Personal Growth, Yoga

Daily $1,000,00 deposits

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I met a new friend the other day at the Y. His name is Jerry. It’s amazing how much of an impact such a short relationship had on my soul.

Here’s what he had to say.

“We all want to be happy. We all want to be healthy. At least in the world I live in.” I’m thinking. Dude, this turtle has got some insights. I’m gonna listen.

“Being healthy and happy isn’t just about your waist line. Your race pace. Your hair. The car you drive. The job you have.”  I’m like…”yeah yeah, this sounds good because all those expectations kind of stress me out.”

“You human beings are complex, and being healthy is a multidimensional thing. Chew on that a while.” I said “okie dokie”.

Cole-carrying-turtleSo I got to thinking…an acquaintance of mine tends to say things like “I traumatize my body with all this training” and what not. Which has always irritated me. I wondered why…and have gotten to this thought with the nudge of Jerry. Being healthy is about physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual. A combination. I read an article that being physically healthy is a small part of being HEATHLY. That emotionally being healthy has a bigger impact. So while I am physically stressing my body (which sometimes stress is a good thing, that’s how we grow and move forward), I’m making myself very happy. I feel good when I train. I love the people I am around. I enjoy myself 100%. Which I totally think outweighs the physical stress.

This article said that our emotional/spiritual well being has a BIG impact on our HEALTH. It’s the daily things that we do.  The deposits we make into our health account.

You don’t have to train for a big race to make these $1,000,00 deposits into your health account. Lots of equally awesome things to do, just depends on what lights your heart up.

Massage. Meditating. Yoga. Praying. Girls Night Out. Couples Night Alone. Ice cream with the kids. Serving others. Walking your neighbors dog when they are sick. Going to church. Brushing your girl friends hair. Being ok with onions thrown at you if you deserve it…

Or…meeting a friend Jerry at the North YMCA and giving him a ride home.

turtle-going-to-water

Running, Swimming, Triathlon

Kansas 70.3 FINISHER

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I knew the race would be difficult. I felt prepared. I was organized. Felt pretty calm.

Leading up to the race I took exceeding good care of myself. Got good sleep. Didn’t do anything crazy in yoga. Walked with CAUTION everywhere. Practiced the swim in my mind everyday. Visualized.

Those that know my things about the water. When the officials said no wetsuits in the age group competition I got a little worked up. Mainly because there was a decision that I would have to make. I just wanted all the decisions to already be made. I’d never done an open water swim without my wetsuit. I could wear my wetsuit and go in the last heat but I might run out of time. After asking the coaches and my heart, I decided to wear the wetsuit and go last. My biggest goal of the race was to get the swim done without having an asthma attack.

the-swimThe water was really ROUGH. 2 to 3 foot swells. IT WAS AWESOME. I started out, didn’t panic, worked to keep calm, felt fine, just couldn’t quite get the the rhythm of the freestyle. Without drinking a ton of water. I got pretty good at getting a nose full of water and snorting it out. So I did a lot of breast stroke. Found a rhythm. Found a way to ride the waves a bit. Stopped drinking so much water. In the back of my mind I was aware that I needed to get around the buoys faster. So I’d go back to the freestyle, where I managed to find this feeling of moving through the water better. Then I’d drink some more water. And move back to breast stroke. I was getting there, slowly. The chic I was keeping up with was pulling away. I was getting a little nervous. Then the guy in the kayak told me I had 12 minutes to get in. I had three more buoys left. I said “F$CK”, measured the distance, concluded that I wouldn’t make it. And said “F$CK” again. I start to sob a bit. WHAT??? CRYING IN THE LAKE???

It’s hard to cry, breathe, swim, sight for the finish and not get drowned by the waves.

finishing-my-swimAt the point, I had resigned to not getting in on time. And I wanted to finish this $250 dollar swim strong. If this was the last of my race, i wanted to do it well. So I pressed on. Hard.

The guy in the kayak said “You got to do your very best.” So I start swimming harder. More than what I thought I had. On my weak side. Faster. Breathing becomes more forced and here it comes, the wheezing. The asthma. I had this fleeting thought that one wrong wave and this sharp edge I was forcing myself on could really suck. But the kayak guy was right there with me. Shouting me on. Then I hear the announcer of the race yelling my name. And everyone else. That was pretty cool.

I ran out of steam. Asthma attack. I had nothing left. I’m looking at the last 50 yards thinking “I JUST CAN’T DO IT”. I can hardly get to the boat ramp, knowing my time is (has) running out and I just have NOTHING left. I’m pretty sure I didn’t make it. Then I hear the announcer say I’m the last swimmer. My first thought “SWEET!!! That swim didn’t cost me $250 just 5 bucks”. Second thought, you got to breathe. I hardly see anyone, until I see Anna. A friendly face asking me if I’m alright. I say “I don’t know”. And just keep walking to my bike.

Time in the water: 1:11.
Side note: Chomps before the swim do me good.

Getting on the bike was easy. Getting going was easy. I had my feet under me. I was thrilled. As I crossed the dam I left the swim behind me and started looking up for the next person to pass. It was DIFFICULT to see bikers coming in, but heck…

I kept telling myself, “You’re the cut off swimmer. You MADE it.” At first I passed a few people. It wasn’t as triumphant to pass the ones on the side of the rode with flats and what not. But I took what I could get.

Side note: I can’t pee in my wetsuit for some reason. So… after passing a legitimate racer (someone still moving forward), I stopped and did a QUICK pit stop. I did spy for bad plants. Didn’t need that kind of drama. QUICK QUICK, I’d be @#)$( if that guy passed me back.

Didn’t find the bike ride THAT bad. Not after that brutal Atlanta 70 mile training ride. The tea pot song wasn’t helping much. So I changed it…”just keep pedaling, whens this gonna stop, heck if I know…” I’d look up, damn hill wasn’t done yet…”apparently not yet, just keep pedaling, whens this gonna stop, heck if I know…” Hahaha.

I got to mile 25 with just 7 F-bombs. I was pretty proud. I was trying to keep it under 10. Though I counted the ones in my head, not just out loud. Maybe that was being to hard on myself.

Every person I passed was AWESOME. I knew that at about mile 36 things were gonna get easier. And the killer wind was gonna be my ally. So when we turned, I hit it hard. AWESOME. I actually enjoyed the bike ride.

Besides the left butt bone.  And the wasp.

So flying down a BIG hill, 40 miles an hour (not letting up) something flies into my shirt and I get a sharp sting. The F-bombs just started flying. I look at my hands, at my speedometer, at my boobs and decide to just ride it out. I totally forgot that they can only sting you once. That would have helped. So I’m sort of freaking out that I have a bug in my bra that’s gonna keep stinging me. I get my arse but the next hill. Come to this awesome streaking halt and flash the sheriff sitting there directing traffic to release my wasp. DUDE.

bonnie-bike-inThat was the only time someone passed me. For about 30 seconds.

Finishing that ride was AWESOME. I felt great. Perpetuum. That nasty drink at the aides stations sucked. I ate 2 salt capsules every hour. A lot of chomps with caffeine and the orange yummy beans.

I almost took a dive into the “BIKE IN” blow up thing. hahaha. Didn’t quite get both feet unclipped. Managed to save it and get on with the day.

Bike Time: 4:01

bonnie-runningStarting the 13 miles was hard. My legs felt ok. It was just plain HOT. And the run was so incredibly boring. The highlights of the run: Running with Glen for a bit. Seeing Dan a bunch. Seeing Ashlea’s rockstar @ss. Kelli on her last bit, getting myself an “another lap to go kiss”. The honey badger sign at the aide station. She recited the video to me, so that was cool. “He’s so NASTY…He doesn’t give a SHIT. He just takes what he wants!” The water hoses. And the seasoned triathlete that said this was a really hard race.

I walked at each station. One cup of water over the head, one down the back. The cup of ice down the cleavage. (Thinking back…I wonder if this helped the wasp bite not get angry.) Two cups of water into the stomach, refill my little hand water thingy and off I went. I only ate two Gu’s, which surprised me. The one that I kept in my pants tore me up!!!! I kept up eating the salt capsules. I felt pretty good until I got to the pit of hot hell, down by T1 and the porta potties. NASTY. The water hoses had such a big impact. I would get TOTALLY drench and feel SUPER FABULOUS until dry.

bonnie-running-endI passed a lot of runners. I tried not to walk. I walked more on loop one. Average pace was 12:20. Loop two got better. ALMOST DONE. Pace quickened to 11:00. Still feeling pretty good.

Knees started hurting the last 1/2 mile. So I slowed down. That last bit SUCKED. I had it in the bag and my legs were saying “hey, missy, we are REALLY tired”.

Rounding that corner though, into the shoot was awesome. I saw someone walking and thought to myself “WHAT!!!! This is where YOU DO NOT WALK!” This is where you dig deep and pull yourself together.

Icing on the cake. The announcer saying “Here’s Bonnie Kissinger, boy I’m glad to see her finish!”. That was TOTALLY AWESOME!

Run time: 2:33.

1/2 Ironman Kansas 70.3

bonnie-a-finisher

jumping-picture-after-kansas-IM-2012

just-about-dead

Personal Growth, Yoga

Are you fear’s b*tch?

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Race day is almost here. Well prepared. Fabulous team. Fabulous coaches. 1/2 IRONMAN BABY!!!!!

WELL PREPARED

At the beginning of this year, I wrote “QUIETLY CONFIDENT” on the dream board. And here we are.

It won’t come easy though. WELL PREPARED doesn’t guarantee perfection. Things happen. Part of the deal, learning to roll with the punches, doing the best you can with THE PRESENT MOMENT.

I’ve been struggling with anxiety during the swim. And now…exercise/anxiety induced asthma. I have a new understanding for those with asthma. It’s terrible. It leaves you feeling shitty, sometimes like you got hit by a truck. Not to mention the irritation, frustration and just plain anger that comes up because of the limitation that can get a hold of you without your permission. There you are. Wheezing. Feeling nauseous. Struggling for that breathe that you’ve been taking for granted for 38 years.

It really sucks when it happens at the beginning of the swim. You look up and you have ONE MILE of this suckage to get through.

One swim is really hard. One swim goes well. One goes not so well again. One race goes well. One goes BAD. Fear plants itself in your mind. Spreads it’s toxic poison. Makes things worse, gas on the fire. Takes space in your mind. Do you let it take space in your heart?

This is an “in your face” example. Do we let this happen to us on a lesser scale everyday? Taking tiny little detours to miss the piles of fear in the road? Not smile at a stranger because we fear they won’t like us. Not lay down some tough love because we fear…losing something, making a mistake. Not speaking honestly, because we fear letting out real feelings, not being accepted, someone calling “bullshit”?

Whatever is it. Being fear’s bitch…what’s it costing us? Can we learn to go right on through it. However messy it might be in the beginning. It’s bound to get better if we stick.

How to go right on through the piles:

1. Put your boots on. Think positive. KNOW that you can do it.

2. Be AWESOMELY OK with less than perfect.

3. Practice being calm. Breathing deeply.

4. Go looking for that place inside your heart, where resides boundless courage and strength. Dig deep.

5. Get after it.

6. Lastly: KNOW this WILL suck less than last time.

From my heart to yours.

Personal Growth, Yoga

DON’T RUN OVER THE BABY GEESE!!!!!

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Driving to work today I saw 2 parent geese trying to shepherd 2 baby geese across 21st street. There were a variety of styles of vehicles slowing down. Not not slowing down. For a moment, I thought one of the cars was going to hit them all. My heart spasm’d. Like STOPPED. “Oh no…PLEASE DON’T RUN OVER THE BABY GEESE!” My heart screamed out to this person a couple of cars in front of me. Someone honked at them, everyone stopped, and these poor frightened baby geese scurried across the street to safety.

What a parallel to how we live our lives. 

Some of us are LOST. In a big way. We don’t see the geese. We don’t acknowledge their place in the world. We don’t acknowledge our RESPONSIBILITY to live cohesively in the world with others EQUALLY. The Disconnected

Some of us sort of get it. We slow down, we might be a bit impatient, and perhaps guilt is what is mainly stopping us. How would you feel if you killed a baby goose. The Fearful

Some of us smile when we see the geese crossing. We stopped in plenty of time, we enjoy the sight. The Peaceful

And perhaps some of us are even more AWARE, watchful and protective. We stop AND we scan around to see that others are aware and stop too. The Warriors

How do you LIVE your life?

For me, honestly, a combination of them all, shifting a lot. My mind next traveled to how I parent my children. Some days I’m totally in a rush. Disconnected. Other times, HONESTLY, some times I got to dig deep and act a certain way with my kids, for fear of…what others will think, how my 14 year old with respond and will he next do what I need because of the “rush” that causes the disconnected and  blah blah blah. Some days I’m in the groove and feel like super parent. And anyone that knows me knows I’ve got plenty of The Warrior, for my kids and everyone else as well.

I think the magic happens when we can sculpt our lives in such a way…to give ourselves the chance at being at the higher levels of living. Knowing that you’re DISCONNECTED is a great step. Look around and see what’s not working. How things could be different. CHANGE IT! Try something different. Reassess.

JUST KEEP LIVING. 

And please stop for the baby geese.

Yoga

I ran into God today.

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I really loved my father-in-law. When I met my husband, I knew right away he was a keeper. He is a wonderful man. His dad taught him well.

His dad was awesome. He was a Shriner, a clown. A really good man. And I loved him dearly. My children loved him dearly. So when his illness wore on and on, witnessing him deteriorate and die a slow and painful death was very difficult.

When he was finally released from his suffering, it was bittersweet. A bright spot was gone. The suffering was gone.

At the funeral, a wondrous thing happened. I was the photographer, capturing the moments; grief, well wishes, love, compassion. And a TON of beauty. It was EVERYWHERE. It was almost intoxicating. The smiles of the family. The children that he loved so much, rejoicing in the day because death to them is different than to us. The cemetery was so secluded, we were the only people on the planet at that time, like time had almost stopped.

At the end, I was full of grief, I didn’t want to say the final goodbye. I didn’t want to walk away; to never see him, hear his laugh, see him hug my children. I was hanging back, feeling as if I was about to slowing melt into a puddle of sadness.

Then in the next instant all I could hear was the breeze through the trees. It was so intense, it was as if I could hear the sunrays travel between the trees to my face. I looked to my left as if someone had called my name and I saw these three deer that had wondered up to our ceremony.

In an instant all my pain was gone. My heart was filled with joy. I knew that my father-in-law as comforting me. Telling me “It’s not goodbye. I am right here.” So many years ago, and I can still hear the breath of God through the trees.

Today, as I was running, I was wrestling with something. My heart and mind going at it. I’ve been wrestling with this thing for quite a while now.

At just the moment when I was going to AGAIN but this thing on the back burner, I run into my three friends.

I smiled.

“OK.  I HEAR YOU!!!!!”

Action to follow.

Eating, Prevention

Love for your eczema

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A skin disorder that flies below the wire. Can be irritating. So whats to do?

Understanding why you get it. Good start. Can be triggered by this and that and blahdie blahdie BLAH!

WHY. Because your skin is a reflection of your internal health status. Your gut is upset, you might have acne on your face. Your hormones are out of balance, you might have breakouts under the chin. You don’t drink enough water, your skin might be scaly. Even the wrinkles on your face tell a story!

My middle son Kai has a list of issues that we have been working with. Since birth. So when a new one came around, a patch of skin that turns out to be ECZEMA, I was like…REALLY? Another thing.

We work REAL hard to keep the allergies and asthma/heart stuff in check, so I was thinking, “OK. His nutritional status is exceptional. So the eczema solution might not be in the nutrition department.”

Then I looked in my bathroom cupboard filled with wonderful things. And spied on what I used on my face for acne that helps me a TON.

tea-tree-and-lavender

Tea tree and lavender mixed one to one. These are Young Living Essential Oils, as I value the quality. You might ask why they work?

Food is medicine. Plants are medicine.

Tea Tree (Melaleuca):  antimicrobial, antibacterial, anti fungal, antiviral = GOOOOOD Stuff.

Lavender: antiseptic, pain reliever = GOOOOOD Stuff too. And smells wonderful. Very calming.

So for Kai’s spot of eczema. Worked like a charm. Week or so of 2 applications a day. Presto. And STRONG encouragement not to itch. 🙂

If you want to try it. Give me a shout. You can purchase the oils through me or I can make up some to try.

These two together = FIRST AIDE.

Personal Growth

Toss another LOG on the fire

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Struggle is just another word for growth.

I like to think each is another log on the fire. Burn it for fuel.

We usually try and avoid struggling.  Or find the quickest route out of it.  And with this we have tiny little fires that don’t keep shit warm.

Yoga — escape valves

In alignment based yoga, when we encourage (strongly sometimes) the body to stay in alignment, it’s harder, but we find rewards if we stick. Example: Seat forward fold. And you let your feet rotate like a monkey. This results in missing one of the hamstring muscles. If this is habitual, then you got part of the hamstring that’s tighter than the rest. OUCH. Takes a bit of nagging, but learning to keep the four corners of the feet equally pushing out results in happiness.

Sometimes it’s ok to turn and avoid the lesson, but not because we don’t have the skill to stick.

If you have what it takes, you KNOW what the heck your doing, and you decide, to turn back. OK. That’s educated. Not blind without courage. Some days you just don’t have the energy to stick. You might need to pull back, collect yourself, go at it again later.

BUT…you might need to stick. Or learn how to stick. Learn to keep the fire burning hot.

Check out this experience. It hammered me so much, I laid on the couch for most of the day.

My first open water swim was good. Went smooth, no big deal. So I thought to myself…”CHECK. Another struggle concurred. Fire’s burning HOT!”. hahahaha. Either I was foolish or I didn’t remember to knock on wood.

My second open water swim was a much different experience. It was windy. Strange things were going on in my lungs. OMG. Either I drank too much lake water or I had an asthma attack. Either way. It was REALLY hard. And I was pissed. It wasn’t like the first swim AT ALL. That pissed me off. I couldn’t really get things in check, that pissed me off. Having my “struggle” unchecked, that…you know, pissed me off.

first-open-water-swim1I wanted to cry like a baby and quit. THAT pissed me off.

It was a REALLY BIG CHALLENGE…to try and go back to it. Face in the water, relax, roll, breathe, stroke, relax, roll…come up sputtering, cough up a lung, sputter sputter…relax, roll, breathe, stroke…

I had to shorten the swim, everyone else did 3 laps. I did 2. That…you know, didn’t exactly piss me off, I was starting to feel defeated at this point. Made me want to cry, throw a tantrum, throw in the towel, get out of the water. Yank off my stupid shark fin swim cap and go home saying, “fork it”, “what the heck do I need to do this crazy stuff for anyway…”

My coach kept telling me I did awesome. Part of me was thankful he was there, giving me comfort and warmth, another part of me was saying “whatever, that SUCKED, liar liar liar”. Who was louder…I have no idea. I was feeling really bad, like I was folding in on myself. crazy.

All I knew was that I was going to get on my bike despite how HORRIBLE I felt. I was going to stick. Push through. Wasn’t like I hadn’t done this before. Got it done.

Got home. Thank goodness. Laid on the couch for HOURS. Resting. Recovering. Licking my wounds?

Today I was talking to myself. “You know, Rockstar, that was hard stuff. Probably not the hardest (OMG), but…you made it through it. You STUCK. You learned. You’re stronger for it. Fire’s burning nice and hot today.”

So I guess I should apologize to my coach for calling him a liar in my head.  🙂

Because I AM A ROCKSTAR. Burning nice and hot. And isn’t that a lovely picture he took of another team member. Just beautiful. That’s what I’ll focus on for next time.

Personal Growth, Yoga

Not Just doing …. BECOMING

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We DO diets. We DO New Year’s Resolutions. We DO training. We DO the things that get us to the goal. We DO “be nice and say our prayers”. We try this and we try that. We DO a lot of things.

But what ARE we? What are we BEING when we are DOING all of this DO?

Is there some spot on the map, “DESTINATION”, that we are trying to get to by all this doing?

Am I a crazy stressed out person playing “calm” when I swim or when I attempt to parent my children.

Or am I moving towards BECOMING CALM.

Am I shedding the layers that manifest the crazy stressed out. Am I CALM already, deep inside? Is CALM something I have to learn, or relearn, then BECOME?

The getting to this place called DESTINATION?

Do we throw the map away? Is the spot not the point? Is it about the ability to morph? Go through constant metamorphosis. Always changing. Always becoming. Always ALREADY being at the DESTINATION?

Changing. Really changing. Not just faking it, not sort of lying to ourselves, or playing a part. Really changing. Letting go of ourselves, having faith that the next stage will be more beautiful.

Must be scary for the caterpillar to go into his sack for a bit, sightless. And what an awe; wouldn’t it be cool to experience what the butterfly must experience emerging new. Transformed. ABLE TO FLY. The world to look so different.

Having BECOME something different. To grace the world with beauty.

For real world application. Do you practice yoga and when the series is done, step up to the top of the mat and let everything hang out waiting for the next instruction? Do you slouch in the grocery store aisle? Are you calm with those you want to impress and yell at your children or spouse? Do you give grace to others when they make a mistake, but not to yourself when you do?

Are you DOING? Are you BECOMING?

Eating

I love Burritos

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I love love love burritos. Especially breakfast burritos. Very satisfying to me. And perhaps they are the key to the plateau I’ve found myself on.

I eat pretty good. I’m healthy. I very rarely get sick. I heal pretty fast. I haven’t been to the doctor in awhile.

However, I ask A LOT of my body. A lot. I have a lot on my plate. I’m not all that great at handling stress. I’m way too busy. I have my vices. So, this plateau thing. I’ve been keeping things in check, but with the training, well, my body is sending me signals it’s time to up my skills. I’m not able to get by anymore, so time to up my game.

Enter the burrito. FAST. EASY. FAST and EASY. Easy Peasey Lemon Squeezey. You can dump a ton of stuff in there; the tortilla is a beautiful thing.

I’ve got to throw this in there: I eat a lot of Juice Plus too. A LOT. It’s the foundation support my body needs. Helps it to utilize anything else I feed it. Raises the ORAC value for the smarties.

exps43084_TH1789929D33CBack to the burrito: What am I stuffing in there?

Flaxseed: anticancer, fiber, really good for you. But check this out. ANTI-INFLAMMATORY. AKA love for the knees and hips. Grind in up and dump some in. I eat a lot a day, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a cup a day.

Eggs: good for the eyes, 6 grams of protein (just about a complete protein), 9 essential amino acids. Choline. Nice fat. (your brain is mostly fat people. You need fat. You need fat in the bloodstream for energy. Nice source of B12 for those not a big fan of animal meat.

Baby spinach: good source of iron. So good for the blood. Calcium. Has a ton of other valuable nutrients in it. Amazing. It also helps connective tissue heal. So, for those of us doing crazy things, it’s the internal bandage. So I just put this in with the breakfast burrito. Yum.

Beets: big supporter of the cardiovascular system. Tons of folate, copious amounts of Vit C, Bs and other stuff. It’s your BM friend too! I boil them and eat them in chucks like potatoes. And recently I’ve tried them shredded, cooked like hash browns and mixed in the breakfast burrito bowl full of goodness. Kind of crazy color though.  🙂

Avocado: Vit K, b6, c. Fiber. Good fat. Potassium (helps to regulate blood pressure). So I spoon it out and put it with the beans, tomatoes and garlic.

Tomatoes: anticancer, good for cardiovascular (which means good for everything else!) Dice ’em up and dump them with the beans or eggs.

Garlic: Antibacterial. Rich in antioxidants. Great for the blood. Tastes great and keeps the vampires away, for the runs after dark.

Beans: Out of a can, refried, mash your self. Whatever. Protein. Fiber. Easy to digest. Tons of nutrients like calcium, iron, mg, potassium, mn, etc etc etc. Heart health people.

So bring on the burritos. For those of us that are busy. You can make up a batch of burritos in no time flat. Wrap them up, have a stash of them in the refrig for “grab and go”. Great recovery food for right after hard workouts. Good hot or cold. Awesomeness.

Personal Growth, Swimming, Triathlon

“Just Relax” – yeah yeah, tell me how…

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Sometimes we know what to do.  Just not how to get it done.

Couple of big sections of my life have intersected in this lesson mastered.

Learning how to not freak out in the pool. It’s a legitimate freak out. I almost drowned when I was little. I have always suffered from speech anxiety. Blah blah blah

The intersection.

During my adventures of “3 boy homeschooling” I’ve learned about the different learning types, how people experience life in vastly different ways. Number 1 is very visual, learns well from reading. Number two is insanely kinetic, learns by feel then by auditory input. And number 3 is a a sponge, learning equally well in all areas.

As a yogi, a big lesson is to learn how to connect with the body, how to control the breath. How to know whats going on, and things to do about it.

As a Gemini, Chinese Tiger. Female. Engineer. I might be more tightly wound than others. So…”just relax” is like a foreign language to me. Just hearing those words makes me more tense. This “just relax” command doesn’t come naturally to me. And I think it’s a bit challenging to work hard but remain relaxed.

So when my awesome swim coach on day one gave me just one homework assignment, to sing “I’m a little teapot” when I’m swimming. To try and relax. I thought “yeah yeah…”. I gave it a big try. Didn’t work.

Surprising because I’m into music in a big way. I even tried Little Bunny Foo Foo, more my style. Nope.

Then an awesome friend of mine, another fishy swimming person, reminded me of a yoga practice…”you love the water, FEEL the water, FEEL your body in the water. Focus on that. Not on relaxing so much, just being one with the water.”

PRESTO! Yoga in the water.  Me, my body and the water were one for 12 minutes.

Strength at Ease

Knowing how one experiences the world, communicating to them as they communicate…things really start to jell.

Gets pretty juicy. Super Fun.

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