To help you celebrate, here are seven Halloween-themed workouts for you to choose from.
Why so many?
It’s like my new favourite T-shirt says ‘Witches Gotta Have Options’
A close up photo of the front of an orange T-shirt that has been place on a flat surface. There are the silhouettes of six brooms of different styles and below the brooms there is black text that reads ‘Witches Gotta Have Options.’
(If you don’t celebrate Halloween, you might find these fun anyway.)
Bu the way, these videos are NOT about ‘working off your candy’ * they are about maximizing your fun.
So, don’t be scared, just pick whichever one appeals to you and do as much or as little of it as you want.
A Halloween workout video with dance choreography set to the Addams Family theme song. The still image is a blonde woman standing on the left side of the image facing to the left with her arms crossed. She’s wearing a black lacy shirt.
Next up, a waking workout to Halloween music from Kyra Pro
A walking workout from Kyra Pro. The still image features the instructor in the center facing forward with her arms held out in front of her in a ‘zombie’ pose. The background is mostly orange with a yellow moon in the centre and black bats all around. The word ‘Halloween’ is written in black at the top.
This is another fun workout from Wheelchair Wellness 4 U . She has a whole Halloween playlist too.
A Zumba dance workout from Wheelchair Wellness 4 U. Still image is the of instructor from the shoulders up, she has long blonde hair and is wearing a tank top that says Zumba in pink letters. The edges of the image are decorated with cartoon Halloween things, spiderwebs and a Haunted House.
And here’s Bride of Plankenspine from Yoga with Adriene – bonus points for a kooky name!
A yoga workout for back pain from Yoga with Adriene. In the still image, she is in yoga clothes doing a side plank and her hair is in ‘bride of Frankenstein’ style – stuck up high on her head with a white streak down one side.
A set of Halloween themed movements from Pediatric Therapy Essentials. still image shows a cartoon image of some kids in costumes (dinosaur, ghost, skeleton, mummy), black cat, and a dog in a ghost costume. There are three cartoon pumpkins in the centre.
This video from Dance Along Gal is a seated workout to Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett. Still image shows the blonde instructor seated on a chair surrounded with cartoon Halloween images of pumpkins and bats.
Yo-yo’s Halloween Freeze Dance for kids is pretty cool, too.
Halloween Freeze Dance from Yoyo. Still image shows her in front of a Halloween image of a full moon and a spooky house and in the foreground there are a variety of goofy cartoon monsters.
I hope you had fun with these.
Gertie the ghost is offering you this gold star in celebration of your efforts:
A cartoonish drawing of a happy ghost holding a gold star with a speech balling above their head that reads ‘Go you!’
Since my post yesterday was inviting you to make some space for yourself this month, I’ve decided to help you out with that by offering a short movement video and short meditation video each afternoon in December.
I figure that if you don’t have to search for and choose a video, it might make it easier to fit it into your day. And if you subscribe to the blog, it will even show up in your email!
You don’t *have* to do these every day, of course, (I’m bossy but I’m not actually the boss of you) but I’ll bet it will feel pretty good if you do.
Please adjust to your own schedule and abilities, of course, I don’t want anyone to get hurt!
First up, since I seem to hoard my tension in my shoulders and I assume other people do, too, here’s Doctor Jo with some shoulder stretches.
This video from the Ask Doctor Jo YouTube channel shows Doctor Jo doing shoulder stretches while wearing a blue shirt with a superhero dog on it.
And as for meditation, let’s give this one a whirl…ahem, let’s give this one a sit.
Please remember that you don’t have to automatically be able to sit quietly with your breath, that’s a skill that comes with practice. And that practice involves trying to meditate, noticing that your attention has wandered, and then returning to the focus on your breath. Returning over and over is PART of the initial process, it’s not a failure or a mistake.
A video from the My Life YouTube channel that offers a visual of gentle water with a guided meditation.
Feel free to check in to let me know that you did one of these videos, or any other movement or mindfulness practice, and I’ll respond with a gold star for your efforts.
And whether you do these videos or not, please be kind to yourself today. 🌟
As you figure out how to fit your new habits into your daily life, you are going to run into times where your plans feel impossible.
Perhaps your schedule will get out of whack. Maybe you’ll be sore from your last workout or coming down with a cold. Possibly your friends or family will need you at just the wrong time.
No matter what the reason, there will be times when you just can’t follow your plan.
Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that a few glitches mean you should abandon your plans.
Glitches happens to everyone, even people with long established exercise habits.
It’s totally normal and definitely part of the process of adding more fitness to your life.
The trick to working past a glitch is to change your focus.
Instead of worrying about what you *can’t* do at a given point, ask yourself what you CAN do that day. Even if it is just a placeholder activity, it will help you keep the rhythm of exercise in your life.
So, if you can’t go to dance class, can you dance in your kitchen while you cook supper?
If you can’t get to the gym, can you do a few squats and push-ups at home?
If you can’t go swimming, can you do some yoga?
The changes might not be an exact match in intensity or duration but they still help you keep your commitment to yourself.
And keeping that commitment will make all the difference.
