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

[Paine]

Muscle & Grace Muscle Toning workout (all of the Upper Body weight work plus calves)
Jackie's Essentrics class

Beth, I'm happy you'll get to travel to see your family for Thanksgiving this year.

Sandra, I look forward to hearing about your Thanksgiving dinner at the horse farm!

Cyana, I also microwave a Kabocha squash for a couple minutes to make it easier to slice before I roast it in the oven. You can do that for all squashes that are difficult to cut raw.

[KarenJo]

There is a bug on Jane's foot in Morning Energy on Gentle Yoga. That may not be the only instance, but I've done that practice quite a few times as it's only 18 minutes and nice mobility work.

Pam, I had been wondering how you were doing. Thanks for the update. I hope you and yours don't run into any delayed issues. That was quite a period of storms. I have been very glad over the last two years that we were no longer in Seattle. Life has been pretty crazy there. We did have to go up last September for a week to close the sale of our downtown place there finally. Aside from the city being pretty well shut down still, it was during all the wildfire smoke. Very depressing.

Margot, I think we just missed being in Seattle at the same time. We moved there in '91. I loved gardening there. And all of the British gardening books were very relevant. Thanks for the posts on CS Season 14. I ordered last Thursday but haven't received it yet. It's on its way.

Paine, I have to try that tip on microwaving hard winter squashes. I have arthritis at the base of my thumbs so cutting them can be a real challenge.

Sandra, a horse ranch in your area should be a lovely change of pace for your holiday meal with family. And it looks like we'll have good weather for the holiday. We're actually planning to have Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's with her, my BIL, my nephew and his wife. Mom is still a question mark. It depends on what the Health Department authorizes for her senior living facility in their COVID shutdown. They've had no new cases for two weeks so they're back to having visitors, though limited to in their apartments and not common areas, but no excursions yet.

I wonder when Garrie has to deal with end of term? Here's hoping he's just in holiday prep mode.

I'm going to stop and post, then come back with my check in. Hi, to everyone I didn't mention.

[toaster]

Sandra, Thanksgiving at the horse ranch sounds delightful!

Karen Jo, nice to see you back! Yes, Garrie has been more sporadic lately; maybe he's enjoying his time with his SO. Our semester ends late her - classes end on 12/13, and the last day of finals isn't until 12/21.

Paine, I heard that holiday air travel was up something like 14% from last year - but if it was down 30% last year due to covid, I hope it will still be better than an average year, LOL.

cyana, I usually do my shopping in a burst of effort like that; I don't buy for many people anymore. I also did online shopping and still used Amazon, but I added Badger Balm (I think suggested by Margot?) as a source of some of my gifts this year.

Pat, I hope you feel okay after your booster. My own effects were pretty mild - but DH was a big baby, haha.

This is my last day in the office until Thursday of next week! (Still have to work, but will be remote the other days.) It's been a mildly moaning Monday so far.

[KarenJo]

Ups and downs here this week. DH's procedure was postponed until December 20th. His hospital pre-procedure COVID test, the full-blown test but with results in a few hours, came back positive. We were shocked as, besides being asymptomatic, we'd had boosters two weeks before and we'd really limited contacts. He'd been nowhere for a week. He went to the public testing site that evening and had a test that came back negative. So everyone, including the state contact tracing people and the procedure doctor's office, are baffled and think it was a rare false positive. But they have to postpone for 30 days and we're isolating. I had gotten a test at the public clinic the same day as prep for that trip and mine came back negative. We retested yesterday but no results yet. My sister had been here the day before DH's test to review dog sitting stuff and her test came back negative. but the consequences of being wrong about the false positive are too great so we're isolating until Thanksgiving evening. Fortunately, we're homebodies and I'd prepped for post-trip quarantine. I did do a curbside grocery pick up. Technically, I don't need to isolate unless I test positive since I'm vaccinated but the retired RN side doesn't feel OK with that.

So, the last few days:
Thursday - the Lying session from Jane Adams Gentle Yoga (I need to look at the one on the Beginner DVD.), 45 minutes on my bike while watching a PBS program on mindfulness, and a bedtime stretch. 4606 steps plus bike.

Friday - 1 mile dog walk, the low back section of Classical Stretch Back Pain Relief and Prevention. Back is sore. 6535 steps

Saturday - 1 mile dog walk and a bedtime stretch. Still fighting low back soreness. 6268 steps

Sunday - just a bedtime stretch. I went to sleep about 3:30am,when everyone here was waking up, and had to get up for our COVID test appointment so no energy. I did get some houseplants repotted. Have a lot more to go. 4535 steps

We're about to head out on a dog walk. My back is fine so far this morning, but I also haven't really done anything yet. Got 7 1/2 hours of sleep last night, so things are looking better. We have some shelves to get up in the garage today and I have more plants to repot. I'm hoping to try some yoga and see how it goes.

[JustSandra]

Hi everyone!

Today's Workout: It is Margaret Monday! I did Segments 3 and 4 of Margaret Richard's Good For You. These segments contain several of my favorite Margaret exercises, especially the unweighted tricep sequence.

Question for my fellow Barefooters who do yoga -- have you done, or at least heard of, Buti yoga? On Friday my niece is covering a Buti class for another instructor and is actually rehearsing for it! I found one Buti routine online, and it looked really interesting (although also too intense for wonky knees).

KarenJo: I agree, the weather for Thanksgiving looks good in our neck of the woods! I Googled the address of the place my niece is housesitting, and it looks really nice, especially the wooded grounds. That is so strange about the positive Covid test -- hopefully it was indeed a "false positive." Re Jane Adams, I'll definitely try out the Morning Energy routine. The routine I did the other day on her Yoga For Beginners is titled "Lying Poses For Flexibility" and is on the second disc.

Waving to all!

[toaster]

Oh, Karen Jo, that's tough! It does sound like a false positive, but so sorry that everything has gotten postponed.

Sandra, I have heard of Buti--I think there are DVDs? It seems like there was talk about it her on VF maybe 5 years ago; I don't know much about it beyond that.

[Margot]

Hello everyone!

Yesterday's workouts:
- HealthBarre Intermediate Full Body Sculpt
- Bellyfit Blossom & Flow
- Pete Caughey - Energise the Ears

Today so far:
- CS1410 Full Body. All standing with emphasis on the core (side lunges etc.), a little bit of 'cardio', fan kicks and upper back work.
- Jessica Smith Standing Pilates Fusion Abs with dear sweet Peanut.
- Karin Hip & Rib Mobility
- Ball and Melt Roller work. I woke up this morning with a bit of plantar in my left foot, so am trying to nip this in the bud!

I previewed CS1409 but didn't do it. The warm up is around 6 minutes and then on to the floor for traditional abdominal crunches, side-lying work, bicycles, upper back work (prone) and stretches.

Beth - There is a teacher on Ekhart Yoga called Sandra Carson who practices Hatha with Anusara. I used to do her classes quite frequently when I was a subscriber. Hope things stay calm at work now before you leave on your trip.

Paine - How nice to get to do one of Jackie's classes.

Karen Jo - How disappointing that your DH's procedure had to be postponed. It does sound like a false negative but better to be safe. It sounds as though you have plenty to do while you are self-isolating. Hope you like CS Season 14.

Sandra - What a great Thanksgiving you're going to have. Will you get to ride at all? I've heard of Buti Yoga but never tried it. I had a quick look on Youtube for classes. They do look very dynamic and dancy. I'm tempted to give one a go this evening.

Pat - Hope you're not feeling any side effects from the booster.

Cyana - I liked hearing about what you'd cooked up this weekend. Hope you enjoyed your workshop.

Waves Pam. Hope the roads were clear on your return trip.

[toaster]

Ugh, every time I see someone here mention Bellyfit, it reminds me that I keep needing to get back to these! That's the problem with downloads, I forget that they are there. Well, right now I'm trying to finish up the Human 2.0 mobility challenge for this month, and I've been doing Robin Long's 5-day Pilates challenge too, so I guess Bellyfit will have to wait until December. I also have a free 30-day subscription to Yoga Anytime from my Yoga for Healthy Aging training, but I thought I would wait until the new year to activate that.

Margot, I've done the free practices on Ekhart yoga but never that particularly instructor. Of course, all instructors are different, and some Anusara practices are too vinyasa-y for me. But for the teachers who I like who were originally trained in this tradition, I can see their similarities in the way they offer interesting combinations of moves, build up to more difficult poses, and take a supportive, playful approach throughout.

I have only one therapy client scheduled, so it should be a quiet day at work. I teach yoga tonight; afterwards, I'm staying for the Candlelight yoga class that follows mine, and I'm picking up Chinese food for DH and I to have for dinner. Tomorrow I fly; send good air travel vibes my way, haha!

[Pat58]

Hi all.

Nothing here except for my walk through the casino where we got the employee booster vaccines. I made it through work, went home and took a Tylenol PM and then another when I woke up at 11:30. I was already on day three of a terrible sinus headache, and knew I was flirting with disaster. Oh well I will be good to start cooking tomorrow.

Are there any lovers of The Red Shoes with Moira Shearer here? It was a nice treat at least to watch that on TCM while dozing off and on.

Everyone be well!

[Paine]

Bendy Body (Stretching the Legs and Hips practice)

Bendy Body felt glorious this morning! My lower body was really stiff so I needed that practice. Beth, did you keep that DVD?

KarenJo, I bet your DH had a false-positive on his covid test. If he in fact has covid, I'm so glad he is asymptomatic!

Sandra, many years ago I tried a Buti yoga workout and it was too advanced for me. I like my yoga to be more gentle. The people that do Buti yoga are in great shape!

Beth, enjoy your week off work!

Pat, I have never seen The Red Shoes!