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Content Notice*: Exercise (not weight loss) Like a lot of people, my pandemic life has been a rollercoaster of routines being disrupted, rebuilt, turbocharged, and atrophied. My fitness and wellness routines have certainly been on a wild ride. Riiiight before the pandemic me and my spouse had finally gotten ourselves into one of those coveted routines, going to the gym three times a week. I know! I am also very impressed! Up until that point, hitting the gym had not been part of our usual lifestyle. The trick was doing some Tetris with the budget to join a ridiculously fancy gym. It is bright and clean and feels like a resort. I think they pump in dopamine along with the music. And they have a hot tub. It was basically like this:  (This is obviously not us but accurately reflects how we felt). Anyway. Once COVID hit, gyms became terrifying horrorscapes crawling with invisible spiky death balls. Fortunately, spring 2020 was GORGEOUS! We started walking 3-5 miles a day like rockstars. We observed the magnificent transformation of the seasons. Stick, to bud, to leaf. Mud, to green shoots, to big fat blossoms. And we got a dog! On weekends we did 5-7 mile hikes in the woods!
But then winter hit. And it didn't feel like this.  It felt like this.  This was not good. I know some folks joined Peloton or took advantage of a fitness app but it just wasn't doing it for me. It wouldn’t feel fancy and glamorous and spa-like. It wouldn’t feel like deepening my relationship with nature. It would feel like being alone and sweaty on my salt and grit-covered wooden floor between the coats and the boots. So... we watched a lot of TV. Like, a LOT of TV. Then, one day last week, (now that it’s spring anyway and the glorious transition of seasons is beginning, but whatever) I came across this little nugget of wisdom in some social media feed. (Ok it was Facebook. I’m old and I use Facebook.)  And I thought to myself, ok, what could I do about this total and complete lack of movement - something that wouldn’t be great but would at least be something? I had already downloaded the Down Dog apps** on my phone in that COVID phase where everything was weirdly free. I actually had been using their yoga app because it creates a pleasantly unpredictable routine with various adjustments to my gradually increasing abilities. I’d tried the workout app a couple of times for 7-minute workouts and HIIT but it was sweaty and not very interesting and I kept “forgetting.” Meanwhile.... I've been listening to a couple books and podcasts about building new habits and whatnot. One thing that stuck in my memory is that new habits need a few key things to work:
I had already made this quartet work for me to FINALLY remember to take my vitamins and all-important allergy meds. (Did I mention we also got two quarantine cats!) I got these** ridiculous dark chocolate caramel nut candy multivitamins and put them in a mason jar right next to my coffee maker. And I stashed all the nasty horse pill vitamins and allergy meds in a 7-day pill case thing in a drawer nearby. Every day I’d make my coffee and see the delicious-looking chocolate vitamins (Trigger) but FIRST I had to take my horse pill vitamins which were right there already portioned out into an easy handful (Easy and fit right into my routine. No extra steps). Then I’d get to eat my delicious chocolate vitamin (Reward!) Tip: Chocolate vitamins melt by the stove so I switched to gummies.  So… what do I do every day that is also associated with a stretch of dead time? I make tea every morning! (Yes I drink coffee AND tea every morning. Two cups of tea and one cup of coffee to be specific. Yeah I know it’s weird.) You might not know this, but with boiling and steeping, tea-making takes about 7 minutes! You may see where I’m going with this, but the typical 7-minute workout, which I’d tried at various times in the winter, had all kinds of rolling out a mat and laying down and finding things to step up on and whatever. I can’t be rolling out a mat on the kitchen floor every morning. So, I figured let me check out this app and see if I can find a way to make it work. The app is super customizable so I set upper body, lower body, and core level to 1 (even though I’m probably actually a 2 - keep it easy at first). You can choose typical stuff like arm day, leg day, whatever. But they have really handy stuff for my needs, like no jumps (My kid sleeps downstairs and probably wouldn’t appreciate me doing jumping jacks over his head while he’s sleeping). It also has "no wrists" and "bad knees" accommodations that I don’t need right now but have at times. What REALLY is making this work for me though is The Floor is Lava (all standing, no mat work). What?? A helpful setting with a cool name? I love it. And while it technically didn’t have me standing the whole time (lots of kneeling and exercises in the tabletop position) it didn’t require a mat and generally had my head up.  Folks - IT’S WORKING! Every morning I put the kettle on, start my workout, and just pause it whenever the tea needs something. My blood gets pumping and I’m just a little bit sore which makes me want to move my body more. Plus I get to start the day feeling proud of myself and maybe a little morally superior, which is ironically morally wrong but also motivating. Lowering the bar waaaaay down really did get me started. I might take it up a notch next week, but maybe not. The key is to do something every day until it’s just part of life. I’m not exactly buff or anything, but something is better than nothing and it should tide me over until I can get back in the gym again. 'Till then I'll be using tea time to wiggle it. Just a little bit. 🙄 If you like this post, consider liking and sharing! Maybe someone you know would like to learn more about me and my work at Entirely Possible! And if you would like help creating great content like this, let's connect on my contact page for more information about what Entirely Possible! can do for you. * While exercise and talk about how to start an exercise habit can be helpful and healthy for many, some folks have unhealthy or traumatic connections with exercise. Content warnings allow readers to prepare themselves for challenging content and to decide whether or not they want to keep reading. ** In case you're curious, my recommendations in this post are not affiliate links (I'm not that cool yet) just stuff I actually like and think you might like too.
 A few weeks ago my family was taking a walk across a frozen lake. It was my mother-in-law’s first time walking on water and it was pretty great to be reminded what magic this is. The sun sparkled on the fresh snow. People were ice skating along a frozen path where snow had been swept off the lake. These were wonderful but not unexpected pleasures. Then we came across a square of open water surrounded by a caution fence. A tattooed long-haired, hipster-looking guy (not pictured) was getting ready to go in the water! I suppose I had vaguely heard of such a thing in some back corner of my mind -- but to see it! My spouse was immediately intrigued, asking all kinds of practical questions about how one would accomplish such a feat safely. As we left the lake he said, “We’re coming back tomorrow. And we’re bringing the kid. We’re going to jump in the lake!” I was not interested. It seemed scary. It seemed like something beyond my capabilities. It seemed like something for tattooed hipster men demonstrating their fortitude. I refused this adventure but offered to take photos, hold towels, and holler un-helpful advice from the sidelines. The next day we came back with our teenage kiddo and a brave friend. The three of them actually did it! They stripped down to swimsuits, socks, gloves, and hats -- and got in the freezing lake! When it was over, spouse and kiddo said it was great. It was shocking! Invigorating! Adventurous! I was kinda jealous. So I just decided to do it. I can do anything for 60 seconds, right? I made the commitment, despite my misgivings, and told my spouse to hold me to it. The next time the sun was shining we were going to jump in the lake! We invited another friend and her teenage kiddo and an hour before sunset we arrived again at the hole in the ice. No turning back now. The first step was to strip down to a swimsuit! In winter! It wasn’t so bad actually. (You should maybe try it even if you don’t have a lake to jump into). My confidence was boosted! My adrenaline was kicking in! It was adventure time!  I don’t think I would have had the guts to do it alone, but together we all sat on the edge of the ice on a yoga mat. (We’d picked up that tip from tattoo man). We held our legs out straight over the water, ready to slide in all at once. (Don’t just dip your toes in, he’d said, you have to commit!).  And in we went. HOLY COW IT WAS COLD! But honestly, I didn’t hate it. Except for my toes. My toes hated it.  Our goal was to stay in for 60 seconds, but I didn’t make it that long. Because toes.  When I got out I felt like a million bucks! I was a little bummed I hadn’t stayed in the 60 seconds. I realized when it was over that I had the capacity and I just hadn’t given myself the chance. But, I’d faced my fears! I’d tried a new thing! I was living life to the fullest! And I had a serious glow from the ice-cold water.
It might sound cheesy, but it also got me thinking about other aspects of my life. What else was I intrigued about but avoiding? What other invigorating opportunity was I missing because I thought it was only for stronger, edgier, cooler people? Lessons from jumping in a lake:
In other words, sometimes even if you’re not “ready,” even if you’re not “sure,” you have to just jump in! And so with this post, I jump into my Spark Possible! Blog. This will be an opportunity for you to get to know me as a person, as a writer, and as a justice-oriented writing consultant. Let the adventure begin. |
