Barefoot & On the Mat 2/23-29: Leap Year Day Edition!

[JustSandra]

Greetings and welcome to the weekly Barefoot & On The Mat check-in thread! This is a long-running VF check-in. We're a cozy, friendly group who enjoy a wide variety of workouts, but we have a special fondness for those traditionally done without shoes. If you enjoy yoga, pilates, barre, qi gong, Classical Stretch/Essentrics, Ellen Barrett, etc. (or even if you simply prefer doing traditional workouts without shoes!) you'll feel right at home.

Please feel free to join in. We love hearing from new, returning and guest Mat Mavens. Our welcome mat is always out!

Back in a moment....

[JustSandra]

Hello again!

I have a friend who was born on February 29th. I just ordered a cake for her party that says "Happy 20th Birthday" -- even though she will be 80!

Not much new with me workout-wise. I'm continuing the combination of Margaret Richard plus Classical Stretch, supplemented by outdoor walking (taking advantage of our dry, spring-like weather). The simplicity strongly appeals to me right now. Between the situation with my niece and her ex, plus another family member who is struggling, I don't have room in my head at the moment for anything more elaborate fitness-wise. But I do believe the drama will subside, or at least lessen, over the next few weeks and then, if I want to, I'll be ready to change things up.

Waving to all -- be back later with today's workout!

[cyana]

Greetings from the perpetual work-life imbalance corner. As they say, this too, shall pass - just not nearly as quickly as I'd like!

Sandra - What a great idea for a Happy 20th cake for your Leap Year Birthday friend. I'm glad you've been able to enjoy some nice outdoor walking weather....I'm hoping to see some consistently sunny mild days at some point in this lifetime (she says, as the clouds begin to gather - again ).

Carolyn - I'd like to go to something like your Vegetarian Festival. Even though I'd describe myself as a Conscious Omnivore, I eat veggie several days a week, on average, and am always on the look-out for new ideas as I love to play with food.

Beth - Referencing your link from last week, I'm perfectly fine with appropriate instructor adjustments. I think I've mentioned previously, I once had a very experienced instructor who tended to adjust beyond my edge - into the discomfort zone. I have one male instructor, and he's always very respectful of asking females whether they're OK with adjustments. Wow, that's a really LONG time for the library to be closed!! As a library lover, I'd be freaked out over that.

Anny - I sure hope that vertigo episode has totally resolved. Vertigo is such a profoundly horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Garrie - Did I miss whether you'd mentioned how teaching your new Pilates class went? Did you get snow with those storms that came through recently?

Paine - Do you ever put kombu in your beans? I was watching a recipe video on Downshiftology and she put a bay leaf and piece of kombu in with lentils. I used to put kombu in with my beans and I'm not sure why I got out of that habit.

Gayle - Hope all is well with you and DH. Hope he's 100% recovered from the eye surgeries and has laser vision like SuperMan now.

Linda - Hope you and MM are doing well and staying well this winter.

Still have a dressing on my wounded finger (yes, I'm getting a bit impatient and ready to be back to 100%), so no major bulk cooking yet. However, I wanted to share a recipe for Ultimate Seed Crackers from Downshiftology.com. I made these today and they were easy and turned out really well: https://downshiftology.com/recipes/u...seed-crackers/ . Lisa says you can season them however you wish with up to 2 T of spices/herbs. I used 1/2 tsp each onion and garlic powder and a heaping tsp of Adobo (I know you're shocked to hear that since I put Adobo in just about everything these days, LOL!!!). One piece of advice.....when you take your crackers out of the oven, as soon as they're cool enough, put them on a baking rack until they're totally cool. I left them on the parchment paper-covered baking sheets and they got a little moist where they were in contact with the paper, so I had to pop them back in the oven for a little extra drying time. One day I hope to whip up a double or triple batch and use the dehydrator for drying.

And now that I can put my crackers away, I'm going to go work out. Hoping to be back later to report what I actually managed to get done.

[Paine]

Strong & Limber for Life (ALL!)

I usually only do Upper Body and a couple of lower body exercises from Strong & Limber for life but today I did the whole thing and it felt great. It's a nice total body workout.

Sandra, thanks for starting us!
It was sweet of you to order that birthday cake for your friend. I'm sure she will laugh at what you had written on the cake.

Beth, I bet your massage was wonderful yesterday. Good idea to schedule another one for your birthday!

Anny, we didn't have any special plans for the weekend. Last night my DH and I saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and it was soooo good! Highly recommended! Tom Hanks did a great job playing Mr. Rogers. What a remarkable man Mr. Rogers was.

Cyana, I have never put kombu in my beans. What does kombu taste like?
Thanks for the Ultimate Seed Cracker recipe!

[toaster]

Sandra, how fun that you have a friend born on leap day! Next Saturday I'm going to a yoga workshop with a nationally known yoga therapist who specializes in yoga for eating disorders: https://www.jenniferkreatsoulas.com/

cyana, sorry to hear that your wound is still impacting your cooking. I've actually had very few in-person male instructors. I know that the male I took the yoga on the ropes course did adjust my arm in one pose; he was very respectful, and perhaps given that he is also a physical therapist, I trusted him completely.

I had a massage yesterday. Also, after falling off the week before, I got back to meditation every day this past week.

Here was my week:

Sunday
recumbent bike, 30 mins
30MTF Build & Burn - Cardio Core, Cardio (no strength) premix
yoga on own with meditation

Monday
Element Barre Conditioning - Workout 1, Burn & Firm
Tracy Campoli (YT) - Perfect Arms
Jenni Rawlings Yoga (online) - Neck & Shoulder Practice w/Ariana

Wednesday
Jenni Rawlings Yoga (online) - Low Back Care Practice

Thursday
TAUGHT noontime yoga; yoga at studio
Yoga in the Garden of Serenity - Neck & Shoulders

Friday
Jenni Rawlings Yoga (online) - Quick Upper Back Mobility Flow

Saturday
Jenni Rawlings Yoga (online) - Morning Joint Mobility Practice
recumbent bike, 25 mins
Jenni Rawlings Yoga (online) - Improve Your Squat

Sunday
LEKFit (YT) - 15m Arms
Justine Shelton (YT) - Feldenkrais Fusion Yoga Therapy for Neck & Shoulders
Jodie Krantz (YT) - Feldenkrais Freeing the Neck
Jenni Rawlings Yoga (online) - Restorative with Gentle Warm-up w/Lauren

[Paine]

Beth, I never knew there was a yoga therapist who specializes in yoga for eating disorders--how interesting. I look forward to hearing about your experience at the yoga workshop.

[toaster]

Paine, those who are trained yoga therapists tend to specialize in different things--trauma is one frequent area. I am not sure I would like the Mr. Rogers movie even though we liked the documentary. I used to love Tom Hanks way back when (I was a huge Bosom Buddies fan, which dates me, haha), but I haven't enjoyed his more recent work as much.

Those seed crackers do look yummy!

[cyana]

Today:
Holden 2.7.2020 class - a lot of good, twisty spine work and married some qi gong flows with tai chi stepping movements, with an emphasis on moving backward (since we normally move forward in our day to day activities).

I decided I'd go for it and remove my finger dressing before I did my qi gong practice. I don't think it's ready for prime time yet (as in full time open to air), but I'll keep scaling my dressing back and try to give it some dressing free time every day. I accidentally whacked the crap out of that finger on a door frame a day or two ago and would've probably sat down on the floor and cried had it not been dressed securely. It's still pretty tender.

Beth - I've had several male yoga teachers over the years. They were very different, but I liked them all. I'm glad you enjoyed your massage. It's funny when I think back on it......the yoga classes I haven't cared for really haven't had anything to do with the person as opposed to the style of yoga (death by sun salutations, for example ).

Paine - Kombu is supposed to increase the digestibility of starchy foods such as beans, and is a good source of iodine. It also provides the umami/savory touch.

I'm going to try to throw some hummus together before winding it down for the night.

Hope everyone's week gets off to a good start. Will be back when time allows.

[Paine]

Beth, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was not what I expected. It's about a cynical reporter who is assigned to do a piece on Mr. Rogers. You do learn about Mr. Rogers through their interactions. The movie was very touching.

Cyana, oh ouch! It must of hurt so bad to whack your wounded finger.
How great to know that kombu increases digestibility of beans. Does kombu taste like Nori? Also, where do you buy it?

[cyana]

Today:
Holden 2.10.2020 class (which was actually a "classic" class from 2.11.2019, as Lee was away teaching) - with a focus on getting rid of dampness and cold and I'm all for that this long, wet winter!

I worked out without a dressing again and decided I'd see how I'd do working without one. It was weird, but I managed to get through the day with Ol' Scabby open to air. I'll probably pop a band-aid on for sleep, to be on the safe side.

Paine - Eden foods sells kombu - it's dried and in a plastic bag. You could put the rest in a zip lock or glass jar for storage. I'll be honest and say I don't notice a huge difference in the taste of my beans - maybe I need to use a bigger piece of kombu next time, LOL!!! Whole Wallet sells kombu and I would imagine any grocery store with a decent Asian food section would carry it.

I was going to work late this evening, but decided to blow it off as I need to pay some bills and do a few other mundane chores. Then I plan to get ready for bed early and do some reading until I get sleepy.

It's awfully quiet today - hope everyone is well. And I hope someone is actually seeing the sun.