went on medical leave for knee #1, things were pretty calm. Not so now. We’re still in the middle of budget conversations and there’s a lot up in the air.

Exercise

Another goal that competes with work and sleep for my time…

I’m aiming to put as much movement as possible in the bank because post surgery there’ll be a few weeks when it will only be physio plus a lot of lying around. I’ve been working on core and upper body strength too for all of the getting in and out of bed activity, which is especially challenging after surgery when your legs don’t work. All the triceps exercises, right Meg? (Meg is the world’s best personal trainer and she works at the U of G athletics centre, where she’s also the throwing coach.)

Last week I did three hours of personal training plus two physio appointments plus a ton of walking. This weekend I was happy to get out on my bike, outdoors. Yay!

Outdoor bike riding first time since Arizona

I also have some exercise goals to wrap up this week, like the Build Me Up Lite training program in Zwift.

Here’s my progress so far:

Tidying and organizing stuff

Getting around on crutches isn’t easy and it especially isn’t easy if you’re navigating around stuff. I’m going to clear out my room and put things away, leaving out only the things I’ll need. I’m swapping over winter and summer clothing early because once I’m back at work, I won’t need my winter work clothes. It’s a task that’s physically easy now but won’t be so easy after surgery.

There’s also the stuff I’ll need post surgery– the ice machine, pain drugs, crutches, etc. I’m trying to find all the things and get organized.

Iron and good eating

Readers who follow me on social media will know that I struggled a bit to get my iron levels where they should be for surgery. In the end, diet alone wouldn’t do it (I’m a vegetarian) but ferrous glucanate did the trick. I also supplemented vitamin C since that is supposed to help with iron absorption. I’m now at the top end of normal for adult women. But I am still trying to eat lots of leafy green vegetables. Sarah made this soup for us to take to a potluck on Saturday to celebrate an anniversary.

Movies and shows

The last time through I made a big stack of books I’d planned on reading but honestly for the first few weeks I just wasn’t up to reading. I moved from philosophy to challenging contemporary fiction to popular fiction and then genre fiction, but none of it stuck. I just kept losing track of the plot and the characters and getting frustrated. For the first few weeks even challenging TV was too much. SheHulk was about right. Also, Never Have I Ever. After that, I needed gripping content. I ended up binging Better Call Saul and then Breaking Bad. This time I might watch The Expanse and Babylon 5. I’ve also never watched The Wire.

Physio

I’ve been doing physio twice a week for a very long time. But these days the focus is on getting ready for the next knee surgery. The left knee–the new one–is in pretty good shape. So we’re rehabbing the left knee, and pre-habbing the right.

Mindset

I’m struggling a bit here. At one level, I really don’t want to go through this again. I know what it feels like and I’m not anxious to experience that again.

I’ve been enjoying walking a bit and riding my bike. But I am still in a lot of knee pain, the right knee. One day this week I wasn’t sure even with my cane if I could make it to the gym. This has to be done and better sooner than later as right now it’s the right knee that’s slowing me down.

I keep telling myself that it will be good to have the summer (no ice, no snow!) to recover.

I’m trying very hard to focus on the positive–SWIMMING!–and not worry so much about missing another summer of physical activity.

Mostly it’s just a lot of reminding myself that yes, this will be very hard, but I can do hard things.

Bird feeder

Since I plan on spending a lot of time in the back room, which a good view of the deck, or out on the deck, I think I’ll get a feeder and see if I can attract some birds to our back deck.

I’m also getting a haircut!

Haircut with Dante at Image Makeover, On Queen West, Toronto. Before.

fitness · rest

One month fitness countdown to my next knee replacement. Yikes!

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023 Sam B5 Comments

Today is Monday, March 6th.

Last Monday, February 27th, I spent the morning at the hospital, London’s University Hospital, getting my left knee checked out by the surgical team. It’s been 6 months since total knee replacement surgery. While there we discussed the timeline for the next surgery, total knee replacement of my right knee. I left thinking it would be sometime before September. I kind of had July in my mind.

And then the next day they phoned. It’s April 11th. Wowsa.

So I am rescheduling my life, cancelling some trips and conferences, and getting ready for another 6-12 weeks off work. And MORE PHYSIO!

For example, I’m now not going to this great looking conference. If post secondary education is your thing, you should go and tell me all about it.

I am also not judging the National Ethics Bowl in Canada.

I am going to spend the next month getting ready for surgery.

That means…

Physio, physio, and more physio. It’s rehab and prehab at the same time.
Personal training for strength, mobility, and balance and general fitness. (I’m adding in a bunch of extra sessions.)
Taking iron supplements and eating lots of green, leafy veggies to get my iron levels up
Getting lots of rest

I’m doing better at getting the same amount of sleep each night rather than wildly inconsistent amounts, after reading about the health risks of inconsistent sleep schedules.

Collecting the walker, knee ice machine etc from friends who’ve also had knee replacement surgery in the past month
Organizing my life at work so things are ready for an Acting Dean to step in
Cleaning and organizing the house as much as possible
Finding people to help out. This surgery is the day my mum leaves for England for two weeks and we’re on dog duty so we are reshuffling things in the family so other adult kids can step in.
Sneaking in some things before surgery that I can’t do after such as a spa day
Luckily I don’t need any special pillows!
Making stacks of books and lists of things to watch while I recovery.

I was amused to see this colouring book but I don’t think I need it!

Wish me luck!

Category: rest

Making Space 2023: Day 11

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Making Space 2023: Day 9

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Making Space 2023: Day 8

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Week 2 of Finishing Soft

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