Being physically active every day is enjoyable and safe for most people. Health benefits of physical activity include improved fitness, strength and feeling better. Physical activity is any movement that increases heart rate and breathing and any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.

To stay healthy, Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that adults aged 18 years and older should participate in at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity every week. Make sure to do this in bouts of at least 10 minutes.

A moderate-intensity physical activity that will cause adults to sweat a little and to breathe harder includes brisk walking. Walking for 30 minutes a day or more on most days of the week is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. If you can’t manage 30 minutes a day, remember even a little is good. If it’s too difficult to walk for 30 minutes at one time, do regular small bouts (10 minutes) three times per day and gradually build up to longer sessions. However, if your goal is to lose weight, you will need to do physical activity for longer than 30 minutes each day. You can still achieve this by starting with smaller bouts of activity throughout the day and increasing these as your fitness improves.

Walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. Just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers. Unlike some other forms of exercise, walking is free and doesn’t require any special equipment or training.

Walking is low impact, requires minimal equipment, can be done at any time of day and can be performed at your own pace. You can get out and walk without worrying about the risks associated with some more vigorous forms of exercise. Walking is also a great form of physical activity for people who are overweight, elderly, or who haven’t exercised in a long time.

You carry your own body weight when you walk. This is known as weight-bearing exercise. Some of the benefits include:

increased cardiovascular and pulmonary (heart and lung) fitness
reduced risk of heart disease and stroke
improved management of conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain or stiffness, and diabetes
stronger bones and improved balance
increased muscle strength and endurance
reduced body fat.

You can increase the intensity of your walks by:

walking up hills
walking with hand weights
increasing your walking speed gradually by including some quick walking
increasing the distance you walk quickly before returning to a moderate walking pace
walking for longer.
The best way to warm up is to walk slowly. Start off each walk at a leisurely pace to give your muscles time to warm up, and then pick up the speed. Afterwards, gently stretch your leg muscles – particularly your calves and front and back thighs.

Some suggestions to help make regular walking a pleasurable form of physical activity include:

varying where you walk
walking the dog
walking with friends
joining a walking club.

Ways to keep your daily walk interesting include:

Pick different routes so you don’t get tired of seeing the same sights.
Find one or more friends or family members to walk with.
Walk at various times of the day. The sights to see first thing in the morning can differ from those of the afternoon or early evening.
Drive to different reserves, park the car and enjoy the views while you walk.
Explore what’s going on around you, notice the sky, the people, the sounds.

Ways to sneak more walking into your life include: walking to work,  train for and participate in a run or walk for charity, and be active with the family on the weekends.

See your doctor for a medical check-up before embarking on any new fitness program, particularly if you are aged over 40 years, are overweight or haven’t exercised in a long time.

Now is the time, walk, and embrace life.

Ganesha is one of the most important gods in Hindu mythology He’s highly recognizable with his elephant head and human body, representing the soul and the physical respectively. He is also the patron of writers, travellers, students, commerce, and new projects (for which he removes obstacles from one’s path). He was rather fond of sweets, to the slight detriment of his figure.

Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati. He was created by his mother using earth which she moulded into the shape of a boy. As Shiva was away on his meditative wanderings, Parvati set her new son as guard while she bathed. Unexpectedly, Shiva returned home and, on finding the boy, and outraged at his impudence in claiming he was Parvati’s son, Shiva called for his gang of demons, who fought ferociously with the boy. However, the youngster easily held his own against such fearsome adversaries but Shiva himself, lopped off Ganesha’s head. At the commotion, Parvati ran from her bath and remonstrated with Shiva for so summarily killing their son. Repentant, Shiva ordered a new head to be found for the boy and, as the first animal available was an elephant, so Ganesha gained a new head. Ganesha also has something of a reputation for greediness. One day, after eating a few too many sacrificial cakes, Ganesha decided to take a ride on his giant rat to aid his digestion. However, the rat was surprised when he came across a large snake and, jumping back with fear, he threw off his mount. Ganesha landed on his full belly and it burst on hitting the ground. The cakes from his stomach rolled left, right and centre but Ganesha, unperturbed, carefully gathered them in, stuffed them all back into his belly and wound the snake around his midriff to keep it closed. Symbolic of Ganesha’s ability to overcome all obstacles, the snake, the cause of the accident in the first place, therefore provided the remedy for the damage it had caused.

On his night-ride, Ganesha suddenly heard a thunderous noise from the heavens. This was the laughing of the Moon and his wives, the twenty seven Constellations, unable to contain themselves on seeing Ganesha wrapped in a snake. Outraged, Ganesha broke off the end of one of his tusks and hurled it at the laughing Moon who, hit full in the face, was struck black. Without the light of the moon, the dark nights became the haunt of thieves and villains until honest people had had enough and pleaded with the gods to restore the silver light. The gods asked Ganesha to forgive the Moon but only a partial forgiveness was given. Consequently, only periodically, on one night, would the Moon give his full light and then he would slowly waste away.

This year marks the 41st anniversary of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope and the 40th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run (this year it runs on Sept. 19, 2021). I’ve admired his dream, determination and effort for as long as I can remember. And for years I’ve tried to get a pair of the same shoes (Adidas Orion) that he famously ran his Marathon of Hope.

This year I was finally able to snag a pair online. The box arrived which I excitedly opened to find the shoe box inside. I opened the shoe box to find the shoes wrapped in tissue paper with a reprint of the letter Fox sent to Adidas explaining his story, his mission and a request for  26 pairs of running shoes (what he estimated his run across Canada would require).

The following is what he wrote:

November 3, 1979

Dear Sir/Madame:

My name is Terry Fox, I am 21 years old, and I am an amputee. I lost my right leg above the knee two and a half years ago due to cancer.

The night before my amputation, a former basketball coach brought me a magazine with an article on an amputee who ran in the New York Marathon in it. It was then when I decided to meet this new challenge head on and not only overcome my disability, but conquer it in such a way that I could never look back and say it disabled me. But I soon realized that that would only be half my quest, for as I went through the 16 months of the physically and emotionally draining ordeal of chemotherapy, I was rudely awakened by the feelings that surrounded and coursed throughout the cancer clinic. There were the faces with the brave smiles, and the ones who had given up smiling. There were the feelings of hopeful denial, and the feelings of despair. My quest would not be a selfish one. I could not leave knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I would be set free from mine. Somewhere the hurting must stop… and I was determined to take myself to the limit for this cause.

I feel now is the time to make good my promise. I have been training for over 8 months, running on an artificial leg. Starting with ½ mile, I have now worked up to 15 miles a day, adding a half mile weekly.

At first the going was extremely difficult, as I was facing chronic ailments foreign to runners with two legs, in addition to the common physical strains felt by all dedicated athletes. But these problems are now behind me as I have either out-persisted or learned to deal with them. I feel strong not only physically, but more important, emotionally. Soon I will be adding one full mile each week, and coupled with the weight training I have been doing three times a week, by April next year I will be ready to achieve something that for me was once only a distant dream reserved for the world of miracles; to run across Canada to raise money for the fight against cancer.

The running I can do, even if I have to crawl every last mile. But there are some barriers I cannot overcome alone. I need your help, your sponsorship, to help provide the means to sustain myself and two others that have consented to put aside those 5 months to be my companions and aides. We will be needing transportation to Newfoundland, a camper-type vehicle to meet us there, and money for food, gas, and other necessities. My three years in university have quite aptly drained me financially, and just the thought that I will require about 26 pairs of running shoes for myself and running companion makes my now dwindling account crawl even deeper into it’s hole.

If you could just sponsor us for the footwear, it would be more than appreciated and would take a great financial burden off our backs. If you would also like to provide your sponsorship for any other expenditures for the trip, you are most welcome to, as we need as much help as we can get.

Please, consider my plea carefully and notify me if you come to any decisions, good or bad. My number is listed below and I can be reached or a message can be left any time during the day.

We need your help. The people in cancer clinics all over the world need people who believe in miracles. I’m not a dreamer, and I’m not saying that this will initiate the definitive answer or cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles. I have to.

Yours Sincerely,

Terry Fox

The pandemic has been very intense for us all. The affects will be felt and studied for years to come including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD can happen after a deeply threatening or scary event. Even if you weren’t directly involved, the shock of what happened can be so great that you have a hard time living a normal life. People with PTSD can have insomnia, flashbacks, low self-esteem, and a lot of painful or unpleasant emotions.

As the name suggests, restorative yoga restores the body to its parasympathetic nervous system function, which, in turn, helps the body rest, heal, and restore balance. By allowing time for longer poses and deeper breathing, restorative yoga helps elicit the relaxation response.

You might be surprised at how the sciences, and integrative practices like yoga (related to health and disease) are evolving. Our understanding of the relationships between nerves, muscles, fascia, organs, and perception is expanding.

We all feel how spending time in beautiful places (real, remembered, or imagined) improves our sense of well-being. Many of us have also experienced similar contentment on our yoga mats. We’ve also felt relief from physical pain and dysfunction, emotional hurt, social disconnection, and spiritual confusion. Research is increasingly affirming our lived experience with yoga to effectively self-manage conditions such as chronic pain, and to improve our senses of vitality, safety, and integration.

The vagus nerve, along with other structures and mechanisms, creates a wide spectrum of feelings that prompt the body’s systems to turn up, turn down, and even turn off various responses.

Also, are you exhausted? Most of us know without a shadow of doubt that we feel better when we sleep consistently and rest regularly. Rather than relying on exhaustion-induced naps or passive diversions often mistaken for rest, we can use specific sequences of restorative yoga poses to create niches for our nervous systems to get in sync and slow down. Restorative yoga can calm a racing mind and relieve mental fog and fatigue.

Please join me for Gentle and Restorative Yoga Tuesdays 11-12:15 at Yoga for Today in Sherwood Park.

Outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, is the”eight limbs”. These eight steps basically act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. They serve as a prescription for moral and ethical conduct and self-discipline; they direct attention toward one’s health; and they help us to acknowledge the spiritual aspects of our nature.

The first limb, Yama (the laws of life), deals with one’s ethical standards and sense of integrity, focusing on our behaviour and how we conduct ourselves in life. Yamas are universal practices that relate best to what we know as the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The five yamas are: Ahimsa (nonviolence); satya (truthfulness); asteya (non stealing) brahmacharaya (continence); and, aparigraha (non covetousness).

The second limb, Niyama (rules for living), has to do with self-discipline and spiritual observances. Regularly attending temple or church services, saying grace before meals, developing your own personal meditation practice, or making a habit of taking contemplative walks alone are all examples of niyamas in practice. 

The five niyamas are: saucha (cleanliness); santosa (contentment); tapas (heat); svadhyaya (study of the sacred scriptures and of one’s self); and, isvara pranidhana (surrender to God).

Asanas, the postures practiced in yoga, comprise the third limb. This is what most people think yoga is. But as you’re reading this you’re learning that yoga is so much more. In the yogic view, the body is a temple of spirit, the care of which is an important stage of our spiritual growth. Through the practice of asanas, we develop the habit of discipline and the ability to concentrate, both of which are necessary for meditation.

Pranayama, breathing exercises, this fourth stage consists of techniques designed to gain mastery over the respiratory process while recognizing the connection between the breath, the mind, and the emotions. As implied by the literal translation of pranayama, “life force extension,” yogis believe that it not only rejuvenates the body but actually extends life itself. You can practice pranayama as an isolated technique or integrate it into your daily hatha yoga routine.

These first four stages concentrate on refining our personalities, gaining mastery over the body, and developing an energetic awareness of ourselves, all of which prepares us for the second half of this journey, which deals with the senses, the mind, and attaining a higher state of consciousness.

Pratyahara, the fifth limb, means withdrawal or sensory transcendence. It is during this stage that we make the conscious effort to draw our awareness away from the external world and outside stimuli. Keenly aware of, yet cultivating a detachment from, our senses, we direct our attention internally. The practice of pratyahara provides us with an opportunity to step back and take a look at ourselves. This withdrawal allows us to objectively observe our cravings: habits that are perhaps detrimental to our health and which likely interfere with our inner growth.

As each stage prepares us for the next, the practice of pratyahara creates the setting for dharana,  (the sixth limb) or concentration. Having relieved ourselves of outside distractions, we can now deal with the distractions of the mind itself. No easy task! In the practice of concentration, which precedes meditation, we learn how to slow down the thinking process by concentrating on a single mental object: a specific energetic centre in the body, an image of a deity, or the silent repetition of a sound. We, of course, have already begun to develop our powers of concentration in the previous three stages of posture, breath control, and withdrawal of the senses. In asana and pranayama, although we pay attention to our actions, our attention travels. Our focus constantly shifts as we fine-tune the many nuances of any particular posture or breathing technique. In pratyahara we become self-observant; now, in dharana, we focus our attention on a single point. Extended periods of concentration naturally lead to meditation.

Dyhana (meditation or contemplation), the seventh stage of ashtanga, is the uninterrupted flow of concentration. Although concentration (dharana) and meditation (dhyana) may appear to be one and the same, a fine line of distinction exists between these two stages. Where dharana practices one-pointed attention, dhyana is ultimately a state of being keenly aware without focus. At this stage, the mind has been quieted, and in the stillness it produces few or no thoughts at all. The strength and stamina it takes to reach this state of stillness is quite impressive. But don’t give up. While this may seem a difficult if not impossible task, remember that yoga is a process. Even though we may not attain the “picture perfect” pose, or the ideal state of consciousness, we benefit at every stage of our progress.

Eighth and final stage samadhi,  is the settled mind. At this stage, the meditator merges with his or her point of focus and transcends the Self altogether. The meditator comes to realize a profound connection to the Divine, an interconnectedness with all living things. With this realization comes the “peace that passeth all understanding”; the experience of bliss and being at one with the Universe.

Staying committed to a yoga practice or working out has maybe never been more challenging than during the Covid pandemic. Shuttered studios and gyms with equipment collecting dust, meant making do at home with online classes and makeshift equipment. Motivation is like a much anticipated gift; you’re extremely excited, the shiny paper and big bow builds the excitement, you open it up and revel in the glory…then you put it on shelf and think “I’m going to bring that back down one day”.

Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behaviour. Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and often involve rewards such as trophies, money, social recognition, or praise. Intrinsic motivations are those that arise from within the individual, such as doing a complicated crossword puzzle purely for the personal gratification of solving a problem.

Understanding motivation can; help improve the efficiency of people as they work toward goals, help people take action, encourage people to engage in health-oriented behaviours, help people avoid unhealthy or maladaptive behaviours such as risk-taking and addiction, help people feel more in control of their lives, and, improve overall well-being and happiness.

Anyone who has ever had a goal (like wanting to lose 20 pounds or run a marathon) probably immediately realized that simply having the desire to accomplish something is not enough. Achieving such a goal requires the ability to persist through obstacles and endurance… to keep going in spite of difficulties.

At some point, the pain of not doing something becomes greater than the pain of doing it. The simplest definition of motivation boils down to wanting. We want a change in behaviour, thoughts, feelings, self-concept, environment, and relationships.

The degree of activation, persistence and intensity can impact whether or not you achieve your goal. Strong activation, for example, means that you are more likely to start pursuing a goal. Persistence and intensity will determine if you keep working toward that goal and how much effort you devote to reaching it.

Getting started, even in very small ways, is a form of active inspiration that naturally produces momentum.

All people experience fluctuations in their motivation and willpower. Sometimes you might feel fired up and highly driven to reach your goals, while at other times you might feel listless or unsure of what you want or how to achieve it.

When your motivation is lagging you could: adjust your goals to focus on things that really matter to you; if you’re tackling something that is just too big or too overwhelming, break it up into smaller steps and try setting your sights on achieving that first step toward progress; remind yourself about what you achieved in the past and where your strengths lie; if there are things you feel insecure about, try working on making improvements in those areas so that you feel more skilled and capable.

There are a few things you should watch for that might hurt your motivation: 1. Quick fixes or all-or-nothing thinking. It’s easy to feel unmotivated if you can’t fix something immediately or if you can’t have it all at once. Remind yourself that reaching your goals takes time. 2. Thinking that one size fits all. Just because an approach or method worked for someone else does not mean that it will work for you. If something isn’t helping you reach your goals or is making you feel unmotivated, look for things that will work better for you.

If your workout doesn’t have a time when it usually occurs, then each day you’ll wake up thinking, “I hope I feel motivated to exercise today.” Setting a schedule for yourself seems simple, but it puts your decision-making on autopilot by giving your goals a time and a place to live. It makes it more likely that you will follow through regardless of your motivation levels. Stop waiting for motivation or inspiration to strike you and set a schedule for your habits.

How do some of the most prolific artists in the world motivate themselves? They don’t merely set schedules, they build rituals. It provides a mindless way to initiate behaviour. It makes starting habits easier and that means following through on a consistent basis easier.

The key to any good ritual is that it removes the need to make a decision: What should I do first? When should I do this? How should I do this? Most people never get moving because they can’t decide how to get started. You want starting a behaviour to be easy and automatic so you have the strength to finish it when it becomes difficult and challenging.

Know exactly what to do next. There’s no debating or decision-making. Lack of motivation doesn’t matter. You just follow the pattern.

The three Rs of habit formation are; reminder, routine and, reward.

You will never regret good work once it is done. There are days when it’s damn hard to start, but it’s always worth finishing. Sometimes, the simple act of showing up and having the courage to do the work, even in an average manner, is a victory worth celebrating.

Discomfort is temporary. Your workout will be finished in an hour or two. Maintain perspective. Your life is good and your discomfort is temporary. Step into this moment of discomfort and let it strengthen you.

Sometimes you might feel completely unmotivated—and that’s ok. In that situation, allow yourself to feel the discomfort, hear the negative self-talk, and then take action anyway.

Talk to your doctor if you are feeling symptoms of apathy and low mood that last longer than two weeks. Sometimes a persistent lack of motivation might be tied to a mental health condition such as depression.

I’d love to help you with your goals. Do you need an accountability partner? Do you need a yoga or workout regime? My online studio includes dozens of different yoga and fitness classes and I also have yoga courses for the beginner or new mom. Head to www.michelleyoga.net today and sign up.