Tag: positivity

fitness

Reflecting On An Age-Defying Championship

amandalynnstubley

From a very young age I loved skating, and from that young age I started to skate. I have written about skating before on this blog (Back on the Ice – For a Moment). I longed to be a graceful, whisp-y figure, spinning in circles, skirt flying all ways. I remember learning to glide forward on one skate, other leg behind me, arms wide open and reaching forward, when I was four. I felt like a princess. I was quite surprised to realize that my leg was really not up as high as my teachers, but still loved it.

I think my love of skating was partly because, in my town of 800 people on the Alaska Highway, there really wasn’t much else that kids did for recreation. But it was also it felt so good. So, when we moved to a rural logging town on the West Coast, with no skating rink that my mom would be able to take me to, I was pretty heartbroken. Later, when I moved to Montreal as a young adult, it was a balm to my heartache when I could put on tights and skirt and go skate on the ponds in the urban parks there. Looking back I’m proud of myself – skating on that rough pond ice, poorly maintained, if at all.

So when I heard this week’s World Championship win by Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, I knew I had to write about it. The duo won in Pairs Figure Skating – a laudable accomplishment. But what is record-breaking is that at 40, Stellato-Dudek is the oldest female world champion – officially CBC describes that she is “the oldest woman to win a world title in sports history,” and the accomplishment has made international news (see here, here, and here)

I am finding this story to be quite fascinating, as I suppose many others are. Stellato-Dudek was a rising champion teenage figure skater, when chronic hip injuries led to her retirement. She put her skates back on at 36 in response to a team-building conversation exercise: “What would you do in your life if you knew you couldn’t fail at it?”

I’m wondering what messages Stellato-Dudek’s story gifts us with? What potential might we be leaving behind, or leaving on the table? I don’t think I’ll be returning to figure skating lessons, and I’m honestly ok with that. But I do feel like this moment is one worth both celebrating and reflecting on.

When interviewed by the CBC, Stellato-Dudek commented “I hope it encourages people not to stop until they’ve reached their potential.” What is your reaction to Deanna Stellato-Dudek’s accomplishment? Do you think we should even be paying so much attention to her age? Do you find any resonances in your own life? Let me know? I would love to hear.

Skates on red wall
Go Team: View Your Highlight Reel
fitness · goals · play · season transitions

Go Team: View Your Highlight Reel

Christine Hennebury

So, Team, here we are at the end of August, being our marvellous selves.

We had BIG plans for the summer and we got some of them done.

We managed to do some cool stuff that wasn’t on our lists.

We also dealt with unexpected (and likely very challenging) stuff.

While we *could* sit here and list all of the things that didn’t go as planned, the stuff we hoped to get to but never did, the obstacles we faced, I’m going to vote no on that sort of deliberate review for us right now.

I am especially voting no on anything that might lead us to be harsh to ourselves about the whole thing.

(Yes, there’s a time and a place to review what went awry and to adjust future plans accordingly but it doesn’t have to be right now. And there might be a time and a place to decide to make different choices and take different actions but there is never a time when we have to be hard on ourselves about that sort of stuff.)

Instead, I’m inviting us to view our summer highlight reels – the fun stuff, the shiny bits, the hard work that paid off, the times we relaxed, the summer-specific moments and memories that feel great when we roll them around in our minds.

Take a minute when you can and sink into those highlights.

Relive how you felt, the sensory details, the work and the fun.

Give yourself the chance to celebrate the effort you put in, the good choices you made, the fun that happened even if things didn’t go according to plan.

I know that the end of summer can bring a sort of melancholy and, obviously, it’s totally ok to feel however you feel about the change in season, but you don’t have to get mired in that feeling.

You can be present for your melancholy moments AND you can enjoy the memories of the highlights of your summer. You don’t have to choose.

You can have some regrets about things undone AND be happy about the fun you had. this isn’t an either/or situation.

However, given the human brain’s negativity bias, we might have to consciously choose to fully remember the highlights of summer as the season comes to an end.

So, Team, here are some stars for your efforts to celebrate the good and create your summer highlight reel.

A GIF of cartoon stars dropping from the top of the image, each with a trail of sparkles
Okay, so these stars aren’t gold per se but they are super fun so they totally count. Image description: a GIF of a series of stars dropping from the top of the image trailing sparkles behind them.

And, truth be told, summer doesn’t officially end until sometime in September. So, once you have that mental highlight reel in place, you can spend a little time planning another adventure or two even as your schedule moves into Autumn mode.

Go on, I dare you to add more fun to your next few weeks.

PS – If a mental highlight reel isn’t enough for you, create an album of photos on your phone, make a list, create a visual journal, doodle some memories, or make a video for future you to watch.

PPS – My summer highlight reel includes swimming with Trudy and Michelle, sitting on my patio in the evening, a backyard fire with a small group of friends, getting my tiny spiral garden planted, a couple of day trips with Steve, and watching Khalee sniff the same patch of flowers each day on our walk.

Christine is trying to focus on what she *can* do.
fitness · injury · martial arts

Christine is trying to focus on what she *can* do.

Christine Hennebury5 Comments

I was frustrated at myself in Taekwondo class last week.

This problem with my heel/toe/calf is making it extremely hard to properly execute my patters because I can hold my leg in the right position. And because I can’t put my leg in the right spot, my hands for get what to do. And then I end up facing the wrong direction and…so on.

I was feeling especially annoyed because I wanted to be preparing for my next belt test but this injury is really slowing my progress.

I’m the midst of all that annoyance, I had a flash of insight.

My physical practice is pretty limited right now but I could be studying my TKD theory. I could be practicing how to describe my patterns and how to teach them. I could be watching videos and observing technique.

A series of stick person drawings depicting different aspects of Taekwondo training.
Here’s a sketchnote I made when preparing for my last belt test. If made more of these, I could be enjoying creative practice AND preparing for my test. Image description: this is a drawing I made about the 9 training secrets in TKD. I have a series of stick people illustrating different aspect of the training and some text describing each one. The areas between the drawings are coloured yellow.

But, instead of doing all of that work that is freely available to me, I had been focusing on the one thing that wasn’t available to me right now.

Once I had broken that spell, I started to see all the other ways I had been letting my toe/heel/calf pain get in my way.

I’ve been able to walk each day but a lot of other cardio exercises aggravate my heel so I have been largely avoiding them.

When I started thinking in terms of what I *could* do instead of what I couldn’t, I remembered the seated cardio I did after an injury a few years back. I did a quick search on YouTube and have the one below a try – I really enjoyed it.

Link leads to a workout from Puzzle Fit called 20 minute strength and cardio workout for lower body injuries

I haven’t turned into Merry Sunshine. I’m still annoyed about my toe/heel/calf but I feel good about this change in focus. it better for my brain and for my body.

Have you benefitted from a chance in focus like this?

How did it play out for you?