Barefoot and on the Mat - November, 2021 check-in
 

Welcome to our November check-in!

This check-in is for ANYONE and EVERYONE who enjoys ANY type of barefoot workouts, including yoga, Pilates, Classical Stretch/Essentrics, kickboxing, kettlebells, barefoot cardio, whatever - we welcome all! We are a friendly group of diverse ages and backgrounds. Post your workouts or not, we don't care...we'd love to have you join us in any capacity!

“She stands
In tattered gold
Tossing bits of amber
And jade, jewels of a year grown old:
November.”

— Zephyr Ware Tarver, “A Queen Makes an Exit”

Happy Moan Day. More like Groan Day! My toe is still so sore and the blister just won't heal. Might have to call the podiatrist if things don't start looking up. Anyway, my low key Halloween featured:

~ Half mile slow stroll at beach
~ YWK YWK Bedtime Yin Yoga
~ 4,460 steps

I forgot to buy candy but it was just as well, only one group came around and we hid. :D It was discovered that some kook in my neighborhood was handing out dog treats. I mean, it’s not poison or razor blades, and humans can eat dog treats, but sausage and bacon nuggets? :confused:

Anyway -

Cyana, I loved your bird Musical Tree. They are so special. I’m so stuck on the beach grid I’m going to take it down and try something different. Ethan has some beautiful pieces, and I love that bat! I wonder what it is? I enjoy Traditional Medicinals Chamomile Lavender tea when I can’t sleep on winter nights, and occasionally roast a chicken with Penzeys herbes de provence which contains lavender, among other yummy herbs.

Beth, I’m happy to hear your massage helped. I had to look up what scalenes are - oh, those pesky rascals. Great week of workouts for you.

Paine, I will share that butternut squash recipe. It’s a WW recipe so the link won’t work for non-subscribers.

Good morning to all who follow!

Pat, thanks for starting us off!

November - :eek:

Essentrics

Pat, thank you for starting our November thread! It's hard to believe that it's November already.
I bookmarked Yoga with Kassandra's Bedtime Yin Yoga because it looks like something I'd love (thank you for giving the link).

Pam, thanks for telling me how you make your air fried butternut squash, it sounds delicious! I like Penzey's spices too. I haven't tried their Northwoods seasoning but will have to get some.

I look forward to hearing about Garrie's experience with the Cathe Road trip. :)

Paine, here is the butternut squash stew recipe:

Moroccan Butternut Squash Stew

Enjoy!

Thank you Pat for starting us off and for the verse. :)

Yesterday evening I needed to move after sitting down all afternoon, so did:
- Lee Holden Qigong for Better Balance. :love:
- Beth's Rise Up Stand Up :love:

Today's workouts:
- Bellyfit Release & Restore (20m). :love: This was a gentle cardio workout with a tribal beat.
- Neighbourhood walk
- ETV Maude All Standing class

Cyana - I loved hearing about your bird version of musical chairs. That must have been so entertaining. I sometimes put lavender into my teas but lately I'm into rose petals and hibiscus, mainly for the vitamin C content but I do like how they flavour up my white teas.

Pat - Ouch, your poor toe. I'm sending healing vibes your way. I'm :D on you hiding from the trick or treaters. I buy candy every year for Halloween but I think we've only had two times in the past 20 years when anyone has shown up. I can't believe someone would pass out dog treats! :eek: Thanks for the recipe. :-)

Paine - Did your grandsons dress up and go out trick or treating last night?

Pam - I do think we have similar weather. Apart from living in Kansas for 6 months over one summer, I realise I've only ever lived in this kind of climate. Seattle was very much like the UK.

Waves to all.

Pat, thank you kindly for the recipe link--it looks good!

Margot, for Halloween my grandsons dressed up as the video game characters Mario and Luigi. They didn't go Trick or Treating (because of the pandemic) but their mom hid candy around the house and they had fun going on a candy hunt.

Hello everyone!

Thanks for starting us off Pat, love the poem. :) Your recipe looks great & I look forward to checking out your other blog posts. I hope you get some relief for your toe

Today’s workouts:
~Balletone class on zoom with a fellow Essentrics instructor. It was an interesting change of pace.
~I was feeling generally stiff today so I finished the day with some Yin on my own after a hot bath & DH working on my back & hips with the massage gun.

Waves to all!

Monday:
30 minutes of breath work
50 stability ball crunches
BFR legs - stability ball wall squats - 30 reps x 3 sets, calf raises 30 reps x 3 sets and bridge butt lifts 30 reps x 3 sets
seated twists on the stability ball (felt so good to wring out :) )

It was a long day at the desk yesterday. Keeping my fingers crossed things are going to start getting better the last half of the month.

Pat - Thanks for the recipe link - that sounds so yummy and I think I have all the ingredients. :yummy: Hope your toe is feeling better today - fingers crossed! Ethan does have some wonderful pieces - I love looking at his pictures.

Margot - I love hibiscus tea and even better if I can put it in a clear glass cup so I can see the beautiful red color while I'm drinking it. :cool: I love to make it in my clear glass teapot, which was a gift from my DS, who knows how much I love tea. :heart: And I like to mix hibiscus with ginger - really warming this time of year.

Paine - I remember when Mario and Luigi were the hottest guys on the planet - some of the earliest video game superstars! Now I have that little jingle playing in my head from their very first video game, which my nephew played constantly, LOL!

Pam - I'm jealous that DH works on your back and hips with the massage gun. I'm sure DH would do it, but he's frequently asleep before me, which is another reason I've enjoyed the massage tool with the longer handle so much. Yet another reason I need to retire (like I need much more encouraging, LOL!). ;)

Must get my day started - the to do list is already maxed out. :p

Waves to ALL! :sun:

Quick post for me:

Margot, glad you liked my video yesterday! I should have done that one, haha.

cyana, *fingers strongly crossed for you* that things WILL get better at the end of the month.

Pam, I'm always looking for good ballet-inspired workouts - if your friend has a YouTube channel, let us know so that we can support her! :)

Happy Tuesday! :sun:

Good morning everyone! Yesterday I accomplished:

~ Ellen's 10 Minute WW Walk
~ YWK 10 Minute Morning Stretch
~ Kathy Smith Peel Off the Pounds Pilates (full DVD)
~ 6,850 steps

That is a new Kassandra, it was nice. It features the half split where you sit back on one heel, a favorite of mine. That was also the first time I've done a full length Kathy Smith DVD in - I can't remember how long. It's one of her best productions, IMO.

Thank you for the healing toe vibes, everyone. :heart: Thank goodness for Oofos flip flops, they let me do most workouts at home.

I hope you like the recipe if you try it, Paine.

Margot, that Bellyfit class sounds nice.

Pam, interesting about Balletone. I seem to recall having one of her DVDs stashed away. What did you think?

Cyana, I have my fingers and all toes (except one) crossed that your workload eases up toward end of month.

Beth, I still need to do your lunchtime #3 - today seems like a good day for it.

Good morning to all who follow!

Home Improvement (all)

When I was doing Margaret's Home Improvement more frequently, I always wore 2.5 pounds on each ankle for the floor work but today I did it without ankle weights and it was still challenging! How the hell did I always do it with ankle weights? Ticks me off that I've lost strength. :(

Pat, I found all of Kathy's Peel Off the Pounds Pilates on YouTube and it looks good so I bookmarked it. :)
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...Pounds+Pilates

Beth, you will probably laugh at this. I saw that you made a comment about the new Outlander book in the Fall Reading thread. I read the first couple of Outlander books when they first came out many years ago. I liked them but then one day it suddenly dawned on me... The main character is cheating on her husband!! So she is an adulteress! That pi$$ed me off so I quit reading the series. :p

Paine, LOL about Outlander! Yes, the present-day husband really does get kind of screwed in that deal. :p Despite that, I really loved the first 2 books and continued through I think Book 6 (I believe my next book would be Echo in the Bone, which starts with her daughter back in present day). However, the last few felt like slogs to me, way too long and increasingly convoluted. I have thought about going back but I think it's been so long that I would have trouble remembering some of the plotlines.

I just came across this channel that looks good! I was looking up info for scalenes (those pesky neck muscles, as Pat said), and found lots of information on trigger points from this channel, Wizard of Health. This simple move was particularly useful to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpJw...WizardofHealth

Jill Miller does something similar with a ball, but I never really "got it" before, and it felt more helpful just doing it with my thumb!

Hello everyone!

This morning I felt in the mood for Pilates:
- Jessica Smith Standing Pilates Fusion Abs YT - This had some nice balance work in it. I felt a bit sad seeing Peanut with Jessica.
- Pilates Girl with Resistance Band YT This was a new channel to me. It was mainly focussed on arm work.
- HealthBarre - Buttocks and Thighs

Cyana - Hibiscus and ginger combined sounds :yummy:. I think I'll brew some tomorrow. I'm wishing for you too that your workload lightens up later on this month.

Pat - Thank you for mentioning Kathy Smith's Pilates and thanks Paine for the link.:) I've bookmarked the page too. I think I still have one of Kathy's weights DVDs somewhere. I must dig that out.

Paine - I bet your grandsons looked so cute in their costumes. :heart:

Beth and Paine - I read the Outlander series years ago. I remember enjoying the first books of the series and then got a bit tired of them towards the end. Did you see the series on TV? I watched a few episodes but found them unbearably slow. I heard from other reviewers that the later episodes became quite violent, so gave up watching them at that point.

Beth - The Wizard of Health channel looks interesting. I don't go near my neck with the tune-up balls, ever since I put my neck into spasm after trying to press down into a knot at the base of my neck. I couldn't turn my neck properly for a couple of weeks. It was really my own fault, but lesson learned!

Waves to all!

Hi!

Pat58: Thank you for starting us off this month.

I didn't work out yesterday as we had a little family birthday party for my grandniece, who has turned six years old! :heart: Between Halloween and various birthday celebrations she had quite a weekend.

Today's Workout: Margaret Richard's Strong For Life (whole thing, but did skip the warmups and cool downs).

I wasn't planning to hand out candy for Halloween, but a group of kids that I know and who live a few doors down came early. Luckily I had chocolate on hand. ;) I closed up shop after that.

Margot: I'm not sure how I feel about doing Jessica's YouTube videos now that Peanut is gone. :(

Waving to all!

Margot, that's definitely a tough lesson! The instructor of the channel did say that you had to be careful in the area. I think the bits of self-massage (no ball) there today was helpful.

Sandra, I think I heard about Peanut but had forgotten. :( I had a student mention Adriene's dog Benji today; I think there would be an outcry if anything happened to him!

Got my Yoga for Healthy Aging certificate today, which was a nice bit of sunshine in my day. :sun:

Today’s workouts:
~Taught Essentrics
~PT exercises
~Bedtime yin stretch :love: Now I’m settled in to read for a while…..

The Balletone workout was good, lots of balance work, nice cardio effect with a moderate pace. It was a on a friend & fellow Essentrics instructor’s subscription website. She doesn’t have anything on youtube unfortunately.

Pat - Those Oofos are like walking on air!

Paine, Beth, & Margot - I got into the first few seasons of Outlander, but then I lost interest. Just seemed like more of the same & definitely violent. I am a big reader, but haven’t read any of the books, they are soooo long, lol.

Cyana - I also love hibiscus tea, it is so pretty. I’m into bulk teas & like to blend fruity ones with hibiscus & other herbals. I often make 2 litres in a big glass jar and drink it over a day or two.

Sandra - Wow, hard to believe your sweet grandniece is 6 already! :heart: Belated birthday wishes!

Waves to all!

Fitness Becomes You Volume 2-all: Program A, Program B and Program C

I did the full body workout in Margaret's Fitness Becomes You Volume 2. Today I was able to wear 2.5 pounds on each ankle with all of the lower body exercises. :)

I wish I loved straight up hibiscus tea because I know it is very good for you but it has a sour taste to me. However I found 3 Celestial Seasonings teas that are a blend but have some hibiscus in it and I like those so I do try to have one cup of that a day (Celestial Seasonings True Blueberry, Black Cherry Berry and Country Peach Passion).

Paine, what do you know about the benefits of hibiscus? I'm not sure I've tried it.

Pam, I have only caught a little of the Outlander series - I couldn't really watch b/c the characters didn't fit with my imagination from the books. :o

[PS - Braves win! Just had to get that in. :D ]

Beth, hibiscus tea has antioxidants which are beneficial. I've also read that hibiscus tea can help boost your immune system.

Today was:
- Jessica Smith Walk Strong 3 Cardio Boogie I.T.. I don't think I've done this one before. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I enjoyed the music.
- Jessica Smith Gentle Yoga & Pilates (Floor)
- MFML Norman Blair Hip Yin: Above the Hips, Below the Navel

Sandra - Birthday parties are such a big event when you're a child. I'm glad you all had such a good time.

Pam - Your Balletone class sounds really good.

Beth - Congratulations on getting your H.A. Certificate and also to the Braves (whoever they are?) I'm figuring some kind of sports team. :D

Paine - It must have felt satisfying to be able to do the workout today with your ankle weights. I agree that hibiscus is quite tart. I added a tiny amount of maple syrup to the ginger and hibiscus tea I made and that made it more palatable, especially with a chocolate chip almond cookie! ;)

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Ugh, after being careful for some time, I just got the dreaded 500 error! :mad:

I will update the personals later, but here's a Wed funny - not a quote, a situation. :)

I got an email today on my work account with the subject line "Quote" and the message that appears below - and I have no idea who this person is that sent it to me! The only thing I can think of is that maybe they saw one of my Instagram posts (many of which are quotes), looked up my name, and then found my work address.

Or, maybe the universe is trying to tell me something. ;) Either way, enjoy! :D

Hello!

Today's Workout: Add On Abs plus Total Stretch, both from Jessica Smith's Walk Strong 3.

Beth: Congrats on the Healthy Aging certificate!

A question: Have any of you used silicone bakeware? I just got a silicone muffin pan. It is my understanding you don't grease or oil the pan, and that the finished product pops right out. Anyone know if this is true?

Waving to all!

Yesterday’s workouts:
~Taught Essentrics on zoom
~Jessica’s 21 Day: Tred & Shred

DH & I are up in Courtenay dog sitting DS2 & DIL’s sweet daschund for 2 nights. :heart: Hope to get some walking in, but the gray November days have definitely set in.

Sandra - I have some silicone bakeware, although I am not much of a baker, lol. :p It is very non stick and cleans up easily.

Nice mid week motivation quote Beth!

Margot - I’m very overdue to visit MFML!

Paine - Yes I agree hibiscus tea can be rather tart. I usually infuse it together with a fruit infusion & add a little honey.

Waves to all!

Good morning! Happy Friday Eve! :sun: Yesterday I accomplished:

~ YWK Morning Yoga Movement Day #3, Full Body Morning Yoga plus affirmations
~ LWR 1,000 Steps Walking Workout at Home
~ Shakti Warrior 7, See Your Dreams - Visualize to Realize
~ Unplugged 1904
~ 6,580 steps

The Unplugged was one of those weird, off-kilter ones except for the hamstrings part, which I'll probably use as a sub for the all-fours version. One foot on the mat and the other leg bent toward your chest while squeezing a mini ball.

Kassandra had a live YouTube class yesterday that I couldn't participate it, but it's on her channel and it looks good: Live Vinyasa Slow Flow Stretch. When do I find the time! There are so many 60 minute yin practices I just want to marinate in.

I'll come back in a couple to say hi. :)

Flow & Yin with Donna Helm-Yost: Yin Practice (first 30 minutes)

I just love the Yin Yoga practice with Donna Helm-Yost. It felt good today. I frequently have to remind myself to relax my jaw when I do Yin Yoga because I find myself clenching my jaw.

Beth, that 500 error is annoying!

Hello everyone!

Today was:
- HealthBarre 30 minute Wake-Up
- 2 hours of walking around a local town that we haven't been to in over 2 years due to the pandemic. We were going to go for a longer walk around the park but we chickened out, as it was too cold and windy! We went for a nice hot chocolate instead. :yummy: They had a little wool shop there and thought of Garrie.
- ETV Maude Posture & Alignment

Sandra - I have a load of silicone bakeware and love it. I've never needed to oil mine and some are years old. Everything just pops right out. I have 2 muffin pans; one is reinforced around the rim, so it is nice and sturdy and the other is floppy.

Pam - Enjoy your time away. My friend had a dachsund called Henry and he was the sweetest thing. :heart: I haven't been doing many MFML practices lately. I'm not sure if I'll renew this time, as I don't really use it that much.

Pat - Thank you for the link to Kassandra's practice. It look really good.

Paine - I hold tension in my jaw too. I went to the dentist to find out why a tooth kept aching and turned out it was just caused by clenching my teeth!

Waves Beth, Cyana and all.

Hello!

Today's Workout: The Total Body routine from Jessica Smith's first Walk Strong set.

Pat58: Some of Margaret's Unplugged episodes can be a bit eccentric. :)

Thanks for your thoughts re the silicone bakeware. Margot, the muffin pans I got are floppy. I'm looking forward to trying them out.

Waving to all!

Today’s workouts:
~Essentrics TV: Foot Strength & Balance with Maude
~Walkabout with DH & Rizzo the dachshund :heart:, cracked through 10,000 steps

Have fun baking Sandra!

Waves to all!

TGIF!! :) :) :) It was a l-o-n-g week. Sorry I never made it back to chat yesterday.

~ YWK 20 Minute Morning Stretch - Full Body Flexibility plus morning affirmations
~ Tracey Mallett Fuse Dance Cardio Melt - Slender Body Burn
~ Short stroll after work
~ My own stretch routine
~ 7,028 steps

The Tracey workout was fun and challenging, about 25 minutes. It is cardio/barre and a real balance challenge.

Sandra, enjoy your new pans. What do you plan to bake?

Margot, as always I envy your walks! It must have been so nice to revisit that town, and hot chocolate after a blustery walk sounds great.

Beth, :mad: the 501 error! I just posted real quick, thanks for the warning.

Good morning Paine, Pam, and all the gang!

Happy Friday everyone!

Today's workouts:
- The Firm Fat Burning with Stacey Milner-Collins (the one with the jungle set)
- 1 hour cross country walk through back roads and fields.
- MFML Stretch & Strengthen: Legs & Bums with Clive Fogelman. Cyana, have you tried this class yet? I know you're a big fan.

Sandra - I'm also interested in what you're going to make with your new pan and how you get on with it.

Pam - Rizzo must love all these long walks.

Pat - It's funny; I almost did one of Tracey's dance workouts yesterday. Both of her Dance DVDs are really good. How is your toe doing? Hope it’s on the mend.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

A quickie check in….
~Forest trail and beach walk :love: and two shorter dog walks, broke through 9000 steps
~PT exercises
~FitOn app: Pilates Mat Burner
~FitOn app: Easy seated yoga

The FitOn app is free, so far no ads, but I’m sure there must be a catch….:p They do have a paid premium too, not sure what the difference is….

Waves to all!

Good morning! It's a beautiful brisk day in SECT. I'll be beachward bound soon, even if only a half mile around the parking lot. Yesterday featured:

~ LWS 14 Minute Low Impact Fat Burning Workout
~ YWK Live Vinyasa Slow Flow - New Moon Yoga
~ 5,870 steps

The New Moon yoga was yummy. :love:

Pam, nice walks! You're giving me hope!

Thanks Margot, it's slowly turning the corner. The blister was wicked deep but I'm seeing signs of progress. I love how Tracey makes barre more fun.

Greetings all! I hope your Saturday is wonderful. :sun:

Getting Better (Upper Body workout plus Abs, Outer Thigh, Inner Thigh & Quads)

I had a good workout with Margaret's Getting Better this morning.

We change the clock to Daylight Savings tomorrow.

I'm waving to everyone!

Happy Saturday!

No workout Friday as it is my scheduled day off, but I did walk outside for an hour.

Today's Workout: Sandra's Upper Body Premix from Margaret Richard's Beauty To the Bone (all of the upper body exercises from Volume 1, plus the Back work from Volume 2).

Paine: Thanks for the reminder about the time change tonight.

I think I'll make muffins in my new muffin pans. :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Hey all - cool but sunny beautiful fall day here. I taught both meditation (sub) and yoga this morning. Just had takeout with DH and looking forward to having a relaxing moving night. Hope everyone is well.

Good morning! I never made it to the beach. :( My foot was too sore after grocery shopping. But I did manage:

~ YWK 15 Minute Morning Yin Yoga Stretch
~ GYM for quick workout of chest press, leg press and seated row machines plus 15 minutes recumbent bike
~ 5,629 steps

My Reiki teacher is offering one more series of trainings before she moves to Europe in the spring. :( I'm grappling with whether to sign up for the Reiki Master training. It's three intensive days in a row and I'll come out with more than I need. My yoga/spiritual/Reiki self says go, but my frugal save for retirement self says no. Which self do I indulge? I think I'll be very sad if I don't do it and she moves, so I'm leaning toward the indulgence. I sure didn't spend any money on shows or eating out during COVID lockdowns, so there's that. Hmmmmm .....

Everyone have a wonderful day! :sun:

Pat, thinking about how you would feel after is a good way to help make the decision - which would you regret more, missing out on the training or missing the money you'd spend?

(Hint: it's almost never the money, haha.)

I signed up. I can't let this go by. Besides we got a bonus at work for the first time in years. I have to enjoy some of life before I retire so what the heck.

Happy Week-end! I didn't even touch a computer yesterday! :D

So how does everyone feel about the time change (for those who are forced to change their clocks)? I absolutely detest this time change, as I feel like it's dark all the time and tend to feel absolutely drained. :p While I'd prefer to stay on daylight saving time all year to get the extra daylight in the afternoon, I wish they'd choose one and not do the switcheroo, especially when there's documentation that shows it is detrimental to health (more accidents and cardiac events): https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst...ng-health.html .

I thought I'd share the weekly email message from Tias and Surya Little:

The Turn of Time

We woke today an hour younger as our clocks set backward sometime in the middle of the night. It is a bonus to gain an extra hour of sleep. But “Savings Time" is a good reminder that time is a made up thing. Who calls the shots that turns the clocks back anyway? Can we really turn back time? There is always the now, whether you are on New Zealand Time, South African Time, or on Pacific Time. In "real time" we share the same time and that time is arising now.

How can you say that time is old or young? How can you say that time is backward or forward? Long or short? Past or future? Time is boundless and has no edge or seam. The Greeks had two words for time - watch time called chronos and being time or sacred time called kairos. Can we connect to a time that transcends daylight savings and time zones? As it is is said in Zen, make this very moment 10,000 years.

Time is unchanging and immeasurable. It is ironic that we change our clocks forward and back only twice a year. In meditation and yoga we reset our mental clocks daily in order to be in the present and wake up to the flow of the now.

I like the concept of waking up an hour younger today! ;)

I've been doing some bulk cooking, and as usual, my house smells amazing after roasting the JSP's. :yummy: I don't think I've ever meditated on a smell, but meditating on the delightful aroma of roasted JSP's might be interesting, LOL! I also roasted some beets and made a batch of egg muffins with goat cheese, onion, spinach and sun dried tomatoes. I saved some leftover coffee, so I'm also going to try Megan's Pumpkin Latte Overnight Oats (detoxinista.com). And I'm going to start a couple of batches of flavored apple-cider vinegar using freshly grated ginger and freshly grated turmeric. DH hates the smell of the vinegar, so I'm always trying to find somewhere to hide the jars outside of his smelling range! There's a new vendor at the farmer's market who has 2021 crop pecans and oh my, those are absolutely amazing - so fresh and tasty. He also has some dehydrated Roma tomatoes that he's seasoned in several ways, and I got a little sandwich bag of those yesterday. I hope I have more time to dehydrate in the coming year, but it's definitely a time commitment. I also purchased a little bag of Quinoa Medley from one of my other vendors - brown rice, quinoa, red rice, lentils and wild rice.

Accidentally hit the Save button. Part 2 to come.