Barefoot & On the Mat, September 2021 - "Do you remember...September!"

[KarenJo]

Glad to hear that the Non-Zero concept resonated with everyone. It did seem like it would. I think I tend to hear in my head Do Something as doing more than Don't Do Nothing. So the non-zero goal works for me. And it keeps something in my schedule and the possibilities on my mind all day so the habit gets reinforced into a part of the daily routine that's a given.

I finally got all my DVDs sorted and into baskets on my bookshelves yesterday so now have some floor space. Also got things off of the sofa and chair in my room which pleased both me and the dog. But between not sleeping and my weekly Friday allergy shots I'm still not up to full speed.

Tuesday - Bedtime Stretch. It counts.
Wednesday - Dog walk in the morning and bedtime stretch
Thursday - Morning dog walk, late morning yoga and hand exercises
Friday - Morning dog walk, late morning yoga and hand exercises
Saturday - Morning dog walk, afternoon celebrated the floor space with 7 minutes of Qi gong from Lee Holden's 30 Day Challenge and 20 minutes on the stationary bike to another forest ride video. Lovely shady trail.

Nothing so far today. I'm running on 4 hours of sleep and there's a bit more smoke today so my energy level is low. But now that I can find my DVDs I've pulled out Mirabai's Longevity Solution Flexibility Level 1 for sometime this afternoon. I haven't done it in a few years and probably only did it a couple of times then. And I went to Mirabai's site and ordered the two DVDs she has that I hadn't yet bought. I bought a bunch of hers about 5 or so years ago when there was a big discussion on VF. There are lots of days when she suits what I want to or will do.

And, actually, I can't find all of my DVDs. For years I worked out in three different locations in two different states so I have a lot of duplicates but also a lot of DVDs that have been packed up and stored in different places for a while. I had all of Margaret Richard's Unplugged series plus had bought a replacement for the first DVD in Series 19 as the first one I bought has a glitch in one workout. The glitchy DVD is the only one I can find so far. But we still have a lot of boxes up in the barn so I expect they're there somewhere with a few more I haven't IDed yet. I hope. Not that I'm short of options.

Back in a few to chat.

[KarenJo]

Margot, we traveled to England a couple of times in the 80s and spent a few days in Bath on the second trip. Walked along that river and through a couple of parks. And had a lovely small-plates meal at Tilley's Bistro to a soundtrack of vintage Motown, including Marvin Gaye pre-falsetto. Tilley was cooking and his wife was serving, but she kept running back to get the names of songs for us and told us he was really tickled to have Americans who knew what they were listening to in his place.

Pam, did you ever have or see the very first VHS tape Miranda did, filmed in her parent's extensive gardens? Fellow VFer Karyn loaned it to me years ago. I wish I had bought my own copy. And I did catch her parent's gardening show once on the Canadian cable station we got in Seattle. They were characters. I'm an avid gardener and did a lot of conferences and workshops and found them very typical gardening fanatics of their generation.

Beth, I think you would like reformer classes, though I found I enjoyed them more after I'd done enough reformer to have the form and movements down. Though never perfected. I have two (!) Supreme Pilates but have decided they're too bulky to want to deal with here. but I have a door I could do one of the 'bar on bungies' type of setups instead. Have you ever tried one of those? A few years ago there were several variations on that equipment offered.

Sandra. I am so enjoying the cooler weather today. Really looking forward to Fall and our first rains but at least we're supposed to drop into the 70s in a couple more days and the mornings are warming up slowly. Hope you haven't had too much smoke. Is the Fawn fire affecting your air? We had CalFire bombers flying over for a while this afternoon but I haven't figured out where they were going.

Gotta run. DH needs a hand with something. Hello to everyone. Hope all are having a nice run of Non-Zeros.

[yogapam]

Today’s workouts:
~Beach park walk
~Essentrics TV: Lauren’s live all standing - This was really good, loved some of moves & cues, plan to steal them lol.
~PT exercises

KarenJo - Nice job organizing your dvds. I should do that, but rarely use mine any more. I’m thinking of buying an external DVD player for my new computer so I can get more use out of them. I have done some of Miranda’s early workouts, but not that one. I know her mom was a huge gardener & now Sahra is really into gardening. She has a lot of gardening pictures on her IG page. I’m sorry to hear you’re still dealing with smoke!

Cyana - Ugh, a 30 hour working weekend sounds brutal! I really enjoyed Lauren’s live class from Sept 21, that’s the one I did today. Jenny’s live from Sept 14 was nice but it was an AB class, so very slow & gentle.

Paine - Nice haul, that’s a lot of JSPs!

Beth - Nice week! I loved Field of Dreams, saw it years ago. Yes you & I are on the same page with Pilates. For me, it’s kinda like taking my medicine….I know it’s good for me but I find it a bit dry so 15 or 20 min is quite adequate.

Waves to all!

[toaster]

Pam, I used to find Pilates dry too, but I'm finding I enjoy it more, probably b/c there's so much variety available on YouTube. I still need to keep it short though!

Karen Jo, no, I haven't tried one of those door thingies. I can definitely see how reformer work would be more enjoyable once you are more practiced at it. Was the Miranda tape you were talking about the one called Essentrics Garden and Poolside? If so, I didn't know that was filmed at her parents' house!

Paine, I love the idea of eating the potatoes all week! How do you bake them? Also, very cool that you & DH met Kevin Costner!

[KarenJo]

Beth, the Miranda VHS I'm remembering precedes that one. Maybe precedes her TV show. It was only ever on tape and had to be ordered directly from her. Her parents had a Canadian public TV gardening show and a rural house with a big piece of property. I believe the house Miranda went to at the being of the pandemic, the one where she filmed a couple of short workouts for Facebook before she was diagnosed with COVID, was their house. There were multiple garden areas. Miranda did a section of barre work using a split rail fence.

[toaster]

Oh, I'm sure I've never seen that video. I didn't realize Miranda had covid! If it was awhile ago, I assume she wound up being okay.

[JustSandra]

Hello!

No workout Friday as it is my weekly rest day, although I did get in a 1.5-hour walk. Didn't quite manage a workout Saturday.

Today's Workout: The Upper Body routine from Jessica Smith's Walk Strong 3, followed by Total Stretch from the same set.

My niece has given up on her search for her own place for now. She didn't say why, but I think the cost of rents, especially in the area where she would prefer to live, are just too pricey for her right now. But she has a wide network of friends who know she is looking, so maybe something will still turn up.

Yogapam: I gave up pretty quickly on any idea of trying to return the daybed frame. The packaging was already shoved into my recycle bin, and even if it wasn't I knew I'd never get it disassembled and back in the box! I'm just considering it an expensive lesson.

Margot: Your visit to Bath really does sound so nice!

Cyana: You work entirely too much!

Karen Jo: We've had a little smoke here, but not really enough to notice. Highs today were only in the 70s! I know it is going to warm up again, but I'm hoping the 100s (and maybe the 90s) are behind us for the season (fingers crossed!).

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

[Paine]

Karen Jo, you'll have to let us know what you think about the 2 new Mirabai DVDs that you just bought once you try them. I only have one Mirabai DVD so she was new to me.
I loved the Floor Stretch the most on her Flexibility Level 1 DVD. You lay on your back and stretch your hamstrings, calves and inner thighs using a yoga strap. You do twists too, which feel wonderful.

Beth, yes I heard that Miranda is fine now after having covid.
to make JSPs: I scrub the JSPs. I line a large cookie sheet or baking tray with aluminum foil then I put a sheet of unbleached parchment paper on top of the cookie sheet or baking tray. I lay the JSPs on the parchment covered baking tray. I cook them a 400 degrees F in the oven for 30 minutes, then flip them over and cook for 30 minutes more. I then stick a knife in the center and if it goes through easy, it is done. If it is still hard, then I cook the hard ones for 10 minutes longer and check again. There is no clean up since I just throw out the foil & parchment. Easy peasy.

[Pat58]

Good morning! We had such glorious weather this weekend. My hair was even manageable yesterday! My weekend consisted of:

Satuday:
~ YWK 20 Minute Morning Yin Yoga Stretch
~ Morning Clarity Breathwork with Rob
~ GYM for 30 minutes recumbent bike
~ 5,070 steps

Sunday:
~ My own pre-walk yin routine
~ 20 butt bridges
~ Beachcombing walk plus walk at college campus
~ 7,864 steps

Yesterday's walks were fun. DH accompanied me to the beach we had to hunt for shells, which he uses to fortify the stone mulch at the front of the house. A wedding was in progress at the campus, and they said the I do's just as we were strolling by down at the water. Lo and behold around the bend we spot a Cinderella looking carriage with two white horses all decked out. The carriage pulled up to the front of the mansion for the couple. We walked on, wondering where the heck a horse and carriage would go without entering the town roads. As we rounded the back of the mansion we saw that the horses had taken the couple around the back and they were going into the back door of the mansion. It struck me as so I mean - what great photo ops, but it was literally a two minute ride. We couldn't not have a chuckle.

[Pat58]

Margot, someday I want to walk at Bath! And to a hamlet and back.

That stinks you had to work over the weekend Cyana. I hope you were able to stay awake for your family visit. Is there any reduction in hours in sight?

Paine, I’m happy that you enjoyed the Mirabai workout. I hadn’t thought of putting it on my Amazon list and waiting for a price drop - good idea! I still want the level 2 workouts.

Beth, had did you like the Akira yoga? Is she yin focused?

KarenJo, good job getting all your workouts sorted. Those bedtime stretches are so underrated, I’m finding that they count very much. Please do let us know how you like the Mirabai workouts.

That’s too bad about your niece, Sandra. I can imagine she would be priced out of the market. Rents are ridiculous now.

Good morning to Pam and anyone else who pops in!