Barefoot & On the Mat April 2023: Spring Will Come and So Will Happiness
 

Happy April - I was posting in the March thread and suddenly had an "oops" moment after realizing today is April 1st.

WELCOME!!! :sun: This is a long-running VF check-in that has had various names and various forms - we now do a monthly thread instead of weekly.

We're a friendly, supportive group who enjoy a wide variety of workouts, especially those traditionally done without shoes. Join us if you enjoy yoga, Pilates, barre, qi gong, Classical Stretch/Essentrics, Callanetics - or even if you like to do things like cardio and weight lifting barefoot!

There are so many great April quotes, it was hard to choose one. I chose one from the Gratitude Blog: "Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer."― Anita Krizzan. Here are several others that I also liked: “You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”― Pablo Neruda. And you know I can't forget some humor: “Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.”― Doug Larson.

This is the quote that applies today in my neck of the woods: "No rain, no flowers. " ― Haruki Murakami.

Happy Week-end. I truly hope we're finally finished with winter, as Mother Nature has been rather naughty teasing us with some lovely warm days, only to sneak in some freezing days that really whacked some of the foliage on my shrubs not once, but twice. Fingers crossed in hopes they'll all leaf back out. I woke up to storms and torrential rain, so no market for me today. Fortunately, I tend to stock up on the essentials and DH already made a Whole Wallet run this week. On the glass half full front - hopefully the rain washed most of the yellow pollen off my black car! Yesterday was a very long and sometimes frustrating day. One thing we had to do as part of the transition was electronic file transfers, and I ran into some problems with that. I focused on the essentials and will deal with the rest on Monday. Best of all - I don't have to work this week-end. :cool:

Any Monty Python fans here? Remember The Silly Walk? I came across a story this week where researchers did testing in the lab to see if The Silly Walk could help people meet the minimum recommendation for physical activity. What a fun experiment that would've been - not sure how the participants kept from collapsing in hysterical laughter. :D Here are several links to the story: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucele...h=43eff9022df1 or https://edition.cnn.com/videos/healt...bb-orig-nb.cnn or https://www.washingtonpost.com/welln...walk-exercise/ . I used links from different sources in case firewalls or adblockers were problematic for anyone's browser.

On a sobering note, here's a link to "Why You Cannot Find a Good Doctor" from YT from Dr. Suneel Dhand. I agree with the overwhelming majority of what he said in the 15 minute long video as someone who has been in the nursing profession for over 40 years and now literally fears the prospect of having to go to the ER, be admitted to the hospital, etc. One person who responded in the comments noted that she had been referred to a cardiologist and when she started asking questions specific to her condition, the MD said "I'm not here to discuss your options. The guidelines say I must order certain medication and specific tests." I don't have a G-rated response to that!!! Did you know that insurance and Medicare reimbursements can be negatively impacted if doctors don't follow cookie cutter guidelines, even if following those guidelines isn't in the best interest of the patient (sadly, I started learning about this angle when I spent several years working in the quality and safety program at a large hospital system, as MD's shared how they were penalized for things that were beyond their control). I wish Dr. Dhand wouldn't use terminology such as "woke-ism", as I perceive that as somewhat polarizing, even though I agree with his point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH6uVlwXGt4 . When I was a young whippersnapper, we had many of the the Dr. Marcus Welby type physicians - kind, compassionate, not afraid to push back to do what was right for the patient types of doctors. Sadly, most of them have retired. If you're fortunate enough to have a Dr. Welby - hang on to him (or her). Calling Hippocrates - can I schedule an appointment, please? I'll get off my soapbox now - I want all my friends here to ask hard questions of your treating practitioners and find someone else if you aren't getting the answers you need or if you are uncomfortable with the recommendations. I look at clinical records and claims every day - often with a heavy heart. :(

I'm thinking today's work-outs need to be nourishing, after such a long and busy week. Speaking of work-outs - yesterday it was me and Cubii, since I was glued to the desk.

Pat - I hope you aren't going to have severe weather in your area today. I noticed the wind was whipping at the osprey nest. I bought some new bracelets from Ethan at Merkaba Warrior and those arrived yesterday - one is lepidolite and stacks beautifully with my lavender jade and lapis bracelets (both of those were ordered from Ethan several years ago). The other is amazonite (different colored beads versus just the blue or green beads) and I've stacked it with a hematite bracelet on the other wrist. I just discovered Ethan has a YT channel with crystal meditations if you want to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJkS_L9pCz0 . He has a very pleasant voice. I love my rocks!

Pam - I'm so jealous of your TRX set up - that's wonderful that you have a secure place to anchor them. I'd be afraid of pulling large chunks of wallboard and/or ceiling down in my house! :eek: Thanks for posting those pictures.

Beth - I'm glad you survived the first week of being the Big Boss. How's your DH feeling? Hopefully continuing to improve every day - fingers crossed.

Sandra - That unintentional hot yoga class sounded rather unpleasant - hope everyone at the gym gets instruction on how to adjust the heat should that happen again. At least when you intentionally schedule a hot yoga class you have time to pre-hydrate and get mentally prepared!

Paine - So what fun things are your grandsons up to these days?

Martha - Good suggestion on the hip focus! I keep going back to things like Eoin Finn's In Pursuit of Happy Hips type names (I used to take that DVD when I did lots of business travel and was stuck in coach airline seats for many hours).

Spring makes me think of Margot, since she had so many interesting things growing on her property. I hope she's doing well.

Waving to ALL! Have a good week-end.

Good morning mat mavens!

Thanks for starting us off Cyana

I’ll be back later to post my workouts….

Good morning, and happy April from rain soaked CT. It's been pouring cats and dogs! :eek: My weekly hot golden milk and scone at the vegan cafe was twice as delicious after battling the elements to get there.

Yesterday:

~ An old Body Electric episode
~ Kassandra's Evening Yoga for Flexibility & Relaxation
~ 4,838 steps

Thank you for starting our April discussion, Cyana. I love the Anna Krizzan quote, thank you for that. [hug emoji] I'm envious of your new bracelets - the hematite and amazonite seems very healing, and now I have to visit Ethan's YT - and website - that lavender jade sounds fascinating. I unfortunately have first hand experience with the insurance industry dictating treatment - RA is notorious for it. Your rheumatologist has a checklist of meds that must be tried and failed before they escalate a patient to the next drug. Awful, old meds that cause rashes, mouth sores, potential blindness down the road. When you exhaust all those, your doc then has to fight like hell to try the effective biologics. Ugh I shouldn't go down that path.

Pam - I don't blame you for being shocked at MAID! (I had to look that up.) I never heard of it. Ack! Have you been enjoying your TRX?

I'll have to check back for the Silly Walk links and to see Martha's hip recommendations for It's Hip to be Barefoot!

Good morning to all who visit today. :heart:

Deleted

Thanks for clarifying, Pam.

Hi all!

Today's Workout: Body Pump at my gym.

Cyana: Thanks for starting us off this month! Your comments about spring this year really resonated with me today. After months of heavy rain (admittedly badly needed) it looks like we finally have a week of basically dry weather ahead where I live. It is still much cooler than average, but we'll catch up along those lines before you know it. ;) I want to take advantage by getting in more of my Long Aimless Walks again -- for me they are good for both body and soul!

Waving to all!

Pam - I removed my question, as it wasn't intended to be controversial, just expressing genuine curiosity. There are some state specific guidelines in the States, and some perceive those to be controversial. I attempted to research the subject before posting, using publications - such as The Guardian. My sincerest apologies.

I deleted my replies, seemed prudent with you deleting your question.

Today's workouts:
~10 km forest walk on a chilly but sunny morning :love: 15,665 steps
~Somatics & Somatic Yoga: low back, shoulders, hips, & foot focus

Waves to all!