More Lessons From A 7 Year Old…

How we go through life is just a matter of perspective and looking at things through the eyes of a 7 year old is often the best vantage point.

I don’t usually enjoy the days when I look around and it is obvious that I need to spend a few minutes on home maintenance. I am not the most organized or immaculate and neither is the rest of my family. On top if that, we have a lot of things and not a lot of space or storage which leads to piles and clutter.

Today was one of the days when our home needed a touch of attention. I pulled out the vacuum, got all the corners, headed for the cobwebs. Before long, I started to get frustrated by the dust on the shelves developed a bit of a “poor me Cinderella” complex.

I pulled Lillian away from the movie she was watching and told her that if I was cleaning I wasn’t going about it on my own. She wasn’t too happy about putting on her Cinderella shoes until I handed her the dust rag and set her on the “un-dusting” task (remember the very literal Amelia Bedelia). She couldn’t have been more excited to spend an hour “un-dusting” our house.

The enthusiasm Lillian had for her task completely changed my perspective on cleaning my house. I might not have the most organized home, I don’t have a lot of storage space for all our stuff, but my small house is comfortable and just right for my family and working on cleaning things up with my 7 year old couldn’t have been more enjoyable.

What else did I realize? Life can be a bit like house work; if one is not careful it can be somewhat tedious. It can be easy to get through life with just the bare minimum, not dusting the shelves. Put in a little effort and enthusiasm and the results are fantastic. Just a little attention to the small details brings the greatest rewards and blossoms into bigger ideas and greater possibilities.

Look at life now and again through the eyes of a 7 year old. “Un-dusting” is a great Sunday morning pastime and a jump rope can take you where you headed quicker than just a pair of feet. The possibilities are endless. Just a small change in a point of view can present what lies in front in a whole new light. Pretty fun really!

Oh Plank Pose...

Now find your way to plank pose, the "up" position of a push-up. Drop your shoulders away from your ears and engage your core, no stomach sag!

Option #:
1. Hold plank for several deep breaths or a predetermined time, 30 seconds for example. Holding plank with your knees on the ground is perfectly suitable!
2. From plank, lift first your right arm straight in front of you and then your left, continuing with your breath for 10-15 repetitions with each arm.
3. From plank, lift your opposing arm and leg, take a deep breath and lower, continue on, switching arms/legs for 10-15 repetitions.

Cycle one of these variations of plank pose in with the previous exercises of the week. This will offer great core strength and stability as well as shoulder and arm strength.

Press back and rest in child's pose when you are finished!

More From Home... Or Where You May Be!

Another simple at home exercise!

Stand facing a wall with your palms on the wall at shoulder height, feet hip distance and parallel, preparing for a standing push-up. This will become more difficult the further away from the wall you stand, begin 2-3 feet from the wall.

Engage your core muscles, drop your shoulders and maintain your neutral spinal alignment.

Lower your torso, maintaining your posture, hold in the "down" position for 5 deep breaths and return to the "up" position, 1 repetition. Repeat for 3 sets of 15 repetitions, alternating with the kneeling torso lean.

Fun, simple, can be done anywhere!

Starting The Week Off..Core & Quads!

Begin this at home exercise kneeling with your knees about hip distance apart. Find your posture with your palms resting on your thigh muscles, your core engaged, spine in neutral and shoulders down and back, just as if you were standing.

With your breath and keeping your torso straight, slowly lean your quads and torso back to about 45-50 degrees. Take 3 deep breaths and return to upright. That is 1 repetition. Perform 3 sets of 15 repetitions!

Simple and easy! At home! No equipment, except your amazing body!

Make Do With What’s In Front Of You!

The other day I had my schedule all figured out. I had a plan for my workout, I was lifting weights and it was time for my legs. There were a few exercises I had not done in a while and they were circling around in my head. I left my house to meet my first client and suddenly my schedule changed, not in a bad way, just different, and with the change, my exercise window narrowed.

I work with my clients in a small gym that is equipped with what I need but not all the bells and whistles of the bigger, local health club. My plan was to work with my morning client and head across town to the health club. With the schedule change I still had time to work out, but not to drive to another gym and therefore not what I was anticipating for my leg workout. Of course I was going to be fine changing my workout but for a few minutes I was frustrated and thrown off track. I loosened up a bit, reworked my routine and "made do with what was in front of me".

The point of all this? How often do we get thrown off, mentally or physically, when something doesn't go as anticipated? Does exercise or preparing a healthy meal get put aside because there just is not “enough time” or we don’t have the “right” equipment or ingredients? How trapped are we inside the “little boxes” we create around the elements of our lives? Are there areas where we could be more flexible?
In this, the first of ? installments, I ask you to look at areas that are stumbling blocks in your life. Is there room for flexibility? Is it possible to break down some preconceived walls and “make do with what is in front of you?”

Coming down the pipes will be an at home workout and a couple quick exercise fixes as well as a few, or a lot, of words on the simplicity of healthy eating along with a recipe or two. Stay tuned and give yourself a few minutes to get your blood flowing!